Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

No better musical experience of its kind in the world (!)

Opera, symphony, Mainly Mozart, L.J Music Society, Bach Collegium, ProArte Voices

Michael Francis has programmed a six-year journey through Mozart’s life as a composer.
Michael Francis has programmed a six-year journey through Mozart’s life as a composer.

The San Diego classical music scene encompasses every genre of the artform. Chamber, orchestral, opera, and choral music are well represented. We’ve selected two large organizations, two medium-sized, and two boutique groups. They are the San Diego Symphony, San Diego Opera, the Mainly Mozart Festival, the La Jolla Music Society, Bach Collegium San Diego, and Pro Arte Voices.

These organizations produce music I consider to be in the regional, national, and even world class. These six organizations are consistently the best at what they do in San Diego County.

The San Diego Opera continues to produce opera while recovering from the trauma of 2014 when then–general director Ian Campbell tried to shutter the opera after 30 years of success.

The company is attempting to bring opera to a broader audience through a few different routes. One is the Detour Series, and another is through young singers and the Opera Exposed concerts, which utilizes venues such as the San Diego airport and public libraries.

The 2017–2018 season includes five stage productions. Two of the productions are from the Detour Series. There are three mainstage productions at the Civic Theater on Third at B Street. Of the three productions, only Puccini’s Turandot can be considered standard opera repertoire.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Time will tell if the new approach, led by general director David Bennett, is a model that the community rallies around. The future of opera in San Diego is still up in the air.

The San Diego Symphony performs in the Jacobs Music Center, a concert hall hidden within the Symphony Towers building on B Street between Seventh and eighth, downtown. The hall is named after Joan and Irwin Jacobs, who pledged over $100 million to the symphony in 2002.

In 2015, the symphony’s music director, Jahja Ling, announced that he would be stepping down after the 2016–’17 season. The symphony has yet to name a replacement. There are whispers that a successor will be named soon but mum has been the word thus far.

The new music director will inherit a healthy orchestra poised to reach new heights of artistic achievement. One thing that will continue to hold the orchestra back is the concert hall. The former Fox Movie Theater could not be a better fit for San Diego in terms of its interior architecture. However, despite improvements to the stage, the acoustics remain less than ideal.

San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary this June at the Balboa Theatre (on Fourth at E Street, near Horton Plaza). The festival could be the best kept secret in all of classical music.

Each June a group of champion orchestral players gathers for five unique concerts. While it is assembled, this orchestra is the finest in the nation and the argument could be made that there is no better musical experience of its kind in the world.

The orchestra brings musicians from the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the L.A. Philharmonic, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, among others.

Leading the festival for the past three years has been the up-and-coming British conductor Michael Francis. Maestro Francis has programmed a six-year journey through Mozart’s life as a composer. The festival is entering year three of the chronological exploration this June.

The Mainly Mozart organization also has a thriving youth orchestra and an extensive chamber music season that extends throughout the year.

The La Jolla Music Society has been bringing top music to San Diego for 49 years. The music society specializes in sponsoring concerts by the world’s best soloists and ensembles.

In years gone by, the society has brought the likes of the Vienna Philharmonic, the Tokyo String Quartet, and Murray Pariah to San Diego.

Each August the La Jolla Music Society presents SummerFest. This monthlong chamber music festival has been held at La Jolla’s Sherwood Auditorium but will be moving to the Conrad Prebys Music Center. “The Conrad” (as Prebys affectionately nicknamed it after donating $25 million for its construction) is scheduled to be completed in early 2019.

Bach Collegium San Diego was founded by music director Ruben Valenzuela in 2003. The group focuses on presenting an early-music experience for its audiences and has established itself as one of the leading ensembles on the West Coast.

Performance practices and the construction of instruments have continued to evolve over the past four centuries of Western Music. The Bach Collegium attempts to restore the music of the early masters back to its original state.

The Early Music Movement has its adversaries, but champions such as Maestro Venezuela point to the authentic experience of presenting the music as the composer envisioned it.

The Bach Collegium has an orchestra and chorus that perform more than a dozen concerts per year. The venues are usually specific churches that have Pro Arte Voices in their choirs. The group is a relative new-comer to San Diego. The chorale group was founded in 2013 by husband and wife Patrick and Katie Walders. Patrick is the conductor and artistic director and Katie is the executive director.

The choral group finds niches within the repertoire to program unique and compelling concerts around a central theme. For instance their next concert is entitled L.O.S.T. It was composed by UCSD professor Jason Rosenberg “in the contemporary style.”

According to the Pro Arte website, L.O.S.T. looks back to the Lamentations of Jeremiah by Thomas Tallis. Each section of Tallis’s masterpiece starts with a different letter of the Jewish alphabet. The English alphabet has four letters not found in the ancient Hebrew. Those letters are, L, O, S, and T.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SD Symphony singer tells what it’s like behind the scenes

Conductor Payare even looks like Mahler
Michael Francis has programmed a six-year journey through Mozart’s life as a composer.
Michael Francis has programmed a six-year journey through Mozart’s life as a composer.

The San Diego classical music scene encompasses every genre of the artform. Chamber, orchestral, opera, and choral music are well represented. We’ve selected two large organizations, two medium-sized, and two boutique groups. They are the San Diego Symphony, San Diego Opera, the Mainly Mozart Festival, the La Jolla Music Society, Bach Collegium San Diego, and Pro Arte Voices.

These organizations produce music I consider to be in the regional, national, and even world class. These six organizations are consistently the best at what they do in San Diego County.

The San Diego Opera continues to produce opera while recovering from the trauma of 2014 when then–general director Ian Campbell tried to shutter the opera after 30 years of success.

The company is attempting to bring opera to a broader audience through a few different routes. One is the Detour Series, and another is through young singers and the Opera Exposed concerts, which utilizes venues such as the San Diego airport and public libraries.

The 2017–2018 season includes five stage productions. Two of the productions are from the Detour Series. There are three mainstage productions at the Civic Theater on Third at B Street. Of the three productions, only Puccini’s Turandot can be considered standard opera repertoire.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Time will tell if the new approach, led by general director David Bennett, is a model that the community rallies around. The future of opera in San Diego is still up in the air.

The San Diego Symphony performs in the Jacobs Music Center, a concert hall hidden within the Symphony Towers building on B Street between Seventh and eighth, downtown. The hall is named after Joan and Irwin Jacobs, who pledged over $100 million to the symphony in 2002.

In 2015, the symphony’s music director, Jahja Ling, announced that he would be stepping down after the 2016–’17 season. The symphony has yet to name a replacement. There are whispers that a successor will be named soon but mum has been the word thus far.

The new music director will inherit a healthy orchestra poised to reach new heights of artistic achievement. One thing that will continue to hold the orchestra back is the concert hall. The former Fox Movie Theater could not be a better fit for San Diego in terms of its interior architecture. However, despite improvements to the stage, the acoustics remain less than ideal.

San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary this June at the Balboa Theatre (on Fourth at E Street, near Horton Plaza). The festival could be the best kept secret in all of classical music.

Each June a group of champion orchestral players gathers for five unique concerts. While it is assembled, this orchestra is the finest in the nation and the argument could be made that there is no better musical experience of its kind in the world.

The orchestra brings musicians from the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the L.A. Philharmonic, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, among others.

Leading the festival for the past three years has been the up-and-coming British conductor Michael Francis. Maestro Francis has programmed a six-year journey through Mozart’s life as a composer. The festival is entering year three of the chronological exploration this June.

The Mainly Mozart organization also has a thriving youth orchestra and an extensive chamber music season that extends throughout the year.

The La Jolla Music Society has been bringing top music to San Diego for 49 years. The music society specializes in sponsoring concerts by the world’s best soloists and ensembles.

In years gone by, the society has brought the likes of the Vienna Philharmonic, the Tokyo String Quartet, and Murray Pariah to San Diego.

Each August the La Jolla Music Society presents SummerFest. This monthlong chamber music festival has been held at La Jolla’s Sherwood Auditorium but will be moving to the Conrad Prebys Music Center. “The Conrad” (as Prebys affectionately nicknamed it after donating $25 million for its construction) is scheduled to be completed in early 2019.

Bach Collegium San Diego was founded by music director Ruben Valenzuela in 2003. The group focuses on presenting an early-music experience for its audiences and has established itself as one of the leading ensembles on the West Coast.

Performance practices and the construction of instruments have continued to evolve over the past four centuries of Western Music. The Bach Collegium attempts to restore the music of the early masters back to its original state.

The Early Music Movement has its adversaries, but champions such as Maestro Venezuela point to the authentic experience of presenting the music as the composer envisioned it.

The Bach Collegium has an orchestra and chorus that perform more than a dozen concerts per year. The venues are usually specific churches that have Pro Arte Voices in their choirs. The group is a relative new-comer to San Diego. The chorale group was founded in 2013 by husband and wife Patrick and Katie Walders. Patrick is the conductor and artistic director and Katie is the executive director.

The choral group finds niches within the repertoire to program unique and compelling concerts around a central theme. For instance their next concert is entitled L.O.S.T. It was composed by UCSD professor Jason Rosenberg “in the contemporary style.”

According to the Pro Arte website, L.O.S.T. looks back to the Lamentations of Jeremiah by Thomas Tallis. Each section of Tallis’s masterpiece starts with a different letter of the Jewish alphabet. The English alphabet has four letters not found in the ancient Hebrew. Those letters are, L, O, S, and T.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tuna within 3-day range Back in the Counts

Mind the rockfish regulations
Next Article

Live Five: Greyboy Allstars, Acoustic Revolt, Scary Pierre, Thee Sacred Souls, Glass Spells

Anniversaries, record releases, and fundraisers in Solana Beach, Ocean Beach, Little Italy, and Midway District
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader