Musical Connections

October 7-9, 2025

The Ivalas Quartet will visit five local schools and our friends at the Roaring Fork Youth Orchestra. As alumni of the AMFS and Juilliard, they are gifted performers and educators. Students, teachers, and administrators alike will admire their ability to connect with young students through classical music.

April 14 – 16, 2025

Hailing from Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Colombia, the Juniper Winds were formed in August 2024 as the woodwind quintet-in-residence at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music. Members serve as teaching assistants and mentors for the flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon studios. The ensemble performs regular recitals as well as outreach programs in the Boulder community and beyond, including an educational residency with the Aspen Music Festival and School. The Juniper Winds are coached by Yoshi Ishikawa and other CU woodwind faculty members. The group comprises flutist Natalie Trejo, oboist Lauren Breen, clarinetist Harold Gómez-Montoya, hornist Jordan Spivack, and bassoonist Madison Triplett.

The Flatiron Five is the graduate brass quintet-in-residence at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music. Quintet members—coached by Professor of Tuba, Michael Dunn—are DMA and MM candidates hailing from Maryland, Michigan, North Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin. The Flatiron Five regularly performs a variety of music at CU and throughout the greater Boulder and Denver areas. In addition to performing, they are also avid educators and involved in composition and advocates for new music. The ensemble comprises trumpeters Adam Warnke and Connor Johnson, hornist Susannah Greenslit, trombonist Mark Bennett, and tubist Jared Hartl.

Both ensembles will visit elementary, choir and band programs from Aspen to Eagle, and perform in a free community recital on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at 5:30 PM at the Pitkin County Library.

School Visits: April 8, 2025
Public Performances: May 16, June 8 and July 27, 2025

Singer-songwriter Natalie Spears partners with the AMFS to present her celebrated album “Hymn of Wild Things” with string quartet. Performances are planned for The Arts Campus at Willits, the Palisade Roots Festival, and Carbondale Mountain Fair. Each performance will open with a special presentation of works from The Birdsong Project, an inspiring collaboration with the National Audubon Society, celebrating the intersection of art, music, and nature. Natalie and the quartet will also visit local strings classrooms to share this immersive experience with local youth.