La Jolla Music Society offers performances and education activities at SummerFest

In association with SummerFest 2024 at The Conrad, La Jolla Music Society will offer 50 free learning and engagement activities surrounding the festival from July 26 to Aug. 24.

Those supportive activities will include open rehearsals, artist lounges, encounters, coaching workshops, and musical preludes, all open to the public.

SummerFest music director and acclaimed pianist Inon Barnatan has programmed an exciting SummerFest focused on the theme “Inside Stories.”

Over four weeks, 21 performances, and 50 free education activities, music lovers will be transported into the heart of musical narratives that span the spectrum of life itself including stories of resilience, heartbreak, love, scandal, and triumph. LJMS presents concerts throughout the year but SummerFest is their signature event.

The purpose of LJMS is to welcome artists representing far-ranging genres from chamber music and jazz, to world music, dance, and beyond. The organization’s mission is to enhance cultural life and engagement by presenting and producing a wide range of programming of the highest artistic quality and to make The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center at 7600 Fay Ave. a vibrant and inclusive hub.

Allison Boles, director of learning and engagement for LJMS, discussed why the 50 free learning and engagement activities are being offered in connection with SummerFest. “It’s a complement to the concerts we offer,” she said adding those activities reveal “behind-the-scenes glimpses into how artists prepare for these concerts revealing a lot of the process that goes into it.”

Boles offered examples of learning and engagement activities. “We have our fellowship artists program with eight young artists joining us for the entire festival during a four-week residency,” she said adding audiences can follow those artist’s musical journeys and build relationships with them by attending coaching workshops, spotlight encounters, and musical preludes.

The LJMS director discussed how participants will be able to sit in on open rehearsals which she said are “really fun,” because you get to witness live rehearsals which address “the conversations they’re (artists) having behind closed doors to discuss, interpret and perform their work.”

Boles also talked about artist lounges being presented which she pointed out are “not performance-based,” but rather allow audience members the opportunity to get up close and personal with artists, which ordinarily they would not have the opportunity to do. She added the whole purpose of learning and engagement activities is to “offer access to artists and the opportunity to see, and understand, the process they’re involved in, what it takes for these people to do what they do.”

SummerFest subscriptions are available now. A complete subscription for all 17 concerts in The Baker-Baum Concert Hall is $1,249 or $1,413 depending on seat location. Partial subscription series and compose-your-own packages will be made available later in the spring. Single tickets range from $30 to $115.

SUMMERFEST 2024

All education events are free but space is limited and advance registration is required for some events. Register at TheConrad.org.

Tickets and more information are available at the La Jolla Music Society box office at 858-459-3728 and TheConrad.org.