It’s been 40 years since the La Jolla Music Society’s annual SummerFest music event began, which makes it not only one of the longest-lasting classical- and jazz-focused concert series in the San Diego area, but in all of Southern California.
And with four decades nearly behind it, the theme of this year’s event, which opens Friday and stretches to Aug. 29, is “Making History.”
“With ‘Making History,’ I wanted to explore both the stories behind the music and the ways music itself becomes history over time,” Music Society music director Inon Barnatan explained in a statement.
Randall Goosby. (Photo courtesy of SummerFest)“As SummerFest celebrates its 40th anniversary and the country turns 250, this season feels like a meaningful opportunity to look back at the artistic legacy that brought us here while continuing to create new moments that will become part of the festival’s story going forward.”
SummerFest, for those who aren’t familiar, is an annual chamber music festival that brings classical musicians from around the world to the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla over the course of four weeks for concerts curated by Barnatan, who himself is an accomplished concert pianist.
The fest, which has been called the Coachella of classical music, actually has a longer history than Coachella. SummerFest was first held in 1986, while Coachella didn’t launch until 1999. Coachella’s sister festival, country music-oriented Stagecoach, came along even later, debuting in 2007.
And unlike Coachella, which takes place with the same lineup over two weekends, SummerFest is stretched out over an entire month, with multiple concerts each week.
Artists scheduled to perform during the latest edition include violinist Karen Gomyo, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, pianist Zoltán Fejérvári, concert violinist Randall Goosby, horn player Stefan Dohr and many more.
Stefan Dohr. (Photo courtesy of SummerFest)Paul Wiancko serves as the 2026 composer-in-residence.
SummerFest also includes the return of the Midweek Masterworks series on Wednesday evenings, with intermission-less programming of chamber music works, followed by a complimentary sparkling wine toast in the courtyard.
Also returning for 2026 is the Synergy Initiative, a series co-produced by Barnatan and Clara Wu Tsai which invites top creators to collaborate across their different art forms.
Opening night at the Baker-Baum Concert Hall is part of the Synergy Series. The boundary-crossing event, titled “The Incomplete History of the World in Ten Pieces,” blends music, storytelling and theatrical narration in a fast-moving journey through history, according to the Music Society, keeping with the festival’s “Making History” theme.
During the concert, festival artists will participate in a musical time travel adventure in which each of the 10 musical pieces is displayed as a defining moment in music history.
“Music has always existed in conversation with history — responding to the world around it, preserving moments of human experience, and sometimes even shaping how we understand them,” Barnatan said.
Other SummerFest concerts will explore the music of Vienna in 1900; Eastern music; unfinished, unpublished and forgotten compositions; the music of late folk artist Elliott Smith, and jazz piano.
Ticket packages for SummerFest are available now and range from $1,388 to $1,678. Single tickets for all concerts range from $45 to $145. For more information or to purchase tickets,contact the La Jolla Music Society Box Office by phone at (858) 459-3728 or online at TheConrad.org.
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