Aspen Music Festival: I don't want to go home

Suzanne Schaffer is the features producer for Performance Today and coordinates the in-studio performances with musicians. She went to the Aspen Music Festival in July on behalf of PT and is stepping into Fred's blogging shoes this week to share some of her experiences there.

This Sunday night I imagine there will a lot of tears in the eyes of the audience members and performers at the Aspen Music Festival's final concert of the summer. The students and their teachers will pack up their instruments, their cameras, their hiking gear and head home to the real world.

Chris Carroll practices by Castle Creek

In talking with the music students in Aspen I was struck by what a sense of belonging they feel at "camp" as some of them call it. In Aspen these young adults make friends that share the same passion for music so they're excited to talk about music, to play for each other, and maybe to compete a little, pushing each other to improve their technique. It was as if many of these students were trying to bottle up this creative energy so that when they go home and the rest of their friends are involved in sports or art or drama, they can ration out a little of this musical energy all year long until refueling at next year's Aspen Music Festival.

Pianist David Mamedov is not homesick

I had a great time touring the Aspen Music Festival campus with shuttle driver Dick Miller.

Listen to my bus tour of Aspen

See pictures of the tour

I'm sorry, but I don't share your sentiments- good riddance AMFS.