🎵 Music
aja monet: Performance and Listening Room
Future is Color and ArtPower present a performance with musician, surrealist poet and activist aja monet and Def Sound at UC San Diego on Thursday evening, with Thee Sacred Souls' Josh Lane opening. aja monet and Def Sound will also be in conversation at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego on Friday afternoon for a special edition of Future is Color's "Listening Room" project. The artists will discuss monet's album "the color of rain" and spend some time listening. Tickets for the Friday Listening Room are free, but an RSVP is required and it is filling up fast.
Concert: 7 p.m. Thursday, July 30 | Epstein Family Amphitheater, UC San Diego | $40-$45 | MORE INFO
Listening Room: 4-7 p.m. Friday, July 31 | MCASD, La Jolla | Free | MORE INFO
Julianna Zachariou: 'Dreamer, Dreamer' House Show
For local indie rocker Julianna Zachariou's current tour, she's hitting up backyards, living rooms and small or unconventional venues across the U.S. — all in celebration of DIY creativity and community. More and more artists are turning to house shows and DIY venues, whether as a form of protest against ticketing platforms and high ticket prices or simply to seek something more grassroots. Zachariou crowd-funded her latest album, "Dreamer, Dreamer," which is fantastic, and we spoke about her journey for an episode of The Finest right as she was putting the finishing touches on the album. She will also release a music video for the track "Macaroni Faithful" at a potluck event on Thursday at Home Ec and Best Bud Floral in Kensington.
For Friday's backyard concert, ticket holders will receive the exact address in North Park on the morning of the show. BYOB, snacks and extra blankets.
6:30 p.m. Friday, July 31 | Palm Street Sound, North Park | $15/sliding scale | MORE INFO
SummerFest
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the La Jolla Music Society's annual, monthlong summer chamber music festival. Directed once again by Inon Barnatan, this year's program includes 21 concerts, more than 50 free community shows and events, and will bring more than 100 musicians and composers. While Friday's opening night is sold out, Sunday afternoon's "What If?" concert features violinist Randall Goosby on Lili Boulanger's "Two Pieces for Violin and Piano," and an ensemble with vocalists will perform Giovanni Pergolesi's sacred masterpiece "Stabat Mater." Pergolesi wrote that piece in 1736, shortly before his death the same year — at the tragic age of 26.
July 31 - Aug. 29 | La Jolla Music Society, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla | Prices vary | MORE INFO
St. Vincent and the San Diego Symphony
Six-time Grammy winner St. Vincent, otherwise known as Annie Clark, will perform with the San Diego Symphony on Saturday, having collaborated with arranger and conductor Jules Buckley to breathe symphonic life into Clark's theatrical, mesmerizing and inventive music.
The symphony and Clark will perform pieces from her entire catalog, including albums like "Marry Me," "Strange Mercy," "MASSEDUCTION" and her latest, "All Born Screaming." For the final performance of her tour for that album, she partnered with Buckley and his orchestra at BBC Proms, which led to this expanded collaboration. Side note: My audience claim to fame is that one time, St. Vincent crowd surfed on me. I am not expecting that to happen at the symphony.
As with all Rady Shell concerts, there's a chance you could hear the music and catch a glimpse of the public walking path around the venue.
The talented Pakistani-American composer and singer Arooj Aftab will also perform. I loved her gorgeous 2012 album, "Vulture Prince."
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1 | The Rady Shell, 222 Marina Park Way, downtown | $51-$173 | MORE INFO
🎨 Visual art
'34th Annual Juried Exhibition'
Photographer and UC San Diego faculty member Paul Mpagi Sepuya curated this year's Juried Exhibition at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, selecting 42 border region artists from a whopping 1,000 works submitted. Selected artists include Stefanie Bales, Jill Marie Holslin, Maya Grace Misra, Phuc Ha Nguyen, Helena Westra and more. The exhibit opens with a reception Friday.
5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, July 31; through Oct. 9 | Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla | Free | MORE INFO
💃 Dance
The Rosin Box Project: 'Debuts: The Frame Wide Open'
The always inventive and incredible contemporary ballet company, The Rosin Box Project, puts together a show each year featuring all new works by company artists and guest choreographers. Pieces premiering this year include "New Archibald" by Jennifer Archibald, "Dark Matter" by Christian Denice (with an original score by Philip Daniel) and a new piece by company co-founder Carly Topazio. Be prepared for emotive, athletic, theatrical, comedic and expressive performances from this unmatched and prolific local company. Military, senior, artist and student discounts are available.
7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 6 p.m. Sunday, July 31 - Aug. 2 | The Joan (Cygnet Theatre), 2880 Roosevelt Rd., Liberty Station | $30-$60 | MORE INFO
City Ballet of San Diego: 'Ballet Under the Stars'
City Ballet of San Diego will present an outdoor performance featuring its emerging artists. The pre-professional students in the company's summer intensive program will perform alongside principal dancers in pieces including "Salute to Sousa," "Paquita" and more. While the program is free, reservations are required. Reserved seating is available for $30.
8 p.m. Friday, July 31 | Epstein Family Amphitheater, 9500 Gilman Dr., UC San Diego | Free | MORE INFO
LITVAK Dance: 'Dancing Outdoors Take 4'
North County contemporary dance company LITVAK Dance puts on an annual outdoor performance each summer. This year's event is set at ICA San Diego-North in Encinitas and spotlights distinct and diverse types of dance. Performers include LITVAK's company dancers and three Encinitas-based artists and groups: West African dancer Daunté Nabi Fyall, Odissi-style dancer Shibani Patnaik and the Ballet Folklórico of San Diego company. Live musical accompaniment will be performed by Montalban Quintet, and guests will be able to browse ICA's current exhibition, "Unfold Projects 001: We Must Imagine It," and the sculpture garden. Two performance time slots are offered throughout the evening.
5:45 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1 | ICA San Diego-North, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas | $10-$35 | MORE INFO
🎭 Theater
'Much Ado About Nothing'
The Old Globe is referring to this Shakespearean play as "the original rom-com." We follow the bickering Benedick and Beatrice as they resist their friends' matchmaking efforts. When the Globe produced this play in 2018, artistic director Barry Edelstein said the reason this play is a comedic masterpiece — possibly the comedic masterpiece — is Shakespeare's witty dialogue. "You sit back in your chair and a bunch of super smart people get out on stage and just say wonderfully funny stuff," Edelstein said. Directed by Edelstein, this production stars Eden Espinosa as Beatrice, Tally Sessions as Benedick, Stephanie Hinck as Hero and Ainsley Melham as Claudio. Also in the cast as Margaret is the versatile (and busy) comedic actor Madi Goff, who was recently a fantastic scene stealer as Elbow in the Globe's opening summer Shakespeare production, "Measure for Measure." As with that show, "Much Ado About Nothing" will screen under the stars in the outdoor festival theater.
Aug. 2-30 | The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park | $44-$132 | MORE INFO
🍿 Film and family
Lemon Grove Movie Night and Projection Art: 'Rocky'
In 2024, local Lemon Grove student and artist Esteban Sánchez partnered with ArtReach San Diego and San Diego FC to paint a (huge) soccer-themed mural on the Lemon Grove Community Center wall. This Friday, the nonprofit Lemon Grove Community Activities will light up the mural with custom projection art by Sonder Eyes and also screen the classic movie "Rocky," which celebrates its 50th anniversary later this year. RSVPs are recommended for this free event. The two-hour film will start when it's dark.
7:30 p.m. Friday, July 31 | Lemon Grove Community Center, 3146 School Ln., Lemon Grove | Free | MORE INFO
For more arts events and ongoing happenings, visit the KPBS/Arts Calendar.
