Aspen Music Festival talks to PSO about ’16 concerts
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is in discussions with the Aspen Music Festival and School about the possibility of performing at the prestigious Colorado festival.
The residency would include two orchestra concerts and one chamber music concert, said Aspen’s president and CEO Alan Fletcher. It could take place as early as next summer.
The orchestra programs would be led by music director Manfred Honeck, and the chamber music concert would feature multiple groups from the orchestra, Mr. Fletcher said.
It hasn’t invited a professional symphony orchestra there since 1949, he said.
The discussions are in the early stages.
“We have not made an agreement or a contract, so we’re working on this possibility,” he said.
“It’s a very interesting project, but there’s so little to say, because we’re mid-discussions,” said Declan McGovern, the PSO’s vice president of orchestra operations and general manager. “It would be great for an orchestra of this caliber to collaborate with a festival of that caliber over the summer.”
While it gives several performances over the summer, the PSO does not have a summertime home akin to Boston’s Tanglewood or Cleveland’s Blossom. Many PSO musicians play at festivals during the summer, including Aspen, Mr. McGovern noted.
Aspen is in talks with other top orchestras about the residency, and “the whole project will depend on funding” from the festival’s side, said Mr. Fletcher, who is the former head of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Music and has composed a few works for the PSO.
Some of the festival’s five orchestras include professional musicians playing side-by-side with students, so it hasn’t welcomed a professional orchestra since its first season, Mr. Fletcher said. The eight-week festival would add one week to accommodate program - ming from a professional orchestra, he said.
Founded in 1949, the Aspen festival presents performances by renowned artists and serves as a training ground for student musicians every summer. This year’s roster includes violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, the Emerson String Quartet and Wynton Marsalis with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
The festival draws 70,000 audience members, according to its website.