Between late-night chicken wings in Aspen and pre-concert rituals that raise an eyebrow, pianist Jeremy Denk blends humor, insight, and a touch of the unexpected. At the 2025 Aspen Music Festival and School, he sat down to share his quirks, routines, and dream dinner guests.
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There’s a really divey bar called Zane’s where all the music students go after hours.
It’s the only place that’s open late and they serve the most enormous servings of chicken wings, maybe in the Western world. So if you’re really hungry, that is the place to go in Aspen.
And it’s cheap also !
It’s really nerdy to say. I’m reading Maynard Solomon’s biography of Beethoven, because I’m working on a big project about the late Beethoven, the last Beethoven sonata.
Jeremy Denk performs Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Steven Isserlis and Joshua Bell at the 2024 Verbier Festival.
Oh God, most of them would be such a pain to sit next to at dinner probably, right? Like, it depends on how long the dinner party is. I wonder if Satie would have been a really funny and interesting dinner party companion. If you could get him to come, you know. I think he was very unreliable, but he’s somewhat interesting.
I’m not sure you would get that much out of Beethoven, but maybe. Schumann also, if he was in a good place.
Sit by a lake and just stare at water. Do something utterly mindful. It’s very hard to clear your head completely on a performance day.
I eat a massive amount of spaghetti and meatballs. I don’t know if that’s wise or not. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t.
