The 77th Ojai Music Festival, June 8 to 11, 2023, welcomes as Music Director acclaimed musician and composer Rhiannon Giddens. Seven of the more than 20 music events scheduled throughout the beautiful setting of the Ojai Valley will be available at no cost via live streaming. Since 2012, the Festival has expanded its global footprint building a worldwide audience, and has deepened connections with patrons throughout the year.
For more context, listen to the Ojai Music Festival Podcast:
THU June 8, 2023
8:00PM – Liquid Borders
Rhiannon Giddens vocals | Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh | Attacca Quartet | Steven Schick percussion/director| red fish blue fish percussion
Kaija SAARIAHO Movement V from Six Japanese Gardens
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. by 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
SQUAREPUSHER Xetaka 1
FRI June 9, 2023
10:00AM – Vis-A-Vis
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Due to injury, pianist Leonard Hayes has had to reduce his playing commitments and has withdrawn from this concert.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
8:00PM – 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.
SAT June 10, 2023
10:00AM – The Willows Are New
Gloria Cheng piano | Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh | Karen Ouzounian cello | Nathan Schram viola |
Wu Man pipa
Niloufar NOURBAKHSH Veiled
Lei LIANG Mother’s Songs
GE Gan-Ru Gong (from Gu Yue)
CHOU Wen-Chung The Willows are New
Kayhan KALHOR Solo Improvisation
8:00PM – Omar’s Journey
Watch for highlights of Omar’s Journey in the coming weeks.
Limmie Pulliam tenor (Omar) | Rhiannon Giddens soprano (Julie) | Cheryse McLeod Lewis mezzo-soprano (Fatima) | Michael Preacely bass-baritone (Abdul/Abe) | Andy Papas bass-baritone (Owen/Johnson) | Emi Ferguson flute | Joshua Rubin clarinet | Mazz Swift, Michi Wiancko violins | Mario Gotoh viola | Karen Ouzounian cello | Shawn Conley bass | Leonard Hayes piano | Ross Karre, Francesco Turrisi percussion | Justin Robinson fiddle | Seckou Keita kora
Omar’s Journey World Premiere
Music by Rhiannon GIDDENS and Michael ABELS and Libretto by Rhiannon Giddens
and music from Senegal and the Carolinas
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.
SUN June 11, 2023
10:00AM – Early Music
Francesco Turrisi curator and keyboards | Attacca Quartet |Rhiannon Giddens vocals | Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh | Karen Ouzounian cello | Wu Man pipa |Joshua Stauffer theorbo
This concert challenges the idea of late Renaissance and early Baroque music and reinterprets it as a universal language that can connect the 17th century to today through an imagined historical and geographical journey.
5:30PM – Strings Attached
Amy Schroeder violin | Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh | Seckou Keita kora | Rhiannon Giddens vocals/multi-instrumentalist Wu Man pipa | Francesco Turrisi multi-instrumentalist | Mazz Swift, Michi Wiancko violins | Mario Gotoh viola |Karen Ouzounian cello | Shawn Conley bass | Joshua Stauffer theorbo
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!