Music
SummerFest starts this weekend at the La Jolla Music Society. It's a month-long chamber music extravaganza, with dozens of concerts, multidisciplinary and crossover performances, takeovers and free rehearsals. This is Inon Barnatan's fifth year as music director of the festival.
Chamber music has its origins in groups that were able to fit inside smaller chambers or rooms inside palaces and houses.
"It was the most accessible to people — people could play in their own living rooms, people could hear it at parties, and to this day, I think the most special thing about it is that it is the most intimate form of music making. It's a conversation between individuals and that intimacy transfers to the audience, I think — especially at The Conrad where we perform, which is so spectacular both acoustically and architecturally so that everybody can feel part of that conversation," Barnatan said. "Chamber music in some ways is the most direct form of musical communication."
This year's festival is themed "The Great Unknown," a nod to what Barnatan said was a common compliment the festival seems to receive — that people love the little surprises and discoveries at each performance. In that spirit, SummerFest is keeping the opening night concert program (the songs they'll perform) a secret until that night.
In addition to the mysterious opening night on Friday, there's a big concert on Saturday night that journeys through morning, afternoon and night in music, and a matinee on Sunday featuring a piece by Brahms contrasted with a piece by Mahler.
Further along in the festival is one of the "Synergy" performances that pairs chamber music with interdisciplinary art forms. "The Carnival of the Animals" is a piece by Camille Saint-Saëns, but it's been reimagined by spoken word artist and activist Marc Bamuthi Joseph and dancer Wendy Whelan. This version is set in the January 6 insurrection in the Capitol, and will be performed on Aug. 18.
SummerFest also offers free weekday rehearsals, workshops and discussions that audiences can sit in on — an opportunity to take a long lunch break, listen to some free performances and take a peek behind the scenes.
Another highlight is this year's composer-in-residence, Thomas Adès. In addition to his pieces being spotlighted throughout the festival, Adès, a pianist, will also perform in several concerts and curate a special "Takeover" on Aug. 6.
"Thomas Adès, to me, is the number one composer working today. If I had to name one composer that I think will be still played in a hundred, two hundred, three hundred years that is working today, Tom would be at the very top of the list," Barnatan said.
You can check out my full interview with Barnatan here.
Details: This weekend's performances are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 3 p.m. Sunday. SummerFest continues through Aug. 26. The Conrad, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla. Ticket prices vary.
More music
The third annual Bad Vibes Good Friends Art and Music Festival runs Thursday and Friday nights at Corazon del Barrio in Barrio Logan (the former La Bodega Gallery, which is now primarily an event and performances space). It features "live visuals" along with music and themed cocktails. Thursday night's line up is an eclectic set, with cumbia and contemporary Colombian music from Meridian Brothers and Cerrero y la Marea, plus locals Fresh Veggies Micro Brass. Friday features rock and indie music, with LA-based garage psych rock band WAND, local "bizarro quintet" punk band Drug Hunt, along with This Lonesome Paradise from Joshua Tree and New Tongues, a crossborder sound art ensemble.
Details: 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, July 27-28. Corazon del Barrio, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. $20 each night in advance; $25 at the door.
The National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America will dazzle audiences at The Rady Shell on Friday, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. The group of youth all-star musicians has been touring the country, and will end their tour here. They'll perform a Carnegie Hall commission by Valerie Coleman, "Giants of Light," with a Samuel Barber concerto and Hector Berlioz' "Symphonie Fantastique."
Details: 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 28. The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, 222 Marina Park Way. $28-$83.
Visual art
Tom Driscoll: 'Trophies' opens in the tiny The Museum of ____ space in the back room of Quint's main gallery. Driscoll's work dwells in vivid, opaque color, repetition and the surprising use of mundane objects. For this exhibit, he's mounted a series of brightly colored miniature toy soldiers onto trophy bases, arranging them precisely around the gallery's walls.
Thomas Glassford will open a solo exhibition in the main Quint Gallery on July 29. The Mexico City-based sculptor creates large, colorful works that feel both geometric and botanical.
Details: Both exhibits open with a reception 6-8 p.m. Saturday, July 29. On view through Sept. 9. Quint Gallery and The Museum Of_____, 7655 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Free.
Theater
The 22nd Annual Paper Theatre Festival is underway at the UC San Diego Geisel Library. Run by the library's Scott Paulson, the festival celebrates the miniature toy theaters that found popularity in Victorian-era London when theater concession stands would sell kits for families to build their own mini sets to reenact the play at home. Part of the festival is an exhibition in the library lobby through Aug. 15, but it centers around a set of lunchtime performances. The final performance is noon on Friday, featuring Paulson's "Lady Ada: Steampunk Heroine."
Details: 12 p.m. on Friday, July 28. The Nest, Geisel Library, 9500 Gilman Dr., UC San Diego. Free.
"Tina: The Tina Turner Musical" is on stage at the Civic Theatre through Sunday. It's a "jukebox musical" following the life and work of the celebrated and beloved musician, who passed away this May. The musical, written by playwright Katori Hall, debuted on Broadway in 2019, and this is its first tour.
Details: Remaining shows are 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., downtown. $39+.
Southwestern College's Summer Shakespeare Festival continues this weekend and next, with multiple performances of two plays each weekend: "Hamlet" and "The Comedy of Errors." I haven't seen "The Comedy of Errors," so in researching it a little, I found that not only is it a play about two sets of twins separated at birth, but I also learned that the 1988 Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin flick "Big Business" is technically an adaptation of "The Comedy of Errors." Lots of mistaken identity hijinks. These are free plays, performed by the talented faculty and students in Southwestern's theater department, at one of very few places to see live theater in the South Bay. Advanced registration is recommended, because shows are selling out.
Details: "A Comedy of Errors" is 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, July 29-30; "Hamlet" is 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 28-30. Southwestern College Performing Arts Center, 900 Otay Lakes Rd., Chula Vista. Free.
Books, Kids
Helen Wu reads "Tofu Takes Time" and "Long Goes to Dragon School" Diesel Book Store on Sunday. The San Diego-based author and illustrator is also the publisher of Yeehoo Press, an indie children's book publisher.
Details: 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 30. Diesel Book Store, 12843 El Camino Real, Ste. 104, Del Mar. Free.
For more arts events, to submit your own, or to sign up for my weekly KPBS/Arts newsletter, visit the KPBS/Arts Calendar.
-
San ZauscherOne local author draws from personal experience in a new middle-grade novel about anxiety. Plus, "Crime and Punishment, A Comedy" is playing at the Old Globe. And, chamber music concerts and other events to look out for this weekend. -
