Andrew Litton, Music in the Mountains’ principal conductor-in-residence, will lead many programs in the summer festival, including the challenging Family Concert with 24 excerpts from Pyotr Tchaikovsky. (Courtesy)
Andrew Litton, Music in the Mountains’ principal conductor-in-residence, will lead many programs in the summer festival, including the challenging Family Concert with 24 excerpts from Pyotr Tchaikovsky. (Courtesy)

Andrew Litton faces more than a few challenges during the 40th anniversary of Music in the Mountains.

Thanks to a million-dollar gift from the late Jill Ward, festival organizers created the position of Jill Ward Principal Conductor-in Residence. In 2025, European conductor Daniel Raiskin filled the position. This summer, Litton, music director of the New York City Ballet and former music director of the Dallas Symphony, steps into that role.

If you go

WHAT: Music in the Mountains Dinner and Family Concert: Tchaikovsky Discovers America, conducted by Andrew Litton, created and presented by Classical Music for Kids

WHEN: 5:30 p.m. dinner, 6:30 p.m. concert, July 22

WHERE: Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College

TICKETS: $10

MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.musicinthemountains.com or call 385-6820

Last year, Ward’s generosity also made it possible for the MiTM board to hire international violinist Vadim Gluzman to take the helm as artistic director. Gluzman and Litton are longtime musical colleagues and friends, so it was inevitable that Litton would eventually lead the festival orchestra in several concerts.

“I am looking forward to conducting three of the greatest symphonies ever written: Beethoven’s 3rd, Dvorak’s 9th, and Rachmaninoff’s 2nd,” he writes in the MiTM program.

Add Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto with Gluzman as soloist.

Actor-dancer Nicole Hren will portray the fictional Jennie Petrof and Roger Anderson is Tchaikovsky in the July 22 family concert “Tchaikovsky Discovers America.” (Courtesy of Classical Kids Music Education)
Actor-dancer Nicole Hren will portray the fictional Jennie Petrof and Roger Anderson is Tchaikovsky in the July 22 family concert “Tchaikovsky Discovers America.” (Courtesy of Classical Kids Music Education)beth.lueck

“The Bruch will give us a chance to revisit this timeless classic for the first time since our recording of the work won France’s highest honor, the Diapason d’Or,” Litton said.

If that weren’t enough, Litton, also an accomplished pianist, will be the soloist in George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” for the festival finale Aug. 2.

“Finally, I will play/conduct for the last time a work I have recorded three times and loved playing my whole career,” he said.

In the interim, one other challenge awaits Litton. On July 22, he will conduct a one-hour Pyotr Tchaikovsky program brimming with 24 excerpts from the Russian composer’s body of work. The immersive concert includes two-dozen tasty bits from Tchaikovsky’s three ballets: “Swan Lake,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “The Nutcracker.” Excerpts from the great “1812 Overture,” Symphony No 5, the famous Piano Concerto No. 1 and many more familiar tunes will also be included.

“Tchaikovsky Discovers America” is simply the best festival bargain. Tickets for the Dinner and Family Concert are $10.

Actor-dancer Nicole Hren portrays young Jennie Petroff in a performance of “Tchaikovsky Discovers America.” (Courtesy of Classical Kids Music Education)
Actor-dancer Nicole Hren portrays young Jennie Petroff in a performance of “Tchaikovsky Discovers America.” (Courtesy of Classical Kids Music Education)

Created by the Chicago-based, not-for-profit company known as Classical Kids Music Education, the storytelling format introduces young people and their families to Tchaikovsky’s music. Based on an historical event, the tale begins in the spring of 1891, when the world-famous Russian composer arrived in New York. He had been invited to conduct his “Coronation March” for the grand opening of a new music hall – later named Carnegie Hall. More performances followed with Tchaikovsky on the podium many times. He marked his 51st birthday by conducting his Suite No. 3.

Later, Tchaikovsky traveled to Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and, most famously, Niagara Falls. His American tour forms the plot for the musical program – with a twist.

Two actors will bring the story to life: Roger Anderson portrays Tchaikovsky; Nicole Hren will portray his fictional girl guide Jennie Petroff. She’s an aspiring ballerina, which explains all the ballet excerpts.

If you attended last year’s family concert, CKME presented “Beethoven Lives Upstairs.” Again, the story paired an adventurous youngster with a famous composer to dramatize the life and works of a musical genius. It’s a storytelling format that works.

Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.