In addition to such classical-music stars as Lang Lang and Daniil Trifonov, the lineup includes such jazz greats as Brad Mehldau, Ravi Coltrane, Chucho Valdés and Joe Lovano.
It was headline news when La Jolla Music Society opened its $82 million Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in late 2019. Equally newsworthy was the fact that all but $700,000 of the center’s cost had already been privately raised without any city or state funding — and sans any partnerships with other arts organizations to help offset costs.
Now, six years and one pandemic shutdown later, The Conrad has established itself as a leading cultural force in San Diego and Southern California. Its upcoming 2025-26 winter and spring season will feature classical-music piano stars Lang Lang and Daniil Trifonov, France’s Ballet Preljocaj and North Africa’s Compagnie Hervé Koubi dance troupe, vocal dynamos Angélique Kidjo and Mariza, such acclaimed jazz artists as Brad Mehldau, Arturo Sandoval and Melissa Aldana, and no fewer than three different centennial celebrations of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
“I feel like we are hitting our stride,” said La Jolla Music Society Artistic Director Leah Rosenthal. “We’ll be building on the successes of the past few years with our new season. It’s not a season of drastic change, but a beautiful evolution and a continuing of the trajectory that feels like a wonderful step forward from last year.”
“We’ve had tremendous growth,” agreed La Jolla Music Society CEO/President Todd Schultz. “And a lot of that growth has been aligned with having a new performing arts center. I want to make sure we don’t grow at a pace faster than the audience can handle.”
The 2024-25 season concludes today with a cello concert by South Korea’s Jaemin Han. He was preceded LJMS debut concerts by Renée Fleming, Kronos Quartet, Wynton Marsalis and dozens more between last fall and this month. The season also included the debuts concerts by nearly more than 30 artists, including Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan, Mexican singer-actress Aida Cuevas, Gambian singer/multi-instrumentalist Sona Jobarteh and jazz trumpet star and Oscar-nominated film composer Terence Blanchard.
At least 40 debuts
Forty of the 71 scheduled 2025-26 performances will mark artist debuts for the nonprofit arts organization, which is now in its 56th year. The artists set to appear for the first time under the society’s auspices range from East African guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre and France’s Arod Quartet and Le Consort to such established acts as Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez, Portuguese fado singer Mariza and Japanese pianist Hayato Sumino.
COTTON, a Jan. 16 co-production with San Diego Opera, will feature a song cycle set to the cotton-related photography of John Dowell. The Feb. 22 “Shadow Cities” performance will team Latin-jazz master Arturo O’Farrill and Ephrat Asherie Dance, which fuses ballet, hip-hop and contemporary dance.
That more than half of the performers in the upcoming season are making their company debuts reflects more than just a desire to keep the lineup fresh. It also underscores the need to help attract and build audiences for talented artists who may one day be major headliners in their own right.
“It’s a balance,” Rosenthal said.
“It’s really important to showcase the artists who are well-known and loved, like Lang Lang or Wynton Marsalis, alongside lesser-known artists,” Rosenthal said. “When people see these lesser-known artists are featured in the same lineup as Wynton or Renée Fleming, it gives them a better sense that the lesser-known artists are also terrific.
“So, we are always looking for balance. Because we need to promote new voices and give the next generation of talent the opportunity to shine. It’s also important to have a diversity of artists who don’t sound or look the same on stage. All of those thought processes go into each concert series we put on because that balance is part of the future.”
All that jazz
The balance between established and new artists in the coming season is especially well demonstrated by the jazz artists who will perform.
Some, including bassist Christian McBride, trumpeter Terence Blanchard and Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés are internationally acclaimed veterans. Others, including bassist Endea Owens, vibraphonist Joel Ross and singer Shenel Johns, are younger musicians on their way up.
They are part of one of the largest rosters of jazz artists in any La Jolla Music Society season to date. The 17-performance jazz lineup will account for three of the first four concerts in the 2025-26 season — and two of the final three next May and June.
The first three are by, respectively: Owens and her band on Sept. 27; pianist Bill Charlap and his trio on Oct. 10; and the bass and piano duo of McBride and Brad Mehldau on Oct. 18. The final two are by singer Johns on May 16 and composer, arranger and conductor Jihye Lee and her orchestra on June 6.
Johns and Lee were both selected by saxophonist, pianist and UC San Diego professor Kamau Kenyatta, who has won multiple Grammy Awards as the producer of albums by vocal star Gregory Porter.
Kenyatta is this season’s jazz curator, a role held by San Diego-based sax great Charles McPherson when the position was created two years ago. Like McPherson, Kenyatta is expected to sit in for a few songs with both artists whose concerts he is curating.
“I’ve had so much fun getting to know Kamau and he brought both Lee and Johns to my attention,” Rosenthal said. “I love this idea of bringing in other people, like Kamau and Charles, who are way more knowledgeable in the world of jazz than I am.”
Other jazz artists who will be featured in the upcoming season include the four-man band The Bad Plus and saxophonists Joe Lovano and Ravi Coltrane. Like Mehldau, Charlap, pianist and band leader Arturo O’Farrill and saxophonists Aldana and Chris Potter, each has previously performed here multiple times under the auspices of the La Jolla Athenaeum Music & Arts Library’s jazz concert series, which debuted in 1989.
“I don’t know what it is about jazz and San Diego, but I’ll take it,” said Rosenthal, who has a bachelor’s degree in classical voice performance and a master’s in arts management.
“There’s been a great history here with the work that Dan Atkinson has done with his incredible jazz series at the Athenaeum over the years and Gilbert Castellanos’ work with San Diego Symphony’s Jazz at The Jacobs series, as well as some of the smaller jazz clubs here that have been thriving.
“One of the things I love most about working in the presenting field is the opportunity to discover and fall in love with different genres than I was trained in. The discovery of jazz, its various forms and artists who were not on my radar has been so exciting for me.”
Miles Davis & John Coltrane
Come next spring, the opportunities will include the society’s second mini-jazz festival.
Its first mini-jazz festival, two years ago, had a piano-oriented theme and was headlined by Herbie Hancock. The second mini-festival will celebrate the legacy of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, two jazz immortals whose centennials both take place in 2026.
Their music will be honored with four concerts on April 6 & 7 — two each night — by pianist Emmet Cohen. He will be followed by an April 9 tribute performance by trumpeter Blanchard and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, the son of John Coltrane. The festival will conclude with an April 11 concert by a band that teams Lovano and Aldana on saxophones with a rhythm section led by powerhouse drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts.
“We weren’t strictly looking at creating a jazz festival every other year,” Rosenthal said. “But with the Miles and Coltrane centennials, it felt very organic to focus a big part of our jazz series on celebrating their music in a festival format. It will also include master classes and panel discussions, as well as some free performances by San Diego jazz artists.”
‘Building trust’
Rosenthal became La Jolla Music Society’s artistic director in 2020, 12 years after she came on board at the organization. She became its director of artistic planning and education in 2011, then became its director of programming since 2016.
The 2019 opening of The Conrad — even with the pandemic shutdown that followed soon thereafter — propelled the organization and its presentations to a significantly higher level, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Prior to the opening of The Conrad, nearly all of the society’s concerts took place a few blocks away at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s now-defunct Sherwood Auditorium. Since 1986, that 492-seat venue had served as the home of the society’s annual SummerFest concert series.
The festival has been held at The Conrad since 2020, when it took place, in truncated form, entirely online because of the pandemic shutdown. By 2021, SummerFest was back as a live, in-person event and has grown exponentially each year since. This year’s five-week edition runs July 25 to Aug. 23
The Conrad houses two venues, the 513-capacity Baker-Baum Concert Hall and The Jai, a 144-seat cabaret theater. In between them is the Wu Tsai Courtyard & Garden, which hosts free daytime concerts and serves as a gathering place for audiences before and after evening concerts and during intermissions.
“Honestly, the biggest surprise for us is how popular the courtyard has become,” Rosenthal said. “We get at least 500 RSVPs for every free event we hold there, which is more than three times as many people as it can seat.”
The Conrad’s annual budget when it opened was $6.5 million. The budget for the upcoming season is $9.7 million. That increase reflects the growing number of concerts being presented at The Conrad, inflation and constantly rising production costs, which have climbed each year since the pandemic shutdown of live events in 2020 and 2021.
What key lessons have Rosenthal and her colleagues learned in their time at The Conrad?
“This might sound trite,” she replied, “but we’ve learned the importance of building trust with the community that The Conrad is a comfortable space where people can come and feel they are welcome and belong here.
“We were used to presenting artists on stage at another venue, Sherwood Auditorium, which we rented. Now, with The Conrad — from the moment someone steps out of their car to attend an event here — our whole team is responsible for making sure people have the most incredible experience possible.
“That is something we have learned, and grown from, each year. And it is reflected in our recent announcement of our first four resident arts organizations, Art of Elan, Bach Collegium, Camarada and Mainly Mozart. It feels like everything is gelling now at The Conrad and we are working as hard as we can to keep everything moving forward.”
La Jolla Music Society Winter Season 2025/2026 season
Unless otherwise indicated, all concerts are at The Baker-Baum Concert Hall in The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla. Some events take place in The JAI, the center’s smaller, 144-seat venue, or in downtown San Diego at the Balboa Theatre, Civic Theatre or Jacobs Music Center. Ticket information appears below. * Indicates La Jolla Music Society debut.
Sept. 24, 25: Daniil Trifonov, piano, 7:30 p.m., $40-$100
Sept. 27: Endea Owens and The Cookout,* 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $55-$62
Oct. 10: Bill Charlap Trio,* 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $75-$81
Oct. 18: Brad Mehldau and Christian McBride, 7:30 p.m., $65-$120
Oct. 26: Dmitry Shishkin,* piano, 3 p.m., $48-$75
Nov. 7: Mariza,* 7:30 p.m., Balboa Theatre, $53.50-$93.50
Nov. 9: Ballet Preljocaj: “Gravity,” 7 p.m., Civic Theatre, $43.50-$110.50
Nov. 13: Andreas Ottensamer,* clarinet; Kian Soltani, cello, and Alessio Bax,* piano, 7:30 p.m., $63-$90
Nov. 14: Moana Live-to-Film Concert,* 6 p.m., Balboa Theatre, adults $43.50-$63.50, children $23.50-$43.50
Nov. 16: Raphaël Feuillâtre,* guitar, 3 p.m., $45-$70
Nov. 20: Yulianna Avdeeva,* piano, 7:30 p.m., $63-$95
Dec. 5: Mireya Ramos, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $73-$83
Dec. 6: MOMIX: “Alice,” 7:30 p.m., Civic Theatre, $35.50-$120.50
Dec. 11: “The Holidays” with Canadian Brass, 7:30 p.m., $60-$80
Dec. 14: Philipp Schupelius,* cello and Julius Asal,* piano, 3 p.m., $41-$70
Jan. 15: Doug Smith:* “Wild Wolves of Yellowstone,” 7:30 p.m., $36-$56
Jan. 16: COTTON* (co-production with San Diego Opera), 7:30 p.m., $63-$118
Jan. 18: Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East,* 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., The JAI, $75-$81
Jan. 22: Lucas and Arthur Jussen, piano, 7:30 p.m., $75-$110
Jan. 30: Compagnie Hervé Koubi:* “Sol Invictus,” 7:30 p.m., Balboa Theatre, $40.50-$103.50
Feb. 1: Pedrito Martinez* and Alfredo Rodriguez, 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., The JAI, $86-$90
Feb. 5: Joel Ross:* Good Vibes, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $70-$75
Feb. 12: Juan Diego Flórez,* tenor, 7:30 p.m., $100-$165
Feb. 14: Arod Quartet, 7:30 p.m., $63-$80
Feb. 15: Kalani Pe‘a,* 7:30 p.m., $55-$85
Feb. 22: Ephrat Asherie Dance* with Arturo O’Farrill: “Shadow Cities,” 7:30 p.m., $45-$85
Feb. 26: Keith Ladzinski:* “Forces of Nature,” 7:30 p.m., $36-$56
Feb. 27: Mao Fujita, piano, 7:30 p.m., $75-$105
March 4, 5: Chucho Valdés and Arturo Sandoval, 7:30 p.m., $75-$115
March 12: The Bad Plus* with Chris Potter* and Craig Taborn,* 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $86-$90
March 20: Le Consort,* 7:30 p.m., $63-$96
March 21: Augustin Hadelich, violin, and Francesco Piemontesi,* piano, 8 p.m., $80-$126
March 22: Doodle POP,* 3 p.m., adults and children $35
March 26: Lang Lang, piano, 7:30 p.m., Jacobs Music Center, $82-$222
March 29: Ravi Shankar Ensemble,* 7:30 p.m., $55-$90
April 6 & 7: Emmet Cohen Presents: “Miles & Coltrane at 100,” 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $75-$81
April 9: Terence Blanchard and Ravi Coltrane:* “Miles Davis and John Coltrane at 100,” 7:30 p.m., Balboa Theatre, $65.50-$110.50
April 11: “Coltrane 100: Both Directions at Once,” featuring Joe Lovano and Melissa Aldana. 7:30 p.m., $75-$105
April 12: Danish String Quartet and Danish National Girls’ Choir,* 7:30 p.m., $65-$98
April 15: Gautier Capuçon, cello and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano, 7:30 p.m., $68-$98
April 18: Benny Benack III:* The Magic of Manhattan, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $75-$81
April 19: Van Cliburn Competition 2025 Gold Medal Winner Aristo Sham, piano, 3 p.m., $53-$80
April 24: Aaron Diehl Trio, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $75-$81
April 25: Art of Elan: Dancing on Tiptoes (co-production), 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., The JAI, adults and children $38
April 25: Alexandre Kantorow,* piano, 7:30 p.m., $75-$105
April 30: David McLain:* “Blue Zones: Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity,” 7:30 p.m., $36-$56
May 3: Angélique Kidjo,* 7:30 p.m., $78-$118
May 9: Hayato Sumino,* 7:30 p.m., $75-$105
May 14: Tracy Drain:* “Cosmic Adventures,” 7:30 p.m., $36-$56
May 16: Shenel Johns,* 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $55-$62
May 31: Stella Chen,* violin and Gilles Vonsattel, piano, 3 p.m., $40-$70
June 6: Jiyhe Lee Orchestra,* 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $70-$75
Tickets: Winter Season 2025–26 subscriptions go on sale today at 6 a.m. online at theconrad.org and at 10 a.m. at The Conrad’s La Jolla box office, 7600 Fay Avenue, and by phone at 858-459-3728. Subscription prices range from $153 (Speaker Series – Price Level C) to $455 (Piano Series – Price Level A). Compose-Your-Own discounted packages of any three or more concerts go on sale July 10.
Single tickets will go on sale July 10. Prices shown include all fees; all ticket prices are subject to change.
Tickets for Lang Lang’s concert go on sale to the general public Oct. 1.