Music Fest producing free livestream concerts for 2021 season
Benedict Tent broadcasts begin with Saturday’s performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
The Aspen Music Festival and School is producing a series of six livestream concerts this summer, as it returns to live in-person performances.
The concert broadcasts, beginning Saturday, July 3, will be shown live from the Benedict Music Tent and viewable for free on the Festival’s “Virtual Stage” page at http://www.aspenmusicfestival.com. The Music Fest developed the platform last year when it hosted virtual performances after its summer season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The winter music season was also staged on the site.
Performances will only be broadcast live. Recordings will not be available to watch later.
Those performances drew a global viewing audience and appears to have begun a new annual tradition for the festival reaching virtually beyond Aspen.
The full livestream schedule:
* Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Special Event: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
Performed by a lineup of remarkable soloists and the extraordinary chorus Kantorei, with Music Director Robert Spano conducting, the Ninth will remind fans of the greatness and possibilities of the human spirit.
* July 11, 4 p.m.: Aspen Festival Orchestra
A trio of musical powerhouses — Stefan Jackiw, Alisa Weilerstein, and Inon Barnatan — join forces for Beethoven’s “Triple” Concerto. Conducted by Ludovic Morlot, the program also features Hannah Kendall’s “The Spark Catchers” and Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements.
* July 17, 7 p.m.: Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”
This abridged, concert performance of Mozart’s beloved work features a witty narration and will be sung by the fellows of the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS program, led by co-artistic directors Renee Fleming and Patrick Summers. Edward Berkeley directs.
* July 23, 5:30 p.m.: Aspen Chamber Symphony
Music Festalumnus and pianist, conductor, and composer Tengku Irfan joins forces with Aspen Conducting Academy alumna Gemma New in a concert that revels in the colors of music from three centuries with Ravel’s Piano Concerto, Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, and Samy Moussa’s Polarlicht: Etude No. 2 for Orchestra.
* Aug. 13, 5:30 p.m.: Aspen Chamber Symphony
Aspen alumna Joyce Yang takes on Liszt’s ravishing and virtuosic First Piano Concerto under the baton of Music Fest alumnus and conductor Roderick Cox. The program also includes Kodály’s whirling Dances of Galánta and Brahms’s Third Symphony.
* Aug. 22, 4 p.m.: Aspen Festival Orchestra
Violinist Augustin Hadelich and Music Fest music director Robert Spano bring the 2021 season to a close with Bruch’s First Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.
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