This year the Aspen Music Festival (28 June– 19 August) features seven HarrisonParrott artists.

Following his previous appearances at the Aspen Festival in 2013 and 2015, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet returns this year to play Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand, conducted by Ludovic Morlot along with the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert will be held on 11 July in the Benedict Music Tent. Following the Aspen Festival, Bavouzet can be seen in recital at the Kaye Playhouse in New York as part of the International Keyboard Institute & Festival, performing a programme of Schumann and Debussy. 

Esther Yoo makes her debut at the Festival as part of Z.E.N. Trio, the chamber ensemble that also includes her fellow BBC New Generation Artists: Zhang Zuo on piano and Narek Hakhnazaryan on cello. Making their debut North American tour, they take part of the Aspen Festival with a concert on 25 July with a programme of Haydn, Mendelssohn and Dvořák’s Piano Trio, B. 166, op. 90, ​“Dumky”, which the group recorded for their first album release last year. The BBC Music Magazine has described the disc as an ​“auspicious debut” with ​“vivid playing”. The trio make their way north afterwards to Canada to take part of the Ottawa ChamberFest, which celebrates its 25^th anniversary this year.

Behzod Abduraimov returns to Aspen Festival where he will present his ​‘Love and Death’ themed recital programme on 26 July with works including Wagner/Liszt’s Isolde’s Liebestod, Liszt’s Sonata in B minor, and Prokofiev’s Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet. Following his highly successful Aspen debut in 2016 performing Rachmanimov’s Piano Concerto No.3, Behzod performs Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 with Robert Spano and the Aspen Festival Orchestra on 29 July.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet returns to Aspen Music Festival for the 2^nd year running to perform Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety with Robert Spano (13 July). As part of Bernstein’s centenary year, Thibaudet has appeared worldwide in celebration performances including in the US, China and Europe. Following Aspen, he will perform the concerto at the BBC Proms with Baltimore Symphony and Marin Alsop (27 Aug). Thibaudet’s appearance at Aspen immediately follows his performance at Vail Festival with Philadelphia Orchestra and Stephan Deneve performing Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No.5 (8 July). 

Two singers from our vocal roster also feature at Aspen this year. Golda Schultz joins the Aspen Chamber Symphony in a selection of Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne and Mozart’s concert aria ​‘Ch’io mi scordi di te’ under Vasily Petrenko on 27 July. Jamie Barton returns to the Festival for Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde under Patrick Summers on 5 August.