Shortly after Lou Harrison’s death, fellow composer and friend John Luther Adams wrote this remembrance in his honor.

The great redwood has fallen.
Light streams into the forest.
The sound will reverberate
for generations to come.

The passing of Lou Harrison marks the end of an era in American music that began with Charles Ives and continued on through Henry Cowell, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Harry Partch, Conlon Nancarrow, and John Cage.

From left: John Luther Adams, Bill Colvig, Lou Harrison. Photo by Dennis Keeley.

The expressive range, diversity of media, prolific quantity, and consistent quality of Lou’s music are perhaps unequalled among recent composers. From heroically dissonant orchestral counterpoint to explosive percussive rhythms to ravishing, timeless music for gamelan, his body of work embraces most of the important currents in the music of our time.

Lou always fearlessly pursued his own way. While still a young man, he left the competitive careerism of New York City to make his home on the California coast. There, surrounded by the beauties of nature and the richness of Pacific cultures, he created his own uniquely personal world, grounded in his credo: “Cherish. Conserve. Consider. Create.”

As a teacher Lou introduced many young Western musicians to the music of other cultures, or as he called it, “the whole, wide, wonderful world of music.” His diminutive Music Primer remains a wellspring of creative wisdom about the life and the craft of a composer.

Through his wide-ranging friendships, Lou was a central figure, connecting five generations of musical independents. His spirit lives on in his music and through the gifts he gave to so many younger musicians. I feel blessed to have been among them.

Thirty years ago, as an aspiring young composer, I won second place in a composition contest. I was especially thrilled since one of the judges was Lou Harrison, whose music I very much admired. Emboldened, I made the pilgrimage to San Jose State University, where Lou was teaching at the time. I was delighted to find the man himself to be every bit as scintillating and engaging as his music.

From that day on, Lou was a generous mentor, an attentive friend, and an inspiring model to me, as he has been for many other younger composers. Lou always treated me with respect as a younger colleague. His matter-of-fact embrace of my aspirations removed any shred of doubt in my mind that I would make a life as a composer. Continue reading →

by Tom Morris, Artistic Director

Last year’s performance of Inuksuit is an example of how the Festival continues to create a mutual, interactive experience between audiences and artists.

After last June’s Festival with Leif Ove Andsnes, and as plans were developing for 2013 with Mark Morris, and for 2014 with Jeremy Denk, I realized that Ojai is increasingly about being a laboratory for great artists to experiment – to reinvent themselves. It is not a place where artists come to trot out the programs they do elsewhere. In many ways, the very essence of Ojai stems powerfully from the fact that artists are part of the experiment themselves so audience and performers join at the hip in the mutual experience.

All the final touches are now in place for 2013 and we will have, indeed, a seamless and continuous party of music, dance and conversation. Get your rest ahead of time! With Mark Morris as our irrepressible guide, we have a festival that will look and feel different with more than 30 distinct events over 4 days:

• We start with 8 major concerts – more than in the past as we cut some previous 2-hour concerts into 2 1-hour concerts: 1 concert Thursday night, 2 Friday night, 1 Saturday morning, 1 Saturday evening, 1 Sunday morning, and 2 Sunday evening.

• We will have 2 Ojai Talks, each with 2 sessions, on Thursday and Friday.

• We will have 7 free extra events, subject only to getting an advance reservation: 3 film screenings at the Ojai Playhouse, 1 on Thursday and 2 on Saturday; 2 Ojai Late Night concerts in the Libbey Bowl on Friday and Saturday nights; Ojai Sunrise concerts on Saturday and Sunday mornings at Meditation Mount and at Two Tree Hill on the Besant Hill School in Upper Ojai

• We will have 7 community events – free and open to the public: 2 gamelan concerts in the Libbey Park Gazebo on Friday and Saturday; a 30-minute concert of music for toy piano to be performed on the Libbey Park playground Friday between the 2 evening concerts; public fitness classes led by dancers from the MMDG Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings in the Libbey Park; a “Dance with the MMDG” Saturday afternoon at the Ojai Arts Center where members of the MMDG will teach you a movement of Lou Harrison’s Grand Duo which is being performed on Friday night

• We will have 3 special events for donors: Social Dancing with Mark Morris at the opening night party Thursday night at the Ojai Arts Center; Open-mic karaoke with Mark Morris and The Bad Plus at Agave Maria’s late Friday night; a special performance by American String quartet on Sunday afternoon at the Ojai Arts Center

• The Legacy Lunch Saturday afternoon at the Lavender Inn when Chris Hailey will interview several veteran members of the MMDG

• 6 Concert Insights with Christopher Hailey, 4 of which will be with Mark Morris

• A Reception for 2014 subscribers.

• And there just might be a few other surprises!!!

This will be a festival that truly reflects what Mark Morris stands for in all of his work. It will be infused with his infectious energy, his extraordinary artistry, his supreme ability to delight, and his playful sense of fun. As he has said:

“….thrilling, raucous, serene, contemplative, serendipitous, and surprising. As Lou Harrison put it: ‘music is a song & a dance.’”