2023 Festival Schedule

View the 2023 program book here

FULL SCHEDULE

THU, June 8

2:30PM   OJAI TALKS – SOLD OUT
Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School lower campus

2:30-3:15pm Ara Guzelimian with Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels
3:30-4:30pm WQXR’s New Sounds John Schaefer with Festival artists and composers 

6:00PM   OJAI CHATS – FREE
Libbey Park Gazebo

In-depth conversation with composers Gabriela Ortiz and Aida Shirazi with host John Schaefer of WQXR’s New Sounds. 

6:30PM   MOON VIEWING MUSIC – FREE
Libbey Park Gazebo

Join Steven Schick in this solo performance of Peter Garland’s Moon Viewing Music (Inscrutable Stillness Studies #1) described as a quiet and introspective six-movement work for three large Thai-style gongs and large tam-tam.

8:00PM   LIQUID BORDERS
Libbey Bowl

Rhiannon Giddens vocals | Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh | Attacca Quartet | red fish blue fish percussion ensemble with Steven Schick director

Gabriela ORTIZ Liquid Borders
Franz Joseph HAYDN String Quartet in F major, Op. 77 No. 2 Hob. III:82
Zakir HUSSAIN Pallavi (arr. Reena Esmail)
Philip GLASS First Movement from String Quartet No. 3 (“Mishima”)
Colin JACOBSEN  Beloved do not let me be discouraged
Geeshie WILEY  Last Kind Words (arr. Jacob Garchik)
Rhiannon GIDDENS  Lullaby
David CROSBY/Nathan SCHRAM  Where We Are Not (arr. Nathan Schram)
Caroline SHAW  Stem and Root from The Evergreen
John ADAMS  Judah to Ocean, Rag the Bone from John’s Book of Alleged Dances
S
QUAREPUSHER   Xetaka 1

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

FRI, June 9

8:00AM   OJAI DAWNS
Zalk Theater, Besant Hill School

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  and Niloufar SHIRI  Yearning, Every Dawn  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.  Learn more here>
Subscribers receive priority to purchase single tickets before going on sale to the general public beginning March 31.

10:00AM   VIS-À-VIS
Libbey Bowl

Lara Downes piano | Michi Wiancko violin | Mario Gotoh viola | Karen Ouzounian cello |Emi Ferguson flute | Joshua Rubin clarinet | Gloria Cheng piano | Wu Man pipa | Steven Schick conductor/percussion

Due to injury, pianist Leonard Hayes has had to reduce his playing commitments and has withdrawn from this concert. We are deeply grateful to Lara Downes for agreeing to step in on short notice. Please note the revised program:

Shawn OKPEBHOLO  Amazing Grace 
H.T. BURLEIGH On Bended Knees
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 

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

11:30AM   OJAI CHATS – FREE
Libbey Park Gazebo

In-depth conversation with composers Nina Barzegar and Nasim Khorassani with host John Schaefer of WQXR’s New Sounds

3:30PM   GHOST OPERA – SOLD OUT
Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School lower campus

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 >

6:00PM   OJAI CHATS – FREE
Libbey Park Gazebo

In-depth conversation with Lei Liang and Wu Man with host John Schaefer of WQXR’s New Sounds

8:00PM   AN EVENING WITH RHIANNON GIDDENS AND FRANCESCO TURRISI – SOLD OUT
Libbey Bowl

An intimate concert with Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi with music ranging from the Baroque to Appalachian ballads and traditional Black American songs.

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

SAT, June 10

8:00AM   MORNING MEDITATION – FREE
Chaparral Auditorium

Niloufar Shiri kamancheh | Mario Gotoh violin

11:30AM   OJAI CHATS – FREE
Libbey Park Gazebo

In-depth conversation with composers Niloufar Nourbakhsh and Carlos Simon with host John Schaefer of WQXR’s New Sounds.

10:00AM   THE WILLOWS ARE NEW
Libbey Bowl

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

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

3:30PM   GHOST OPERA – SOLD OUT
Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School lower campus

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.

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

6:00PM   OJAI CHATS – FREE
Libbey Park Gazebo

In-depth conversation with composer Michael Abels with host John Schaefer of WQXR’s New Sounds.

8:00PM   OMAR’S JOURNEY – SOLD OUT
Libbey Bowl

Limmie Pulliam tenor (Omar) | Rhiannon Giddens soprano (Julie) | Cheryse McLeod Lewis mezzo-soprano (Fatima) | Michael Preacely bass-baritone (Abdul/Abe) | Andy Papas bass-baritone (Johnson/Owen)

Emi Ferguson flute | Joshua Rubin clarinet | Mazz Swift, Michi Wiancko violins | Mario Gotoh viola Karen Ouzounian cello | Shawn Conley bass | Leonard Hayes piano | Francesco Turrisi, Ross Karre percussion

Justin Robinson fiddle | Seckou Keita kora

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

An Ojai-commissioned work for voices and chamber ensemble drawn from the Pulitzer-Prize winning 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.

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

SUN, June 11

8:00AM   MORNING MEDITATION – FREE
Chaparral Auditorium

Seckou Keita kora

10:00AM   EARLY MUSIC
Libbey Bowl

Francesco Turrisi curator and keyboards | Rhiannon Giddens vocals | Wu Man pipa 
Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh | Joshua Stauffer therobo | 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. 

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

11:30AM   OJAI CHATS – FREE
Libbey Park Gazebo

In-depth conversation with Francesco Turrisi with host John Schaefer of WQXR’s New Sounds.

1:00PM    STONES AND STARS: LISTENING TO (AND BEYOND) THE WORLD – FREE
Libbey Park

Steven Schick percussion  

Make music with us! Join in on this interactive community performance led by Steven Schick.  

2:30PM   BETWEEN WORLDS
Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School lower campus

Mazz Swift violin   Mario Gotoh viola | Karen Ouzounian cello | Shawn Conley bass
Ross Karre projection designer 

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.

Text related to Bill Traylor and the project title “Between Worlds” are borrowed from, and organized in relation to, Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor, by Leslie Umberger for the Smithsonian American Art Museum, (book and exhibition), 
2018.

Festival Family Donor Circle Members receive first priority seats. Learn more here>
Subscribers receive priority to purchase single tickets before going on sale to the general public beginning March 31.

4:00PM   BUILD A HOUSE – FREE FAMILY EVENT
Libbey Park

A special free family event – Rhiannon Giddens does a reading and special musical performance based on her new children’s book, Build A House

5:30PM   FINALE: STRINGS ATTACHED
Libbey Bowl

Amy Schroeder violin | Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh | Seckou Keita kora | Rhiannon Giddens singer/instrumentalistWu Man pipa | Justin Robinson fiddle | Francesco Turrisi multi-instrumentalist | Members of Silkroad Ensemble

Michael ABELS   Isolation Variation
Duo Improvisation with Kayhan Kalhor and Seckou Keita
Nassim KHORASSANI  Lullaby 
Followed by a selection of music announced from the stage — an exuberant finale celebrating the many musical stories featured at this year’s Festival!

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

THU, June 8

2:30PM   OJAI TALKS – SOLD OUT
Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School lower campus

2:30-3:15pm Ara Guzelimian with Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels
3:30-4:30pm WQXR’s New Sounds John Schaefer with Festival artists and composers

6:00PM   OJAI CHATS – FREE
Libbey Park Gazebo

In-depth conversation with composers Gabriela Ortiz and Aida Shirazi with host John Schaefer of WQXR’s New Sounds.

6:30PM   MOON VIEWING MUSIC – FREE
Libbey Park Gazebo

Join Steven Schick in this solo performance of Peter Garland’s Moon Viewing Music (Inscrutable Stillness Studies #1) described as a quiet and introspective six-movement work for three large Thai-style gongs and large tam-tam.

8:00PM   LIQUID BORDERS
Libbey Bowl

Rhiannon Giddens vocals | Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh | Attacca Quartet | red fish blue fish percussion ensemble | Steven Schick director 

Gabriela ORTIZ Liquid Borders
Franz Joseph HAYDN String Quartet in F major, Op. 77 No. 2 Hob. III:82
Zakir HUSSAIN Pallavi (arr. Reena Esmail)
Philip GLASS First Movement from String Quartet No. 3 (“Mishima”)
Colin JACOBSEN  Beloved do not let me be discouraged
Geeshie WILEY  Last Kind Words (arr. Jacob Garchik)
Rhiannon GIDDENS  Lullaby
David CROSBY/Nathan SCHRAM  Where We Are Not (arr. Nathan Schram)
Caroline SHAW  Stem and Root from The Evergreen
John ADAMS  Judah to Ocean, Rag the Bone from John’s Book of Alleged Dances
S
QUAREPUSHER   Xetaka 1

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

FRI, June 9

8:00AM   OJAI DAWNS
Zalk Theater, Besant Hill School

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 and Nioufar SHIRI   Yearning, Every Dawn   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. Learn more here>

10:00AM   VIS-À-VIS
Libbey Bowl

Lara Downes piano | Michi Wiancko violin | Mario Gotoh viola | Karen Ouzounian cello |Emi Ferguson flute | Joshua Rubin clarinet | Gloria Cheng piano |Wu Man pipa | Steven Schick conductor/percussion 

Due to injury, pianist Leonard Hayes has had to reduce his playing commitments and has withdrawn from this concert. We are deeply grateful to Lara Downes for agreeing to step in on short notice. Please note the revised program:

Shawn OKPEBHOLO  Amazing Grace

H.T. BURLEIGH  On Bended Knees
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 

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

11:30AM   OJAI CHATS – FREE
LIBBEY PARK GAZEBO

In-depth conversation with composers Nina Barzegar and Nasim Khorassani with host John Schaefer of WQXR’s New Sounds.
FREE. Open to the public. 

3:30PM   GHOST OPERA – SOLD OUT
Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School lower campus

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 >

8:00PM   AN EVENING WITH RHIANNON GIDDENS AND FRANCESCO TURRISI – SOLD OUT
Libbey Bowl

An intimate concert with Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi with music ranging from the Baroque to Appalachian ballads and traditional Black American songs as well as excerpts from Songs of Flight by Shawn Okpebholo.

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

SAT, June 10

8:00AM   MORNING MEDITATION – FREE
Chaparral Auditorium

Niloufar Shiri kamancheh
Mario Gotoh violin

10:00AM   MORNING CONCERT
Libbey Bowl

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

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

11:30AM  OJAI CHATS – FREE
Libbey Park Gazebo

In-depth conversation with composers Niloufar Nourbakhsh and Carlos Simon with host John Schaefer of WQXR’s New Sounds.

3:30PM   GHOST OPERA – SOLD OUT
Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School lower campus

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. This new production, created especially for Ojai, introduces dance into the work and re-imagines this landmark piece for a new generation. 

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

6:00PM   OJAI CHATS – FREE
Libbey Park Gazebo

In-depth conversation with composer Michael Abels with host John Schaefer of WQXR’s New Sounds.

8:00PM   OMAR’S JOURNEY – SOLD OUT
Libbey Bowl

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.

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

SUN, June 11

8:00AM   MORNING MEDITATION – FREE
Chaparral Auditorium

Seckou Keita kora  

10:00AM   EARLY MUSIC
Libbey Bowl

Francesco Turrisi curator and keyboards | Rhiannon Giddens vocals | Wu Man pipa 
Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh | Joshua Stauffer therobo | 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. 

Free live stream of this concert will be available.

11:30AM   OJAI CHATS – FREE
Libbey Park Gazebo

In-depth conversation with Francesco Turrisi with host John Schaefer of WQXR’s New Sounds.

1:00PM   STONES AND STARS: LISTENING TO (AND BEYOND) THE WORLD – FREE
Libbey Park

Steven Schick percussion  

Make music with us! Join in on this interactive community performance led by Steven Schick.  

2:30PM   BETWEEN WORLDS
Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School lower campus

Mazz Swift violin 
Mario Gotoh viola
Karen Ouzounian cello
Shawn Conley bass
Ross Karre projection designer  

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.

Text related to Bill Traylor and the project title “Between Worlds” are borrowed from, and organized in relation to, Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor, by Leslie Umberger for the Smithsonian American Art Museum, (book and exhibition), 2018.

Festival Family Donor Circle Members receive first priority seats. Learn more here>

4:00PM   BUILD A HOUSE – FREE FAMILY EVENT
Libbey Park

Rhiannon Giddens does a reading and special musical performance based on her new children’s book, Build A House 

5:30PM   FINALE: STRINGS ATTACHED
Libbey Bowl

Amy Schroeder violin | Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh | Seckou Keita kora | Rhiannon Giddens singer/instrumentalistWu Man pipa | Justin Robinson fiddle | Francesco Turrisi multi-instrumentalist | Members of Silkroad Ensemble

Michael ABELS   Isolation Variation
Duo Improvisation with Kayhan Kalhor and Seckou Keita
Nassim KHORASSANI  Lullaby 
Followed by a selection of music announced from the stage — an exuberant finale celebrating the many musical stories featured at this year’s Festival! 

Free live stream of this concert will be available.