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Internationally acclaimed pianist Inon Barnatan returns as Music Director of La Jolla Music Society’s prestigious SummerFest chamber music festival for the sixth year. The program has been bringing the finest classical musicians from around the world to La Jolla for 38 years.
SummerFest, which runs from July 26 to August 24 at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla, sees the return of many popular artists as well as debuts, curated by the Israeli-born Barnatan. Opening night will see the local premiere of British company The Paper Cinema, telling the story of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale through hand-drawn paper cutout puppets and animation. The tale is that of a soldier’s pact with the devil, and the musical performances will be led by British composer and conductor Thomas Adès, returning for a second year as SummerFest’s Composer-in-Residence.
The Soldier’s Tale is part of SummerFest’s ongoing Synergy Initiative, a series co-produced by Barnatan and investor and philanthropist Clara Wu Tsai, which invites creators of music, dance, spoken word and visual arts to collaborate across their different art forms. This summer the Synergy Initiative also features the world premiere of a new collaboration between pianist Conrad Tao and tap-dance virtuoso Caleb Teicher, and the intersection of jazz and technology featuring jazz pianist Dan Tepfer.
Most SummerFest concerts take place in The Conrad’s Baker-Baum Concert Hall, with Tepfer’s two shows on August 15 in the venue’s more intimate cabaret-style space, The JAI. That is also the setting for two shows featuring jazz harp sensation Brandee Younger and her trio, who will perform there on August 8.
Barnatan’s programming ranges from early music in August 2’s “Baroque Fantasia” to a selection of compositions written in or influenced by our home state in “California Dreamin’” (August 17). In addition to performing and conducting in several concerts, Thomas Adès will do a “Takeover” of The Baker-Baum Concert Hall on August 1, curating an evening that showcases him as composer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of works by Francisco Coll and De Falla in addition to Adès’ own “Forgotten Dances.”
SummerFest’s festive vibe will continue with the return of Midweek Masterworks on Wednesdays. These are shorter, intermission-less concerts showcasing cornerstones of the chamber music repertoire, followed by a complimentary drink for ticket holders in The Conrad’s Wu Tsai QRT.yrd. The musicians often join patrons to mingle and raise a glass.
This year sees the return of SummerFest favorites James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Stefan Jackiw, Alexi Kenney, Tessa Lark, Blake Pouliot, Masumi Per Rostad, Jay Campbell, Sterling Elliott, Alisa Weilerstein, Joyce Yang, Anthony McGill, and Kronos Quartet’s Paul Wiancko, among many more. Making their SummerFest debuts are conductors Jonathan Cohen and Ludovic Morlot, Sean Shibe, Caleb Teicher, the Brandee Younger Trio, Dan Tepfer, The Paper Cinema, and the acclaimed vocal group VOCES8, among others.
Information and tickets are available at theconrad.org/summerfest.
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