LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY SUMMERFEST 2026 MAKING HISTORY
In summer 2026, La Jolla Music Society marks a major milestone as it celebrates the 40th anniversary of its celebrated chamber music festival, SummerFest. Over four weeks at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, the event will once again bring together leading classical musicians from around the globe, with programming curated by music director and acclaimed pianist Inon Barnatan.
The 2026 edition, themed “Making History,” runs from July 31 through August 29 and features an exceptional lineup of artists, including Karen Gomyo, James Ehnes, Alisa Weilerstein, Jonathan Biss, Randall Goosby, Tessa Lark, Yura Lee, Stefan Jackiw, Sterling Elliott, Zoltán Fejérvári, Jeremy Denk, Stefan Dohr, and Thomas Adès, with Paul Wianckoserving as Composer-in-Residence.
Reflecting on the season’s concept, Barnatan notes that music is deeply intertwined with history—both shaped by its time and influential in how we interpret it. With the festival’s 40th anniversary coinciding with the United States’ 250th year, the 2026 program offers a timely opportunity to revisit the past while creating new artistic moments that will shape its future.
Among the returning highlights is the popular Midweek Masterworks series, held on Wednesday evenings, offering uninterrupted performances of beloved chamber works followed by a complimentary sparkling wine reception in the courtyard. Also returning is the Synergy Initiative, co-created by Barnatan and Clara Wu Tsai, which brings together leading artists from different disciplines to collaborate on innovative, cross-genre performances designed to engage audiences in fresh and unexpected ways.
OPENING NIGHT: THE INCOMPLETE HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN TEN PIECES SYNERGY INITIATIVE
Friday, July 31 • 7 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Part of the Synergy Series, this boundary-crossing opening night blends music, storytelling, and theatrical narration in a fast-moving journey through history. A well-known actor joins festival artists for a vivid time-travel adventure—from medieval chant to modern revolution—where each piece becomes a portal to a defining moment in the story of music.
VON BINGEN O Virtus Sapientiae
MORLEY It was a Lover and His Lass
VIVALDI The Four Seasons — Presto from Summer
MOZART Overture from Don Giovanni
BEETHOVEN Cavatina from String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Op. 130
LISZT La Campanella
WAGNER Prelude from Tristan und Isolde for String Sextet (arr. Guertler)
STRAVINSKY Sacrificial Dance from The Rite of Spring
(arr. for Piano Four Hands)
SHOSTAKOVICH Adagio from Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67
BERNSTEIN America from West Side Story for Piano Four Hands
HEIDRICH Happy Birthday Variations
Inon Barnatan, Sterling Elliott, Karen Gomyo, Randall Goosby, Stefan Jackiw, Jeremy Kurtz-Harris, George Li, Reginald Mobley, Blake Pouliot, Masumi Rostad, Alisa Weilerstein
VIENNA 1900
Saturday, August 1• 7 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 6 PM • The JAI
At the turn of the 20th century, Vienna stood at the very center of musical life, shaping the sound of an era while standing on the edge of profound change. This concert captures a city at a golden age and a world in transformation, tradition morphing into a new age.
J. STRAUSS Kaiser-Walzer, Op. 434 (arr. Schoenberg)
STRAUSS Violin Sonata, Op. 18
BERG Sieben frühe Lieder (Seven Early Songs)
SCHOENBERG Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night)
Inon Barnatan, Sterling Elliott, Karen Gomyo, Randall Goosby, Stefan Jackiw, Yoonah Kim, George Li, Rose Lombardo, Blake Pouliot, Masumi Rostad, Alisa Weilerstein
WHAT IF?
Sunday, August 2• 3 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 2 PM • The JAI
Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater—one of the most enduring sacred works ever written and one written by a 26-year-old—is paired with other masterpieces shaped by youth, urgency, and historical circumstance, inviting us to imagine what could have been.
L. BOULANGER 2 Pieces for Violin and Piano
ULLMANN String Quartet No. 3, Op. 46
GERSHWIN Transcriptions from Porgy and Bess (arr. Heifetz)
PERGOLESI Stabat Mater
Inon Barnatan, Timothy Cobb, Sterling Elliott, Karen Gomyo, Randall Goosby, Stefan Jackiw, George Li, Reginald Mobley, Blake Pouliot, Masumi Rostad, Ruben Valenzuela, Alisa Weilerstein
MIDWEEK MASTERWORKS: RESHAPING THE PAST
Wednesday, August 5• 7 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 6 PM • The JAI
Musical history moves forward through dialogue with the past. From Stravinsky’s reimagining of baroque styles to Schubert’s epic Octet—written in the shadow of Beethoven—this program explores how composers absorb, reshape, and transform what came before, creating works that honor tradition while forging new paths.
STRAVINSKY Suite Italienne
SCHUBERT Octet in F Major, D. 803
Timothy Cobb, Stefan Dohr, Sterling Elliott, Karen Gomyo, Eleni Katz, Radu Rățoi, Ricardo Morales, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, Andrew Wan, Alisa Weilerstein
EASTERN VISIONS
Friday, August 7• 7 PM• The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 6 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Encounters with Eastern music left a lasting mark on Western composers, from the sounds of gamelan heard by Debussy at the World Fair to Lou Harrison and John Cage’s lifelong fascination with Javanese and Indian sounds, culminating in a newly-created chamber work based on Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.
DEBUSSY Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp
HARRISON Varied Trio
RAVEL Tzigane
CAGE Selected Sonatas for Prepared Piano
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Selection from Scheherazade (arr. by Iain Farrington)
Efe Baltacigil, Inon Barnatan, Stefan Dohr, Sam Hager, Erin Keefe, Graeme Steele Johnson, Tessa Lark, Matthew Lipman, Rose Lombardo, Pedja Mužijević, Julie Smith Phillips, Blake Pouliot, Steven Schick, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, Andrew Wan
ROOTS
Saturday, August 8 • 7 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 6 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Feel the pulse of Eastern Europe in music drawn from village dances, folk songs, and centuries-old traditions. Composers channel the raw vitality of these sounds into works of sweeping drama and rhythmic fire—music that carries the spirit of the countryside onto the concert stage.
TAJČEVIĆ Seven Balkan Dances
DVORÁK Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor “Dumky”
WEINBERG Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes, Op. 47
BARTÓK Divertimento for String Orchestra
Efe Baltacigil, Sterling Elliott, Zoltán Fejérvári, Sam Hager, Kathryn Hatmaker, Erin Keefe, Tessa Lark, Matthew Lipman, Anthony Manzo, Pedja Mužijević, Blake Pouliot, Wesley Precourt, Radu Rățoi, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, Andrew Wan, Cherry Yeung
LOST AND FOUND
Sunday, August 9 • 3 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude · 2 PM • The JAI
Great music sometimes slips from view—unfinished, unpublished, or simply forgotten—until history rediscovers it. From Chopin’s recently uncovered Waltz, to Vaughan Williams’s nearly lost Piano Quintet, from a reconstructed gem by Mozart to a lush Octet by Charles Martin Loeffler recently brought back to light at the Library of Congress, this program offers the rare chance to encounter rediscovered treasures.
J.S. BACH Chaconne in D Minor, BWV 1178
Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582
CHOPIN Waltz “Found in New York”
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Piano Quintet in C Minor
MOZART Horn Concerto No. 1 in D Major, K. 412/514
(completed by Robert Levin)
LOEFFLER Octet
Efe Baltacigil, Stefan Dohr, Sterling Elliott, Graeme Steele Johnson, Erin Keefe, Henry Kramer, Matthew Lipman, Anthony Manzo, Julie Smith Phillips, Blake Pouliot, Radu Rățoi, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, Osmo Vänskä, Andrew Wan
MIDWEEK MASTERWORKS: AMERICAN LEGACY
Wednesday, August 12 • 7 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 6 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
What does it mean to make history in America? At the Library of Congress, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge transformed a national institution into a catalyst for chamber music, commissioning and championing not only American composers but many of the greatest international voices of her time. This program reflects that expansive spirit—celebrating music shaped by bold patronage, artistic exchange, and a distinctly American belief in possibility.
PROKOFIEV String Quartet No. 1, Op. 50
POULENC Flute Sonata, FP 164
SHORTER Terra Incognita (Commissioned by La Jolla Music Society)
COPLAND Appalachian Spring
Rebecca Albers, Efe Baltacigil, Mark Dover, Monica Ellis, Zoltán Fejérvári, Emi Ferguson, Brandon Patrick George, Mekhi Gladden, Henry Kramer, Ayane Kozasa, Tessa Lark, Anthony Manzo, Kevin Newton, Blake Pouliot, Arnaud Sussman, Paul Wiancko
JAZZ @ THE JAI: SULLIVAN FORTNER TRIO
Thursday August 13• 5:30 & 8 PM • The JAI
Returning to SummerFest after last season’s electrifying collaboration with Cécile McLorin Salvant, Sullivan Fortner—one of today’s most celebrated jazz pianists and a recent recipient of the Gilmore Jazz Pianist Award—brings his incredible trio to The JAI.
OUT OF THE SHADOWS
Friday, August 14 • 7 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 6 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
In the shadow of the First World War, composers faced a world irrevocably changed. From Debussy’s starkly ravishing two-piano piece and Bridge’s elegiac lament to Poulenc’s sardonically defiant wit, this program reveals how upheaval reshaped musical language—culminating in Korngold’s Suite for Left Hand, written for a war amputee and transforming loss into radiant virtuosity.
DEBUSSY En Blanc et Noir for Two Pianos
BRIDGE Lament for Two Violas
POULENC Sextet, FP 100
KORNGOLD Suite for Left Hand and Strings, Op. 23
Rebecca Albers, Inon Barnatan, Mark Dover, Monica Ellis, Zoltán Fejérvári, Brandon Patrick George, Mekhi Gladden, Henry Kramer, Ayane Kozasa, Tessa Lark, Kevin Newton, Arnaud Sussmann, Paul Wiancko
THE COMPLETE BRANDENBURGS (PART I)
Saturday, August 15 • 7 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 6 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
A festival within the festival. Bach’s exhilarating Brandenburg Concertos—bursting with color, virtuosity, and fearless invention—take center stage across two vibrant programs that celebrate the joy of collaboration. Alongside these Baroque landmarks, music by our Composer-in-Residence Paul Wiancko and our Ensemble-in-Residence Imani Winds brings fresh energy to the conversation, proving that the spirit of innovation Bach embodied is still very much alive.
J.S BACH Brandenburg Concerto No.6 in B-Flat Major, BWV 1051
J.S. BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048
PAUL WIANCKO Vox Petra
J.S. BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050
Rebecca Albers, Doug Balliett, David Belkovski, Emi Ferguson, Coleman Itzkoff, Ela Kodžas, Ayane Kozasa, Daniel McCarthy, Aisslinn Nosky, Edson Scheid, Paul Wiancko
THE COMPLETE BRANDENBURGS (PART 2)
Sunday, August 16 • 3 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 2 PM • The JAI
J.S. BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, BWV 1046
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047
SHAWN OKPEBHOLO Selections from Rise
TAYLOR I Wish I Knew How It Feels to Be Free (arr. Dover)
J.S. BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G Major, BWV 1049
Doug Balliett, David Belkovski, Mark Dover, Monica Ellis, Emi Ferguson, Mekhi Gladden, Brandon Patrick George, Coleman Itzkoff, Ela Kodžas, Daniel McCarthy, Kevin Newton, Aisslinn Nosky, Brandon Ridenour, Edson Scheid, Sarah Skuster, Kaylet Torrez
TAKEOVER @ THE JAI with Paul Wiancko
Sunday, August 16 • 7 PM • The JAI
Cellist-composer Paul Wiancko—a member of the legendary Kronos Quartet—curates a takeover that puts creativity front and center. Part salon, part sonic lab, this intimate set with festival artists brings you up close to the energy of a musician actively making history now.
PAUL WIANCKO Cities of Air
ANGÉLICA NEGRÓN Marejada
SALINA FISHER Mata Au
MESSIAEN Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus
WIANCKO Tiny Doors to Big Worlds
Inon Barnatan, Emi Ferguson, Tessa Lark, Coleman Itzkoff, Ayane Kozasa, Paul Wiancko
MIDWEEK MASTERWORKS: REMADE/REBORN
Wednesday, August 19 • 7 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 6 PM • The JAI
Music survives by transformation—and this program celebrates reinvention as a creative force. Thomas Adès reimagines Purcell before leading the U.S. premiere of a newly revised version of his miniature Concerto Conciso, and Brahms’ beloved Piano Quintet—famously transformed through multiple versions—closes the program in its final, towering incarnation.
PURCELL Four Songs (arr. Adès)
ADÈS Concerto Conciso
BRAHMS Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34
Thomas Adès, Steven Banks, Inon Barnatan, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Jeremy Denk, Mark Dresser, Njioma Chinyere Grevious, Sidney Hopson, Yura Lee, Teng Li, Aaron McCalla, Simone Porter, Brandon Ridenour, Eric Starr, Jonathan Swensen, John Bruce Yeh
SUMMERFEST AT 40!
Friday, August 21 • 7 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 6 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Past, present, and future share the stage in one jubilant night. Music Director Inon Barnatan joins festival favorite Jeremy Denk in a virtuosic opener, former Music Director Cho-Liang Lin returns for legendary composer John Williams’s Quartet La Jolla—written for SummerFest—and a world premiere commission looks ahead, before the piece that closed the very first SummerFest concert brings the celebration home.
LUTOSLAWSKI Paganini Variations
WILLIAMS Quartet La Jolla
STEVEN BANKS Work to be announced
TCHAIKOVSKY Souvenir de Florence
Steven Banks, Inon Barnatan, Benjamin Beilman, Jay Campbell, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Jeremy Denk, Jeremy Kurtz-Harris, Teng Li, Cho-Liang Lin, Nina Lee, Yura Lee, Rose Lombardo, Paul Neubauer, Julie Smith Phillips, Simone Porter, Jonathan Swensen, John Bruce Yeh
SUMMERFEST 40TH ANNIVERSARY GALA
Saturday, August 22 • 5 PM • Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
Gala Chairs: Lise Wilson and Steve Strauss
OLD COUNTRY, NEW AGE
Sunday, August 23 • 3 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 2 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Windswept lyricism, razor-sharp wit, and sweeping grandeur—this is England in full color. From Vaughan Williams and Walton to Elgar’s epic Piano Quintet, the program captures a nation reinventing itself in the early 20th century. The evening also features Thomas Adès—today’s most celebrated living English composer—bringing the story thrillingly into the present.
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS On Wenlock Edge
ELGAR Piano Quintet in A Minor, Op. 84
WALTON Façade
Thomas Adès, Steven Banks, Benjamin Beilman, Jay Campbell, Jeremy Denk, James Ehnes, Njioma Chinyere Grevious, Sidney Hopson, Nina Lee, Teng Li, Rose Lombardo, Brandon Ridenour, Jonathan Swensen, Robin Tritschler, Stephen Waarts, John Bruce Yeh
MIDWEEK MASTERWORKS: SCHUBERTIADE
Wednesday, August 26 • 7 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 6 PM • The JAI
Step inside the salons where Schubert’s music first came to life. This evening recreates the spirit of the original Schubertiades—intimate gatherings where friends shared new songs and chamber works at close range. Songs, chamber music, and the radiant Fantasy for four hands draw us into the world of 1820s Vienna, where this music was heard for the very first time.
SCHUBERT An die Musik, D.547
Ganymed, D.544
Die Forelle, D.550
SCHUBERT Fantasy in F Minor, D.940
SCHUBERT Die Sterne, D.939
Du bist die Ruh, D.776
Erlkönig, D.328
SCHUBERT String Quartet in C Minor, D.703
SCHUBERT Rondo in A Major for Violin and Strings, D.438
Ani Aznavoorian, Inon Barnatan, Benjamin Beilman, Jonathan Biss, Owen Dalby, James Ehnes, Njioma Chinyere Grevious, Hsin-Yun Huang, Nina Lee, Robin Tritschler, Jonathan Vinocour, Stephen Waarts
BRAD MEHLDAU
RIDE INTO THE SUN—THE MUSIC OF ELLIOTT SMITH
featuring Chris Thile, Blake Mills, Matt Chamberlain & John Davis
with USC Thornton Chamber Virtuosi, Dan Coleman conductor
SYNERGY INITIATIVE
Thursday, August 27 • 7 PM
Balboa Theatre
World-renowned pianist Brad Mehldau expands the language between genres with an homage to the late indie folk artist Elliott Smith, whose music inspired a generation of songwriters, joined by Chris Thile (mandolin/vocal), Blake Mills (guitar/vocal), Matt Chamberlain (drums), and John Davis (bass). This lauded band is backed by the 17-piece USC Thornton Chamber Virtuosi on Mehldau’s rich cinematic arrangements.
CONVERSATION ACROSS CENTURIES
Friday, August 28 • 7 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 6 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
From Shakespeare-inspired song to Beethoven’s haunting “Ghost” Trio, composers engage the voices of the past. The evening culminates in Vaughan Williams’s luminous Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis—a rare chance to hear this soaring work performed by a specially assembled large ensemble in all its radiant breadth.
HAYDN She Never Told Her Love
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Orpheus with His Lute
QUILTER O Mistress Mine
RAUTAVAARA Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?
DALE Come Away, Death
BEETHOVEN Piano Trio No. 5, Op. 70, No. 1 “Ghost”
HALVORSEN Sarabande con variazione on a Theme by Handel
VAUGHAN-WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Ani Aznavoorian, Inon Barnatan, Benjamin Beilman, Jonathan Biss, Owen Dalby, James Ehnes, Njioma Chinyere Grevious, Sam Hager, Kathryn Hatmaker, Hsin-Yun Huang, Nina Lee, Anthony Manzo, Simone Porter, Wesley Precourt, Jonathan Swensen, Jeff Thayer, Robin Tritschler, Jonathan Vinocour, Stephen Waarts, Cherry Yeung
FINALE: THE RULE OF THREE
Saturday, August 29 • 7 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
Prelude 6 PM • The Baker-Baum Concert Hall
For centuries, artists have understood the power of three—a principle woven throughout history in art, storytelling, and music. This exuberant finale embraces that timeless idea, pairing chamber works and concertos built around trios of soloists in a joyful, virtuosic celebration to close the season.
DAVID SERKIN LUDWIG Rule of Three
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 7 for Three Pianos, K. 242
DVORÁK Terzetto
MUSTONEN Triple Concerto for Three Violins and Chamber Orchestra
Ani Aznavoorian, Inon Barnatan, Jonathan Biss, Claire Brazeau, Owen Dalby, James Ehnes, Njioma Chinyere Grevious, Kathryn Hatmaker, Sidney Hopson, Hsin-Yun Huang, Nina Lee, Anthony Manzo, Simone Porter, Wesley Precourt, Sarah Skuster, Jonathan Swensen, Jonathan Vinocour, Stephen Waarts, Cherry Yeung
Artists, concerts, dates, venues, programming, and pricing are subject to change.
