I always like to give classical music fans early warning on the most promising concerts coming to Colorado and Northern New Mexico each summer. We have the good fortune of being home to some of the country’s most-heralded festivals, each featuring top soloists and singers in the field. The good seats can sell out fast.
So, here’s a look at potential winners, starting near the end of June and playing right through August.
Bravo! Vail Music Festival, June 25-Aug. 6
The Bravo! Vail Music Festival is just a 99-minute drive from downtown Denver but it always feels like a great escape. The background scenery, at the outdoor Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, features some of the state’s most-scenic terrain. Combine that with annual appearances from the country’s best music ensembles and this fest is a sure winner no matter who is on stage — at least when the weather cooperates.
I’ll pick one event from each of the three resident orchestras for 2026, starting with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s July 8 “Madama Butterfly in Concert.” Music director Fabio Luisi conducts and Jennifer Rowley sings the part of the always-doomed lead. Duain Wolfe, who Denver audiences know well from his work with the Colorado Symphony, leads the chorus.
Quickly following is the Philadelphia Orchestra, with its famous conductor, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, on the podium and a promising performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on tap for July 12. Once again, Wolfe steps up to coach the chorus for a night that also includes Terence Blanchard’s “Suite from Fire Shut Up in My Bones.”
My choice for orchestra No. 3 is the New York Philharmonic’s July 28 concert featuring classical superstar Emanuel Ax, in his first-ever appearance in Vail, taking center stage for John Williams’ Piano Concerto. That summer evening should end well with Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.”
One special note: Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, who serves as Bravo! Vail’s artistic director through the end of 2026, celebrates her tenure with two Beethoven-positive concerts on June 25 and 27, appearing with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields chamber orchestra.
Info: 877-812-5700 or bravovail.org
Colorado Music Festival, July 9-Aug. 9
In addition to world-class programming, the Colorado Music Festival has the benefit of being right up the street from many classical music fans who live along the Front Range. The festival takes place at the always-awesome, reliably-intimate Chautauqua Auditorium, its Boulder home for more than 40 years.
Music director Peter Oundjian (who also leads the Colorado Symphony) invites his international group of best pals (who also happen to be stellar musicians) to town, and every concert feels like home.
This year, visiting ensembles include the Canadian Brass (on July 14) and the Danish String Quartet (on Aug. 4).
Soloists of note include pianist Michelle Cann, who will play a commissioned piece written by Valerie Coleman (Aug. 6 and 7); and pianist Yuja Wang, who performs in a program centered around Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto and Leonard Bernstein’s “Symphonic Dances from West Side Story” (July 16-17).
A sure crowd-pleaser will be an appearance by violin prodigy Himari — born in 2011 — who opens the season with performances of Sibelius’ Concerto for Violin, on July 9 and 10.
The fest always ends with a bang (and usually Mahler), and this year that takes place on Aug. 9 when Oundjian leads the players on the composer’s Symphony No. 3. It’ll likely be a beautiful and bittersweet goodbye to 2026.
Info: 303-440-7666 or coloradomusicfestival.org
Santa Fe Opera, July 23-Aug. 9
The Santa Fe Opera has a jam-packed 2026 season, powered by four classical music favorites and one must-see American premiere.
Itap difficult to choose between “Madama Butterfly,” “Eugene Onegin,” “Rodelinda” and “The Magic Flute,” but my pick is the latter, which will have a brand-new production, starting July 4.
The co-production, with England’s Garsington Opera, will be directed by Christopher Luscombe and conducted by Santa Fe Opera music director Harry Bicket. The singing cast is star-studded, but shoutouts go to local favorite Will Liverman as Papageno, and to Rainelle Krause, as the Queen of the Night.
“The Magic Flute” will be performed eight times over the season, so it might be best to combine that show with another one of my favorites (maybe Handel’s famously long and lovely “Rodelinda, which the company has never done before).
The U.S. premiere is “Lili Elbe,” written by composer Tobias Picker with a libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman. The opera tells “the powerful true story of Lili Elbe (1882–1931), a Danish landscape painter who became one of the first individuals to undergo gender-affirmation surgery nearly 100 years ago,” with the support of wife and artist Gerda Wegener, according to the company.
A trans opera might sound trendy, but it rings true. Itap the kind of human story that wants to be told through song. Santa Fe veteran James Robinson directs, with shades of “Orpheus and Eurydice” informing his vision of the story.
Info: 505-986-5900 or santafeopera.org
Aspen Music Festival, July 1-Aug. 23
Itap always so hard to choose who and what to hear in Aspen. With multiple concerts every day, big-name performers on the roster and a number of world premieres ready for their unveiling, there are just so many possibilities.
Aspen’s programming seems to push deeper into opera each season now, with program co-directors Renée Fleming and Patrick Summers truly hitting their strides in 2026. Of particular note: two fully-staged performances of Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Nightap Dream” at Wheeler Opera House, on July 20 and 22, directed by Shakespeare specialist Simon Godwin and conducted by Jane Glover.
If orchestral or chamber music is your thing, I say look for the new commissioned works. There’s a long list of them that includes composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Hildegard” (July 31); a fresh cello concerto by Jessie Montgomery, performed by the South African cellist Abel Selaocoe (Aug. 9); and Reena Esmail’s Concerto for Violin and Piano, performed by Gil Shaham and Orli Shaham (Aug. 14).
One huge concert by the festival’s orchestra to take note of: Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, on Aug. 2, with Jean-Yves Thibaudet at the piano and conductor Robert Spano on the podium.
Info: 970 925 9042 or aspenmusicfestival.com
