La Jolla Music Society SummerFest: Musical Crossroads

Enjoy the last moments of Summer with UCSD-TV’s coverage of this year’s La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest!

UCSD-TV has been filming this annual three week festival of chamber music since 1999 and archives of these past performances can be found in our La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest Series.

This year’s SummerFest did not disappoint with world premieres by three Pulitzer Prize-winning American composers: Steven Stucky, David Del Tredici and John Harbison.

Watch “La Jolla Music Society SummerFest: Musical Crossroads” to also see the “Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion” by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok.

Watch other great chamber music concerts in the La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest Series.

It's SummerFest Season!

Summer wouldn’t be the same without La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest!

Every year La Jolla Music Society orchestrates three weeks of chamber music concerts with world famous musicians who not only perform original works but participate in discussions, give lectures and coaching sessions for younger musicians, and attend social events.

UCSD-TV has been capturing these musical moments since the 1999 SummerFest season and all of these performances are archived on our website.

SummerFest, led by violinist Cho-Liang Lin, delves into the story and art behind the musical pieces with pre-concert talks and interviews with the artists.

Get ready for the upcoming season of SummerFest with this past episode, featuring “Wayne Shorter’s Terra Incognita, 2006.” Shorter discusses his inspirations for his famous “Terra Incognita” as well as the Imani Winds quintet describing their experience playing the piece.

See what other musicians have been a part of the chamber music celebration in the SummerFest Series!

Summer(Fest) is Still in the Air – Starting Tonight!

Sure, the days are getting shorter, but the spirit of summer is still going strong on UCSD-TV with the premiere of three programs from La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest 2012 season.

The excitement kicks off tonight, October 5, at 8pm with Tan Dun’s Water Passion, a multicultural/multimedia oratorio, written by the acclaimed Chinese composer to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of J.S. Bach, whose “St. Matthew Passion” provided the initial inspiration for this work.  The music is a theatrical  mix of water bowls, drums, strings, Tibetan bells, chants, digital sounds, Chinese opera and Tuvan throat singing, with a dash of jazz and postmodernism, all filtered through Tan Dun’s adventurous sensibility.

Then tune in next Friday, October 12, at 8pm for Commissions & Premieres, part of SummerFest’s long tradition of showcasing new works. This year’s program includes stimulating pieces by American composers Gabriel Kahane, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Aaron Jay Kernis, and French composer Marc-Andre Dalbavie.

Finally, on October 19, there’s the Finale Concert, featuring 38 of the world’s best chamber and symphonic musicians as the SummerFest Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of celebrated conductor Kent Nagano.  The eclectic program includes Rossini’s beloved “Overture to The Barber of Seville,” Beethoven’s viruoso “Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major,” Maurer’s surprising “Sinfonia Concertante in A Minor for Four Violins and Strings,” and Mendelssohn’s  colorful “Symphony No. 4 in A Major.”

All programs repeat throughout the month and will be available online by their premiere date.

If you’re still not ready to let summer go, visit our SummerFest series page, where you can find video of performances and behind-the-scenes interviews going all the way back to 1999. That should keep you warm during the winter!

La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest 2012: Tan Dun’s Water Passion

UCSD-TV Opera & SummerFest Programs Nab Telly Awards

We’re proud to announce that two UCSD-TV produced arts programs with longtime community partners have been awarded Bronze Telly Awards!

San Diego Opera Spotlight: Romeo and Juliet: A behind-the-scenes look at San Diego Opera’s 2010 production of Gounod’s Shakespeare-inspired masterpiece.

This is the fifth award for the Opera Spotlight series, which UCSD-TV and San Diego Opera have co-produced since 1995 — including this year with San Diego Opera’s 2011 season.

La Jolla Music Society: SummerFest 2009: Stewart Copeland, Composer: Four original compositions by percussionist Stewart Copeland, best known as drummer for superstar rock band The Police.
This is the first award for the SummerFest series and, after twelve years of partnering with La Jolla Music Society, we are confident it won’t be the last.

UCSD-TV is no stranger to the Telly Awards, having picked up fifteen of them since 2004. The Telly Awards honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions, and work created for the Web. Since 1978, their mission has been to strengthen the visual arts community by inspiring, promoting, and supporting creativity. The 31st Annual Telly Awards received over 13,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents.

Congratulations to our talented arts producer John Menier and, of course, to our valued community partners, San Diego Opera and La Jolla Music Society.