Aspen Music Festival
Enroll with Confidence
We want your Road Scholar learning adventure to be something to look forward to—not worry about. Learn more
Protecting the Environment
We offset a portion of the emissions created by your travel. Learn more
At a Glance
What You'll Learn
- Delve deep into classical music while attending four major ticketed concerts and enjoy pre-concert lectures by music experts.
- Learn the fascinating history of Aspen Music School during an exploration of its campus, and listen to aspiring professional singers during an opera master class.
- Gain an insider’s perspective on the festival as you venture behind the scenes at its unique venues.
General Notes
Activity note: Hotel check-in available from 4:00 p.m.
Afternoon: Program Registration. 4:00 p.m. After you have your room assignment, join us at the Road Scholar table in the lobby to register with the program staff and get your welcome packet containing the up-to-date schedule that reflects any changes, other important information, and to confirm the time and location of the Orientation session. If you arrive late, please ask for your packet when you check in. Orientation. 5:30 p.m. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. Meal times will be adjusted throughout the program to accommodate performance schedules. Periods in the schedule designated as “Free time” and “At leisure” offer opportunities to do what you like and make your experience even more meaningful and memorable according to your personal preferences. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local circumstances/conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.
Dinner: At the hotel, we’ll enjoy a welcome plated dinner with coffee, tea, iced tea, lemonade, water included; other beverages available for purchase.
Evening: At leisure, continue getting to know your fellow Road Scholars and settle into the hotel.
Activity note: Getting on/off motorcoach; driving approximately 24 miles roundtrip; about 2 hours total, with stops for field trips. Walking approximately 1 mile throughout the day; maintained dirt trails and sidewalks.
Breakfast: At the hotel, we’ll have an extensive breakfast buffet featuring a variety of hot and cold items, plus milk, juice, coffee, tea, water.
Morning: We’ll depart from our hotel by motorcoach to go on a docent-led field trip to explore the Aspen Music School Campus, a former silver mine located in a beautifully landscaped and natural mountain valley. The Festival and School was founded by Elizabeth and Walter Paepcke of Chicago and is rooted in the lofty idea that it is the combination of art and nature that fosters the growth of the human spirit. This principle still informs every aspect of the organization. Substantial artistic collaboration was provided by Henri Temianka and his Paganini Quartet during the formative years. For music students, the program provides a combination of classroom and performance experiences. A broad curriculum includes playing in an orchestra, individual lessons, master classes, and recitals. Seven hundred and fifty young musicians attend the School from throughout the United States and the world. Almost 40 nations are represented, including Australia, China, Iceland, Mexico, Sweden, and Venezuela. The average age is 23.
Lunch: In the hotel restaurant, we’ll have a tasty lunch buffet with coffee, tea, iced tea, lemonade, water included; other beverages available for purchase.
Afternoon: In the hotel conference room, we’ll attend a presentation and discussion given by our knowledgeable staff regarding the festival and upcoming concert performances.
Dinner: Hotel plated dinner
Evening: After dinner, we’ll board our motorcoach and attend a ticketed festival concert We’ll then return to the hotel.
Activity note: Getting on/off motorcoach; driving approximately 24 miles roundtrip; about 2 hours total, with stops for field trips. Walking approximately 1 mile throughout the day; maintained dirt trails and sidewalks.
Breakfast: Hotel buffet.
Morning: We’ll set out from the hotel via motorcoach for a field trip to the abandoned and preserved village of Ashcroft. Founded in 1879 and at an elevation of 9,580 feet, the picturesque "ghost" town is surrounded by 14,000 feet peaks and a lush mountain valley. After a short historical presentation, we will walk around the buildings or sit and enjoy the scenery. We re-board our coach and transfer to the Aspen Music Festival Performance Campus. The Music Festival Performance Venues share the park-like campus with the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. Chicago industrialist Walter Paepcke and his wife, Elizabeth, invited intellectuals, artists and philosophers to convene in 1949 for the fledgling Institute honoring the 200th birthday of humanist Johann van Goethe. The Institute became a permanent location and fostered the creation of the annual Aspen Music Festival, Aspen Ideas Festival, and Aspen Design Festival.
Lunch: At Aspen Music Festival Performance Campus, we’ll have boxed lunches with water.
Afternoon: Docents will lead us on a special backstage walk of the Benedict Music Tent and Harris Concert Hall while teaching us about the unique history of each. Both offer distinctive settings, from the acoustically impressive Benedict Music Tent’s open-air seating of over 2,000, to the beautiful wooden interior of the nearby 500-seat Harris Concert Hall, circa 1993, which is ideal for chamber music and solo performances. We return to the hotel. Next, we’ll board our motorcoach and attend a ticketed festival concert. We’ll then return to the hotel and dinner on own.
Dinner: This meal has been excluded from the program cost and is on your own to enjoy what you like in Snowmass Village. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.
Activity note: Getting on/off motorcoach; driving approximately 16 miles roundtrip; about 1.5 hours total, with stops for field trips. Walking approximately 1 mile throughout the day; maintained dirt trails and sidewalks.
Breakfast: Hotel buffet.
Morning: We set out from our hotel by motorcoach for a morning visit to the historic Wheeler Opera House in downtown Aspen for a ticketed Opera Encounters performance. Built in 1889, the Wheeler House has been magnificently preserved and it still functions as a beautiful venue for opera and all other performances. The Opera Encounters Master Class is a favorite performance of our program featuring aspiring artists in operatic roles with on the spot critiques.
Lunch: On your own in historic downtown Aspen, one block from the Wheeler Opera House.
Afternoon: After plenty of time for lunch and to explore the historic downtown, we rendezvous at a designated location and return to our hotel by motorcoach for a rest. When people were migrating west during the Silver Boom of the 1880s, many settled in the area presently known as Aspen, named so for the abundance of aspen trees throughout the region. After the silver market crashed in 1893, the population began to steadily diminish and eventually reach less than 1,000 residents by the time the Great Depression hit. Upon the conclusion of World War II, however, Aspen was revived as a ski resort community and has been an attractive destination for visitors from all over the world.
Dinner: Early Hotel platted dinner.
Evening: After dinner, we’ll board our motorcoach and attend a ticketed festival concert. We’ll then return to the hotel.
Activity note: Getting on/off motorcoach; driving approximately 16 miles roundtrip; about 1 hour total, with stops for field trips. Walking approximately 1 mile throughout the day; maintained dirt trails and sidewalks.
Breakfast: Hotel buffet.
Morning: Meeting in the hotel conference room, we’ll settle in for a presentation and discussion given by our expert staff.
Lunch: Hotel buffet.
Afternoon: Following lunch, we’ll travel by motorcoach to the beautifully landscaped festival grounds Time will be allowed for independent exploration of the festival grounds and the newly inaugurated Bayer Museum that preserves the art and legacy of Herbert Bayer (1900–1985), an influential modern artist and designer who studied and taught at the Bauhaus before emigrating from Germany to the United States in 1938. Bayer helped lead the postwar revitalization of the city of Aspen and designed the historic Aspen Meadows campus. We will attend a pre-concert lecture by the Orchestra Conductor in Harris Concert Hall. Then, we’ll attend the afternoon's major ticketed concert featuring Aspen Festival Orchestra in the Benedict Music Tent. We’ll then return to the hotel.
Dinner: At the hotel, we’ll enjoy a delicious plated meal for our farewell dinner. Share some of your favorite experiences with new Road Scholar friends.
Evening: At leisure. Be sure to prepare for check-out and departures in the morning.
Activity note: Hotel check-out by 10:00 a.m.
Breakfast: Hotel buffet. This concludes our program.
Morning: If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys!