U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Speaks and Performs Chamber Music at Music...

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Speaks and Performs Chamber Music at
Music Tent in Aspen on August 2

Appearance will be only the second public musical performance for Secretary
Rice, a devoted pianist, since becoming Secretary of State

Performance marks Secretary Rice's return to the Aspen Music Festival and
School where she studied piano as a seventeen-year-old music student, prior to
changing her college major from music to international relations

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joins the Aspen Music Festival and
School and the Aspen Institute in an afternoon of "Words and Music," Saturday,
August 2, at 3 pm in the Benedict Music Tent. The event will begin with a
conversation between Secretary Rice and Aspen Institute President and CEO
Walter Isaacson followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Afterwards, Secretary Rice will be joined by current Aspen Music Festival and
School music students to perform two chamber music works.

Says Secretary Rice, "I am honored to have been invited to return to the Aspen
Music Festival and School, and I am looking forward to performing with the
students. The Aspen Music Festival and School gives musicians the opportunity
to learn and cultivate their talents in one of the most inspirational settings
in our country. As a musician and educator myself, I value the vision of this
institution, and I am excited to take part in this year's festival."

Performed first will be the first movement of Dvorak's Piano Quintet in A
major, B. 155, op. 81 and to follow will be the 2nd movement of Brahms' Piano
Quintet in F minor, op. 34. Secretary Rice has said publicly that her favorite
composer is Brahms.

Secretary Rice began piano lessons with her grandmother when she was three and
remains a devoted amateur player, maintaining an active chamber group in
Washington D.C. She attended the Aspen Music Festival and School as a
17-year-old student pianist and consequently decided a career in music was not
in her future.

Secretary Rice went on to earn her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of
International Studies at the University of Denver. As professor of political
science, she has been on the Stanford faculty since 1981 and has won two of
the highest teaching honors -- the 1984 Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence
in Teaching and the 1993 School of Humanities and Sciences Dean's Award for
Distinguished Teaching. Her books include Germany Unified and Europe
Transformed (1995) with Philip Zelikow, The Gorbachev Era (1986) with
Alexander Dallin, and Uncertain Allegiance: The Soviet Union and the
Czechoslovak Army (1984). She also has authored numerous articles on Soviet
and East European foreign and defense policy. In June 1999, she completed a
six-year tenure as Stanford's provost, during which she was the institution's
chief budget and academic officer.

From 1989 through March 1991, Secretary Rice served in the first Bush
Administration as director, and then senior director, of Soviet and East
European affairs in the National Security Council, and a special assistant to
the president for national security affairs.

Secretary Rice became Secretary of State on January 26, 2005. Prior to this,
she was Assistant to President George W. Bush for National Security Affairs,
commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor, since January 2001.

The event will take place on Saturday, August 2 at 3 pm in the Benedict Music
Tent. Tickets are $60 and $30 and are available at the AMFS box offices at
Harris Concert Hall or the Wheeler Opera House, or by calling 970-925-9042 or
visiting www.aspenmusicfestival.com.

The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership,
encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good
society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting
on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: 1)
Seminars, which help participants reflect on what they think makes a good
society, thereby deepening knowledge, broadening perspectives and enhancing
their capacity to solve the problems leaders face. 2) Young-leader
fellowships around the globe, which bring a selected class of proven leaders
together for an intense multi-year program and commitment. The fellows become
better leaders and apply their skills to significant challenges. 3) Policy
programs, which serve as nonpartisan forums for analysis, consensus building,
and problem solving on a wide variety of issues. 4) Public conferences and
events, which provide a commons for people to share ideas. The Institute is
based in Washington, DC and Aspen, Colorado and has an international network
of partners.

The Aspen Music Festival and School is the United States' premier classical
music festival, led by music director David Zinman and presenting more than
350 musical events during its nine-week summer season in Aspen, including
orchestra concerts, opera, chamber music, lectures, and children's events. The
institution draws top classical musicians from around the world to this
charming Colorado mountain retreat for an unparalleled combination of
performances and music education. More than 25 percent of events are free and
seating on the David Karetsky Music Lawn and in the Music Garden is always
free. Next summer the festival will celebrate its 60th anniversary.

The AMFS has five orchestras composed of top professionals and music students,
many already beginning their professional careers. Hailing from 40 states and
40 countries, the 750 students begin vying for a spot as early as October of
the previous year. Renowned alumni include violinists Joshua Bell, Sarah
Chang, Cho-Liang Lin, Robert McDuffie, Midori, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and
Gil Shaham; pianists Ingrid Fliter, Orli Shaham and Joyce Yang; conductors
Marin Alsop, James Conlon, James Levine and Leonard Slatkin; composers William
Bolcom, Philip Glass, Bright Sheng and Joan Tower; vocalists Renee Fleming and
Dawn Upshaw; cellists Lynn Harrell and Alisa Weilerstein; performer Peter
Schickele; and bassist Edgar Meyer.

OPEN PRESS
PRESS MUST ARRIVE TO THE BENEDICT MUSIC TENT BY 1 PM ON AUGUST 2
CREDENTIALS REQUIRED

RSVP TO MELISSA CARSON CARSONMM@STATE.GOV
BY NOON ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 1

/PRNewswire-USNewswire - July 31/
SOURCE The Aspen Institute

Melissa Carson of the U.S. Department of State, +1-202-315-8309,
carsonmm@state.gov