Hidden just north of downtown, among the American elms, Colorado blue spruce and ponderosa pines dotting the Colorado College campus, shimmers a first-rate music festival some might not be aware exists.

The CC Summer Music Festival, in its 41st year, attracts the highest caliber of classical musicians from around the U.S., who spend three weeks in June instructing up and coming musicians from around the world who apply to the program every year. The faculty and fellows perform regularly throughout the festival, offering dozens of free and ticketed performances at Cornerstone Arts Center and Packard Hall at CC.

This year’s festival runs through June 27.

“Do people have any idea how lucky they are to have a world-class summer festival on their doorstep?” said Tom Lindblade, former chairperson of CC’s Department of Theatre and Dance.

“It’s one of the most import cultural events in Colorado. What it brings to Colorado Springs in terms of status and for what you get out of it, the fact you can go down the street and listen to something you’d listen to at Carnegie Hall in New York. That’s the level we’re talking about.”

Lindblade will direct Igor Stravinsky’s 1918 “The Soldier’s Tale” on June 22 during the festival. He describes the piece as a riff on playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 19th-century work “Faust,” about a disillusioned man who sells his soul to the devil. The story about a despairing soldier who turns to the devil can still be seen through a contemporary lens.

“It’s about somebody returning from war and everything is different and how difficult it is for a returning vet,” Lindblade said.

“It’s easy to make a deal with the devil because everyone else has moved on and he’s left alone. It’s like Vietnam and the Gulf wars — there’s not a lot of help for vets. Society has come around now and thought that’s not a good thing. It’s kind of Faust meets present-day concerns about veterans.”

The Stravinsky work is a bit of a departure for the festival in that it’s theatrical and classical.

“People have a great fondness for that piece,” said festival advisory board member Lauren Ciborowski.

“It’s an interesting way to cross-pollinate the arts. You have people speaking on stage and people playing virtuosic music and a dancer. The spectacle of it can be interesting for audiences.”

The piece also boasts other well-known names, including world-renowned conductor Scott Yoo, who will conduct “Soldier’s Tale,” as well as two festival orchestra concerts June 17 and 27.

Woo, who has served as chief conductor and artistic director of the Mexico City Philharmonic since 2016, also hosts the PBS classical music series “Now Hear This.”

And Jane Kaczmarek, a classical music buff who starred on the popular early 2000s TV comedy “Malcolm in the Middle,” will serve as narrator for the performance.

“The main character is the soldier who is going through life and tempted by the devil, who persuades him to make choices, as devils always do, that aren’t in our best interests,” she said.

“And the travails of all that and how it ends with beautiful music. It’s an interesting life lesson told in a wonderful way with both narrative and music and acting.”

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