Earlier this month I caught up with Inon Barnatan, La Jolla SummerFest’s Music Director now in his seventh season, to discuss the upcoming 2026 festival. “The theme for this coming season of the La Jolla SummerFest is Making History,” he explained, an apt theme for La Jolla’s acclaimed summer music festival as it celebrates its 40th anniversary at The Conrad from July 31 to August 29, 2026.
“This theme is a nod to our organization’s 40th anniversary as well as to the nation’s 250th anniversary. We want to encourage people to take this journey with us as we see how music has made history and affected history.”
The historical range of most classical chamber music starts with Bach and Mozart and continues through the music of Aaron Copland and John Adams. But for this year’s SummerFest, Barnatan is projecting a far more expansive timeline. The earliest work on this season’s program is by the 12th century saint and mystic Hildegard of Bingen, and the most contemporary offerings will include the U. S. premiere of Thomas Adés newly revised Concerto Conciso as well as collaborations by jazz pianist Brad Mehldau and progressive acoustic mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile.
The coming season’s Composer in Residence will be Paul Wiancko, a cello virtuoso who is a member of the Kronos Quartet, the American string quartet that has set the pace for contemporary chamber music for over 50 years, although Wiancko just joined the Kronos roster in 2023.
“Selecting Paul Wiancko as our Composer in Residence speaks to the family feeling of the festival. Paul has performed in SummerFest for the last two years, and I have a fondness for composers who are alsoperformers.” Wiancko’s compositions American Haiku and Closed Universe for Solo Cello, Piano Quartet, and Glockenspiel were well received in performance at the 2023 SummerFest.
Barnatan’s 2026 roster of performers includes returning violinists James Ehnes, Tessa Lark, Yura Lee and Blake Pouliot, as well as cellist Alisa Weilerstein–brilliant performers who have endeared themselves to loyal SummerFest audiences. And it would be difficult to conjure a more impressive list of pianists this season: Jonathan Biss, Jeremy Denk, Thomas Adès, Zoltan Fejérrvári, and, of course, Inon Barnatan!
I asked Barnatan what he thought made SummerFest unique among the myriad summer classical music festivals that take place across North America. “First of all, from an acoustical and technical perspective, The Conrad is arguably one of the best recital halls in the country. In terms of the festival’s performers, I do believe we get the best of the best musicians internationally to come to La Jolla and perform in an unusually accessible and welcoming environment.
“Coming to experience the music of La Jolla SummerFest is like having Serena Williams play tennis in your back yard!”
SummerFest 2026 presents its 20+ concerts at La Jolla’s Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, as well an additional 50 free wraparound Learning and Engagement events from July 31 through August 29, 2026. SummerFest is produced by the La Jolla Music Society.