Peter Buffett To Kick Off The Aspen Ideas Festival

PR Log (Press Release) – Jun 29, 2009 – CONTACT:
Rachel Olin
Two Sheps That Pass…
646.613.1101
Rachel@twoshepsthatpass.com


NEW YORK, June 29, 2008 – Some of the world's most inspired and provocative thinkers, writers, artists, business people, teachers, and leaders are gathered each year at The Aspen Ideas Festival. Each day, these speakers and moderators teach, speak, lead, question, and interact with an audience ready to delve into a world of ideas, thought, and discussion.  This year, Peter Buffett will open the Festival, which runs June 29th - July 5th in Aspen, Colorado with his ‘Concert & Conversation’ program. Peter will also take part in a panel discussion on June 30th.

Last Fall, Buffett launched his new ‘Concert and Conversation’ series tour. The inspirational program delves into Peter’s take on "earning your own reward," which is a central theme of his upcoming book Life Is What You Make It set for release in 2010.  The program includes live performances of selections from Peter’s album releases including his latest, Imaginary Kingdom, punctuated with videos from his film/television work and philanthropic activities. Buffett’s show has previously toured at the Global Philanthropy Forum, Paley Center For Media, and Universities including Berklee College of Music, Syracuse University, and Columbia University.

Divided into two overlapping four-day sessions, the Festival offers a breathtaking array of lectures, presentations, debates, and panel discussions by leading thinkers who span a vast range of critical topics, from the economy to the environment, and from science to the arts. It will engage its participants in a variety of programs, tutorials, seminars and discussion events, which together are guaranteed to charge the atmosphere with vibrant intellectual exchange. It is a week-long summer university for the mind-- remarkable lectures and classes across a stimulating array of topics.

Speakers currently confirmed to attend include US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan; Google CEO Eric Schmidt; Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry; US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and former colleague Sandra Day O'Connor; British Ambassador to the United States Nigel Sheinwald; former US Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice, James Baker, and Madeleine Albright; former McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin; former Hillary Clinton campaign senior strategist Mark Penn; DC Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee; former US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff; economist Hernando de Soto; neuroscientist Antonio Damasio; Children's Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman; Washington Post Media CEO Katharine Weymouth; former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan; and photorealist painter Chuck Close, who will also serve as the Institute's 2009 Harman-Eisner Artist-in-Residence. Alongside leading journalists such as Andrea Mitchell, Jim Lehrer, Bob Schieffer, David Gregory, Maria Bartiromo, James Fallows, Michael Kinsley, Andrew Sullivan, David Brooks, and Linda Wertheimer, presenters will discuss their ideas in plenary sessions, tutorials, and other sessions on program tracks including Rebuilding the American Economy; Media Crack-Up; World Affairs and the Global Economy; Managing Planet Earth; Arts and Culture; Living Digitally; The Middle East; and Innovations in Education.

For a list of currently confirmed speakers, program tracks, and pass holder information, please visit www.aifestival.org.

About Peter Buffett
Peter Buffett is an Emmy Award-winning musician, songwriter, producer, composer, and philanthropist.  He is also co-creator, along with Grammy-nominated, international recording artist Akon, of  IsThereSomethingICanDo.com-- a social-networking website designed to promote social action. This spring, the pair released a new collaboration, "Blood Into Gold," which debuted at a special concert at the UN General Assembly for the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Buffett has recently launched his own social network community, peterbuffett.com/ning, to release new material to his exclusive network of fans on a monthly basis.  His latest album is entitled Imaginary Kingdom, and was released on his own imprint, BeSide Records. Buffett has plans to release his first book, Life Is What You Make It, in 2010 through Harmony (Crown). For more information, visit www.peterbuffett.com.  

About The Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs, and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC, Aspen, CO, and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore and has an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.