The Ojai Music Festival represents an ideal of adventurous, open-minded and open-hearted programming in the most beautiful and welcoming of settings, with audiences and artists to match its aspirations. As its 75th anniversary approaches, the Festival remains a hallmark for groundbreaking musical experiences with a narrative thread guided by a different music director. These annual directors are more than conductors, composers, soloists, or musicians. They are musical thinkers who approach their craft with creativity and responsibility to the present day.

Schedule:
Thursday, June 8, 2023
2:30pm: Ojai Talks
2:30-3:15pm: Ara Guzelimian with Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels
3:30-4:30pm: John Schaefer with Festival artists and composers

Location: Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School lower campus

8:00pm: Liquid Borders
Rhiannon Giddens vocals
Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh
Attacca Quartet
red fish blue fish
Steven Schick director

The Festival opens with Gabriela Ortiz’s Liquid Borders performed by red fish blue fish, directed by Steven Schick. The second half welcomes back the Attacca Quartet performing a curated playlist made especially for Ojai audiences ranging from works of Haydn, Glass, and Adams to producer Flying Lotus plus the music of Rhiannon Giddens and Kayhan Kalhor.

Location: Libbey Bowl

Friday, June 9, 2023
8:00am: Ojai Dawns
Emi Ferguson flute
Ross Karre percussion
Niloufar Shiri kamancheh
Aida Shirazi electronics
Steven Schick percussion
red fish blue fish

Golfam KHAYAM  Lost Wind
Aida SHIRAZI  New Work   World Premiere
Edgard VARÈSE  Density 21.5
CHOU Wen-chung  Echoes From The Gorge

The Ojai Dawns is a benefit for Festival Family Donor Circles.

Location: Zalk Theater, Besant Hill School

10:00am: VIS-À-VIS
Leonard Hayes piano
Michi Wiancko violin
Mario Gotoh viola
Karen Ouzounian cello
Emi Ferguson flute
Joshua Rubin clarinet
Gloria Cheng piano
Wu Man pipa
Steven Schick percussion/conductor  

Shawn OKPEBHOLO  mi sueño: afro-flamenco
Tyson Gholston DAVIS  American Tableau (Tableau XI)
Margaret BONDS  Troubled Water (Wade in the Water)  
Michael ABELS  Iconoclasm
Jessie MONTGOMERY  Rhapsody No. 2
Nasim KHORASSANI  Growth
Nina BARZEGAR  Inexorable Passage
Lei LIANG  vis-à-vis

Location: Libbey Bowl

3:30pm: Ghost Opera
Wu Man pipa
Attacca Quartet
PeiJu Chien-Pott dancer/choreographer
Jon Reimer director
Nicholas Houfek lighting designer

Tan Dun  Ghost Opera

Tan Dun’s Ghost Opera evokes the spirits of Bach and Shakespeare, standing with the ancient folk traditions of traditional shamanistic Chinese music. A new production, created especially for the Ojai Music Festival, brings dance into the work and re-imagines it for a new generation.

Ghost Opera is an add-on event, not included in the Libbey Bowl Series Pass. Purchase here >

Location: Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School lower campus

8:00pm: An Evening With Rhiannon Giddens And Francesco Turrisi
An intimate concert with Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi with music ranging from the Baroque to Appalachian ballads and traditional Black American songs.

Location: Libbey Bowl

Saturday, June 10, 2023
8:00am: Morning Meditation
Niloufar Shiri kamancheh
Mario Gotoh violin

Location: Chaparral Auditorium

Ticket: Free. Open to the public.

10:00am: The Willows Are New
Karen Ouzounian cello
Wu Man pipa
Nathan Schram viola
Gloria Cheng piano
Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh

Niloufar NOURBAKHSH  Veiled
Lei LIANG  Mother’s Songs
GE Gan-Ru  Gong
CHOU Wen-chung  The Willows are New
Kayhan KALHOR  Solo Improvisation

Location: Libbey Bowl

3:30pm: Ghost Opera
Wu Man pipa
Attacca Quartet
PeiJu Chien-Pott dancer/choreographer
Jon Reimer director
Nicholas Houfek lighting designer

TAN Dun  Ghost Opera

Tan Dun’s Ghost Opera evokes the spirits of Bach and Shakespeare, standing with the ancient folk traditions of traditional shamanistic Chinese music. A new production, created especially for the Ojai Music Festival, brings dance into the work and re-imagines it for a new generation.

Location: Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School lower campus

8:00pm: Omar’s Journey
Seckou Keita kora
Justin Robinson fiddle
Rhiannon Giddens soprano
Cheryse McLeod Lewis mezzo-soprano
Limmie Pulliam tenor
Michael Preacely bass-baritone
Ojai Festival Ensemble

Music from Senegal and the Carolinas
Rhiannon GIDDENS/Michael ABELS  Omar’s Journey    World Premiere

An Ojai-commissioned work for voices and chamber ensemble drawn from the opera Omar, by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, framed by traditional music that traces the journey of the real-life Omar Ibn Said from Senegal to the Carolinas.

Location: Libbey Bowl

Sunday, June 11, 2023
8:00am: Morning Meditation
Seckou Keita kora

Location: Chaparral Auditorium

Ticket: Free. Open to the public.

10:00am: Early Music
Francesco Turrisi curator/host and piano/organ
Rhiannon Giddens vocals
Wu Man pipa
Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh
Attacca Quartet  

A program imagined specifically for the magical atmosphere of Sunday morning in Libbey Bowl, playing on the two ideas of very old music and music for the first hours of the day. Francesco Turrisi curates and introduces music ranging from thousand-year-old works for solo pipa, to Renaissance consort music, from ancient Persian melodies to modal jazz improvisations.

Location: Libbey Bowl

1:00pm: Flowerpot Music - Interactive Event
Elliot COLE  Flowerpot Music  

Make music with us! Everyone is invited to bring your own flowerpots to join in on this interactive community performance of Elliot Cole’s Flowerpot Music led by Steven Schick.

Location: Libbey Park

Ticket: Free. Open to the public.

2:30pm: Between Worlds
Mazz Swift violin
Mario Gotoh viola
Karen Ouzounian cello
Shawn Conley bass
Ross Karre projection  

Carlos SIMON  Between Worlds  

A complete performance of Carlos Simon’s cycle Between Worlds, four solo string works placed in visual context by their source of inspiration: the remarkable paintings of Bill Traylor (ca. 1853-1949), chronicling nearly a century of Black American life.

Location: Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School lower campus

4:00pm: Build A House
A special Ticket: Free family event - Rhiannon Giddens does a reading and special musical performance based on her new children’s book, Build A House.

Location: Libbey Park

Ticket: Free. Open to the public.

5:30pm: Finale: Strings Attached
Mazz Swift violin
Rhiannon Giddens singer/instrumentalist
Wu Man pipa
Seckou Keita kora
Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh
Justin Robinson fiddle
Francesco Turrisi multi-instrumentalist
Members of the Silkroad Ensemble

A musical summit of Festival artists and a jam session featuring solos and collaborations bringing together bowed and plucked string instruments from the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. An exuberant finale celebrating the many musical stories featured at this year’s Festival!

Location: Libbey Bowl

Date: June 8 - 11, 2023

Location: Various Venues in Ojai, CA

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