It all started in Aspen in 1964. My father had died a year and a half earlier, and I felt completely adrift. I was fairly certain I would become an English teacher, but friends and musicians kept urging me to consider conducting. That is how I found myself in the Rockies, studying Barber’s Adagio for Strings with Walter Susskind.
That summer changed everything. The Barber would eventually become one of my signature works, a piece I have performed around the world on occasions of remembrance and other programs calling for its quiet, serene tone.
I returned to Aspen in subsequent summers to continue my studies and became assistant conductor of the festival. Over the years, I have refined different aspects of my own teaching style there. I now fulfill the role of senior statesman and the oldest performer taking part in the festival’s eight weeks of concerts.
Having spent time in Boulder and Breckenridge in the weeks leading up to this engagement, I assumed the altitude in Aspen would not be an issue. I was wrong. Maybe it was the ultra-dry air, but every now and then, a wave of dizziness crept in. Eventually it passed, and by the time the first rehearsal began, everything was back in order.
My concert was with the Aspen Chamber Symphony, which was formed in 1968. At the time, the school was beginning to expand beyond the 125 students it had during my early years. To accommodate that growth, a second orchestra was created, and within two years, the school had added more than 200 young musicians.
I conducted both the festival and chamber orchestras in the early years. Today, the smaller group is actually a fairly large ensemble, with five or six double basses, depending on the requirements of the music. My program included Schubertiade, a new saxophone concerto by Joan Tower called Love Returns, and Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony, not exactly chamber-sized repertoire.
The three Colorado orchestras I led this summer each had different configurations of musicians. At the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, the orchestra comprised primarily professional players, while the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge was all students. The Aspen Chamber Symphony included principals from orchestras all over the country playing alongside students in each section. The young people had an extraordinary set of excellent leaders to guide them and help them understand what playing in an orchestra really is like.
Rehearsals were focused, and it was clear from day one that all would go well. My piece elicited smiles as the musicians played various works by Schubert, accompanied by some incidental music by yours truly.
Steven Banks was the outstanding sax soloist in Love Returns. Joan Tower and I have been working together since the early 1980s, and she remains a literal towering figure in American music. This piece, written in memory of her husband, offers reflective music in addition to elements that make her work so distinctive. It is not easy finding a true voice in composition, but Joan is always recognizable.
Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony rounded out the evening. Since the program was not so complicated in terms of its technical demands, we could truly focus on the style and sound of the orchestra. Everyone gave their all. With marvelous solo playing from the English Horn, the clarinet, and the horn section, there were indeed moments to savor. In particular, we managed to maintain a five-second silence as the final chord faded away.
Aspen is always a place to reconnect with other musicians and friends. Each week brings a new group in addition to those faculty members who spend most of the summer here. Visiting with the likes of Edgar Meyer, Robert Spano, Sharon Isbin, Elizabeth Schulze, Stéphane Denève, Harvey Steiman, and Gil Shaham made for many hours of reminiscing and storytelling.
In addition, some members of the Nashville Symphony were playing in the orchestra. Spending time with them in this setting gave us the opportunity to get to know each other before we begin our journey together in September.
Kennedy Center Watch
August 1: President Trump announced further plans for the venue, including fashion-show programming, a marina to improve yacht access on the Potomac River, as well as luxury restaurants. What this has to do with the performing arts is a mystery.
Meanwhile, as the month began, there was still no statement clarifying whether the center will be closed for two years. The National Symphony Orchestra has been unable to announce its season, supposedly due to begin in mid-September, because the board has not approved a budget.
August 10: A Washington, D.C., Superior Court judge ordered the Kennedy Center to pay more than $250,000 to jazz musician Chuck Redd, who cancelled the annual Christmas Eve performance he had hosted at the venue for nearly two decades. Redd called off the concert after President Trump’s name was added to the facade in December.
Following the cancellation, the Kennedy Center said it would seek $1 million in damages from Redd. In June, Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier dismissed the center’s breach-of-contract lawsuit, granting Redd’s motion under an anti-SLAPP a law intended to protect speech on matters of public interest.
August 13: The Kennedy Center Board voted to put Trump’s name back on the building, but with a different twist. The signage would now read, “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” It is unclear whether this still violates the federal judge’s ruling on naming rights.
In addition, the board continued to push for the center’s two-year closure, which a judge will review later this month. It was still unknown whether the board would approve a budget that would allow the NSO to announce a season.
It was becoming clear that the center was unlikely to open in September. It also seemed the adjunct facility, called The Reach, would be used for rehearsals and maybe some performances.
August 18: The National Symphony Orchestra finally announced much of its 2026-27 season, just six weeks before opening night. They will play offsite in local venues across D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. In addition, they will do various tour dates and residencies in other states, something that they did annually during my tenure.
The operations will apparently be funded by both the Kennedy Center Board and the orchestra itself. Exactly how the series and tickets will be available was not entirely clear, but it will certainly be made public as soon as possible.
Pops, motion picture, and educational events were not announced.
The press release was issued on the same day that the orchestra performed at the Hollywood Bowl.
August 19: The Kennedy Center Board revealed the planned renovations. Some are cosmetic and others functional. Since they are already two months behind the projected start date, the closure could now last more than two years.
The senator who asked for the president’s name to be removed from the building has now filed a suit to prevent the workaround title (Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump) from being implemented.
The judge who ruled against closure of the building has yet to render judgment on the center’s future.
August 24: Lawyers for the Kennedy Center said that the building may need to be demolished and replaced with an open-air performance space if there is not extensive renovation to the facility. They said the center “will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down.” It is unclear if this has been discussed by the board.
***
During my first year in Aspen, there were just four student conductors. Today, there are 11 or 12, and sometimes more. They study through the Aspen Conducting Academy and receive a generous amount of podium time, including one concert each week with a separate orchestra devoted almost entirely to the repertoire assigned to them.
The logistics are not simple. Music Director Robert Spano has to divide the podium time as evenly as possible among the conductors. In addition, they take part in separate score-study sessions and are expected to attend other rehearsals and concerts throughout the week.
I spent the week working with them on Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Four conductors each took a movement of the Beethoven. Because the scherzo is relatively brief, we had to find a fair way to balance the time. We decided to take the repeat in the final movement, with the conductor of the third movement also leading the exposition of the finale before another conductor stepped onto the podium for the repeat.
I remain an old-school teacher, though one who understands the newer expectations around working with students. If something is done well, there is usually little for me to add. When it is not, my responsibility is to help find a solution. These days, even a small physical adjustment to a conductor’s arms or hands requires permission, which is both understandable and, for someone of my generation, still a little curious. I had never quite thought of teaching as a branch of chiropractic medicine.
With the exception of concertmaster Ellen dePasquale, the orchestra was made up entirely of students, including some of the conductors who also play instruments required for that week’s repertoire. I often ask the musicians to point out where the conductors could be more helpful. In a professional setting, this can invite frank, and sometimes fearless, commentary. Students, however, are usually more reserved. With a little encouragement, a few of them eventually chimed in.
For the dress rehearsal, I asked those who were not performing to act as assistant conductors and listen for balance, since we had only one rehearsal in the tent. We also had a brief lesson on stage presence. My mother used to say that the first impression you make is not your conducting but how you enter and bow.
Sitting in the audience and watching eight of the participants, I felt both proud and a little nervous. Nothing went wrong, and the audience responded warmly. We had come a long way from our first meeting, and I left the mountains feeling that we had accomplished something worthwhile.
Next, I will travel to Nashville to begin an adventure I never anticipated.
See you next month,
Leonard