ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL AND SCHOOL RECEIVES $2.5 MILLION GIFT TO UNDERWRITE SUNDAY CONCERT SERIES

News Release

PRESS CONTACTS
Janice Szabo, PR Manager
970-205-5071, jszabo@aspenmusic.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 21, 2016

ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL AND SCHOOL RECEIVES $2.5 MILLION GIFT TO UNDERWRITE SUNDAY CONCERT SERIES

Gift will name the Allison and Warren Kanders Sunday Concert Series

ASPEN, Colo.—The Aspen Music Festival and School announced today that Board of Trustees member Allison Kanders and her husband Warren Kanders have given the institution an endowment gift of $2.5 million. This gift to the AMFS “Where Dreams Begin” campaign will underwrite the Festival’s Sunday afternoon concerts, which will now be named the “Allison and Warren Kanders Sunday Concert Series.”

Says AMFS President and CEO Alan Fletcher, “We are very grateful to the Kanders for their support of the Festival and School. Their generosity will help ensure this institution’s pre-eminence as a cultural arts institution and will support signature aspects of the organization such as the unique—and invaluable—experience of students and faculty performing side-by-side in the Sunday orchestral concerts.”

Mrs. Kanders serves as vice chair of acquisitions of painting and sculpture at the Whitney Museum of Art and serves on the board of trustees at the Aspen Art Museum. She joined the Aspen Music Festival and School board of trustees in 2013.

“The Sunday Concert Series is particularly meaningful to us as a family through the incredible music performed by students and artist faculty,” says Mrs. Kanders. “The music allows us to meditate and takes us on a journey in a magnificent setting. It will be an honor to be associated with such memorable performances and to partner with an organization so important for our Aspen community.” 

Mr. Kanders serves on the board of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Winston Churchill Foundation. He is the executive chairman of Black Diamond, Inc., a company that manufactures and supplies armored military vehicles as well as other safety products for defense, homeland security, and commercial markets; and is also president of Kanders & Company, Inc., a private investment firm. 

The Allison and Warren Kanders Sunday Concert Series kicks off July 3 with Music Director Robert Spano leading opera superstar and Aspen alumna Renée Fleming and the Aspen Festival Orchestra with Fleming singing Strauss’ “Four Last Songs.” Other series highlights include Midori performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major (July 17), Yefim Bronfman playing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor (August 14), and the season finale of Orff’s epic Carmina burana (August 21).


About the Aspen Music Festival and School

The Aspen Music Festival and School is the United States’ premier classical music festival, presenting more than 400 musical events during its eight-week summer season in Aspen. The institution draws top classical musicians from around the world to this Colorado mountain retreat for an unparalleled combination of performances and music education. Many events are free, and seating on the David Karetsky Music Lawn and in the Music Garden is always free.

More than 630 music students from more than 40 U.S. states and more than 40 countries come each summer to play in five orchestras, sing, conduct, compose and study with approximately 130 renowned artist-faculty. Students represent the field’s best talent. Many have already begun their professional careers; others are on the cusp.

Renowned alumni include violinists Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Cho-Liang Lin, Robert McDuffie, Midori, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Gil Shaham; pianists Ingrid Fliter, Orli Shaham, Conrad Tao, Yuja Wang, Wu Han and Joyce Yang; conductors Marin Alsop, James Conlon, James Levine, Leonard Slatkin and Joshua Weilerstein; composers William Bolcom, Philip Glass, Augusta Read Thomas, Bright Sheng and Joan Tower; vocalists Jamie Barton, Danielle de Niese, Sasha Cooke, Renée Fleming, and Dawn Upshaw; cellists Lynn Harrell and Alisa Weilerstein; guitarist Sharon Isbin; performer Peter Schickele and bassist Edgar Meyer.

Aspen Music Festival and School
225 Music School Road, Aspen, CO  81611
www.aspenmusicfestival.com
970-925-9042 box office | 970-925-3254 administration
Also see the AMFS on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

###

High resolution photos are available at www.aspenmusicfestival.com (media) or upon request.