*AMFS Apprecation Event: The 2026 Appreciation Event celebrates the many individuals who help make the Roaring Fork Valley such a vibrant community. The Aspen Music Festival and School invites first responders, health care workers, volunteers, teachers, and nonprofit professionals to enjoy a special Aspen Conducting Academy orchestra concert, along with a complimentary drink voucher for the Lemonade Stand.

Discover two revolutionary works conducted by tomorrow’s conducting stars!

The concert begins with Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, a shimmering depiction of a lustful satyr’s attempted seduction of sleeping nymphs. This quietly sensual score sparked a musical revolution at its premiere by bucking 19th-century musical conventions. But no audience reaction is as infamous as that of the Parisians at the premiere of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring on May 29, 1913. Legend has it that the composer Camille Saint-Saëns was among those to have stormed out. Offended by the opening, high-register bassoon solo, he allegedly declared, “If that is a bassoon, then I am a baboon!”. This iconic work with its groundbreaking rhythmic complexities and often savage depiction of pagan rites has maintained its visceral impact, and continues to fascinate, provoke, and even shock audiences more than 100 years after its historic debut.

This concert will also feature a performance by the AMFS's Winds Concerto Competition winner, Abi Middaugh (flute), performing Carl Nielsen's Flute Concerto.

Conducting Academy Orchestra concerts run approximately 100 to 120 minutes and vary based on programming.