La Jolla Music Society SummerFest 2023 Synergy Brochure

SYNERGY SERIES

INNOVATIVE CREATIVE

GENRE-BENDING

Three unforgettable experiences await during SummerFest, August 17–19, 2023

Inon Barnatan, Music Director

Expanding Imaginations & Breaking Barriers.

The Synergy Initiative, a series co-produced by Inon Barnatan and Clara Wu Tsai, invites top creators of music, dance, spoken word, and visual arts to collaborate across their different art forms and produce performances that inspire audiences in unexpected and powerful ways.

The

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17 · 6 PM & 8:30 PM

The Louis Cato Trio

FRIDAY, AUGUST 18 · 7:30 PM

Carnival of the Animals

SATURDAY, AUGUST 19 · 7:30 PM

American Classic: Cato/Dover/Lark/Thurber

Clara Wu Tsai Inon Barnatan

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17 · 6 PM & 8:30 PM

The Louis Cato Trio

THE JAI

GRAMMY-nominated Louis Cato, an internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter who leads The Late Show with Stephen Colbert house band, takes the stage in the intimate atmosphere of The JAI for an evening of eclectic jazz-inspired performance with his band.

Louis Cato has worked with an array of artists, including Bobby McFerrin, Snarky Puppy, Jon Batiste, Q-Tip, and A Tribe Called Quest. Cato has an undeniable ability to craft sonic landscapes into timeless masterpieces. After two decades of lending his talents to other projects, he released his first solo record, Starting Now, which he also mixed and produced entirely by himself. Louis Cato is currently in postproduction on his newest album, which is due out in the coming year.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 18 · 7:30 PM

Carnival of the Animals

THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL

An evening-length interdisciplinary work of dance, spoken word and music, Carnival of the Animals is an intentional response to the January 6 insurrection, navigating the reality of the political jungle by embodying shifting societal values and our relationship to democracy. Choreographed and directed by Francesca Harper and anchored in the words of poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph and the transcendent movement of legendary dancer Wendy Whelan, Carnival of the Animals reimagines Saint-Saëns’ original animals and creates new animals in the political ecosystem, locating the classical in the present context. Each animal is tethered between order and disorder across a landscape of natural and socio-political arrangement. Harper utilizes Joseph’s writing of these new animals, including butterflies, free birds, goat, and elephant, to create physical poetry, giving life and breadth to the dynamic visions for hope, examples of resiliency as well as the polarizing experiences of race and gender, and different takes on political people and moments in our recent history.

Wendy Whelan, dancer (Associate Artistic Director, New York City Ballet)

Marc Bamuthi Joseph, spoken word (VP/Artistic Director of Social Impact for The Kennedy Center)

Francesca Harper, choreographer (Artistic Director, Alvin Ailey II)

Inon Barnatan, Joyce Yang, Geneva Lewis, and Gabriel Martins, musicians

SATURDAY, AUGUST 19 · 7:30 PM

American Classic: Cato/Dover/Lark/Thurber

THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL

Louis Cato, guitar | Mark Dover, clarinet | Tessa Lark, violin | Michael Thurber, bass

A musical explosion of joy with four creative powerhouses meeting at the intersection of blues, classical music, jazz, and songwriting. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert bandleader Louis Cato joins GRAMMY nominees Tessa Lark and clarinetist Mark Dover, along with Broadway-bound composer/bassist Michael Thurber, for never-beforeheard originals, arrangements, and improvisations that bring seemingly disparate stylistic influences into a unique, organic, sonic experience.

Louis Cato

Mark Dover

Tessa Lark

Michael Thurber

JULY 28–AUGUST 26, 2023 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

30 SUNDAY

31 MONDAY AUG 1 TUESDAY

COACHING WORKSHOPS

10 AM–12 PM · The JAI

2 WEDNESDAY

COACHING WORKSHOPS

10 AM–12 PM · The JAI

PRELUDE · 2 PM · The JAI Lecture by Michael Gerdes A SONG TO REMEMBER

3 PM

6 SUNDAY MYTHS AND RITES · 3 PM

TAKEOVER @ THE JAI WITH THOMAS ADÈS

7 PM · The JAI

13 SUNDAY

PRELUDE · 2 PM · The JAI Lecture

PROMISES, PROMISES

3 PM

7 MONDAY

ARTIST LOUNGE with Erin Keefe hosted by Leah Rosenthal

1 PM • The Atkinson Room

8 TUESDAY

COACHING WORKSHOPS

10 AM–12 PM · The JAI

ARTIST LOUNGE BOOK

CLUB with Edward Dusinberre hosted by Leah Rosenthal

1 PM • The Atkinson Room

OPEN REHEARSAL

2:30-3:30 PM

Beach’s Piano Quintet in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 67

14 MONDAY

ENCOUNTER · 2 PM · The JAI Fellowship Artist Spotlight I

15 TUESDAY

COACHING WORKSHOPS

10 AM–12 PM · The JAI

ARTIST LOUNGE with Michael Thurber and Tessa Lark hosted by Leah Rosenthal

1 PM • The Atkinson Room

20 SUNDAY 21 MONDAY

ENCOUNTER · 2 PM · The JAI Fellowship Artist Spotlight II with Sterling Elliott

22 TUESDAY

COACHING WORKSHOPS

10 AM–12 PM · The JAI

ARTIST LOUNGE with Anthony McGill hosted by Leah Rosenthal

1 PM • The Atkinson Room

OPEN REHEARSAL · 3–4 PM

Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence

PRELUDE · 6 PM · The JAI Interview with Thomas Adès hosted by Inon Barnatan

FANTASTIC TALES · 7 PM

9 WEDNESDAY

COACHING WORKSHOPS

10 AM–12 PM · The JAI

PRELUDE · 6 PM Performance by Quartet Integra

THE GREAT AMERICANS

7 PM

16 WEDNESDAY

COACHING WORKSHOPS

10 AM–12 PM · The JAI

PRELUDE · 6 PM Performance by trioJEM SLAVONIC DANCES

7 PM

23 WEDNESDAY

COACHING WORKSHOPS

10 AM–12 PM · The JAI

PRELUDE · 6 PM Performance by trioJEM SOUVENIRS · 7 PM

MIDWEEK MASTERWORKS

27 THURSDAY

OPEN REHEARSAL

11:30 AM-12:30 PM

Mozart’s String Quintet No. 2 in C Minor, K.406

28 FRIDAY

29 SATURDAY

PRELUDE · 6:30 PM · The JAI Interview with Inon Barnatan hosted by Leah Rosenthal

OPENING NIGHT: EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

6:30 PM

3 THURSDAY

COACHING WORKSHOPS

10 AM–12 PM · The JAI

JAZZ @ THE JAI WITH LUCY YEGHIAZARYAN & VANISHA GOULD

6 & 8:30 PM · The JAI

10 THURSDAY

COACHING WORKSHOPS

10 AM–12 PM · The JAI

4 FRIDAY

PRELUDE · 6:30 PM

Performance by Quartet Integra DREAMS AND PRAYERS

7:30 PM

11 FRIDAY

PRELUDE · 6:30 PM · The JAI

Lecture by Kristi Brown Montesano

JOURNEY IN LIGHT

7:30 PM

5 SATURDAY

OPEN REHEARSAL

1:30-2:30 PM

Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring

PRELUDE · 6:30 PM

Performance by trioJEM

MAGIC AND ALCHEMY

7:30 PM

12 SATURDAY

Check the mail for our new SummerFest Education Activities Guide. There you’ll find detailed descriptions and the full schedule for all 50+ events, including Encounters, Coaching Workshops, Artist Lounges, Open Rehearsals, and Preludes.

Scan here to purchase tickets

17 THURSDAY

COACHING WORKSHOPS

10 AM–12 PM · The JAI

JAZZ @ THE JAI WITH THE LOUIS CATO TRIO

6 & 8:30 PM · The JAI

24 THURSDAY

COACHING WORKSHOPS

10 AM–12 PM · The JAI

ENCOUNTER · 2 PM · The JAI

Shakespeare’s Sister with Ara Guzelimian

PRELUDE · 6:30 PM

Lecture

NEW GROUND · 7:30 PM

18 FRIDAY

PRELUDE · 6:30 PM · The JAI Interview with Francesca Harper hosted by Molly Puryear

SYNERGY: CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS · 7:30 PM

25 FRIDAY

PRELUDE · 6:30 PM · The JAI

Lecture by Ara Guzelimian

UNSILENCED VOICES

7:30 PM

6 PM · The Conrad

19 SATURDAY

PRELUDE · 6:30 PM · The JAI Interview with the Artists hosted by Allison Boles

SYNERGY: AMERICAN CLASSIC CATO/DOVER/ LARK/THURBER · 7:30 PM

26 SATURDAY

PRELUDE · 6:30 PM

Performance by Quartet Integra

SUMMERFEST FINALE: SERENADES · 7:30 PM

7600 FAY AVENUE LA JOLLA, CA 92037

For parking information please visit TheConrad.org

Dates, times, artists, subject to change.

PHOTO CREDITS: Artwork: Lee Mullican, Electric Night , 1967, oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 76in. (92.1 x 193cm), Collection Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Gift of Ruth Gribin, 2011.31 • Photographer: Pablo Mason © Estate of Lee Mullican 2023. Courtesy the Estate of Lee Mullican and James Cohan, New York; Pg. 2: I. Barnatan courtesy of the artist; Pg. 3: L. Cato © Colby Groves; Pg. 4: Carnival of the Animals collage courtesy of the artist; Pg. 19: L. Cato © Colby Groves, M. Dover courtesy of artist, T. Lark courtesy of artist, M. Thurber courtesy of artist