“Thereโs no place in the world like Ojai, and there is no gathering of musicians and ideas like the Ojai Festival….the Festival has taken on mythical dimensions for me. โ Claire Chase, 2025 Music Director
This symbol indicates that this is a Beyond the Bowl event, not located at Libbey Bowl. Due to the intimate setting of these events, they are not automatically included in Libbey Bowl Passes and may require the purchase of an additional ticket.
This symbol indicates that this is a free event, no ticket or RSVP required.
Programs and artists are subject to change. Schedule as of April, 2025.
THU 06|05
3:00PM OJAI TALKS
Ojai Presbyterian Church
Part I Music Director Claire Chase with Ara Guzelimian
Part II 2025 Composers and Artists with John Schaefer
Automatically included in 4-Day Libbey Bowl Passes, available for purchase as an add-on.
8:00PM PAN
Libbey Bowl
Claire Chase, flute | Wu Wei, sheng | M.A. Tiesenga, electronic hurdy-gurdy | Susie Ibarra and Steven Schick, percussion | Festival Artists
Marcos BALTER Alone
Annea LOCKWOOD bayou-borne
Marcos BALTER Pan
A festive opening night with Annea Lockwoodโs Bayou-Borne, an affectionate tribute to Pauline Oliveros, then culminating in Marcos Balterโs Pan, an already iconic work from Claire Chaseโs epic Density 2036 project. Pan is a deeply affecting work that explores the life and death of the mythical Greek goat-god Pan, written for flute, electronics, and a community of musicians, telling the tale of this weaver of melodies and a guardian of the wilderness โ true to the Ojai spirit!
FRI 06|06
8:00AM OJAI DAWNS SOLD OUT
Zalk Theater, Beasant Hill School
Liza LIM Cardamom (US Premiere)
Eduardo AGUILAR HYPER (West Coast premiere)
Tania LEรN Abanico
Vicente ATRIA Roundabout (West Coast premiere)
Early morning program featuring JACK Quartet with works by Tania Leรณn, Liza Lim, and two exciting emerging composers, Vicente Atria and Eduardo Aguilar.
10:30AM PULSING LIFTERS
Libbey Bowl
Alex Peh, harpsichord & keyboard | Cory Smythe and Craig Taborn, piano & keyboards
Terry RILEY Pulsing Lifters (World premiere of new trio arrangement by Alex Peh)
Anna THORVALDSDOTTIR Impressions
John COLTRANE/Cory SMYTHE Countdowns
Craig TABORN + Cory SMYTHE Duo Improvisation for Ojai
A program of works by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Cory Smythe, and Craig Taborn that celebrates the old made new in Thorvaldsdottirโs Impressions for harpsichord as well as a summit meeting between two dazzlingly inventive composer/pianists whose worlds encompass jazz, new music, and beyond.
1:00PM OJAI FILMS
Ojai Playhouse
32 Sounds Film by Sam Green
In collaboration with the Ojai Playhouse
3:30PM OJAI AFTERNOONS SOLD OUT
Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School
Claire Chase, flute | Levy Lorenzo, electronics | Nicholas Houfek, lighting
Liza LIM Sex Magic (West Coast premiere)
In its West Coast premiere, Australian composer Liza Limโs Density 2036 contribution Sex Magic for solo contrabass flute and electronics centers Friday afternoon. Inspired by Claire Chaseโs towering contrabass flute (Bertha), Sex Magic evokes and celebrates womenโs power across time and cultures, evoking the giant bass flutes of Papua New Guinea and the Australian didgeridoo in a work that ritually moves across three altars, creating a mystical, mesmerizing evocation of both the present and the timeless past.
8:00PM THE HOLY LIFTOFF
Libbey Bowl
Leilehua Lanzilotti, viola | Jay Campbell, Katinka Kleijn, Seth Parker Woods, cello | Claire Chase, flute | JACK Quartet | USC Cello Ensemble | Steven Schick, conductor
Leilehua LANZILOTTI koโu inoa
Sofia GUBAIDULINA Mirage: The Dancing Sun
Julius EASTMAN The Holy Presence of Joan dโArc
Terry RILEY The Holy Liftoff (Realization by Samuel Clay Birmaher)
Music for a โchorus of cellosโ by Julius Eastman precede The Holy Liftoff, the most recent work by pioneering American composer Terry Riley, played in Ojai by Claire Chase and the JACK Quartet. Written as a series of musical sketches and brilliantly colored drawings, an exuberant and energized work represents a culmination for Riley, who says โI feel like this piece sums up a lot of things Iโve worked for.โ
SAT 06|07
8:00AM MORNING MEDITATION
Ojai Meadows Preserve
Claire Chase and Michael Matsuno, flute | M.A. Tiesenga, saxophone| Joshua Rubin, clarinet | Susie Ibarra, percussion
Susie IBARRA Sunbird (West Coast premiere)
Susie IBARRA Kolubrรญ
Pauline OLIVEROS Horse Sings From Cloud
Special thanks to the City of Ojai Arts Commission for supporting this event
Free and open to the public
10:30AM CHAMBERS
Libbey Bowl
Claire Chase, flute | Katinka Kleijn, Seth Parker Woods, cello | Cory Smythe, piano | JACK Quartet
Marcos BALTER Chambers
Leilehua LANZILOTTI ahupuaโa
Anna THORVALDSDOTTIR Ubique (West Coast premiere)
A program centered on the West Coast premiere of Anna Thorvaldsdottirโs Ubique for flute, two cellos, piano and electronics, a work of enigmatic lyricism by a composer who is inspired by the โmusical qualities of nature.โ
1:00PM OJAI FILMS
Ojai Playhouse
Deep Listening: The Story of Pauline Oliveros Film by Daniel Weintraub
In collaboration with the Ojai Playhouse
2:00-5:00PM HOUSATONIC
Move Sanctuary
Annea LOCKWOOD Housatonic Sound installation
Annea Lockwoodโs sound map of the Housatonic River, captured as a four-channel sound installation. Complete cycles of the work begin at 2pm and 3:30pm. Casual drop-ins welcome at any time.
Free and open to the public
3:30PM OJAI AFTERNOONS SOLD OUT
Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School
Claire Chase, flute | Joshua Rubin, clarinet | Craig Taborn, piano | Susie Ibarra, percussion | Craig Taborn, piano, keyboard, and electronics
Craig TABORN Busy Griefs and Endangered Charms
A concert centered on the West Coast premiere of Busy Griefs and Endangered Charms for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, and electronics by the endlessly inventive composer-pianist Craig Taborn. The work is inspired by a dream in which plants awake, blossom, grow and change as the dreamer walks through a garden.
8:00PM HOW FORESTS THINK
Libbey Bowl
Wu Wei, sheng | Kathryn Schulmeister, bass | Joshua Rubin, clarinet | Claire Chase, flute | Alex Peh, piano | JACK Quartet | Festival Artists | Steven Schick, conductor
JS BACH Chorale Prelude, Vor deinen Thron, BWV 668
Sofia GUBAIDULINA Meditation on the Bach chorale Vor deinen Thron, BWV 668
Tania LEรN Hechizos
Liza LIM How Forests Think
Music by Bach, Sofia Gubaidulina (inspired by Bach) and Tania Leรณn, precede the West Coast premiere of the large-scale How Forests Think by Liza Lim, a work inspired by the imagery of ancient forests as vibrant, symbiotic communities that, as the composer writes, โthat nourish the old connections and keep a song going. One might think of a forest as a choir or certainly as an ensemble. Stories, dreams, and thoughts inhabit multiple forms in a living matrix.
10:30PM OJAI LATE NIGHT
Ojai Playhouse
Liza Lim | Steven Schick | Leilehua Lanzilotti; speaker TBA | Annea Lockwood, sound diffusion
Annea LOCKWOOD Spirit Catchers
In collaboration with the Ojai Playhouse
SUN 06|08
8:00AM MORNING MEDITATION
Chaparral Auditorium
Seth Parker Woods, cello | Ross Karre, percussion | Leilehua Lanzilotti, viola
Leilehua LANZILOTTI the embryology of the heart (excerpt)
Bahar ROYAEE New work for solo percussion (World premiere)
Anna THORVALDSDOTTIR Sola
Free and open to the public
10:30AM RITUALS
Libbey Bowl
Claire Chase, flute | Susie Ibarra and Levy Lorenzo percussion | Wu Wei, sheng | Alex Peh, piano | JACK Quartet
Christopher OTTO Angelorum Psalat, after Rodericus
Austin WULLIMAN Daveโs Hocket: For Guillaume and Arvo
Susie IBARRA Nest Box (World premiere)
Commissioned by Ojai Music Festival and Music Director Claire Chase in honor of Steven Schickโs 70th birthday
Tania LEรN Rituรกl
Susie IBARRA Sky Islands (West Coast premiere)
The JACK Quartet explores Modern/Medieval with music from the 14th to 17th centuries, renewed for contemporary performance by composers/JACK violinists Christopher Otto and Austin Wulliman. The program is followed by the West Coast premiere of Susie Ibarraโs Sky Islands, evoking a unique environment of the elevated rain forests in the Philippines with the interlocking rhythms and melodies of Philippine Northern-style bamboo, gong, and flute music, performed on new sound sculptures of gong metals.
12:00PM FAMILY CONCERT
Libbey Park Gazebo
An interactive concert featuring Festival artists on flutes, saxophone, trombone, sheng, and an interactive bird call jam. Kids of all ages are welcome.
1:00PM OJAI FILMS
Ojai Playhouse
32 Sounds Film by Sam Green
In collaboration with the Ojai Playhouse
2:00-5:00PM HOUSATONIC
Move Sanctuary
Annea LOCKWOOD Housatonic Sound installation
Annea Lockwoodโs sound map of the Housatonic River, captured as a four-channel sound installation. Complete cycles of the work begin at 2pm and 3:30pm. Casual drop-ins welcome at any time.
Free and open to the public
2:30PM OJAI AFTERNOONS (repeat performance)
Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School
Claire Chase, flute | Joshua Rubin, clarinet | Craig Taborn, piano | Susie Ibarra, percussion | Craig Taborn, piano, keyboard, and electronics
Craig TABORN Busy Griefs and Endangered Charms
A concert centered on the West Coast premiere of Busy Griefs and Endangered Charms for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, and electronics by the endlessly inventive composer-pianist Craig Taborn. The work is inspired by a dream in which plants awake, blossom, grow and change as the dreamer walks through a garden.
5:30PM PULSEFIELD
Libbey Bowl
Claire Chase, flute | Festival Artists | Steven Schick, conductor
Leilehua LANZILOTTI koโu inoa
Pauline OLIVEROS The Witness
Tania LEรN Singsong (World premiere of solo version)
Terry RILEY Pulsefield 3 (World premiere)
An exuberant all-company 2025 Festival finale includes music by Leilehua Lanzilotti, Pauline Oliverosโs The Witness, and the world premiere of a new version of Tania Leรณnโs Singsong adapted for solo flute. The Festival culminates in the world premiere of Terry Rileyโs Pulsefield 3, in a joyous celebration of the composerโs 90th birthday.