WELCOME! La Jolla Music Society’s annual SummerFest returns to The Conrad from July 28 to August 26, 2023, bringing the finest chamber musicians in the world to La Jolla for four weeks of glorious concerts.

Music Director Inon Barnatan, returning in his fifth year, has created an exciting program titled “The Great Unknown,” exploring the joy of discovery and rediscovery, the delight in the unexpected, and the mystery of the exotic.

EXPLORE THIS YEAR’S ARTISTS

The Baker-Baum Concert Hall

OPENING NIGHT: EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
Friday, July 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Alan Gilbert, conductor & violin

Artists will include; Steven Copes, Blake Pouliot, violin; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; Oliver Herbert, cello; Rose Lombardo, flute; Anton Rist, clarinet; Marc Lachat, oboe; Eleni Katz, bassoon; Brandon Ridenour, trumpet; Kaylet Torrez, horn; Eric Starr, trombone; Roman Rabinovich, piano; Dustin Donahue, Sidney Hopson, percussion; and the full SummerFest Chamber Orchestra conducted by Alan Gilbert.

This festival we delight in the unknown, the surprising and the unexpected. In that spirit, music director Inon Barnatan has created a concert program for opening night that will not be disclosed in advance. Superstar conductor Alan Gilbert, principal conductor of Hamburg’s Elbephilharmonie leads an all-star cast of musicians in an unmissable program of chamber and orchestral works, including a virtuosic showstopper, a lush symphony, and an iconic piano concerto. 

JOURNEY IN LIGHT
Saturday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano; Steven Copes, Erin Keefe, Blake Pouliot, violins; Rebecca Albers, Maiya Papach, Masumi Per Rostad, Itsuki Yamamoto*, violas; Oliver Herbert, cello; Timothy Cobb, bass; Rose Lombardo, flute; Anton Rist, clarinet; Roman Rabinovich, piano; Julie Smith-Phillips, harp

*Fellowship Artist

In this innovative concert we take a musical journey depicting the passing of a day, each piece representing its progress—from sunrise all the way to the sparkling moonlight.

SUNRISE TO NOON
A selection of works by YSAŸE, BONIS, BOULANGER and HAYDN

NOON TO NIGHT
A selection of works by DEBUSSY and TURINA

NIGHT
A Selection of works by SCHUBERT, CONNESSON, and CHAUSSON

MOZART
String Quintet No. 2 in C Minor

A SONG TO REMEMBER
Sunday, July 30 at 3 p.m.

BRAHMS
Horn Trio in E-flat Major, Op.40

Stefan Dohr, horn; Alan Gilbert, violin; Inon Barnatan, piano

MAHLER
Das Lied von der Erde (arr. Schӧnberg)

Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano, Paul Groves, tenor; SummerFest Chamber Orchestra; Alan Gilbert, conductor

DREAMS AND PRAYERS
Friday, August 4 at 7:30 p.m.

J.S. BACH
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (arr. String Trio) 

Tessa Lark, Alexi Kenney, violins; Efe Baltacigil, cello

OSVALDO GOLIJOV
The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind  

Mark Simpson, clarinet; Alexi Kenney, Tessa Lark, violins; Maiya Papach, viola; Coleman Itzkoff, cello

MENDELSSOHN
Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 66 

Zoltán Fejérvári, piano; Blake Pouliot, violin; Efe Baltacigil, cello

MAGIC AND ALCHEMY
Saturday, August 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Renaissance and Baroque Selections
Works by BYRD, DOWLAND, GIBBONS and PURCELL 

Anthony Marwood, Alexi Kenney, violins; Maiya Papach, viola; Coleman Itzkoff, cello

THOMAS ADÈS
Alchymia

Mark Simpson, clarinet; Alexi Kenney, Anthony Marwood, violins; Rebecca Albers, viola; Coleman Itzkoff, cello

SCHUBERT
Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 “Trout” 

Thomas Adès, piano; Tessa Lark, violin; Maiya Papach, viola; Efe Baltacigil, cello; Timothy Cobb, bass

MYTHS AND RITES
Sunday, August 6 at 3 p.m.

LISZT
Orpheus, S.98 (arr. Saint-Saëns for Piano Trio)

Blake Pouliot, violin, Julia Lee*, cello; Elliot Wuu*, piano

GLUCK
“Melodie” from Orfeo ed Euridice 

SZYMANOWSKI
Myths, Op. 30

Tessa Lark, violin; Zoltán Fejérvári, piano

STRAVINSKY
The Rite of Spring (Arr. for Two Pianos) 

Anthony Marwood, violin; Thomas Adès, piano

*Fellowship Artist

NEW GROUND
Friday, August 11 at 7:30 p.m.

SIBELIUS
Serenata for Two Violins and Cello, JS169

Noah Bendix-Balgley, Max Tan*, violins; Julia Lee*, cello

CHOPIN
Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, Op. 65

Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Inon Barnatan, piano

KLEIN
Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello

Noah Bendix-Balgley, violin; Richard O’Neill, viola; Paul Wiancko, cello

BEETHOVEN
String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2 “Rasumovsky”

Takács Quartet

PROMISES, PROMISES
Sunday, August 13 at 3:00 p.m. 

PAUL WIANCKO
Closed Universe for Solo Cello, Piano Quartet and Glockenspiel 

Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Geneva Lewis, violin; Teng Li, viola; Paul Wiancko, cello & glockenspiel; Joyce Yang, piano

DOHNÁNYI
Piano Quintet in C Minor, Op. 1

Joyce Yang, piano; Takács Quartet

SCHUBERT
Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major, D.929

Inon Barnatan, piano; Noah Bendix-Balgley, violin; Alisa Weilerstein, cello

UNSILENCED VOICES
Friday, August 25 at 7:30 p.m

SCHULHOFF
Five Pieces for String Quartet

Andrew Wan, Augustin Hadelich, violins; Jonathan Vinocour, viola; Clive Greensmith, cello

MENDELSSOHN
String Quartet in E-flat Major

Augustin Hadelich, Andrew Wan, violins; Matthew Lipman, viola; Julie Albers, cello

MESSIAEN
“Abîme des Oiseaux”

Anthony McGill, clarinet

JESSIE MONTGOMERY
Peace for Clarinet and Piano

Anthony McGill, clarinet; Conrad Tao, piano

SHOSTAKOVICH
Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67

Stefan Jackiw, violin; Sterling Elliott, cello; Conrad Tao, piano

FINALE: SERENADES
Saturday, August 26 at 7:30 p.m.

DOHNÁNYI
Serenade in C Major for String Trio, Op. 10 

Stefan Jackiw, violin; Matthew Lipman, viola; Sterling Elliott, cello

BRUCH
Double Concerto for Clarinet, Viola, and String Orchestra in E Minor, Op.88

Anthony McGill, clarinet; Jonathan Vinocour, viola

Andrew Wan, Stefan Jackiw, Rintaro Kikuno*, Kyoka Misawa*, Max Tan*, violins; Matthew Lipman, Chi-Yuan Chen, Itsuki Yamamoto*, violas; Julie Albers, Sterling Elliott, Anri Tsukiji*, cellos; Samuel Hager, bass

FREDDIE MERCURY & QUEEN
Bohemian Rhapsody for Five Cellos and Piano (arr. Barnatan)

Julie Albers, Sterling Elliott, Anri Tsukiji*, Clive Greensmith, Julia Lee*, cellos; Inon Barnatan, piano

TCHAIKOVSKY
Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48

Andrew Wan, Stefan Jackiw, Rintaro Kikuno*, Kyoka Misawa*, Max Tan*, violins; Jonathan Vinocour, Chi-Yuan Chen, Itsuki Yamamoto*, violas; Julie Albers, Clive Greensmith, Julia Lee*, cellos; Samuel Hager, bass

*Fellowship Artist

Midweek Masterworks

After each Wednesday concert, join us for a celebratory toast to our 37th SummerFest!

FANTASTIC TALES
Wednesday, August 2 at 7 P.M.

SCHUMANN
Fantasiestucke for Cello and Piano, Op. 73

Efe Baltacigil, cello; Roman Rabinovich, piano

THOMAS ADÈS
Märchentänze

Anthony Marwood, violin; Thomas Adès, piano

JANÁČEK
Concertino

Thomas Adès, piano; Blake Pouliot, Diana Cohen, violins; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; Mark Simpson, clarinet; Stefan Dohr, horn; Eleni Katz, bassoon

SCHUMANN
Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44

Roman Rabinovich, piano; Erin Keefe, Alexi Kenney, violins; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; Efe Baltacigil, cello

THE GREAT AMERICANS
Wednesday, August 9 at 7 P.M.

BEACH
Piano Quintet in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 67

Takács Quartet; Inon Barnatan, piano

PAUL WIANCKO
American Haiku for Viola and Cello

Paul Wiancko, cello; Richard O’Neill, viola

DVOŘÁK
String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96 “American”

Takács Quartet

SLAVONIC DANCES
Wednesday, August 16 at 7 P.M.

DVOŘÁK
Slavonic Dances for Piano Four-Hands

Joyce Yang, Inon Barnatan, piano

RAVEL
Tzigane

Geneva Lewis, violin; Joyce Yang, piano

BRAHMS
Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25

Inon Barnatan, piano; Tessa Lark, violin; Teng Li, viola; Gabriel Martins, cello

SOUVENIRS
Wednesday, August 23 at 7 P.M.

CHAUSSON
“Poème,” Op. 25

Augustin Hadelich, violin; Quartet Integra*; Elliot Wuu*, piano

BRAHMS
Clarinet Trio in A Minor, Op. 114

Anthony McGill, clarinet; Clive Greensmith, cello; Conrad Tao, piano

TCHAIKOVSKY
“Souvenir de Florence,” Op. 70

Stefan Jackiw, Andrew Wan, violins; Jonathan Vinocour, Matthew Lipman, violas; Julie Albers, Sterling Elliott, cellos

*Fellowship Artist

Adult beverages for audience members 21 and over with valid photo I.D

Synergy Weekend

The Synergy Initiative is a series co-produced by Inon Barnatan and Clara Wu Tsai, investor and philanthropist, which invites top creators of music, dance, spoken word and visual arts to collaborate across their different art forms and produce performances that inspire our audiences in unexpected and powerful ways.

Sponsored by

LOUIS CATO TRIO
Thursday, August 17
6 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.

GRAMMY-nominated Louis Cato, an internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter who leads the Late Show with Stephen Colbert house band, takes the stage in The JAI for an evening of eclectic jazz-inspired performance with his trio.

CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS
Friday, August 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Inon Barnatan, Joyce Yang, Geneva Lewis, Gabriel Martins

Special preview performance of a new work co-commissioned by La Jolla Music Society for SummerFest’s Synergy Initiative

Carnival of the Animals is a new evening-length piece conceived and performed by spoken word artist and poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph, in collaboration with the legendary dancer Wendy Whelan (Associate Artistic Director, New York City Ballet) and acclaimed choreographer Francesca Harper (Artistic Director, Alvin Ailey II).

Rooted in the iconic Saint-Saëns composition, this reimagined vision comes to life with poignant spoken word and transcendent movement, with music from the original Saint-Saëns as well as composer Sugar Vendil. Together they create a multidisciplinary mixtape that imagines the animals that reside in our country’s contemporary political jungle.

Commissioned by Seattle’s Meany Center for the Performing Arts, and co-commissioned by the Synergy Initiative, New York’s Lincoln Center, Chicago’s Harris Theater and Stanford University, with support from MAPFund and SOZO Impact, this work receives its special preview performance at La Jolla SummerFest and features festival artists Inon Barnatan, Joyce Yang, Geneva Lewis, and Gabriel Martins.

AMERICAN CLASSIC:
Louis Cato, Mark Dover, Tessa Lark, Michael Thurber
Saturday, August 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Highly acclaimed classical violinist and fiddler Tessa Lark collaborates with songwriter, producer and bassist Michael Thurber (formerly of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), classical and jazz master clarinetist and improviser Mark Dover and Louis Cato, a GRAMMY-nominated and internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter who has played in the house band for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since the show’s inception in 2015, and was recently named bandleader for the newly renamed Late Show Band.

Concerts@The JAI

LUCY YEGHIAZARYAN & VANISHA GOULD

Jazz @ The JAI
Thursday, August 3
6 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.

A night of jazz standards and vintage-inspired vocal performances

TAKEOVER @ THE JAI with Thomas Adès

Sunday, August 6 at 7 p.m.

An evening planned by multi-award-winning composer Thomas Adès, SummerFest 2023 Composer-in-Residence, at the piano, featuring Mark Simpson on clarinet and much more.

LOUIS CATO TRIO

Jazz @ The JAI
Thursday, August 17
6 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.

GRAMMY-nominated Louis Cato, an internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter who leads the Late Show with Stephen Colbert house band, takes the stage in The JAI for an evening of eclectic jazz-inspired performance with his trio.