Deep Focus: Enriching the Aspen Experience

"Sounds of Pride: Queer Musical Identities, Histories, and Belonging” by Dr. Kristin Franseen explores how music shapes queer identity in the U.S. from the from the twentieth century to today. From Copland’s Appalachian Spring, to Strayhorn’s re-imagined Tchaikovsky, to Oliveros's playful critique of Beethoven, these composers challenge norms, redefine tradition, and celebrate diverse voices in classical music.

Explore an artist's view of Vienna's musical vanguard, tragically lost before its time, in a new Deep Focus essay on Richard Gerstl. The painter had personal relationships to the composers Arnold Schoenberg, Alexander Zemlinsky, and others in their circle.

This deeply researched essay by Dr. Kirsten Paige outlines the ways humanity has defined nature as a category in opposition to the human, and what role music has played in that project. She argues that categorizing humanity (including the arts, like music) as distinct from unruly or “wild” nature has led to environmental exploitation and racial discrimination, while works by new composers wrestle with and try to overcome this legacy.

In this short essay, Professor Denise von Glahn guides the reader in noticing the ways the natural world is present in both familiar and new music, and indeed in appreciating the natural beauty that surrounds us at every concert at the Tent.

Professor Lauryn Salazar provides an introduction to the form and tradition of Mariachi, dispelling an oft-repeated but questionable story about the origins of the performance tradition, then tracing the rise of Mariachi.