David Zinman leaves Music Fest

The New York Times reported Friday evening that music director David Zinman has quit the Aspen Music Festival and School, according to an announcement by the Festival late in the day on Friday. The Times reports that Zinman was supposed to conduct five concerts this summer and that Festival CEO Alan Fletcher is now seeking replacements for those concerts as well as a replacement for Zinman. The Times reported that "Mr. Fletcher, who was fired by the festival in October and rehired in November, said that he and Mr. Zinman had disagreed about certain faculty cuts made in response to the recession last year. But he added: 'I have never had any problems with David. He raised the level of everything here and left a great legacy.'" Zinman was a huge part of the Festival. The Aspen Daily News ran several stories about Fletcher's firing, and re-hiring, last fall.