Arts
Music
For Kate Levin of Bloomberg Philanthropies, Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul Minnesota, and Karen Brunwasser of FeelBeit (a community center that bridges divides between East and West Jerusalem), the arts aren’t just a supplement to life — they are a crucial balm to social division. Find out how institutions can harness the power of the arts to strengthen communities in th...
The Afternoon of Conversation is the Aspen Ideas Festival's pinnacle programming moment. Over 2,000 people gather in the Benedict Music Tent, an open-air venue with acoustics that mimic an amphitheater, to hear from global leaders, community change-makers, journalists, politicians, and more. Doors open at 2 p.m.
Why is there resistance to the idea that public funds should be used for art? What does it mean for the stewardship of cultural and educational organizations and the support of individual artists? And how does the relationship between non-profit and commercial culture impact how we value the creative sector?
Jump in by watching our ten most popular talks of all time. From black holes to jazz and civil rights to psychology hacks, we've collected the talks that remain audience favorites over the years.
Aspen Ideas: Health is where the arts meet health. Ahead of the 10th annual event this summer, we're looking back at some of the innovative artists, musicians, actors, filmmakers, playwrights, and dancers who have shared their creative expressions of the mind, body, and spirit on our stages. Explore how the arts help expand our understanding of health and well-being.
Music and dance are humanity’s hallmarks, a shared ritual of communities the world over. Over the millennia, we’ve created some highly specialized forms, but at its root, music is a language of emotion and empowerment, longing and loss — though it can also be a subversive force against authority.
Afghanistan is a silent nation since the Taliban made it illegal to play, teach, or even listen to music earlier this year. Watch a performance by graduates of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), followed by a conversation with Marin Alsop and Renée Fleming, who supported the evacuation of 273 students and faculty from Kabul in December. David Rubenstein wi...
Legendary, award-winning artist David Byrne joins in conversation with astrophysicist Janna Levin, director of sciences at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. Byrne co-created an immersive science theater project opening in Denver in September. Theater of the Mind uses narrative to explore perception, memory, attention, and our sense of self, and incorporates the work of neuroscien...
When voices rise together in song, dancers tango across the floor, or a painter takes to a canvas, they may be engaging in a hobby, a passion, or a career. Most likely, they aren’t thinking about their brain circuitry or the cascading biochemical responses being sparked by their artistic pursuits. But we now have imaging technology and wearable sensors that can capture tha...
In this creative session, global citizen-artist Yo-Yo Ma shares ideas with Eric Liu of Citizen University and the Aspen Institute for how to reimagine our lives and responsibilities in American democracy. Drawing on Ma’s new audio experience “Beginner’s Mind,” which traces his evolution as a musician and a human, this conversation will explore what it means to be a good an...
Musician Jon Batiste has a long history of appearing at the Aspen Ideas Festival, not only playing his unique form of jazz but also musically commemorating the greats of the genre. This thoughtful young talent, who at age 33 has already received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Jazz Museum, shares a special performance from his empty studio in New York City....
At the 2020 Aspen Ideas Festival, five of America's premier artists in classical music, jazz, and ballet bring virtual audiences works of art intended to deepen thought.
Time on your hands? Looking to escape into learning? Dive deeply into a broad array of topics from Aspen Ideas. Discover how soul music became a soundtrack to some of our nation’s most defining moments. What role does the human microbiome play in inflammatory diseases? And, what is the universe made of and why don’t we know what it’s made of? Expand your perspective by lea...
Originally recorded by Sydney Pollack over two days at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts, LA, in 1972, and then brought to life decades later by producer Alan Elliot, Amazing Grace is a raw and unfettered documentary of the live recording of the incomparable gospel music album. Join us for a screening of the film that captures the majestic Franklin at the h...
“Music City” didn’t look to its stars to reboot Nashville’s story; instead it went to its heart and soul – it’s mostly unknown songwriters who have written some of our biggest hits. Can this strategy be a model for other cities to promote civic change and pride? Hear from the people who helped tell the city’s story and see clips from the award-winning film that brings thes...
In a theatrical, musical, audience-engaging production, Common presents messages of love, forgiveness, healing, and celebration, in his own unique style. Inspired by his very personal memoir, Let Love Have the Last Word, Common takes you on his journey from the opening monologue to a live band concert. This limited-run show is an inspiring, emotional and uplifting experien...
Alarms, intercoms, monitors, and other life-saving hospital equipment batter patients and clinicians alike with noise around the clock. The impact of that cacophony may be hard to measure, but it’s a fair bet that it doesn’t promote well-being. What if the auditory experience in hospitals was more than an assault on the ears? Redesigning the soundscape to make medical equi...
No one knows the restorative power of music better than the musicians who make it (although brain scientists keep learning more). In collaboration with Jazz Aspen Snowmass, well-known artists performing at the June festival talk about the history and origin of the music they perform, share personal stories about their own relationship to music, and riff on its link to heal...