Our Aspen escape

My parents are really fantastic. This last week they stopped to see us on their way back home from New York to Arizona. We celebrated my Dad's birthday the first night they arrived, and for a present we left him and my Mom alone with the kids for three days. Happy birthday, Dad!! I think it's my favorite birthday present I've given in a long time.

Nephi and I headed up to Aspen, just over an hour from our house, and had such an excellent few days. One morning we got up and walked around the wilderness by Maroon Bells and ate some Nutella for breakfast. Lovely.

Most of the rest of the time we enjoyed the Aspen Music Festival and School. To say we loved it would be a huge understatement. The whole experience was incredible. To begin with, we experienced about five hours of live music each day, all for free. A few hours were polished concerts or dress rehearsals, and the level was (almost) uniformly excellent. Lots of chamber music, some solo performances, one orchestral concert. By the end we had a fun game of guessing which cellists were going to be the weird kind who make bizarre faces and move their heads in abrupt, distracting ways. As it turned out, not as many as we thought. Several hours a day we went to master classes, where world-class musicians gave lessons to advanced students. The process was fascinating to watch; the attention to detail of professional musicians is inspiring. We attended classes for classical guitar (by Sharon Isbin) and violin (by Paul Kantor). We also went to an informal lecture from the conductor of the Atlanta symphony orchestra, which was very interesting. There are some events that required tickets, and the evening concerts were all by professional musicians. But even then I thought the ticket prices were very reasonable. Overall the atmosphere everywhere we went was just wonderful. Surrounded by artists who have given their professional lives to perfecting and creating beautiful music, in such a beautiful setting, with people who appreciate music, supported by generous rich people who love the arts and make it possible for normal people to enjoy them too... Fabulous.