Aspen Music Festival AND “NPR’s “Toast of the Nation” on the “Evening Concert”
Join us tonight on WILL-FM 90.9 starting at 7:00 for an out-of-the-ordinary “Evening Concert”. You’ll hear the one-hour “Aspen Music Festival 20th Anniversary Concert” and then NPR’s “Toast of the Nation”, with jazz you can party to all night long, performers include Wynton Marsalis, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and others.
Wednesday December 31: Holiday Specials
7:00 The Aspen Music Festival - Harris Hall 20th Anniversary
Joan Tower – The Fifth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman (1993)
Conrad Jones, Scott Batchelder, Alec Blazek, John Parker, trumpets; Joshua Weilerstein, conductorJoan Tower wrote the Fifth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman in 1993 on a commission from the Aspen Music Festival for the opening of the Joan and Irving Harris Concert Hall, and dedicated it to Joan Harris.
John Corigliano – Troubadours, Variations for Guitar And Chamber Orchestra (1993)
Sharon Isbin, guitar; Festival Ensemble ; Joshua Weilerstein, conductor
2013 marked the 20th anniversary of Troubadours, which John Corigliano composed especially for guitarist Sharon Isbin, both of whom have spent alpine summers at the AMFS. Sharon Isbin performs with an ensemble of Festival musicians, under the direction of alum Joshua Weilerstein.
Vivaldi – Movement III from Concerto For Three Violins In F Major, Rv 551 (1711)
Robert McDuffie, Jessica Fellows, and Jecoliah Wang, violins; Festival Ensemble.
When alumnus and longtime artist-faculty member Robert McDuffie organized Harris Concert Hall's 20th anniversary concert, he did so with a "tip of the hat" to the Hall's gala opening back in 1993, and by reprising a Vivaldi triple concerto heard that night. He also tapped into the Aspen Music Festival experience by sharing the stage with some talented young Festival players, Jessica Fellows and Jecoliah Wang, who also study with him at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University.
Philip Glass – Movement IV from Violin Concerto No. 2, 'American Four Seasons' (2009)
Robert McDuffie, violin; Festival Ensemble
Violinist Robert McDuffie and composer Philip Glass both studied at Aspen, although some years apart. When McDuffie envisioned a violin concerto that would serve as a companion piece to the Vivaldi “Four Seasons” concertos, he turned to Glass, encouraging the composer to stay true to his own musical language. Robert McDuffie premiered American Four Seasons in 2009, with the Music Festival participating in the co-commission, and is the soloist in this energetic performance.
8:00 – 4:00 a.m. Toast of the Nation
2000-2059 CT -- Jon Batiste and Stay Human play a high energy set from The 2014 Newport Jazz Festival.
2100-2159 CT: 2015 Winter Jazzfest Highlights w/ Big Chief Donald Harrison, Gretchen Parlato, et. al…
2200-2329 CT -– Wynton Marsalis leads a medium-sized ensemble in a celebration of the music of New Orleans pioneers Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver. This is an encore performance of the 2011/2012 Toast of the Nation set from Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
2330 - 0029 CT -- Dee Alexander's Funkin' with Electric Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix and James Brown. This funky segment is a 2012 encore performance that tore up Chicago's South Shore Cultural Center .
0030-0214 CT -- Big Bad Voodoo Daddy from L.A.'s Walt Disney Concert Hall. Dance to this 2010 encore from BBVD's How Big Can You Get? A Tribute to Cab Calloway, a high-voltage jolt of feel-good energy.
0215-0259 CT -- Jon Batiste and Stay Human play a high energy set from The 2014 Newport Jazz Festival.. . . . .
0300-0359 CT – 2015 Winter Jazzfest Highlights w/ Big Chief Donald Harrison, Gretchen Parlato, et. al…