The *Aspen Music Festival and School (tel. 970/925-3254; www.aspenmusicfestival.com) originated in 1949, and is now considered one of America's top summer music programs. Lasting 9 weeks from mid-June to late August, it offers more than 200 events, including classical and chamber music, opera, choral, and children's programs. Most concerts take place in the state-of-the-art, 2,050-seat Benedict Music Tent and 500-seat Joan and Irving Harris Concert Hall at Third and Gillespie Streets. Free events include the popular Saturday "Music on the Mountain" concerts atop Aspen Mountain. Aspen Music Tours (tel. 800/778-8576) offers a variety of packages to the festival every summer. For more information, contact the festival office at 2 Music School Rd., Aspen, CO 81611. Most individual event tickets are $8 to $40, with some events as high as $52.

Janus Jazz Aspen Snowmass, 110 E. Hallam St., Suite 104, Aspen, CO 81611 (tel. 970/920-4996; www.jazzaspen.com), takes place at Snowmass Village in late June, and again on Labor Day weekend. Legendary performers such as Santana, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, the Allman Brothers, Jimmy Cliff, Ziggy Marley, B. B. King, Bonnie Raitt, and Ray Charles have appeared. The series includes free outdoor concerts on Thursday evenings in July and August; call for ticket prices and schedule.

Aspen Theatre in the Park, 110 E. Hallam St., Suite 103, Aspen, CO 81612 (tel. 970/925-9313; www.aspen.com/theatre), which began in 1982, is the only professional theater company in the Roaring Fork Valley. In recent years it has presented I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change; An American Daughter; and Greater Tuna. Performances are held June through August in the company's tent in the Art Park near the Rio Grande parking garage. Plays run in repertory, and tickets start at $25.