Music at Snowmass Chapel

Hi!  Thanks for stopping by Snowmass Chapel’s Music Page. I’m Paul Dankers, the Music and IT Director at Snowmass Chapel. There is something for everyone in Snowmass Chapel’s music program. Whether you are a performer or an appreciator, we want you to be part of this great music adventure!

During the summer, when the Aspen Music Festival and School is in session, some of the finest classically trained musicians from around the world provide special music for our 9 AM Sunday Services. Every Sunday, we sing hymns and choruses and enjoy special music provided for the glory of God and the encouragement of His people. We host periodic world-class concerts and theatre pieces, providing quality family entertainment to the Roaring Fork Valley. For Christmas and Easter, we pull out all of the stops when Snowmass Chapel’s Choir & Orchestra perform beautiful traditional music for those seasons.

Each of these categories of music has its own page on this site and I encourage you to go to these pages to learn more about the individual programs. If you have not already done so, be sure to update your contact information by entering your email at the ”Sign up for our Email Newsletter” prompt found on the bottom of every page of our website. Follow the links to specify which programs you want to hear about. You can also click here to learn more about me and find my contact information.

Most people seem to have an innate appreciation for the role that music plays at Snowmass Chapel. Nevertheless, an occasional reminder may help us to put things into perspective. The following quote may be a bit long, but it is worth reading and sums up, not only why we work to create music, but why the programs we offer are so important to our community:

Conductor Weston Noble

Now more than ever, singing together is essential. In a world greatly changed by the events of September 11 and a planet that daily reels from the effects of conflict and violence, creating that which is ennobling is fundamental.

Now more than ever, connecting with one another through music is imperative. In a world increasingly defined by technology and its resulting isolation, creating a choral community matters.

…music, and particularly choral singing, provides perhaps the most accessible avenue of expression of human hopes, dreams, frustrations, and fears. It also can provide the nurturing atmosphere crucial to the development of a fully dimensional human being.

In creating something beautiful we stand against the fear of darkness, against all that seeks to divide us and to denigrate the human spirit…

Through our actions, we continuously define ourselves as individuals, but more than that, through those actions each of us contributes to the definition of humanity. The actions of terrorists and all who engage in violence and incivility show the depths of destructive isolation, fear, and hatred to which humanity can sink. Although we can’t ignore the evil, it becomes our individual and collective task to redefine humanity in terms of the best of which we are capable.

We can question. We can search for answers. We can comfort. We can create. We can love. We can sing.

~excerpts from Weston Noble’s address to the World Choral Symposium in Minneapolis on August 5th, 2002.