By Eileen Wingard
LA JOLLA, California — It must have been a challenging task for the La Jolla Music Society to find a successor for Summerfest’s former director, violinist Cho-Liang Lin. Taiwanese-born Lin was not only a brilliant violinist with a successful career as a performer, but he proved himself to be a gifted administrator and programmer, bringing top-notch talent to the internationally-acclaimed La Jolla Music Society’s annual summer festival.
Now, another outstanding musician, Israeli-born pianist, Inon Barnatan, has taken over the leadership role. The Tel Aviv native, called, “One of the most admired pianists of his generation,” by the New York Times, has lined up three weeks of innovative programming for the three-week Summerfest, which opens Friday, August 2, 8:00 pm, at the new Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center.
Barnatan’s programming has the mark of a creative artist who thinks outside the box, and whose vision encompasses all of the arts. The three-concert “synergy initiative series” produced by Barnatan and Clara W. Tsai, exemplifies his creativity. The first one, Wednesday, August 7, 8:00 pm, will feature jazz singer, Cecile Mclorin Salvant and jazz pianist, Aaron Diehl, as well as Barnatan, himself. The program is entitled, “Intersection,” and will highlight the symbiotic relationship between classical music and jazz.
The second program, Thursday, August 15, 7:00 pm, “Music at an Exhibition,” will transform all the venues and spaces in the new Conrad into performance and exhibition areas. The Atkinson Room will feature short films such as Augustin Hadelich’s animated Fantasia Dei Gaati and Tristan Cook’s Short Film for the End F Time. The JAI will house visionary artist Zack Smithey painting on a gigantic rotating canvas, in response to performances by cellist, Carter Brey, violinist Liza Ferschtman, the Callisto Quartet, Trio Clara and others. The Belanich Terrace will have bold canvases and engrossing video pieces on display, while the Baker-Baum Concert Hall will have Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition played by Barnatan with a group of puppets, detailed models and live video in a world premiere production by designer and director, Doug Fitch. The performance will begin with Part’s Spiegel im Spiegel.
The third in this innovative series, “In Step,” August 21 & 22, 8:00 pm, will feature the Mark Morris Dance Group. The Morris dancers will perform choreography to music by Cowell, Purcell, Dvorak, Beethoven, and Handel. It is no wonder that Barnatan has an attraction to dance; his mother was a dancer.
In commemoration of Beethoven’s 260th birthday (December 17, 1770), this summer and next summer’s festival will feature all of Beethoven’s string quartets, performed by some of the finest string quartets of the world. This summer’s offering will feature the Brentano Quartet on Friday, August 9; the Miro Quartet on Saturday, August 10; and the Ehnes Quartet on Friday, August 16.
In addition to their three week line-up of concerts, all with pre-concert programming and tickets for performances in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall ranging from $45 to $89, there will be free admission to open rehearsals, encounters and coaching sessions, traditions begun by Summerfests founding director, violist Heiichiro Ohyama.
Six open rehearsals will take place Wednesday, July 31, 3:20-4:30 pm; Friday, August 2; 2:50-4:00 pm; Monday, August 5, 3:50-5:00 pm; Wednesday, August 7, 2:50-4:00 pm; Tuesday, August 13 9:50-11 am; and Monday, August 19, 1:50-3 pm.
The three Summerfest Encounters, which require online registration to attend, will be Thursday, August 8, 1-2:30 pm, a lecture on Beethoven’s music by The New Yorker music critic Alex Ross; Tuesday August 13, 1-2:30 p.m., a performance of music by Chopin, Schumann and Dvorak, by members of the fellowship ensembles; and Thursday, August 22, an opportunity to dance with the Mark Morris Dance Group. That event is fully subscribed.
Coaching sessions for the two fellowship ensembles will be held every weekday morning of the festival, 10-12, except for August 13. This year, the Fellowship Artists are the members of the Callisto Quartet and Trio Clara. Their coaches will include musicians of the three string quartets performing the Beethoven series, pianists Jonathan Biss and Inon Barnatan, violinists Cho-Liang Lin, Liza Ferschtman and Benjamin Beilman,violists Cynthia Phelps and Yura Lee, and cellists Alisa Weilerstein, Carter Brey, Kenneth Olsen and Felix Fan.
With an innovative new music director, Inon Barnatan, and a brand-new concert venue, the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, this year’s Summerfest promises to be an exciting and unique musical experience.
*
Wingard, a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com