By SDCN Staff
San Diego, CA–The La Jolla Music Society has unveiled the lineup for its 39th annual SummerFest, the acclaimed chamber music festival that gathers world-class classical musicians at The Conrad in La Jolla.
Spanning four weeks of concerts, this year’s program is curated by Music Director and celebrated concert pianist Inon Barnatan.
Centered on the theme of “Milestones,” SummerFest 2025 runs from July 25 to August 23 and brings back talents such as Alan Gilbert, Tessa Lark, Yura Lee, Stefan Jackiw, Alisa Weilerstein, Anthony McGill, Stefan Dohr, and Cécile McLorin Salvant, with Jessie Montgomery as Composer-in-Residence.
Making their SummerFest debuts this year are exceptional European artists including Yulianna Avdeeva, Nicolas Alstaedt, Vilde Frang, Steven Osborne, and Stephen Waarts, among others.
Special guests include soprano Renée Fleming in her SummerFest debut, dancers Caleb Teicher and Nic Gareiss with a new piece, and chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt in a concert that pairs musical selections with specially prepared food courses.
Contemporary composers Timo Andres, Matthew Aucoin, and Patrick Castillo will be featured in a “New York Takeover” of The JAI, The Conrad’s intimate cabaret-style space. Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery will also curate a Takeover at The JAI in addition to performing on several programs. A variety of her works will be showcased throughout the festival.
“SummerFest 2025 takes you on a journey through ‘Milestones’—the pivotal moments that shape a composer’s creative life and the evolution of chamber music itself,” Barnatan says. “Each concert highlights a key turning point or life stage, illuminating the spark of youthful experimentation, the mid-career breakthroughs that redefined boundaries, and the poignant final reflections that cemented legendary legacies. Beyond reflecting on the past, ‘Milestones’ also embraces fresh perspectives and interdisciplinary collaborations that underscore how every era has its own defining achievements. By exploring these transformative milestones—from personal triumphs to monumental shifts in the musical landscape—the festival reveals how each era’s bold leaps and discoveries continue to resonate today.”
SummerFest 2025 brings back the popular Midweek Masterworks series on Wednesday evenings, with intermission-less programming of some of the best-loved chamber music works followed by a complimentary sparkling wine toast in the courtyard. Also returning is the Synergy Initiative, a series co-produced by Inon Barnatan and Clara Wu Tsai which 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.
