Bravo! Vail Music Festival and Vail Valley Foundation announce historic long-term partnership agreement
Vail, Colo., April 15, 2025 - The Vail Valley Foundation (VVF) and Bravo! Vail Music Festival today announced the signing of a long-term agreement that extends their partnership through 2035. This eight-year contract, beginning upon the conclusion of the 2027 summer season, represents a substantial commitment between the nonprofit organizations, acknowledging the immense cultural and economic value that Bravo! Vail Music Festival has brought to the Vail Valley for nearly 40 years.
The contract term ensures the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater will remain home to Bravo! Vail Music Festival’s Orchestral Series performances and provides the Festival with the certainty needed for long-term planning.
Included in the agreement is a commitment from the Bravo! Vail Music Festival for a $5 million contribution to the VVF’s Empowering Possibility Capital Campaign, which will fund comprehensive improvements to the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, including upgraded pavilion seating, acoustic enhancements, and expanded artist, concessions, staff, and production facilities. Renovations will ensure the venue continues to meet the needs of world-class performers and growing audiences through expanded programming. The VVF will be raising more than $20 million to fund the improvements over the next three years.
"Bravo! Vail celebrates this agreement, which ensures world class classical music remains alive and well in Vail for many years to come," said Bravo! Vail Board Chair Hank Gutman. "For nearly four decades, Bravo! Vail Music Festival has served our community, providing the highest quality music experiences and community outreach. We are proud to call the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater home and excited to build upon this momentum, which represents a significant investment in the culture of our community."
“At the Vail Valley Foundation, we consider ourselves to be stewards of the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, one of the Valley’s greatest assets, and we want to ensure that it is utilized in the best possible way to benefit the community,” said Chris Jarnot, Chair of the Board for the VVF. “We are proud of the quality and diversity of the artistic offerings that we have grown at the Amphitheater, and we are delighted that this agreement will ensure that Bravo! Vail and performances by many of the world’s greatest orchestras will be a vital benefit to our community in Vail for years to come.”
Learn more about the Bravo! Vail Music Festival at bravovail.org and about the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater at grfavail.com.
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About Bravo! Vail Music Festival
Consistently cited as one of the top 10 classical music festivals in the country, the Bravo! Vail Music Festival brings world-renowned musicians to picturesque venues throughout the Vail and Eagle River Valley region for six weeks, drawing music lovers from around the world. The only festival in North America to host four of the world’s finest orchestras in a single season, Bravo! Vail celebrates its 38th season from June 19–July 31, 2025, with more than 60 concerts — almost half of which are presented for free. Beyond its summer programming, Bravo! Vail serves the community by providing year-round low-cost music education through Music Makers Haciendo Música, a piano, violin, and ensemble instruction program to help develop new generations of musicians and music lovers. Artistic Director Anne-Marie McDermott has led the Festival since 2011. "[Bravo! Vail] is the most high-profile — and high altitude — mountain music festival in America." – The Times (UK)
About the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
Each summer, the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail plays host to an array of cultural and entertainment offerings, ranging from headliner music and comedy, to internationally renowned dance and classical music presentations, courtesy of the Vail Dance Festival and the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, to the free Tuesday night concerts of the Bulleit Hot Summer Nights series. In addition, community events annually grace the Amphitheater stage. The venue, named after President Gerald R. Ford and family, opened in 1987, and is operated by the nonprofit Vail Valley Foundation.
Learn more at grfavail.com.
About the Vail Valley Foundation
The Vail Valley Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Colorado nonprofit corporation with a mission to provide leadership in arts, athletics, and education, and address community needs to enhance our valley as a place to live, work and visit.
The organization’s work in education is through YouthPower365, a 501(c)(3) Colorado nonprofit corporation. From early childhood to college and career, YouthPower365 provides programs to help youth reach their full potential and support youth and families every step of the way. The Vail Valley Foundation also provides the Vail Valley with several of its most treasured annual events, such as the GoPro Mountain Games, the Stifel Birds of Prey Audi FIS Ski World Cup races, the Vail Dance Festival, and the Bulleit Hot Summer Nights and Town of Eagle ShowDown Town free concert series. The Vail Valley Foundation also manages and operates two performing arts centers, the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek Village and the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail, providing more than 150 Broadway, dance, comedy, classical, rock, pop, jazz, community and family events per year.
The organization also operates Eagle River Valley Childcare, a 501(c)(3) Colorado nonprofit corporation dedicated to increasing and enhancing early childhood education and development services across the Eagle River Valley community. Eagle River Valley Childcare’s first initiative is located in Avon, Colorado, and is a partnership and collaboration between the Vail Valley Foundation and the Town of Avon. Eagle River Valley Childcare capital and operational (programmatic) charitable contributions (donations) are both eligible for the Colorado Child Care Contribution Tax Credit (CCTC).
Vail Valley Foundation activities and events are in part made possible by cornerstone partners: Town of Vail, Vail Resorts, Beaver Creek Resort Company, GoPro, Nature Valley, Constellation Brands, CELSIUS, Diageo, Lifetime Home Remodeling, and Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate.
To learn more about the Vail Valley Foundation, visit vvf.org.