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Looking forward to the 39th La Jolla SummerFest
Renée Fleming performance is sold out, but there's still much worth hearing
The under-appreciated Carl Nielsen.
As July proceeds, you may begin to detect a certain festivity in the air — a summer festivity, if you will. It could be because the 39th
La Jolla Music Society SummerFest is about to start cranking out another batch of world-class concerts. The festival starts on Friday, July 25, and concludes on Saturday, August 23.
Upcoming Event
Opening Night: Great Expectations
- Friday, July 25, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
- Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages
The opening concert features music by Mozart, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Romanian composer George Enescu. The piece by Enescu is his String Octet in C major. Enescu is one of the most underappreciated composers of the early 20th Century. In some ways, he is like Rachmaninoff. He was born in the late 19th Century and never fully embraced the strident tones of the 20th Century.
Video:
Enescu: Octet for Strings
The concert on Sunday, July 27, features music by Gustav Mahler, Frédéric Chopin, and Dimitri Shostakovich. The offering by Mahler is his Piano Quartet in A minor.
Upcoming Event
Emergence
- Sunday, July 27, 2025, 3 p.m.
- Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages
This piece was written while Mahler was about 15 or 16 years old and a student at the Vienna Conservatory.
Video:
Mahler: Piano Quartet in A Minor
The concert on Wednesday, July 30, would be well worth a mid-week excursion to La Jolla. The program features Beethoven’s Piano Trio in C minor, Opus 1, No. 3. This piece comes from Beethoven’s first official composition.
Upcoming Event
Youthful Passions
- Wednesday, July 30, 2025, 7 p.m.
- Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages
The other piece that makes this concert so special is Felix Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E-flat Major, Opus 20. This is simply one of the greatest pieces of chamber music ever written.
Video:
Mendelssohn: Octet, Op. 20
The “Northern Lights” concert on Friday, August 1, offers music by Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius. Nielsen is yet another underappreciated composer.
Upcoming Event
Northern Lights
- Friday, August 1, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
- Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages
His String Quintet starts the concert, and Sibelius’s String Quartet in D minor, Opus 56, concludes the evening.
Video:
Nielsen: String Quintet in G Major
On Tuesday, August 5, we get what I’m considering the high-water mark of this year’s festival. The concert features just two pieces, Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time and Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs.
Upcoming Event
For The End of Time
- Tuesday, August 5, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
- Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages
The soprano for the Strauss is none other than Renée Fleming. Yes, you read that correctly. You had the chance to hear Fleming in the intimate confines of The Baker-Baum Concert Hall. The concert is sold out.
Video:
Renée Fleming!
Upcoming Event
Starburst
- Saturday, August 23, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
- Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages
There are far too many concerts to list here, but I will include the finale concert on Saturday, August 23, because it is a chance to hear Mendelssohn’s immortal Violin Concerto and Johannes Brahms’ Serenade in D major.
Video:
Brahms: Serenade No. 1
Here's something you might be interested in.
Looking forward to the 39th La Jolla SummerFest
Renée Fleming performance is sold out, but there's still much worth hearing
Looking forward to the 39th La Jolla SummerFest
Renée Fleming performance is sold out, but there's still much worth hearing
The under-appreciated Carl Nielsen.
As July proceeds, you may begin to detect a certain festivity in the air — a summer festivity, if you will. It could be because the 39th
La Jolla Music Society SummerFest is about to start cranking out another batch of world-class concerts. The festival starts on Friday, July 25, and concludes on Saturday, August 23.
Upcoming Event
Opening Night: Great Expectations
- Friday, July 25, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
- Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages
The opening concert features music by Mozart, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Romanian composer George Enescu. The piece by Enescu is his String Octet in C major. Enescu is one of the most underappreciated composers of the early 20th Century. In some ways, he is like Rachmaninoff. He was born in the late 19th Century and never fully embraced the strident tones of the 20th Century.
Video:
Enescu: Octet for Strings
The concert on Sunday, July 27, features music by Gustav Mahler, Frédéric Chopin, and Dimitri Shostakovich. The offering by Mahler is his Piano Quartet in A minor.
Upcoming Event
Emergence
- Sunday, July 27, 2025, 3 p.m.
- Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages
This piece was written while Mahler was about 15 or 16 years old and a student at the Vienna Conservatory.
Video:
Mahler: Piano Quartet in A Minor
The concert on Wednesday, July 30, would be well worth a mid-week excursion to La Jolla. The program features Beethoven’s Piano Trio in C minor, Opus 1, No. 3. This piece comes from Beethoven’s first official composition.
Upcoming Event
Youthful Passions
- Wednesday, July 30, 2025, 7 p.m.
- Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages
The other piece that makes this concert so special is Felix Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E-flat Major, Opus 20. This is simply one of the greatest pieces of chamber music ever written.
Video:
Mendelssohn: Octet, Op. 20
The “Northern Lights” concert on Friday, August 1, offers music by Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius. Nielsen is yet another underappreciated composer.
Upcoming Event
Northern Lights
- Friday, August 1, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
- Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages
His String Quintet starts the concert, and Sibelius’s String Quartet in D minor, Opus 56, concludes the evening.
Video:
Nielsen: String Quintet in G Major
On Tuesday, August 5, we get what I’m considering the high-water mark of this year’s festival. The concert features just two pieces, Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time and Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs.
Upcoming Event
For The End of Time
- Tuesday, August 5, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
- Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages
The soprano for the Strauss is none other than Renée Fleming. Yes, you read that correctly. You had the chance to hear Fleming in the intimate confines of The Baker-Baum Concert Hall. The concert is sold out.
Video:
Renée Fleming!
Upcoming Event
Starburst
- Saturday, August 23, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
- Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages
There are far too many concerts to list here, but I will include the finale concert on Saturday, August 23, because it is a chance to hear Mendelssohn’s immortal Violin Concerto and Johannes Brahms’ Serenade in D major.
Video:
Brahms: Serenade No. 1