Aspen Public Radio will partner with the Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) for a third year to broadcast AMFS Sunday concerts live each week throughout the greater Roaring Fork Valley, beginning Sunday, July 6, 2025.
“The Sunday orchestra concerts at the Music Tent are a signature Aspen experience and have been since 1949. We are so pleased to partner with Aspen Public Radio to bring these concerts to the full community--and beyond--with free live broadcasts,” says Laura Smith, AMFS Vice President of Marketing and Communications.
The weekly broadcast will be hosted by longtime classical music host Chris Mohr, allowing listeners wherever they are, the opportunity to listen to these iconic afternoon concerts live on Aspen Public Radio at 91.5 in Aspen and 88.9 throughout the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys, from Aspen to Glenwood Springs, Rifle to Eagle; online at aspenpublicradio.org; and through the Aspen Public Radio app.
“The highlights of every Aspen Music Festival season are the Sunday afternoon concerts with the mighty Aspen Festival Orchestra at the Tent,” shared Chris Mohr in regards to his anticipated return to the host chair.
He continued, “Over 100 musicians gather together on the stage or even around the audience, compared to 80 in a typical city orchestra. Most orchestras can't afford all the violins and cellos that get assembled here week after week, and the lush sound coming from the stage just takes my breath away. The conductors and soloists are absolutely world class! I look forward to another season of hosting these iconic concerts Sundays at 4:00pm on Aspen Public Radio. If you can't make it to the Tent, this is a great way to enjoy some of the greatest music making in the country on your radio or as a livestream.”
Mohr will also be producing and broadcasting “Festival Notes” each morning to inform the community what is happening at AMFS each day, beginning Monday, June 30; and the station will be archiving each week’s “High Notes” lecture series event alongside 2022, 2023, and 2024 recordings of the series as part of Aspen Public Radio’s “Ideas, Speakers & Lectures” initiative, available at aspenpublicradio.org/high-notes.
“We are so excited to be part of this landmark year at the Aspen Music Festival and School, broadcasting these concerts alongside daily announcements of what not to miss, and archiving High Notes online alongside a remarkable collection of community events available for on-demand listening,” shared Breeze Richardson, Executive Director of Aspen Public Radio.
She continued, “connecting listeners familiar and new to this amazing local content for free is part of our mission, and something we are truly honored to be doing.”
Concerts to be carried live take place at 4pm each Sunday and will include:
- July 6 —Festival Orchestra: Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with Joyce Yang
- July 13 —Festival Orchestra: Barnatan and Conlon
- July 20 —Festival Orchestra: Tod und Verklärung by Richard Strauss and Ravel's Shéhérazade
- July 27 —Festival Orchestra: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto
- August 3 —Conducting Academy Orchestra: Shaham Plays Bruch Violin Concerto
- August 10 —Festival Orchestra: Hadelich Plays Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
- August 17 —Festival Orchestra: Ravel’s Boléro, Alisa Weilerstein
- August 24 —Festival Orchestra: Beethoven’s “Emperor” and Holst’s “The Planets”
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ABOUT ASPEN PUBLIC RADIO
Aspen Public Radio is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with the mission to support, nourish, and enrich our community by providing informative, entertaining, and educational radio and digital programming in a reliable and professional manner. Founded in 1980 as Roaring Fork Public Radio Translator, first broadcasting from Sy Coleman’s living room in 1981, Aspen Public Radio has now grown into one of the most relied upon news institutions in the Roaring Fork Valley. The station is located in the Red Brick Center for the Arts at 110 E. Hallam Street, Suite 134, Aspen, Colorado.
You can listen to Aspen Public Radio at 91.5FM and 88.9FM, along with other repeater signals depending on location throughout the Roaring Fork Valley, or by streaming the station at aspenpublicradio.org from anywhere in the world.
ABOUT THE ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL AND SCHOOL
The AMFS is the United States’ premier classical music center for performance and education, presenting more than 400 musical events during its eight-week summer season in Aspen. The organization draws top classical musicians from around the world for a rich combination of performances of orchestral works, opera, chamber music, recitals, contemporary music, works by new or previously unrecognized voices, popular genres, family events, and talks, competitions, and classes.
About 500 music students from 40 U.S. states and 40 countries come each summer to play in four orchestras, sing, conduct, compose and study with more than 100 artist-faculty members who come from the orchestras of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, the Metropolitan Orchestra, and the leading conservatories and music schools like The Juilliard School, The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and The Colburn School. Students represent the field’s best talent; many have already begun their professional careers, and others are on the cusp.
The AMFS is deeply committed to community and many events are free, including seating outside the Music Tent on the David Karetsky Music Lawn and in the Kaye Music Garden. Regular livestreams are free anywhere in the world. The AMFS also runs music programs in-school and after-school at most schools in the Roaring Fork Valley.
Renowned alumni include violinists Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Midori, Gil Shaham, and Robert McDuffie; pianists Joyce Yang, Orli Shaham, Conrad Tao, Yuja Wang, and Wu Han; conductors Marin Alsop, James Conlon, Leonard Slatkin and Joshua Weilerstein; composers William Bolcom, Philip Glass, David Lang, Augusta Read Thomas, Bright Sheng and Joan Tower; vocalists Isabel Leonard, Jamie Barton, Sasha Cooke, Danielle de Niese, Renée Fleming, Dawn Upshaw and Tamara Wilson; cellist Alisa Weilerstein; guitarist Sharon Isbin; bassist Edgar Meyer; and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.