Letter: Asadour Santourian, a gift to Aspen

Once again, we will have the pleasure and privilege to hear Asadour Santourian in a pre-concert talk at 3 p.m. on Sunday at Harris Hall to bring us a little closer to the composer and the composition we will hear at the 4 p.m. concert in the Benedict Tent on Sunday.

His gift as a storyteller and teacher let us experience with humor and simple words what we are about to hear, like any good storyteller as if he was your favorite uncle telling a gebruder Grimm bedtime story. Asadour paints the canvas he wants us to see with vivid colors, and the music comes to life in a totally different way. When the Festival Orchestra is playing the entire piece at the 4 p.m. concert, if we are lucky, we will not only hear the composition but maybe, for the first time, hear how the composer really wanted us to listen to his music and in what frame of mind he was when he wrote it.

Thank you, Asadour Santourian.

Michael Teschner

Punta del Estes, Uruguay, and Basalt