June 2013 Dear Students: Welcome to Aspen! Many of you are returning alumni and you probably have some great ideas about how to get the most from your summer here. Some of you are coming for the first time; I hope I can give you some advice, and, even better, I hope the returning students will help you. Aspen is a place like no other, where we hope you will see your future in music through an exciting combination of work and play. Aspen alumni who are performing everywhere in the world often feel that their experience here was a crucial entrance into a lifetime of music-making – the friendships you will form and the unique opportunities to live, learn, and perform side by side with some of the world’s leading musicians create a powerful network for your future. You are coming for an especially important and happy moment in the history of Aspen: the opening of Phase One of our new teaching campus. If you’ve been in Aspen before, you will appreciate the dramatic positive change we’ll experience being able to rehearse two orchestras on the campus and the new practice rooms (and especially the fantastic new percussion center!). If it’s your first time, I think you’ll agree that we now have teaching and practice facilities worthy of you, and comparable to our beautiful Harris Hall and Music Tent. This summer parking will be very limited on the campus, but the bus service and the opportunity to use our bikes should make transportation easy. A deeply important part of your Aspen experience should be non-musical: you should spend some serious time outdoors. People of all ages who live in Aspen tend to be very athletic, and if this describes you, you’re in luck, because the Aspen Experience is all about outdoor sports. But if you are absolutely un-athletic, you will also find plenty of company. Hike (walk) the Rio Grande Trail, ride the gondola, go rafting, sit under a tree (that’s outdoors, after all) – just take a break! It’s stunning how many of the leading musicians of the world – soloists, chamber musicians, teachers, orchestral players, arts managers, conductors – are Aspen alumni. In every case, they found something unique here. We want to help you to join them. My email is afletcher@aspenmusic.org. Most of the time, I’ll be roaming around the campus and town looking into rehearsals and meetings, but my office is in the Business Building of the Bucksbaum Campus. My assistant is Amy Baum – abaum@aspenmusic.org, 970-205-5011 and if you ever want to see me for a meeting, she can make it happen. All of us at the Aspen Music Festival and School are delighted to welcome you into a family that will be yours throughout your life in music, as you join us in an inspiring and memorable summer. Yours,
Alan Fletcher President and CEO
ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL AND SCHOOL 1 | 2013 Student Registration Packet
Aspen Music Festival and School