Art to look forward to in 2024

Happy almost-New Year from the desk of the KPBS/Arts Calendar editor and KPBS/Arts newsletter writer. Year-round, I keep my eye on what's going on in art and culture, but I especially love looking ahead as we start a new year.

Here is a round-up of some of the visual art, theater, music, dance, books and performances in San Diego to look forward to in 2024.

Visual art

"Hold Fast" is an exhibit of cyanotypes by marine scientist, diver and artist Oriana Poindexter, gyotaku-style fish and animal prints by Dwight Hwang and real-time kelp forest mapping by Scripps Oceanography PhD student Mohammad Sedarat. Held at the Birch Aquarium, it will be a powerful account of the beauty and peril of our local giant kelp forests. Opens Feb. 8.

Margaret Noble is opening a solo exhibition, "Dark Loops," of her astonishing, thoughtful interdisciplinary work at Mesa College Art Gallery on Feb. 8.

ICA San Diego opens two related exhibitions steeped in imagining our futures, and "engage in conversations about where the human ends and the non-human begins." Pinar Yoldas' solo work is at ICA Central Feb. 24- June 23 and the SUPERFLEX art collective takes over ICA North Jan 20- June 2.

Speaking of ICA, I'm also excited to see what their residency collaboration with Good Faith brings: Ethan Chan and David Peña will be the two resident artists for 2024.

Artist Tarrah Aroonsakool opens a solo show of her work — often involving found materials and trash — at Athenaeum Art Center Mar. 2–May 3, 2024.

Courtesy of MCASD

Finally, this fall, I cannot wait to see "For Dear Life" at MCASD, curated by Jill Dawsey and Isabel Casso. Part of Pacific Standard Time, an initiative of the Getty Foundation, the museum said this exhibit will be the "first historical survey of artistic responses to sickness, health and medicine." Stay tuned for lots of Pacific Standard Time happenings in San Diego and beyond.

Music

For fans of new and experimental composition, don't miss the annual soundON Festival, held at the Athenaeum Jan. 5-7, with three days of concerts.

UC San Diego Park & Market has announced their Intersections concert series for the entire year, beginning with West African musician Adama Bilorou on Jan. 19.

On Feb. 25, the San Diego Symphony will perform the west coast premiere of commissioned new work by Mason Bates, as well as Ravel's Bolero and Respighi's "Pines of Rome" — which has one of my favorite final four minutes of any piece of classical music.

Another San Diego Symphony pick: Yo-Yo Ma and Rafael Payare take the stage together on May 7 at Jacobs Music Center.

And here's a few rock, indie, folk and more live music picks on my radar already:

Yo La Tengo at Belly Up on Feb. 12; locals Baby Bushka at Music Box on Feb. 15; Hotelier and Foxing at The Observatory on Feb. 18; two shows of The Wailin' Jennys at Belly Up Mar. 10; and Hurray for the Riff Raff at House of Blues on Apr. 4.

Dance

Malashock's new tradition, "Everyday Dances III" will be performed Jan. 25-28, featuring ten short new works of choreography.

Doug McMinimy

San Diego Ballet combines Spanish guitar and ballet in "The Many Loves of Don Juan," Feb 24-25.

Later in the year, San Diego Dance Theater's multi-day Live Arts Fest kicks off July 18 with the best of new dance and movement performance.

The Old Globe

Theater

"Don Giovanni," San Diego Opera's production of what's known as Mozart's "perfect opera" takes the Civic Theatre stage Feb. 2-4.

Playwright Karen Zacarías was commissioned by The Old Globe to adapt Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence," which opens Feb. 8.

Broadway's Idina Menzel (i.e. Elsa) comes to La Jolla Playhouse (i.e. the ancient forests in Northern California) for the world premiere of "Redwood," by Tina Landau and Kate Diaz, on stage Feb. 13-Mar. 31. This one is selling out fast.

In "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812," Cygnet Theatre promises Tolstoy and ... electropop? On stage Apr. 10 through May 12.

Books

On Jan. 27, Small Press Nite returns for its fourth edition at The Book Catapult, featuring Melissa Broder, myself and more as featured readers.

The PLNU Writers Symposium By the Sea brings Paulette Jiles, Judy Woodruff, Elizabeth Gilbert, Nick Hornby and Susan Orlean to town for a big-name literary extravaganza Feb. 20-23.

And one of my favorite writers, Rita Bullwinkel, also comes to The Book Catapult on March 30 in support of her forthcoming novel, "Headshot." For a head start, check out her 2018 short story collection, "Belly Up."

Multi-disciplinary and more

Project [BLANK]'s "Working Title" is a three-day group art exhibition and concert, curated by Diana Benavidez and Leslie Ann Leytham and held at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral. With thoughtful art and magical performance, expect to feel a bunch of pride for your hometown creative folk.

Our San Diego-Tijuana region's designation as the 2024 World Design Capital technically runs all year, but the WDC festival packs a bunch of design-related events, tours, lectures, and more into one week, May 1-5.