Six years past opening, The Conrad gets a glowing performance review – and two free performances – from its La Jolla Music Society leadership.
Opened in 2019, The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, received rave reviews from its parent organization, La Jolla Music Society, during the fourth annual “State of The Conrad” event Sept 29.
Known widely as “The Conrad,” the entertainment campus at 7600 Fay Ave in La Jolla is home to La Jolla Music Society and its vast pantheon of events, with four spaces – The Baker-Baum Concert Hall, The JAI, The Atkinson Room and the outdoor Wu Tsai QRT.yrd (“courtyard”) – also available for rentals and other activations.
“The Conrad has truly become the heart of music, dance and culture in La Jolla,” LJMS artistic director Leah Rosenthal said during “State of the Conrad,” an event meant to function as an in-person annual report to review the previous year and preview the year ahead.
The evening also offered audiences two free performances by Mariachi Juvenil and award-winning pianist Vitaly Starikov in his Conrad debut.
Who is La Jolla Music Society?
In asking and answering the question “Who is La Jolla Music Society,” LJMS President and chief executive Todd Schultz presented the organization as four entities:
1. La Jolla Music Society’s main season
The LJMS main season runs from October to June and includes classical and chamber music, piano recitals, jazz, Latin music, dance, speaker series and more. “It’s really diverse,” Schultz said.
LJMS has had “its eye clearly laser focused on the word ‘quality,’” Schultz said. “Our goal is for our audiences to sense that deeply, from the artists they witness on the stage through their comprehensive experience at our performances.”
The 2024-2025 main season, with 64 concerts, reached nearly $2 million in ticket sales, Schultz said.
2. La Jolla Music Society SummerFest
An internationally-recognized festival held every August, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest “is the artistic heart of who we are,” Schultz said.
The four-week chamber music festival, with artists from around the world, is curated and produced for this community, he said. “It’s an enormous undertaking.”
In 2025, SummerFest’s numbers boasted 21 concerts, 89 pieces performed, 92 piano tunings, 97 musicians, 103 trips to the airport and 281 rehearsals in 26 days.
“That boggles my mind,” Schultz said, adding SummerFest has nearly doubled since the COVID pandemic and is 40% higher in numbers than its pre-pandemic record.
3. La Jolla Music Society learning and engagement programs
The LJMS learning and engagement activities are intended for students of all ages, last year drawing 4,097 attendees to 110 onsite events and 34 offsite events, a 23% increase from the previous year.
LJMS also hosts other learning programs to “engage young people discovering the arts for the first time,” said Allison Boles, LJMS director of learning and engagement.
“We help music lovers learn more about the art and connect with artists and scholars,” she said, noting a record number of nearly 16,000 participated in the last year.
Programs include Mariachi Juvenil, “essentially the varsity-level performance ensemble” of the Community Music Center.
The Community Music Center is a free LJMS after school program that provides students in grades 4 through 12 with bilingual, culturally affirming, hands-on music education, Boles said.
Students are provided an instrument for at home and in classroom use and are able to keep the instrument for life after two years of study.
LJMS also contracted with the San Diego Unified School District to launch a new, 10-week mariachi and ballet folklorico enrichment course at 11 school sites, Boles said, in addition to continuing fellowship artist programs at SummerFest and the Discovery Series, which has rising classical music stars leading community events to “introduce or reinforce musical concepts and help students tap into the emotional connections that can be made with music,” Boles said.
4. The Conrad: a cultural hub in La Jolla and San Diego
Since The Conrad first opened six years ago, the building has welcomed outside groups, organizations and visiting presenters; last year, The Conrad hosted 39 fundraising events and 57 visiting presenter and rental days.
These events range from classical music concerts, homecoming dances and weddings to memorials, award ceremonies and film premieres, Zimmer said, noting 80% of the contracts at the Conrad are with nonprofits and the rental fees are “among the largest line items on their budget.
“This is an investment that we don’t take for granted.”
“When La Jolla Music Society first opened these doors, our vision was to create a home where artistry could thrive and where our community could gather to celebrate it,” Rosenthal said.
The future of La Jolla Music Society and The Conrad
Schultz’ contract has been renewed for another five years, as has LJMS music director Inon Barnatan’s, as La Jolla Music Society prepares for the 40th anniversary of SummerFest in 2026.
Beyond 2026, LJMS is looking to its own 60th anniversary in 2029 with a new “60×60” endowment campaign that aims to “fund the future, take the organization to new heights, ensure the quality of performance that you’ve come to expect, deepen our service to the community and sustain the Conrad in pristine condition,” Shultz said.
The goal is to raise $60 million in pledges and gifts by the 60th anniversary; LJMS has already raised $30.5 million in pledges, he said.
The LJMS board of directors will also be writing a new strategic plan; the 2020 plan ends in June.
“It’s critical that we anticipate challenges ahead of us and dream of who we can be,” Schultz said.
The new La Jolla Music Society season will include more than 70 performances through June, Rosenthal said, including Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flores, “celebrated as one of the greatest bel canto voices of our time, and the Grammy-winning Angelique Kidjo, one of the most powerful voices in global music today.”
The season will also “deepen our commitment to presenting world-class [dance] companies in San Diego,” Rosenthal added.
“The Conrad is not just a building,” Rosenthal said. “It is a gathering place, a home for the arts and a promise that excellence in performance, whether in music or dance, will continue to thrive here in La Jolla and throughout San Diego.”