In Friday’s (2/5) Denver Post, Kyle MacMillan writes, “Alan Fletcher makes no attempt to sidestep the most obvious fact about the 2010 edition of the Aspen Music Festival: It’s one week shorter than usual. This summer’s season will run eight weeks instead of nine—July 1 through Aug. 22—and that trim inevitably means a reduction in the overall number of concerts, master classes and other offerings. But even with the change, the festival will still include more than 350 events in 2010, and Fletcher, the festival’s president and chief executive, believes the lineup ranks among Aspen’s best ever. … Discussions about shortening the season began a couple of years ago, in part because students and teachers at the festival’s respected school complained that nine weeks meant almost no time off between Aspen and the regular school year. Last year’s recession only added more financial pressure to pare the season, a move that will result in about $500,000 in net savings once lost income and expense cuts are figured.” Among the highlights of the season are the U.S. premiere of Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto No. 2, “American Four Seasons” with Robert McDuffie, and festival debuts by soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, cellist Sol Gabetta, violinist Leila Josefowicz, and Broadway star Audra McDonald.
Posted February 8, 2010
