Salida Aspen Concerts announced starting in July

SALIDA — Salida Aspen Concerts will present an array of international classical music stars in the 2017 season, including bassist/composer Edgar Meyer, pianist Joyce Yang, violinist William Hagen with pianist Orion Weiss, guitarist Colin Davin, and the Pacifica Quartet.

This will be the 41st year of concerts featuring mainly faculty and artists from the Aspen Music Festival and School.

The performances begin Saturday, July 8, and proceed every Saturday evening until August 12. The concerts will be held at 7:30 p.m. at Salida High School Auditorium, 26 Jones Avenue. Pre-concert talks begin at 6:45 p.m. The cost is $15; students K-12 get in free when accompanied by an adult (accompanying adult ticket $10).

The opening concert July 8 features violinist William Hagen and pianist Orion Weiss, who will play Ludwig van Beethoven’s celebrated “Kreutzer Sonata,” Franz Schubert’s “Rondo Brilliant,” and Igor Stravinsky’s “Suite Italienne,” which consists of portions of the composer’s “Pulcinella Suite.” The sponsor is John Diesslin.

On July 15th, guitarist Colin Davin, a Salida favorite, will present music in the first half by Latin American composers Manuel María Ponce (Mexico), Leo Brouwer (Cuba) and Radamés Gnattali (Brazil). The second half will be devoted to European composers:  Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (Italy) and Antonio José (Spain). Collegiate Peaks Bank is the sponsor.

The third concert, July 22, features the Pacifica Quartet, debuting in Salida. They will play the “Quartet in G Major, Op. 76, No. 1” by Franz Joseph Haydn, considered the father of the string quartet. They will then play Beethoven’s “Quartet in F Major, Op. 135,” and the “Quartet No. 3” by Dmitri Shostakovich. Sponsorship is in the memory of Gary W. Higgins.

July 29 will feature a group of top students from Aspen, not yet been named. Sponsors are Elise Backinger and Kent Strickland.

On August 5, Joyce Yang, who has soloed with substantially all the world’s great orchestras (the New York Philharmonic more than 30 times), comes to Salida for the tenth year out of the last eleven. She will play Romantic works: lyric pieces by Edvard Grieg, preludes by Sergei Rachmaninoff and etudes by Robert Schumann. High Country Bank is sponsoring this concert.

The season’s last concert, August 12, features bassist/composer Edgar Meyer and his son George, a violinist. Edgar Meyer’s most famous compositions have been premiered along with famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Joshua Bell. Edgar Meyer and his family members have joined forces for several concerts. Edgar and George are expected to play Edgar’s compositions and arrangements. Cordova Law Firm LLP and Marquez & Herrick-Stare, LLC, also a law firm, are sponsors.

Further information is available online at salidaaspenconcerts.org, where tickets can be purchased.