Aspen Music Festival

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. 5:00 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. Music Director Robert Spano will lead the 2020 Aspen Music Festival. The festival theme will be announced in early 2020. The performances will highlight the theme with world-class musicians. 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 buffet welcome dinner with coffee, tea, iced tea, lemonade, water included; other beverages available for purchase.

Evening: After dinner, we’ll board our motorcoach and attend a ticketed concert. Our program was planned far in advance when details of performances were not available. When confirmed, the information will be posted on the Road Scholar website under this program number and will also be included in preparatory materials sent following enrollment. We’ll return to the hotel after the performance.

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. Afterwards, we will be treated with a special student performance on campus. 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: Back in the hotel conference room, we’ll attend a featured presentation given by our expert staff discussing last night's performance and the next two performances. We will learn and discuss how the festival theme relates to the performances, as well as learn about the composers and the featured guest artists.

Dinner: Hotel buffet.

Evening: After dinner, we’ll board our motorcoach and attend a ticketed concert. Our program was planned far in advance when details of performances were not available. When confirmed, the information will be posted on the Road Scholar website under this program number and will also be included in preparatory materials sent following enrollment. 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 with an expert geologist to Maroon Bells Lake at an elevation of 9,580 feet. Providing one of the most memorable and photographed scenes in the Rockies, the lake occupies a basin that was sculpted by Ice Age glaciers and later dammed by landslide and rockfall debris from the steep slopes above the valley floor. After a short lecture by a resident geologist, we will walk around the lake or sit and enjoy the scenery. Afterwards, we will leave Maroon Bells Lake 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: Next, docents will lead us on a special 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. After returning to the hotel, the remainder of the afternoon will be free.

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.

Evening: After dinner, we’ll board our motorcoach and attend a ticketed concert. Our program was planned far in advance when details of performances were not available. When confirmed, the information will be posted on the Road Scholar website under this program number and will also be included in preparatory materials sent following enrollment. We’ll then return to the hotel.

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 Master Class 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 Scenes 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 or time to enjoy the beautiful outdoor pool and spa. 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: Hotel buffet.

Evening: After dinner, we’ll board our motorcoach and attend a ticketed concert. Our program was planned far in advance when details of performances were not available. When confirmed, the information will be posted on the Road Scholar website under this program number and will also be included in preparatory materials sent following enrollment. 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 given by our expert staff, during which we’ll review last night's performance and preview the concluding performance this afternoon. We will continue to discuss how the festival theme relates to the performances as well as learn about the composers and the featured guest artists.

Lunch: Hotel buffet.

Afternoon: Following lunch, we’ll travel by motorcoach to the Hotel Jerome for a docent-led look at the historic hotel and then take an expert historian-led walk through the beautiful Victorian era neighborhoods. When Jerome B. Wheeler built the hotel in 1889, it was one of the first buildings west of the Mississippi River to be fully lit by electricity, making it a marvel of the modern age. We’ll end our exploration at the Music Festival Performance Hall. After a short break for independent exploration of the beautifully landscaped festival grounds, we will attend a pre-concert lecture by the Orchestra Conductor in Harris Concert Hall. Robert Spano has been music director of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2012. An accomplished and prominent conductor, he has led the ensemble to heightened levels of international recognition. 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 buffet 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!