Aspen festival cancels its orchestra
NewsThe Aspen Music Festival and School has cancelled all 2022 Aspen Philharmonic concerts and slashed its student body by one-sixth.
The reasons given is a lack of housing for student musicians.
‘No one is happy about this,’ said Music Fest president Alan Fletcher.
The student body will be shrunk from 560 to 480.
This does not look good.
Could lack of housing be the true reason? That seems ridiculous to me.
full story here:
https://www.msn.com/de-de/finance/-real-estate/housing-crisis-forces-aspen-music-fest-to-cut-philharmonic-and-reduce-enrollment/ar-AAVn6XH?ocid=sapphireappshare
I believe it. Participated in the Festival for many years, and even some time ago housing was very tight in Aspen/Snowmass during the summer. Even down to Basalt. I imagine during the pandemic, with people working remotely, it has become even more popular.
Agree completely, JJS. How could they not know way in advance what their housing needs were, since they’ve run the same program for so many years.
Having worked for the festival administration, I can say that they always know what their needs are but don’t know year to year about housing availability as that varies vis a vis competition from other events, people leaving for the summer and renting their places to the festival, etc. Covid has changed everything.
Build housing on campus!!!
Have you bothered to do one minute of research on this problem before taking up space with you inane comment?
I believe it. People from out of state are turning down jobs in my area because they can’t get housing.
Oh, please share with us your deep insights into the true workings of this festival. I guess the national real estate shortage and crisis is just fake news in your world?
It is absolutely a real problem there and in every mountain town; especially this summer with gas prices so high and housing so minimal. AMFS was ahead of the curve for securing Marolt and Burlingame back in the day. Hopefully things will get better next summer!
No doubt housing is a big issue in Aspen, but if they still have 480 students, how can they not have an orchestra? Surely those people aren’t all pianists and singers.
There are usually at least 4 orchestras. Now there are at least 3.
I get the housing problem, as Aspen prices are going through the roof, but can’t you build an orchestra from 480 students? Not all of those will play orchestral instruments, but most will.
They are only cutting ONE student orchestra.
There are three other orchestras that will be performing this summer: The Chamber Symphony, Aspen Festival Orchestra, and the Conducting Academy Orchestra.
A bummer though – is that the students won’t have the educational opportunity of playing Principal/Concertmaster unless they are in the Opera Orchestra. Every other principal spot is taken up with faculty or fellows.
Correct. The orchestra being cut is the student orchestra.
Is the Sinfonia still in action? When I was there that was the orch that also did two operas per summer….. Also, as I recall, Festival and Chamber Orchestras had faculty in principal chairs.
An intelligent response to the orchestra problem.
Why can’t they fundraiser and build student housing on campus? Wouldn’t that be prudent? Could be used for other purposes during the off-season. Also, housing for this summer should have been committed a year ago n my opinion, knowing these events are going on and the increased working from hone taking place. Now it’s too late for many students to enroll in other festivals as they are full. What a nightmare.
According to the article – The students that aren’t able to come because of the reductions were never notified of acceptance. So, they obviously avoided that upset and were monitoring the situation.
So those students just applied and were left hanging, not knowing their status? Sounds like a great way to run a program if that’s the case.
CA: applications were due months ago and decisions came out weeks ago. Students know their status. Its a very well run festival based on two generations of experience with it.
The AMF leases dorm-style student housing at three locations, but the “off-season” hotels and condominiums that previously housed around 120 additional students are either unavailable or prohibitively expensive.
Building a “student village” on the small campus would be very costly, and the location is remote enough to make winter rentals very difficult, if not impossible to sell.
It could make possible other kinds of programming with attendees needing housing onsite, there could be possible partnerships with other nonprofits schools etc there are plenty of deep pockets in that community. Time to think outside the box.
First, if you were to go out today to look for land to buy for a dorm, it could easily take two to three years until the building was complete because of the time it takes to find land (and the market right now is white hot), negotiate the sale, obtain whatever zoning variances you need, deal with objections from locals, clear the land, and then finally construction.
The problem isn’t that someone beat them to booking rental housing, it’s that the rental housing they used to use no longer exists. The pandemic increased the number of people who wanted to live in Aspen for long periods of time, and short-term rentals were converted into longterm rentals.
I’m sure they considered building more dorm space in past years, but given the cost and availability of rental units, that was probably the most cost effective option.
Things may have changed since I was there many years ago, but in my memory, there’s no traditional campus.
Building student housing would not only be prohibitive in this very expensive community, it would take away from the nature of the culture of Aspen. Integrating students in the community is part of the deal… isolating them in student housing is antithetical to the experience. The campus is basically a few music buildings at high altitude adjacent to the Roaring Fork river, and not a spacious property. Many of the artist/faculty teach in their homes.
This is a problem in every resort town in the U.S., but it has also spread to other desirable places to live. For example, Port Townsend, Wash., where many Seattle-ites relocated during the pandemic. The rents skyrocket, and where are the cooks, dishwashers, and supermarket workers to live? I recommend this festival consider relocating to a city with lower costs of living.
This article better explains what’s going on:
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/aspen-music-fest-cut-philharmonic-reduce-enrollment-housing-crisis/73-50cd96ac-ce62-4128-a99b-e126a90103c6
The Music Fest has 420 dorm-style beds for the summer among its properties at Marolt Ranch, Burlingame Ranch and Aspen Highlands Village, where the festival holds long-term leases. In most recent years, before the pandemic canceled 2020 and reduced the 2021 season, the festival has enrolled more than 600 students. Those without dorm rooms would rent on the free market.
This season is the first full Music Fest summer since the pre-pandemic 2019 and the first amid a housing market overheated by the pandemic’s urban exodus to Aspen, which led to a widespread conversion of affordable rentals to short-term vacation rentals and skyrocketing room rates at local hotels.
This is absolutely tragic. I am gutted.
These children are losing out on an amazing opportunity because of more Blackrock BS.
When will the powers that be do something about this crisis?
Warmly,
Cliff
Bad journalism, Norman to omit a legion of key points, requiring the more knowledgeable commenters fill in. Like that this is one of four orchestras, and the recently built student housing wasn’t enough in a housing climate where former renters have gone AirBnB/VRBO.
Is the “housing crisis” just a red herring? Maybe the kids just can’t afford it and they don’t have enough applicants. Oh well. Not as many students for Josh Bell’s hot tub parties this summer!
Who cares! An overrated festival, elitist Aspen, aloof crowd, sport-oriented crowd. I bet they don’t neglect the slopes and winter sports.
Wow! Not my experience as a student. I value my two summers there.