About
Formed in 1969 and located in the gorgeous seaside community of La Jolla in San Diego County, La Jolla Music Society is one of the West Coast’s leading presenters of premier performing arts. At its state-of-the-art performing arts center, The Conrad, La Jolla Music Society contributes to the region’s cultural vitality year-round through a rich variety of presentations, including classical, jazz, global roots, contemporary music, and dance. Artists presented range from global superstars like Lang Lang, Wynton Marsalis, Zakir Hussain, Yo-Yo Ma, and the Martha Graham Dance Company to rising stars like Samara Joy and Yunchan Lim. La Jolla Music Society also produces SummerFest, a four-week chamber music festival featuring over 80 world-class artists and ensembles performing eclectic concerts and programs.
Now in its 39th year, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest brings the world’s finest classical music artists to La Jolla, performing numerous premieres and commissioned works as well as lesser-known gems and the masterworks of the chamber music repertoire. Since 2019, the Music Director of SummerFest has been internationally acclaimed pianist Inon Barnatan, who welcomes artists including Augustin Hadelich, James Ehnes, Joyce Yang, Anthony McGill, Conrad Tao, and dozens more to perform in artfully curated programming.
La Jolla Music Society owns and operates The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, opened in 2019, which includes the 481-seat Baker-Baum Concert Hall and the smaller cabaret-style space The JAI. The Conrad was designed by Epstein Joslin Architects, Inc. and San Diego firm JWDA. The Conrad’s acoustics were directed by Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics, whose long list of credits include Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Hamburg’s Elbephilharmonie and Paris’ Philharmonie de Paris. Every detail was considered to ensure that The Baker-Baum Concert Hall provided a top experience for both the artists and the audience. Called “a lovely jewel box” by Wynton Marsalis and “one of the most beautiful halls we have played” by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Quartet, The Baker-Baum Concert Hall has become known for its flawless acoustic and warm, lovely wood grid inner construction.
La Jolla Music Society’s extensive Learning and Engagement efforts produce dozens of free events each year both at The Conrad and offsite in the community, including open houses and free outdoor concerts. For more than 25 years La Jolla Music Society has operated the Community Music Center, providing free musical instruction and instruments to underserved students in the community of Barrio Logan.
Our Mission:
To enhance cultural life and engagement by presenting and producing a wide range of programming of the highest artistic quality, and to make The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center a vibrant and inclusive hub.
Land Acknowledgment:
The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center acknowledges the ancestral, unceded territory of the Kumeyaay people, on which The Conrad was built. We hold great respect for the land and the original people of the area where our performing arts center is located. The Kumeyaay continue to maintain their political sovereignty and cultural traditions as vital members of the San Diego community.
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Values Statement:
La Jolla Music Society is committed to celebrating the diverse community we serve and to making The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center a vibrant and inclusive hub. By exemplifying broad representation throughout the institution, it is our goal to dissipate traditional lines of separation, enabling audiences, artists, staff, donors, and students to connect with those who are different from themselves. We believe that through that connection—both on stage and off—we can enrich all our lives, broaden our experience open our minds, and achieve La Jolla Music Society’s mission.
To achieve this goal, we will work to reflect the core principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, and access (IDEA) in every aspect of what we do. As part of this commitment, we have identified six key areas to be viewed through an IDEA lens: artistic programming, education programming, venue usage, audience, staff, and Board.
Our goals:
- Artistic – Artistic programming that represents the audiences we currently serve and hope to serve in the future.
- Education – A broad range of education and community outreach programs that are inviting and inclusive; representative of the San Diego community; and accessible and affordable for people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds.
- Venue – The Conrad will actively pursue rental clients, who represent varying backgrounds, including on race, faith, and ability, and will work to ensure that licensees’ values align with LJMS’s IDEA values and initiatives.
- Audience – An audience that reflects the broader makeup of the San Diego community and the diversity of the world around us.
- Staffing – A working environment where everyone knows they are welcome and valued regardless of who they are or how they identify; where difference is encouraged; and where those differences help us learn from one another.
- Board – A Board composed of individuals with a range of skills, perspectives, backgrounds and/or resources that promotes creativity and innovation; is open to varying opinions; and welcomes robust and respectful discussion.
