Broadway Stars Descend on Aspen for Guys and Dolls
BY CINDY HIRSCHFELD Festival Focus Writer
Often heralded as the perfect Broadway musical, the Damon Runyon–inspired Guys and Dolls has charmed audiences since its 1950 debut, turning a colorful New York City underworld of glib con men, highstakes gamblers, and dancers into high comedy. But the show, which comes to Aspen as “Guys and Dolls in Concert” July 13 and 14 at the Klein Music Tent, also goes deeper, following its leads through a journey of self-discovery and transformation.
“It’s a beautifully constructed story,” says Theatre Aspen Producing Director Jed Bernstein of the musical, which will be directed by two-time Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun. “At a time when there is so much uncertainty in the world,” he adds, “dropping an anchor where we can celebrate these larger-thanlife characters seemed like a fun and engaging choice.”
The concert marks the seventh annual collaboration between the Aspen Music Festival and School and Theatre Aspen, which expands this year to include acclaimed local company Dance Aspen.
“It’s perfectly structured,” echoes Broadway star Julie Benko (Eliza Doolittle in last year’s My Fair Lady), who plays Sarah Brown, the
“At a time when there is so much uncertainty in the world, dropping an anchor where we can celebrate these largerthan-life characters seemed like a fun and engaging choice.”
Jed Bernstein Theatre Aspen Producing Director
upstanding missionary wooed by highroller Sky Masterson. “The jokes are funny, the music and lyrics are fantastic, and the character I play is so much fun.”
In fact, Benko appeared as Sarah in a Shakespeare Theatre Company production of Guys and Dolls in Washington, D.C., last December (before temporarily joining the cast of Ragtime, which just won a Tony for best Broadway revival, earlier this year). The role allows Benko to employ her impressive vocal range, from traditional soprano and the jazzy “If I Were a Bell” to “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” which combines elements of both of these styles as Sarah integrates a new way of being.
One of the show’s messages, says Benko, is that people are more likely to change through love than fear—a key realization for Sarah. “I love that I get to explore that vocally,” she says, “expressing it through the different colors of my voice and the different colors of the music.”
Broadway standout Ryan Vasquez (who recently starred in the national touring company of Moulin Rouge) will appear as Sky, a role to which he, too, returns. When the California native was 11, he played Sky in a production of Guys and Dolls at the prestigious Children’s Musical Theater San Jose. Now in his 30s, Vasquez say he’s pleased to have
‘Ferocious
BY DAVID HOYT Festival Focus Writer
It is a treat to see Alisa Weilerstein, one of the leading cellists of her generation, perform anywhere. Having graced many of the world’s greatest stages, music critics simply rave about her “ferocious talent.” But there is something special about seeing her on an Aspen stage. Weilerstein, more than almost any other musician, grew up at the Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS), so to see her perform in Aspen represents a homecoming of sorts.
“The first summer of my life was spent in Aspen. I was literally a three-month-old baby,” says Weilerstein, whose parents, violinist Donald Weilerstein and pianist Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, were AMFS artist-faculty members. “Then I became a student when I was 13, for about five summers in a row. I came back as a guest artist when I was 26, and I’ve gone every year or every other year since then.”
Aspen Public Radio to Broadcast Sunday Concerts for the 2026 Season
Aspen Public Radio (APR) will once again partner with the AMFS to present live broadcasts of the Aspen Festival Orchestra’s Sunday concerts, beginning July 5.
Now in its fourth year, the collaboration offers listeners access to these iconic Aspen performances via 91.5 FM in Aspen, 88.9 FM throughout the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys, and online at aspenpublicradio.org, and through the APR app.
Longtime classical host Chris Mohr will lead the broadcasts and provide daily updates through “Festival Notes,” airing each morning. Weekly “High Notes” discussions will be available for streaming on APR’s website.
“Coming back to Aspen is very nostalgic I’ve gained so much repertoire and so many projects there,” she continues. “Aspen has always been a haven for great music-making, for education, for making lifelong friendships and musical relationships, and it’s also just one of the most fun places in the world. So why wouldn’t I want to keep going back?”
This summer, audiences will have the opportunity to appreciate Weilerstein’s prodigious talents in two very different programs: in a July 9 recital with pianist Inon Barnatan in Harris Concert Hall and performing Dvořák’s much-loved Cello Concerto on July 12 in the Klein Music Tent.
Of her productive musical partnership with Barnatan, Weilerstein says: “I think Inon and I have now gone through basically the entire cello-and-piano repertoire; we’ve been playing together for 18 or 19 years already. We’ve also become very close personal friends, so it’s always a great
Cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Inon Barnatan are good friends and frequent collaborators at the AMFS and elsewhere. See them in recital in Harris Concert Hall on July 9.
Julie Benko, shown above as Eliza Doolittle in last year’s production of My Fair Lady, returns this summer as Sarah Brown in the AMFS/Theatre Aspen co-production of Guys and Dolls in Concert on July 13 and 14.
BLAKE NELSON
CARLIN MA
A Legacy of Excellence: 25 Years of Teaching in Aspen
BY EMMA KIRBY Marketing Manager
“Where does the time go?”
Aspen has a way of pulling people in, and those who enjoy a summer of music at the Aspen Music Festival and School often find themselves making their way back for more—sometimes, a quarter of a century more.
This summer marks 25 years of teaching in Aspen for two legendary artist-faculty members: tubist Warren Deck and violinist David Halen. Both have cultivated esteemed careers and risen to the top of the classical music world; both highlight Aspen as a cornerstone of their personal and professional lives; and both first came to Aspen as students at the beginning of their careers.
“We love when our students make a transition into the major profession, and then when they get to the top of the profession and come back as faculty, that’s the ultimate,” says Munroe President and CEO Alan Fletcher.
After 25 years of teaching in Aspen, they’re both as eager to return this summer as their first.
“Once I started going to Aspen I decided to stop going elsewhere,” says Halen, who is the concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony and teaches at the University of Michigan during the school year. “There’s probably no more musical offering in the country than there is in Aspen. Culturally, it’s the most active place in the United States, if not on earth.” Halen feels “altruistic” about his teaching at the AMFS: “we’re passing a torch” to the next generation of musicians, he says.
Deck’s first summer teaching in Aspen came at an important time in his career when an injury forced him to step down from performing. While he initially felt “fraudulent asking these students to do these things that I could no longer do,” it quickly became clear that his teaching career would grow even more illustrious. “Warren was a legendary tubist at the New York Philharmonic and has now become one of the most important teachers of tuba in the world,” says Fletcher. He returned to teach the next summer and the rest is history: “It’s just been a great time ever since,” says Deck.
During his AMFS tenure, Deck has positioned the tuba program at the AMFS as arguably the most prestigious in the country. Of the most recent major orchestral tuba openings in the country, (Los Angeles Philharmonic, Saint Louis Symphony, and the National Symphony), all three winners have been Deck’s students. Other recent alums have countless prestigious teaching and playing positions across the country. “It’s an embarrassment of riches,” says Deck. “I’ve loved every student I’ve ever had here.”
AMFS connections run deep throughout the music world. Deck joked that his phone bill was “astronomical” from having gone to Aspen: “it’s just the price you pay to keep in touch.”
Halen, who works closely with Aspen Conducting Academy alumnus Leonard Slatkin in Saint Louis, says that the “relationships that I developed in Aspen last a lifetime.” Together, Halen and Slatkin have “really developed [the Saint Louis Symphony] into a world class orchestra,” says Fletcher. When asked what keeps them coming back each summer, both replied—without pause—“the students.” Says Halen, “it’s about what we’re able to pass on generationally to the people who inherit the space.”
Halen and Deck’s 25-year legacies at the AMFS will be celebrated in a private ceremony on July 19 at the Klein Music Tent. They’ll be added to a list of 24 other distinguished musicians who have dedicated a quarter century of their lives to their work in Aspen.
FRIDAYS FOR YOUNG ADULTS, 19-35!
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AMFS tuba artist-faculty member Warren Deck marks 25 years of teaching in Aspen this summer.
COURTESY PHOTO
AMFS artist-faculty member David Halen celebrates 25 years of teaching aspiring musicians this summer.
COURTESY PHOTO
Baroque Music ‘Reflected in a Fun House Mirror’
BY EMMA KIRBY Marketing Manager
If one were to take a musical time machine from the 20th century to the Baroque and back, what rare and creative connections would be made? Audiences can discover these intriguingly interwoven musical dimensions when internationally renowned pianist Inon Barnatan, a frequent guest artist of the Aspen Music Festival and School, brings his Time Traveler Suite recital to Harris Concert Hall on July 11.
“The concept is to have a recital in which music is traced through many generations, even centuries,” says Munroe President and CEO Alan Fletcher, who calls Barnatan “one of the most thoughtful, inspiring thinkers about music programming anywhere.”
Barnatan assembled his Time Traveler Suite in the manner of a Baroque suite, which traditionally progresses through various dance styles and tempos with each movement. A common example is a work like one of Bach’s cello suites, which begin with a Prelude and then proceed through a stately Allemande, a triple-meter Courante, a slow Sarabande, a lively Gigue, and so on.
With the Time Traveler Suite, “Baroque music goes through a fun house mirror,” says Barnatan. “I thought I would take that structure and build a program that starts from the Baroque but goes throughout the centuries, all
the way into the 21st century. Each movement of the suite would be by a different composer from a different era, but all inspired by the sound of the Baroque,” says Inon. “They all have the feel of the [Baroque dance] they’re supposed to represent.”
Originally compiled for solo piano, the Time Traveler Suite that Barnatan is presenting in Aspen features a small chamber group—a nod to the instrumental dance style that originated in the Baroque period.
Weilerstein and Barnatan: ‘a signature recital of the summer’
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pleasure to spend time together and to collaborate. We basically just look for music that we love and that works well together, and that works in transcribed form, and that’s how we program, to make a cohesive whole.”
This recital program features transcriptions of works by Brahms and Shostakovich that were not originally written for the cello. “I think it’s going to be one of the signature recitals of the whole summer,” says Munroe President and CEO Alan Fletcher. “The opening of the concert is a selection of Shostakovich [piano] preludes arranged by Lera Auerbach, who was a student in our composition program. Inon is also
the kind of artist who is always making brilliant arrangements and creating new work, and I think the group of Brahms songs they’re doing reflects his inspiration.”
For her performance with the Aspen Festival Orchestra, Weilerstein returns to a staple of the cello repertoire, but with a unique twist: the conductor for Sunday’s program is her husband, Rafael Payare. (In 2012, she performed the same work in the same venue, but with her brother, Joshua Weilerstein, on the podium.) “This summer is the first time we’ve presented Alisa in concert with her husband conducting,” Fletcher says. “We’ve hosted each of them many times, but they’ve actually never worked together in Aspen. We’re very excited about that pairing.”
Dvořák’s concerto, written during his time teaching and working in New York City shortly before the turn of the 20th century, has remained popular for over a century due to its emotional depth and technical demands.
“The Dvořák is arguably the greatest and most significant cello concerto ever written, in any era,” says Weilerstein. “It’s a kind of perfect piece—emotionally, intellectually, structurally, and in terms of orchestration and how imaginative it is.”
“And of course,” she continues, “working with my husband is fabulous. We’ve also gone through much of the cello-and-orchestra concerto repertoire together, and we’ve performed the Dvořák together several times, so it’s great to come home with it, as it were, and to be able to do that together.”
The recital starts squarely in Baroque with a movement of J.S. Bach’s quintessential Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, then moves to Handel and Rameau, before slowly evolving into Ravel, Stravinsky, Thomas Adès, and more. The suite completes its circle by returning to Bach for the final dance movement.
Mirroring the style of a traditional Baroque suite, the individual works that comprise the first half of the recital— some written almost 300 years apart—will be played without pause. By playing these works in close succession, Barnatan says “it feels like it’s one piece,” through which he aims to show a musical evolution, not sharp contrast. “Just by listening, you will get it. You will get the connections between these pieces from all over the world and all over history,” says Fletcher.
Audience members might be surprised by how many parallels Barnatan draws across the centuries. For example, by pairing Stravinsky’s Baroque-inspired Suite Italienne and Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin with their respective Baroque influences, one can hear how “the composers [are looking] at the past through their own prism,” says Barnatan.
Barnatan sees his recital program as a journey where one doesn’t “need to know anything about music to hear these connections and to feel when something is evolving.” It’s a recital that explores and transcends musical time.
Guys and Dolls
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another, more mature crack at the role, especially given his reverence for the show’s legacy. “These are characters who are imperfect, who are anti-heroes,” he says. “There’s a lot of humanness in [Sky], who is trying to figure out his moral compass.”
As a master’s student in technology and ethics at Fordham University (in addition to his acting career), Vasquez appreciates the focus on moral clarity, which he sees dwindling in our fast-paced, high-tech world. “These things have stood the test of time for a reason,” he says of the musical’s themes.
In addition to the appeal of Guys and Dolls itself, the performers relish the opportunity to perform with a full orchestra, conducted by Broadway vet Andy Einhorn. “It’s such a treat,” notes Vasquez. “Now things are so pared down [on Broadway] that even having a pit of more than 10 musicians is a huge luxury.”
And, of course, there’s the simple draw of coming to this Rocky Mountain haven. For Vasquez, it will be a first-time visit, though he’s spent time elsewhere in the state, as his mom is a Colorado native. Benko, who has performed cabaret in Aspen in addition to My Fair Lady, looks forward to scoring more deals at local thrift shops. She’s also excited, of course, about working with an outstanding cast and musicians in such a gorgeous setting. “It’s like being a kid and going to summer camp and getting to do the thing you love.”
Cellist Alisa Weilerstein performs a recital with Inon Barnatan on July 9, and with the Aspen Festival Orchestra in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto— which she calls “a perfect piece”—on July 12.
MARCO BORGGREVE
Pianist Inon Barnatan, a frequent guest at the Aspen Music Festival, takes music lovers through centuries of music in his Harris Concert Hall recital on July 11.
ELLE LOGAN
ELLE LOGAN
Broadway veteran Andy Einhorn conducts a full orchestra for Guys and Dolls in Concert on July 13 and 14. He also hosts an evening of music from The Great American Songbook on July 21.