Feature Article

On a sunny summer afternoon, you can sit in a meadow watching a hawk circling over a ridge while listening to your favorite jazz ensemble improvising on stage. Or, spend a cool evening under a tent enjoying a world-class violinist playing Brahms while a galaxy of stars dots the clear night sky. By celebrating all kinds of music, Colorado's mountain communities are making summer music festivals a peak experience for both locals and out-of-staters. The following are a handful of foot-tapping, tune-humming festivals you can't miss.

A Century of Culture at Chautauqua

Two major festivals-the Chautauqua Summer Festival and the Colorado Music Festival-keep Boulder's Flatiron mountains echoing with every kind of music imaginable. Historic Chautauqua Park, founded in 1898, is home to an auditorium, dining hall, community house, cottages, playground and hiking trails. Before radio and television, the Chautauqua movement united millions in common cultural and educational experiences. Orators and performers traveled a national circuit of more than 12,000 sites, bringing lectures, concerts, classes, and exhibitions to thousands all over rural America. Boulder's Chautau-qua is one of only three remaining in the country.

With this cultural history, it's little wonder that the Chautauqua Summer Festival is still a recreational and artistic destination for more than a million visitors. This summer, from May through September, music lovers can attend folk, world, jazz, Cajun and rock music in its quaint, barn-like auditorium. Visiting artists include the Afro-Cuban Allstars, Celtic fiddler Natalie MacMaster, gospel and jazz singer Nnenna Freelon, Senegalese guitarist/singer Baaba Maal, and pianist Peter Kater. In addition, the Chautauqua Festival hosts a Silent Film Series with live musical accompaniment. Info: 303-440-7666; www.chautauqua.com.

The Colorado Music Festival, a symphonic and chamber music series held June 29-August 10, also performs in Chautauqua Auditorium. A hand-selected orchestra of international professionals gathers for six weeks of inspiring classical music. For its 25th season, the Colorado Music Festival presents a lively range of themes including World Music Week, Renaissance to Gen X Week, American Music Week and Baroque to Bel Canto Week. Info: 303-449-2413; www.coloradomusicfest.org.

The Blue, Blue Grass of Telluride

Every summer for the last 28 years, die-hard bluegrass junkies have trekked to the funky mountain town of Telluride for a four-day total bluegrass immersion. "Festivarians"-both young and old fans who return to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival year after year-dig the line-up of nationally known acts for a mix of classic bluegrass, rock and country music. Fans often drive all night so they arrive first thing in the morning to stake their claim with blankets in front of the main stage in the town park, picturesquely surrounded by the San Juans. Then they dance and hula-hoop their way through four non-stop days of high-energy music.

This June 21-24, Ricky Skaggs, the Sam Bush Band, Bela

Chautauqua Festival in Boulder Senegalese artist Baaba Maal's talents vary from folk to international dance music.

Fleck & the Flecktones, Shawn Colvin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Eliades Ochoa of The Buena Vista Social Club, the Allison Brown Quartet, Leftover Salmon and Dan Tyminski, of O Brother Where Art Thou? fame, are just a few of the main-stage headliners. Smaller workshops and jam sessions are held all over town in bars and halls, so bluegrass truly permeates the atmosphere. Even kids get involved, since the Telluride Bluegrass Festival hosts a children's area with parades, contests, arts and crafts, and kids' concerts.

A close camaraderie develops among festivalgoers, many of whom camp or rent local condos. Plan ahead, since the Telluride Bluegrass Festival sells out and campsites fill up quickly. Info: 800-624-2422; www.bluegrass.com.

Vail Valley-Alive with the Sound of Music

Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival/Jack Affleck A Symphony performance at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail.

From Beaver Creek's Vilar Center for the Arts to ranches in Eagle, from Vail's Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater to the Lodge at Cordillera-Vail Valley resounds with classical and chamber music this summer. Three major orchestras, the Colorado Symphony, the Dallas Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic will take up residence in the mountains, presenting concerts from June 27-August 5 as part of the 14th annual Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.

This festival sends listeners on a musical odyssey amidst the mountains. This season's performances delve into the master composers of past and present, including Bach, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Shostakovich and its composer-in-residence Elizabeth Brown. Among the superb visiting artists are singer Judy Collins, who will perform at a pops concert; pianist André Watts presenting a solo performance; and an evening with folk singer Arlo Guthrie. For the kids, there are free family and student concerts, as well as a young artist's program. Info: 970-827-5700; www.vailmusicfestival.org.

Aspen Music Festival Pulses with Excitement

During the nine-week Aspen Music Festival, June 21-August 19, this classy mountain town bursts with the excitement of 850 international music students, dizzy with altitude and elation at attending the prestigious Aspen Music School. With the nearby Maroon Bells providing a breath-taking backdrop, Aspen literally pulses with music. Melodies pour from the windows of lodges, bakeries and art galleries-and from behind trees along the Roaring Fork River where sudents practice.

Each summer, this festival welcomes 100,000 visitors into its music tent, opera house, concert hall-and even to the top of Aspen Mountain-for more than 200 orchestral, operatic, solo and chamber music events. The theme for the 52nd season, Crosscurrents-From Inspiration to Creation, explores the diversity of cultural influences on classical music. The theme manifests throughout the season with pieces such as Mendelssohn's "Scottish" Symphony and Kodály's Marosszek Dances. Opera lovers will revel in performances of Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Verdi's Otello, and Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites. Other highlights include the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio performing the complete Beethoven Piano Trios, an evening with pianists Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman, and soprano Dawn Upshaw singing on Gorecki's Symphony No. 3. Other guest artists include violinists Joshua Bell, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Sarah Chang; pianists Misha and Cipa Dichter; and cellist Lynn Harrell.

Many things conspire to take your breath away at the Aspen Music Festival: a heart-pounding performance of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, the rarefied air, Yo-Yo Ma's cello wizardry, the moonlight on shimmering aspen leaves. Info: 970-925-9042; www.aspenmusicfestival.com.

Jazzed in Snowmass

If you want to hear jazz and blues day or night, head to Snowmass Village for the Janus Jazz Aspen Snowmass festivals, held in June and over Labor Day. Both offer a unique mix of jazz, rock, blues, world and funk music in a beautiful mountain setting in Snowmass Town Park. The June Festival, held the 21st through 24th in a 3,000-seat tent (with lawn seating for an additional 2,500 attendees), presents the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Afro-Cuban Allstars, Barbarito Torres from The Buena Vista Social Club, pianist/singer Diana Krall, Patti LaBelle and Susan Tedeschi, among others. After hours, you can catch Jazz After Dark, a series of bands that play in clubs all over Aspen and Snowmass Village.

The Labor Day Jazz Festival, August 31-September 3, is an all-outdoor event-a perfect destination festival where you can hear blues, R&B, funk and fusion. And, if you happen to be in the area during July 23-August 4, you can catch some of the performances of the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Academy, a two-week scholarship program that brings 20 to 25 top young jazz students from around the world to Snowmass to study and perform jazz with jazz masters such as Ray Brown, Christian McBride and Regina Carter. Info: 970-920-5770; www.jazzaspen.com.

Central City Opera Hits the High Notes

Just visiting the beautifully restored 1878 Central City Opera House in this boom-and-bust mining town 40 miles west of Denver is a treat, but there's no better way to experience its Victorian

Central City Opera The 1878 Central City Opera House anchors the Colorado mountain town's National Historic District

grandeur than by attending an actual opera. Central City's 19th-century heyday is recalled as tuxedoed ushers escort you into the ornate gilded opera house for a moving performance.

For its 69th season, held June 30-August 12, Central City Opera presents three fascinating productions: the regional premiere of Little Women by Mark Adamo based on Louisa May Alcott's beloved novel, the American premiere of Benjamin Britten's Gloriana about the life of Queen Elizabeth I, and a revival of Puccini's classic romance, La Bohème.

Little Women, which premiered in Houston in 1998, follows four sisters-Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy March-as they learn about love, loss and growing up in Civil War-era Massachusetts. Mezzo-sopranos Stacey Rishoi and Metropolitan Opera regular Jane Dutton will sing the title roles of Jo and Meg. Gloriana transports Central City audiences back five centuries to the sumptuous court of Elizabeth I, sung by internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce Castle. And, in the classic La Bohème, a group of young, destitute 19th-century Parisians lives a Bohemian existence rich in romance and passion. This season, Argentine soprano Fabiana Bravo (who debuted as Lucia di Lammermoor opposite Luciano Pavarotti) will sing the role of Mimi. John Fowler portrays the poet Rodolfo, a role he has sung at the Met and New York City Opera. Info: 800-851-8175; www.centralcityopera.org.

The 1878 Central City Opera House anchors the Colorado mountain town's National Historic District.

CENTRAL CITY OPERA

Music with an Altitude

Be sure to explore some other music festivals of note in Colorado this summer:

• Breckenridge Music Festival, Breckenridge. July-mid-August. Performances by the National Repertory Orchestra in this Victorian mountain town and winter ski resort. www.nromusic.com.
• Folks Festival, Lyons. August 17-19. The best of folk music in a beautiful mountain ranch setting. This year's guests include Bruce Hornsby, Arlo Guthrie, Greg Brown. 800-624-2422; www.bluegrass.com.
• Four Corners Folk Fest, Pagosa Springs. August 31-Sept. 2. This summer's stars include Tim O'Brien, The Waybacks, Eddie from Ohio and Terri Hendrix Band. 877-472-4672; www.folkwest.com.
• Genuine Jazz in July, Breckenridge. June 29-July 1. Headliners Nelson Rangell, Bryan Savage and Dotsero perform on the floating stage on Maggie Pond. 800-800-7829; www.genuinejazz.com.
• Music in the Mountains, Durango. July 15-August 5. Classical and chamber music in the Festival Tent at the Durango Mountain Resort. 970-247-7657; www.musicinthemountains.com.
• RockyGrass Festival, Lyons. July 27-29. This summer's bluegrass lineup includes the Del McCoury Band, Nickel Creek, Lonesome River Band and Missy Raines. 800-624-2422; www.bluegrass.com.
• Strings in the Mountains, Steamboat Springs. July 1-August 15. A lively lineup of chamber music, jazz, country, bluegrass and children's concerts. 970-879-5056; www.stringsinthemountains.org.
• Telluride Blues & Brews Festival September 14-16. Microbreweries and great blues artists come together. 866-515-6166; www.tellurideblues.com.