Aspen Music Festival: Days of Lessons and Performances

Today, the topic of this article is from Aspen, Colorado, where Aspen Music Festival and special summer lessons were held from June 18th. I too landed at the small airport of Aspen as a member of the Opera Center. I would like to look back into the fulfilling 2 months during my summer vacation.

Aspen is a small richly green town placed on Rocky Mountains. The height of buildings is limited to 3 stories so that the beautiful view could be seen from anywhere in town. Or the design of the town is unified to pioneer-age style. Here, time runs slowly, far away from everyday noise of a big city.

There are many concerts and seasonal classes also in Japan, but that of Aspen has the history that goes back 49 years. There are classes for voice, instruments (I found a classical guitar course), conducting, composing, and a rare recording engineer training course! Some 800 students, not only from the US but from around the world, gather to participate in these classes. Many Japanese students were also there. Some would study abroad shortly, some were there to study under their favorite teacher during the summer vacation, or some were there to try and see how well they could do outside Japan. The sight of all these students meet and going back was a totally different sight from that of Juilliard.

I belonged to Aspen Opera Center, which was a training course for students aiming at becoming opera singers. 60 members gathered after auditions held in major cities. Main program of the course were 3 opera performances plus extension courses held every Saturday. At the preceding audition, the roles in opera were also decided.

Aspen Music Festival is supported by many sponsors. Performers are exempted from tuition, accommodation, and meal's payment. In the past, I once had bitterly declined a study course despite my success in the audition, because of expensive tuition. When I saw the system in Aspen, I again felt that America was a country where you will be given a chance, if you were good.

Unlike classes in Juilliard, everyday practice in Aspen was always aiming at the final performance. Every student tried to practice as efficiently and as much as possible. I thought this experience was what I would go through when I become a professional opera singer.

(At the Benedict Music Tent: Concerts by orchestra were held here every Sunday)

The conductors I played together were first-class artists. But they treated the students like old friends, because they were once students like us. And through their friendly advice, we all gained a huge "souvenir" for ourselves. I hope I can ripen and make the best part of it my asset before coming back to Aspen next year.