The lineup includes an array of gifted young talents and such greats as Itzhak Perlman, Audra McDonald, Yuja Wang, Wynton Marsalis and KODO.
Pandemic rebound
Such a robust and diverse lineup is an understandable source of pride for La Jolla Music Society Artistic Director Leah Rosenthal and President and CEO Todd Schultz. This is especially true in a post-pandemic landscape that has seen attendance for some live events dramatically diminish, in some cases so much that a number of live arts organizations have yet to restore their full programming.
“Coming out of the pandemic, it took us three years to get back to our pre-quarantine (attendance) numbers,” Schultz said. “This upcoming season will be the biggest we’ve ever had. Our audience has grown along with our programming.”
Rosenthal agreed, adding: “This is one of the strongest lineups of nationally and internationally acclaimed artists we’ve ever assembled. At the same time, we are showcasing a lot of younger artists who are new to our series.”
These include the Rome-based NoGravity Theatre, whose performances utilize multiple mirrors on stage to create the illusion its dancers are defying gravity. Also making its La Jolla debut will be the Naghash Ensemble, which is based in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.
The three-woman, four-man vocal and instrumental group will perform Nov. 22 in the society’s Baker-Baum Concert Hall. Its songs are set to sacred texts by Mkrtich Nagash, a 15th century Armenian mystic poet and priest.
“The Naghash Ensemble incorporates classical and folk traditions to create music that is sort of undefinable,” Rosenthal said. “Our seasons always stay true to the classical music that is the core of who we are as an arts-presenting organization. But it’s so exciting and fun to also showcase these other genres, and to introduce our audience to performers we have not had here before.”
No fewer than 37 of the artists in the new season will be performing for the first time at The Conrad, as the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center is more commonly known.
“Part of our brand and, I hope, our reputation is that not only do we present some of the greatest artists in the world, but we also identify the next generation of notable artists and I think we do both well,” Schultz said.
“I praise Leah for scouting these artists out and being extremely judicious in her choices. She has a very high standard of quality, especially when it comes to selecting the young artists we present.”
A winning team
The teaming of Rosenthal and Schultz has been a winning one for La Jolla Music Society, whose 49,000-square-foot performing arts center houses two venues. The largest, the 513-seat Baker-Baum Concert Hall, is just steps away from The JAI, the 144-seat cabaret theater that hosts many — but not all — of the center’s jazz performances. In between the two is a courtyard where free outdoor performances are held and where audiences mingle before and after indoor concerts, as well as during intermissions.
Rosenthal was named as the society’s artistic director in April 2020, 12 years after she was hired and nine years after she became the organization’s director of artistic planning and education. She is the first person to be named the society’s artistic director who wasn’t also concurrently serving as its president or CEO.
A New Jersey native, Rosenthal grew up in Chicago. She has a bachelor’s degree in voice performance and a master’s in arts management. Before coming to La Jolla, she worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, PBS, the Chicago International Film Festival, the Ravinia Festival and the Chicago chapter of The Recording Academy, under whose auspices the Grammy Awards are presented.
In 2016, Rosenthal became the society’s director of programming. She was a steadying source of continuity for the nonprofit when it cycled through three CEOs between 2018 and early 2020.
Schultz became president and CEO in late 2020 after being hired away from his position as senior vice president of development for the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert. He had previously been the San Diego Symphony’s vice president of institutional advancement from 2015 to 2019, the Old Globe’s director of development from 2004 to 2015 and the San Diego Opera’s director of marketing and public relations from 1994 to 2000.
Together, he and Rosenthal were instrumental in guiding the society through the pandemic and establishing The Conrad as one of the premier performing arts centers in the state. Prior to its opening, the majority of the society’s concerts were held in La Jolla at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s Sherwood Auditorium, which was demolished in 2019 to make way for expanded gallery space.
The Conrad was designed and built at a cost of $82 million, all but $700,000 of which had been paid for before its doors even opened. Perhaps even more notable, The Conrad was underwritten entirely by private donors, without any public funding.
But its success as a performing arts center is not something Schultz and Rosenthal are taking for granted, especially not when inflation and production expenses continue to climb at a time of global economic hurdles and uncertainty.
“I will say that, 100 percent, we are keeping an eye on the economy,” Schultz said. “That was an important consideration as we put the budget together for our new season, to make sure we weren’t overextending ourselves at a time when challenging economic issues may be on the horizon.”
Strategic planning
On June 30, the society’s board of directors will be presented with a new five-year plan for The Conrad. It follows the five-year plan that Rosenthal and board member Debbie Fishburn put together in 2020.
“It was during the quarantine and Leah and Debbie really crafted the shape of this organization, because we had an entirely new business model with the opening of The Conrad,” Schultz said.
The timing could not have been more daunting.
“Everything was just chaotic at that point,” Rosenthal said. “For us to focus on the future of the organization and where we would be in five years — and not think about all the immediate noise with the state of the world at the time and the craziness of the pandemic — was a challenge. It was such a singular time for us to be starry-eyed and smart about our choices. But it galvanized our staff and board, and it forced us to keep our eye on the potential for our future success.
“A lot of our work was focused on determining how we operate The Conrad, which was brand new, and how to make it a cultural hub by making intelligent choices, financially, and not doing anything if we didn’t believe the funding was there.”
The expansion of programing has been steady with more dance, jazz, piano and global music offerings and the introduction of the ProtoStar Innovative Series, which focuses on boundary-pushing artists in different genres. The diversity of programming has helped the society to grow its core classical-music audience and attract new attendees.
“Our new five-year plan is about reaffirming that we are going in the right direction and identifying areas of potential growth where we can do new and different kinds of things,” Schultz said. “The growth built into the plan is based on what we’ve seen the public respond to in our programming. Our audience really trusts Leah.”
“There is no significant shift from the last five years in our new plan,” Rosenthal said. “It’s designed to stay the course, but to also look at how we can do everything we’ve done even more strongly in the future. We achieved a lot of our goals in our previous five-year plan and that sets us up for the next five years.”
A jazz surge
Perhaps the biggest growth has been in jazz. Prior to the opening of The Conrad, the society presented no more than three jazz concerts per season. That number has grown exponentially in recent years and is set to grow again in the new season.
It will open with two concerts at The JAI by the Fred Hersch Trio on Sept. 20, followed by two concerts the Linda May Han Oh Trio on Sept. 25. Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli will perform a pair of concerts on Oct. 24 and 25, both saluting the late Tony Bennett.
December will offer concerts by the vintage jazz band The Hot Sardines and Colombian harp master Edmar Castañeda and his quartet. The new year will see performances by 27-year-old pianist and drummer Julius Rodriguez, the Tyshawn Sorey Trio, Wynton Marsalis and singer Kurt Elling, with pianist Christian Sands. On March 6, bass great Stanley Clarke and Japanese pianist Hiromi will be joined by the PUBLIQuartet for a tribute to the music of the late Chick Corea, who was Clarke’s longtime musical partner.
That’s not all.
At this year’s sold-out Miles Davis/John Coltrane tribute concert on April 9 at downtown’s Balboa Theater, Schultz announced that the society’s jazz mini festival will become an annual event, after being held every other year since its debut in 2024.
The lineup for the 2027 edition will include two performances by pianist Jason Moran. One, on May 6, is a tribute to Duke Ellington. The other, on May 8, is a tribute to James Reese Europe, a pivotal but undersung composer and band leader who preceded Ellington.
The jazz mini festival will also feature an April 8 concert by Artemis, the all-woman band led by pianist Renee Rosnes, saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin and the Alonzo King LINES Ballet, whose performance will be set to the music of Alice Coltrane. This will be followed by a season-closing pair of shows by bassist Endea Owens and her band, The Cookout.
“We’ve seen such an incredible turnout and reception for our jazz mini festival,” Rosenthal said. “The festival is a way to create a more in-depth experience for our audiences and to tell a story. It also includes artist discussions and free concerts in our courtyard.”
Might more mini festivals, featuring other styles of music, also be in store?
“We were looking at doing as many festivals as possible at one point,” Rosenthal replied. “But we decided to focus on jazz because we’re seeing such a high level of excitement and interest. We’ve been presenting jazz for nearly 20 years, so while it may seem like we’re leaning into jazz more, our commitment to the art form has been there for two decades.”
Regardless of the genre, having both the Baker-Baum Concert Hall and The Jai under one roof has given the society the opportunity to expand its programming in ways that were not previously possible.
“Before The Conrad opened, we could only do 20 to 25 concerts a year, total, at Sherwood Auditorium, Rosenthal recalled.
“Now that we’re doing 75 to 80 concerts a year at The Conrad, we have a lot more options and flexibility. And if someone is really sensational, like (West African vocal powerhouse) Angélique Kidjo was in May, we can bring them back the next year. That wasn’t the case when we were just doing 20 to 25 concerts at Sherwood and had to wait several years to bring artists back to perform for us again.”
“In broad terms,” Schultz said, “we have an event at The Conrad nearly every other day, so about 15 to 16 days each month. Most of those are public performances, some are private rentals and some are by our four resident arts companies — Art of Elan, Bach Collegium, Camarada and Mainly Mozart.
“It’s tempting to add on more. But if we want to do well and do things most efficiently, we have to have some self-control. So, 15 to16 events per month is about what we can best handle. Our growth has been thoughtful and cautious. It’s all based on how people respond.”
La Jolla Music Society Winter Season 2026–27 schedule and ticket information
Unless otherwise indicated below, all concerts are at The Baker-Baum Concert Hall in The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center at 7600 Fay Ave. in La Jolla. Some events take place in The JAI, the center’s smaller, 144-seat space, the Balboa Theatre, San Diego Civic Theatre and Jacobs Music Center.
* indicates La Jolla Music Society debut
Sept. 20: Fred Hersch Trio*, 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., The JAI, $75-$85
Sept. 25: Linda May Han Oh Trio, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $70-$82
Oct. 8: Joyce DiDonato and Time for Three in “Emily — No Prisoner Be,” 7:30 p.m., $40-$124
Oct. 11: Poiesis Quartet*, 3 p.m., $40-$77
Oct. 23: Gabriela Montero*, piano, 7:30 p.m., $40-$118
Oct. 24 & 25: John Pizzarelli presents “Dear Mr. Bennett,” 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $80-$95
Oct. 29: Lila Downs: Día de Muertos, 7:30 p.m., Balboa Theatre, $40-$112
Oct. 30: Jean-Guihen Queyras*, cello and Alexandre Tharaud*, piano, 7:30 p.m., $40-$95
Nov. 7: Nemanja Radulović* and Double Sens*, 7:30 p.m., $40-$98
Nov. 13: Les Arts Florissants, William Christie and Paul Agnew, co-directors: “The Magic of Monteverdi,” 7:30 p.m., $40-$110
Nov. 15: Manual Cinema*: “Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster,” 3 p.m.,$20-$35
Nov. 22: The Naghash Ensemble*, 3 p.m., $40-$95
Dec. 4: Meow Meow: Feline Festive, 7:30 p.m., $40-$95
Dec. 5: Hilary Hahn, violin; Matthias Goerne, baritone; Yekwon Sunwoo*, piano, 7:30 p.m.,$40-$132
Dec. 11: Edmar Castañeda Quartet*, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $55-$62
Dec. 13: Lukas Sternath*, piano, 3 p.m., $40-$77
Dec. 18: The Hot Sardines, 7:30 p.m., $40-$100
Jan. 8: Emanuel Ax, piano, 7:30 p.m., $40-$130
Jan. 23: Magic Piano* and The Chopin Shorts, 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., The JAI, $20-$35
Jan. 24: Camille Thurman* with the Darrell Green Quartet*, 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., The JAI, $65-$72
Jan. 28: Erika Woolsey* “Diving in the Great Barrier Reef,” 7:30 p.m., $35-$65
Jan. 30: Kronos Quartet: Philip Glass at 90 — A Birthday Tribute, 7:30 p.m., $40-$120
Jan. 31: Itzhak Perlman “In the Fiddler’s House,” 7 p.m., Jacobs Music Center, $50-$200
Feb. 4: Julius Rodriguez*: From the Bench to the Throne, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI,$65-$72
Feb. 5: KODO “One Earth Tour 2027: Luminance,” 7:30 p.m., Balboa Theatre, $42-$110
Feb. 7: Angel Stanislav Wang*, piano, 3 p.m., $40-$77
Feb. 13: Black Grace, 7:30 p.m., Balboa Theatre, $30-$105
Feb. 18: Anand Varma*: “Exploring Nature’s Hidden Wonders,” 7:30 p.m., $35-$65
Feb. 20: Circa* “Art of the Fugue,” 7:30 p.m., $35-$85
Feb. 21: Tyshawn Sorey Trio, 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., The JAI, $75-$85
Feb. 25: Víkingur Ólafsson*, piano, 7:30 p.m., $40-$128
Feb. 26: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, 7:30 p.m., Jacobs Music Center, $40-$145
March 5: Seong-Jin Cho, piano, 7:30 p.m., $40-$140
March 6: Stanley Clarke* and Hiromi along with the PUBLIQuartet: “A Celebration of the Music of Chick Corea and Beyond,” 7:30 p.m., Balboa Theatre, $45-$120
March 11: Jaemin Han, cello and David Fung*, piano, 7:30 p.m., $40-$92
March 13: Academy of St Martin in-the-Fields with Conrad Tao, piano, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., $40-$95 and $40-$130
March 14: Goitse, 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., The JAI, $80-$95
March 20: Mark Morris Dance Group, 7:30 p.m., San Diego Civic Theatre, $35-$130
March 21: Inmo Yang*, violin, 3 p.m., $40-$74
March 25: Jodi Rowley*: Weird World of Frogs, 7:30 p.m., $35-$65
April 1: Kurt Elling with Christian Sands, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $80-$95
April 2: An Evening with Audra McDonald (WinterFest Gala), 8 p.m., $150-$250 (not including gala ticket)
April 3: Il Pomo d’Oro with Michael Spyres*: “Tenore Assoluto,” 7:30 p.m., $40-$110
April 8: Sona Jobarteh, 7:30 p.m., $40-$74
April 10 & 11: Dreamers’ Circus, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $55-$62
April 17: NoGravity Theatre*, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., $35-$95
April 22: Steve Winter*: The Race to Save Big Cats, 7:30 p.m., $35-$56
April 24: Yuja Wang, piano, in Recital, 7:30 p.m., Jacobs Music Center, $40-$130
May 2: Himari*, violin and Chelsea Wang*, piano, 3 p.m., $40-$74
May 6: (Jazz Mini Festival) Jason Moran* presents “The Music of Duke Ellington: My Heart Sings,” 7:30 p.m., $40-$115
May 7: Artemis* (Jazz Mini Festival), 7:30 p.m., $40-$110
May 8: (Jazz Mini Festival) Jason Moran and the Harlem Hellfighters*: James Reese Europe and the Absence of Ruin, 7:30 p.m., $40-$110
May 14: (Jazz Mini Festival) Lakecia Benjamin, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $75-$85
May 15: (Jazz Mini Festival) Alonzo King LINES Ballet 45th Anniversary Tour, 7:30 p.m., San Diego Civic Theatre, $35-$120
May 16: Nadine Sierra*, soprano, and Bryan Wagorn*, piano, 7 p.m., $40-$130
May 22: Elena Moon Park and Friends*, 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., The JAI, $20-$35
May 27: Endea Owens and The Cookout, 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., The JAI, $65-$72
Artists, concerts, dates, venues and ticket prices are subject to change.
Subscriptions: Winter Season 2026-27 subscriptions range from $150 (Speaker Series – C-level pricing) to $581 (Piano Series – Gold-level pricing). Compose-Your-Own discounted packages of any three or more concerts are also available. Single tickets will be available on July 8 and range from $30 (Black Grace – F-level pricing) to $200 (Itzhak Perlman– Gold-level pricing). The top price for “An Evening with Audra McDonald” is $250 (Gold).
These prices are for tickets purchased through the La Jolla Music Society and include all fees. Subscription packages go on sale June 14. Compose-Your-Own packages and single tickets go on sale on July 8. Tickets for “An Evening with Audra McDonald” go on sale to the general public on July 8.
Tickets are available at the La Jolla Music Society box office, by phone at 858-459-3728 and online at TheConrad.org.