La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest to bring ‘Influence,’ ‘Synergy’ and more

The La Jolla Music Society has announced the performances for SummerFest 2022, a series of concerts returning to the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla from July 29 to Aug. 26.

Music Director Inon Barnatan has created a program, titled “Under the Influence,” that explores the muses that inspired some of music’s greatest composers.

Twenty of the artists and six of the ensembles performing in SummerFest 2022 are making their La Jolla Music Society debuts, including Grammy Award-winning countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo.

Grammy Award-winning opera countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo will appear with jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant on Thursday, Aug. 18, during SummerFest.

(Courtesy of La Jolla Music Society)

Costanzo comes to SummerFest fresh from his return to the title role in Philip Glass’ “Akhnaten” at the Metropolitan Opera, a production that shot him to international stardom in 2019 and won the Grammy for Best Opera Recording in 2022.

Barnatan also is bringing back the “Synergy Series,” which this summer will feature collaborations among jazz musicians, opera stars, dancers and choreographers “in a truly unique and exciting week of immersive events,” he said in a statement. As part of Synergy, Costanzo will appear with Grammy-winning jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant in celebrating the music of Kurt Weill.

Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant’s Aug. 18 appearance with opera countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo will celebrate the music of Kurt Weill.

(Courtesy of La Jolla Music Society)

“I’m also beyond thrilled that one of today’s most exciting composers, Caroline Shaw — the youngest composer ever to win a Pulitzer Prize and a superstar of the music world — is joining us as composer-in-residence,” Barnatan said.

Caroline Shaw, who in 2013 at age 30 became the youngest composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, will curate a “Takeover @ The JAI” concert on Wednesday, Aug. 24, in La Jolla as part of SummerFest.

(Courtesy of La Jolla Music Society)

Besides presenting her new work, co-commissioned by LJMS, Shaw will curate a “Takeover @ The JAI” concert and join as a performer in several concerts, Barnatan said.

The La Jolla Music Society’s Fellowship Artists, who are selected from all over the world through a rigorous application process, will join the world-class artists in performances to aid their development.

SummerFest 2022

Where: Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla. All concerts are in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall unless otherwise noted.

Schedule:

• Friday, July 29: “Side by Side,” 7:30 p.m., music by Chopin-Franchomme, Brahms, Bacewicz and Czerny. (Prelude at 6:30 p.m. with an interview with La Jolla Music Society Music Director Inon Barnatan hosted by LJMS Artistic Director Leah Rosenthal in The JAI.)

• Saturday, July 30: “Point Counterpoint,” 7:30 p.m., music by Valentini, Haydn, Steve Reich, Mozart and Elgar. (Prelude at 6:30 p.m. with a lecture by Kristi Brown Montesano in The JAI.)

• Sunday, July 31: “Beyond Bach,” 3 p.m., music by Falconieri, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Biber, Rodericus and Vivaldi. (Prelude at 2 p.m. with a lecture in The JAI.)

• Wednesday, Aug. 3: “Under the Influence: Shakespeare’s World,” 7 p.m., music by Purcell, Schubert, Quilter, Vaughn Williams, Rautavaara, Dale, Korngold and Beethoven. (Prelude at 6 p.m. with the Pelia Quartet in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall.)

• Friday, Aug. 5: “A Weekend in Paris: The Salon and the Masquerade,” 7:30 p.m., music by Debussy, Chopin, Poulenc,
Fauré, Duparc, Chabrier, Caplet, Ravel and Sarasate. (Prelude at 6:30 p.m. with a lecture in The JAI.)

• Saturday, Aug. 6: “A Weekend in Paris: Le Conservatoire,” 7:30 p.m., music by Debussy, Boulanger, Franck, Messiaen and
Fauré. (Prelude at 6:30 p.m. with the Aestas Trio in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall.)

• Sunday, Aug. 7: “A Weekend in Paris: Beg, Borrow and Steal,” 3 p.m., music by Couperin, Milhaud, Saint-Saëns and Schumann. (Prelude at 2 p.m. with a lecture in The JAI.)

• Wednesday, Aug. 10: “Under the Influence: Vivaldi’s ‘The Four Seasons,’” 7 p.m., music by Barriere and Vivaldi. (Prelude at 6 p.m. with the Aestas Trio in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall.)

• Friday, Aug. 12: “The New Romantics,” 7:30 p.m., music by Schubert, Marc-André Hamelin and Dvořák. (Prelude at 6:30 p.m. with a lecture by Alex Ross in The JAI.)

• Saturday, Aug. 13: SummerFest Gala, 5 p.m., performances by Marc-André Hamelin, Dover Quartet, Stefan Jackiw and Inon Barnatan

• Sunday, Aug. 14: “The Wagner Effect,” 3 p.m., music by Strauss, Berg, Wagner, Liszt and Dohnányi. (Prelude at 2 p.m. with the Pelia Quartet in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall.)

• Wednesday, Aug. 17: “Synergy: Under the Influence,” 7 p.m., featuring jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant. (Prelude at 6 p.m. in The JAI.)

• Thursday, Aug. 18: “Synergy: An Evening of Kurt Weill,” 7:30 p.m., featuring opera countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo and jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant with pianist Sullivan Fortner

• Saturday, Aug. 20: “Synergy: The Planets,” 6 and 8 p.m., music by Holst, featuring the Knights with Dance Heginbotham, The JAI

• Sunday, Aug. 21: “Synergy: The Planets,” 3 and 5 p.m., music by Holst, featuring the Knights with Dance Heginbotham, The JAI

• Wednesday, Aug. 24: “Under the Influence: Miró Quartet,” music by Caroline Shaw and Mendelssohn, 7 p.m.

• Wednesday, Aug. 24: “Takeover @ The JAI” with Caroline Shaw, 8:30 p.m.

• Thursday, Aug. 25: “New Wine, Old Bottles,” 7:30 p.m., music by Francaix, Chris Rogerson and Brahms. (Prelude at 6:30 p.m. with the Aestas Trio in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall.)

• Friday, Aug. 26: “Metamorphosis,” 7:30 p.m., music by Strauss-Hasenöhrl, Strauss and Schubert. (Prelude at 6:30 p.m. with the Pelia Quartet in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall.)

Cost: Single tickets, $45 to $110; subscriptions, $1,120 to $1,289 for all 15 concerts in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall. Partial subscriptions and compose-your-own packages also are available.

Tickets and information: La Jolla Music Society box office, 7600 Fay Ave.; (858) 459-3728; ljms.org/summerfest. Artists, concerts, dates and venues are subject to change. ◆