Summertime classical offerings kick off earlier than usual this year, as Central City Opera and Opera Colorado revise their schedules to strut their stuff for the National Performing Arts Convention in Denver in June.

Between the June 6 opening of Central City's staging of The Rape of Lucretia (followed by Opera Colorado's Nixon in China the following night) and the Aspen Music Festival's big-bang finale of Schoenberg's gigantic choral work, Gurre-Lieder in August, Colorado's festivals offer endless variety.

Central City Opera

Beginning June 6

Paul Curran directs Benjamin Britten's rarely staged Rape of Lucretia (six performances, June 6-20), followed by a 50th anniversary production of Bernstein's West Side Story (June 28-Aug. 9) and a revival of Carlisle Floyd's Susannah (July 5-Aug. 10) in the Opera House. Also, the Apprentice Artists Program will stage Britten's Curlew River and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas Aug. 6 and 8 at an unspecified location. 303-292-6700.

Aspen Music Festival

June 19-Aug. 17

The Schoenberg grand finale won't be the only Big Bang in the Tent this summer: Music director David Zinman conducts a new suite from John Harbison's jazzy opera The Great Gatsby, Marin Alsop returns to lead a concert featuring Rouse, Brahms and Prokofiev, and the multi-piano team of Kalichstein, Ax and Bronfman offer a "monster concert" that includes Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.

Chamber works, opera, jazz - and quieter music - are also offered in abundance. 970-925-9042.

Colorado Music Festival

June 21-Aug. 1

Music director Michael Christie offers a rare opportunity to hear all nine Beethoven Symphonies in a seven-day stretch in Chautauqua Auditorium. Other highlights of the Boulder festival include appearances by ukulele wiz Jake Simabukuro and the Brazilian Guitar Quartet, plus concerts featuring music by Mozart, Brahms and Mahler. 303-449-1397.

Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival

June 25-Aug. 2

Three big-time orchestras return this summer: the Rochester and New York Philharmonics and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Soloists include Olga Kern, Yefim Bronfman, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Lang Lang and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. There's also jazz and chamber music at various sites. 877-812-5700.

Strings in the Mountains

June 28-Aug. 22

The Steamboat Springs music festival unveils its new Music Pavilion with a multi-keyboard concert opening night, followed by a variety of classical and pops programs featuring the Golden Dragon Acrobats, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Natalie MacMaster and numerous chamber musicians. 970-879-5056, ext. 105.

Crested Butte Music Festival

July 4-31

Nestled amid the blooming wildflowers of southern Colorado, this event will serve up opera (Verdi's Falstaff), orchestral and chamber music, a dash of bluegrass - and the unexpected tremolos of the Russian balalaika, played by virtuoso Andrei Gorbachev. 970-349-0619.

Music in the Mountains

July 11-Aug. 3

New artistic leadership team Guillermo Figueroa and Gregory Hustis will bring pops and classical music to Durango and Pagosa Springs. 970-385-6820.

Breckenridge Music Festival

July 17-Aug. 16

A mix of Broadway, brass and Baroque blends with the classics this summer in a busy schedule of events in the Riverwalk Center and area homes. In addition, the National Repertory Orchestra performs at the Riverwalk June 14-Aug. 2. 970-547-3100.

Vail International Dance Festival

July 27-Aug. 9

A wide variety of dance will be presented at the Ford Amphitheatre and Beaver Creek's Vilar Center, opening with a showcase by the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Morphoses and Pacific Northwest Ballet, with live accompaniment by renowned composer Philip Glass, among others. The rest of the fest offers more from those dance troupes, the annual Evenings of International Dance and a splash of ballroom. 888-920-2787.

Marc Shulgold is the music and dance writer. Shulgoldm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5296

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