2026 Season
2026 SEASON: JUNE 6-26
Tickets available to donors NOW and to the public starting May 1.
Festival Orchestra Concert - June 16
Scott Yoo, conducting
COPLAND - Appalachian Spring
MOZART - Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622
Jon Manasse, clarinet
SIBELIUS - Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43
NIGHT CAP MUSIC AND WINE PAIRING
A new add-on event to your ticket(s) this year!
For $50 added on to your season ticket package or your single concert ticket, join us for a "Night Cap" following Monday evening's Festival Artists Concert on June 22 to enjoy a special wine and music experience.
Pianist Lauren Ciborowski and Ben Harvey, both CC alums and longtime Festival supporters, will host this unique event that blends musical insight into the evening's concert program with thoughtfully-paired wine tastings, to be held at behind the »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵSpencer Center. Must add on event in advance.
CHILDREN'S ORCHESTRA CONCERT
The Festival Orchestra performs Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, featuring guest artist Bill Bowers, mime, along with Virginia Barron, narrator, and accompanied by artwork created by students from the .
- Performances are at 9 and 11 a.m., Thursday, June 18 in Celeste Theatre, Cornerstone Arts Center.
- These performances specially designed for children and families are FREE, but tickets are required.
- Tickets will be available to SMF Donors on April 1 and to the general public beginning June 1. We are opening tickets to the general public a bit later this year in an effort to mitigate no-shows. If you are a donor, and aren't using the mail-in ticket form, call (719) 389-6552 or email avanhorn@ColoradoCollege.edu to get your tickets now.
Additionally, the CC Summer Music Festival is proud to partner with the to bring music to its Family Hour event: 10:30 a.m. Friday, June 12 at .
FREE, NON-TICKETED EVENTS
Program
If you loved last season’s piano 6-hands performance by Susan Grace, John Novacek, and William Wolfram, don’t miss this year’s Piano Extravaganza.
• Program TBA
With Festival Artist Susan Cahill (bass), 's Tom Hagerman (violin, accordion), Evan Orman (bandoneon, cello), and Sara Parkinson (piano), this group brings a mix of tango, folk, gypsy, jazz, and classical that creates a unique style that is both a throwback and a revelation.
Pre-Concert Recital attendees are invited to enjoy the complimentary wine bar in the Packard Courtyard prior to each ticketed Festival Artists Concert that follows the free recital.
All programs TBA
Program TBA
Program TBA
PRE-CONCERT LECTURES
»Æ¹ÏÊÓƵProfessor Emeritus in Music Michael Grace offers attendees a deeper look into the composers and history of the music to be performed that evening. Lectures begin at 5:45 p.m. on the four following concert dates:
- Tuesday, June 9 - Packard Room 9
- Tuesday, June 16 - Cornerstone Arts Center Screening Room
- Monday, June 22 - Packard Room 9
- Friday, June 26 - Cornerstone Arts Center Screening Room
Lectures are free and include complimentary wine; no tickets or reservations required.
MUSIC AND ART TALK
1:45 p.m. Wednesday, June 17
Music Room, Colorado Springs at Colorado College
Exploring the life and works of abstract painter, printmaker and muralist Charles Bunnell, presented by , FAC visiting artist.
Bunnell's 1959 Untitled will be available for Talk patrons to view in the Gathering Place: Permanent Collection Reinstallation, in the FAC's First Floor Galleries on the day of the event. To see the piece on the way to the Talk, guests should walk with the group coming from Packard Hall following Music at Midday. Patrons who miss seeing the work beforehand will also have an opportunity to view it afterward.
Bunnell attended the Broadmoor Art Academy — precursor to the Fine Arts Center — where he studied under American impressionist Ernest Lawson in 1927 and 1928 and then became an instructor at the prestigious Academy in 1929. He is among the few artists who learned traditional painting at the Academy and later adopted a more purified form of abstraction in his paintings. In his paintings, pure color and shape are the elements through which our ultimate response is sensory, emotional, and intuitive.
Untitled (1959) by Charles Bunnell
. 2015.20.10
DONOR EVENTS
Donors to the »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵSummer Music Festival receive a number of exclusive benefits and offers. Along with discounts, insider info, and early-ticket access, the Festival holds special Donor events along with the SMF Faculty and Fellows:
2026 Donor Events:
- Donor Season Tickets Pick-up Party and Concert with Festival Artist pianist William Wolfram — May 26
- Champagne Reception — June 9
- Donor Scholarship Dinner — June 13 (Please contact our office about your RSVP by May 30)
- Festival Fellow After-Concert Party with food, drinks, live music and dancing — June 16 (this event is open to both donors and non-donors)
Visit our Donor webpage or contact us at (719) 389-6552 to support the arts and enjoy these perks!