It’s Season 45 for La Jolla Music Society

By Linda Hutchinson

Deepening San Diego’s cultural life and appealing to its increasingly diverse community is part of the La Jolla Music Society’s mission. This year, by bringing some of the world’s greatest music and musicians to San Diego for the 2013-2014 winter season, the society is far surpassing its own vision.

“It’s a celebration, our largest ever,” said Christopher Beach, the society’s President and Artistic Director. The organization is celebrating its 45th anniversary season with many debuts, a new Cabaret Series, and several celebrity recitals and orchestras, including famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the Boston Pops and Music of the Baroque.

“I love this season because we are trying even harder to bring in artists who are especially exciting,” said Beach, who is leading his eighth full winter season as director. “We are offering world music, from China to Italy.”

The season kicks off with two performances in La Jolla at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s Sherwood Auditorium.

On Saturday, Oct. 12, pianist

Yuja Wang

will make her San Diego debut, performing works by Prokofiev and Chopin.

On Sunday, Oct. 20, the

Silk Road Ensemble

will perform. The eclectic group was formed 14 years ago by cellist Yo-Yo Ma as part of the Silk Road Project in Boston. It is known for its dynamic combination of modern, traditional and international music.

On Friday, Oct. 25, singer

Audra McDonald

introduces the new

Cabaret Series

1. The acclaimed singer and actress (a five-time Tony Award winner) will perform popular and classical songs at the Balboa Theatre downtown. The new series will also feature Tony Award-winning singer

Patti LaPone

with “Far Away Places” on Jan. 31, 2014 and

Ann Hampton Callaway

singing “The Streisand Songbook” on May 10.

The Boston Pops

conducted by

Keith Lockhart

will introduce the season’s

Celebrity Orchestra Series

on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at Copley Hall.

“It will be a star-spangled performance, with the best pop music in the world,” Beach said. The group will perform works by American composers John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland and George Gershwin (“Rhapsody in Blue”).

The

Celebrity Orchestra Series

will continue with Chicago’s Music of the Baroque in April, directed by British conductor

Jane Glover

1. “She is one of a few women conductors and a good friend of mine from New York,” Beach said.

The orchestra will perform Haydn’s “The Cre- ation.” “It is one of the greatest pieces of classical music, a choral masterwork, featuring a fabulous cast of singers,” Beach added.
The

Celebrity Recital Series

will include cellist

Alisa Weilerstein

and pianist

Inon Barnatan

on Jan. 17, violinist

Joshua Bell

and pianist

Sam Haywood

on Feb. 7, cellist

Yo-Yo Ma

and pianist

Kathryn Stott

on March 12 and violinist

Midori

and pianist

Ozgur Aydin

on April 25.

On Friday, March 28, pianist

Mitsuko Uchida

will make her San Diego debut at the MCASD Sherwood Auditorium. “I’ve been trying to get her for 23 years,” said Beach, who was the director of the Performing Arts Center at New York’s Purchase College for 16 years before coming to La Jolla.

Another highlight of the society’s 45th Anniversary Season will be four performances by the

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

1. All four performances will be held at the Sherwood Auditorium and will include Romantic Epicenter on November 8, An American in Paris on Feb. 8, Mozart Connections on March 22 and Defining Voices on April 26.

The

Jazz Series

will highlight

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

with

Wynton Marsalis

on March 15 and

Ramsey Lewis

and

John Pizzarelli

on April 12, with a tribute to Nat King Cole.

The season will end on Saturday, May 17 with the

Alonzo King Lines Ballet

appearing at the Spreckels Theatre downtown. Their performance is part of the

Dance Series

, which will also feature the

Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet

on Feb. 15 and Spain’s

Gala Flamenco

on March 13.

In all, the La Jolla Music Society’s 45th Anniversary Season includes nine series with 28 individual performances between Oct. 12 and May 17.

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Tickets

are available at (858) 459-3728 and ljms.org