Pillars of the 2027 Festival include:
- The world premiere of an Ojai-commissioned mandolin suite by Andrew Norman
- Cécile McLorin Salvant, Sullivan Fortner, and Chris Thile premiering a new version of Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera
- Edgar Meyer and Caroline Shaw featured as composers and performers
- Ojai Festival debut of resident ensemble East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO)
“For adventurous musicians and concertgoers, the Ojai Festival is a kind of Atlantis; emerging annually to remind us that our wildest hopes and dreams of music that expands our world – and a world that expands our music – are not only possible, but waiting for us, one step ahead of summer, the sea, and anything we’ve heard before.
I pinched myself all through the call where Teddy Abrams asked if I would consider being the music director for the 2027 edition. A mandate to share music and musicians who have challenged and changed my perception of what great music can be/do with a community of listeners who crave exactly that in a performance experience? YES, PLEASE.
And so, Teddy and I have embarked on the most euphoria-inducing of curatorial quests. The thought of witnessing new work from Andrew and Cecile, performing Shaw and Meyer WITH SHAW AND MEYER, as they seemingly coax the sound up from the soil of that preposterously beautiful valley and then out through their fellow musical explorers’ mouths and hands…heaven. The echo of next year’s Ojai Festival is already dancing through our heads, and I can’t wait for you to hear it.”
– Chris Thile, 2027 Music Director
(Ojai CA – May 28, 2026) – As the Ojai Music Festival community anticipates the upcoming 80th Festival with Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and Ara Guzelimian’s final year of leadership, Artistic and Executive Director Designate Teddy Abrams announced today Chris Thile as Music Director for the 81st Festival, June 10-13, 2027. Since the late 1940s, the Ojai Music Festival’s tradition has been to select a new Music Director each year to ensure vitality and diversity in programming across Festivals. GRAMMY Award-winning mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and MacArthur Fellow Chris Thile will make his first Ojai appearance with the 2027 Festival.
The 2027 Festival will include the world premiere of an Ojai-commissioned solo mandolin suite by Andrew Norman. Norman’s work will be performed at the upcoming 2026 Festival and was featured during the 2014 Festival with Music Director Jeremy Denk. In their first collaborations with the Festival, Cécile McLorin Salvant and Sullivan Fortner are working with Chris Thile to develop a new version of Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, which will receive its world premiere at the 2027 Festival. Caroline Shaw, whose work was featured during four prior Festivals with music directors Peter Sellars (2016), John Adams (2021), AMOC* (2022), and Rhiannon Giddens (2023), will be in residence as composer and performer. Featured as bassist and composer will be Edgar Meyer in his first collaboration with the Festival. The collective East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) will be the resident ensemble, making its first Ojai appearance.
Additional collaborators and programming highlights of the 2027 Festival will be shared in the fall of 2026.
“The Ojai Music Festival has an unsurpassed history selecting visionary artists and offering them a platform to explore their creative dreams. Each Festival is a major moment in the annual schedule of global musical events, recognized around the world as a statement about what is possible and what may come to pass in music,” said incoming Artistic and Executive Director Teddy Abrams. “Ojai programs are surprising, revelatory, and affirming of the creative vitality of today’s most talented and searching artists. The 2027 Festival offers this exceptional platform to one of the greatest musical minds I know: Chris Thile is transcendent in the broadest sense, defying genre and reframing the mandolin itself. I’ve described him as a modern Mozart, with boundless energy, limitless improvisational fluency, immense curiosity, and genuine positivity. Chris has had a longtime fascination with classical music, especially contemporary composers, and it seems that this opportunity to let his imagination run wild at Ojai was simply waiting to happen. Chris and I feel that the 2027 Festival should be a historic marker for the mandolin redefining how the instrument can be utilized by composers of our day. In pursuit of this goal, Ojai is commissioning a number of extraordinary composers to develop new repertoire for the instrument, and we’ll look forward to sharing more details in the fall.”
“One of Chris’ greatest strengths is his ability to perform natively in many genres. This aligns with my own vision of musical fluidity and plurality, where brilliant artists aren’t tethered by stylistic distinction,” added Abrams. “It seems completely natural that an artist of Chris Thile’s depth and passion would present music ranging from Andrew Norman to jazz, bluegrass, and Bach at Ojai. Festival audiences can expect a very dynamic program in 2027, where repertoire from the past will sound new, and brand-new work may become core repertoire in the future. Chris’ virtuosity and uncontainable enthusiasm for music-making, together with his deep artistic kinship with Festival collaborators and the chemistry ignited by Ojai’s remarkable audiences will be inspiring and memorable. I am honored to collaborate with Chris, the outstanding Festival Board, and our exceptional staff as I begin my tenure with the Festival.”
Teddy Abrams steps into the role of Artistic and Executive Director on September 1, 2026. He will join the ranks of such distinguished predecessors as Lawrence Morton, Ernest Fleischmann, Thomas W. Morris, and Ara Guzelimian, who concludes his tenure with the 2026 Festival, after having shaped Ojai’s artistic direction for 12 years throughout the Festival’s history.
2027 RESIDENT ARTISTS
In demand as both a bassist and a composer, Edgar Meyer has formed a role in the music world unlike any other. Hailed by The New Yorker as “…the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument,” his unparalleled technique and musicianship in combination with his gift for composition have brought him to the fore, where he is appreciated by a vast, varied audience. His uniqueness in the field was recognized by a MacArthur Fellow Award in 2002.
Andrew Norman is a composer, educator, and advocate for the music of others. Recently praised as “the leading American composer of his generation” by the Los Angeles Times, and “one of the most gifted and respected composers of his generation” by The New York Times, Norman has established himself as a significant voice in American classical music.
Cécile McLorin Salvant, a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and three-time GRAMMY Award winner, is a singer and composer bringing historical perspective, a renewed sense of drama, and an enlightened musical understanding to both jazz standards and her own original compositions. Classically trained, steeped in jazz, blues, and folk, and drawing from musical theater and vaudeville, Salvant embraces a wide-ranging repertoire that broadens the possibilities for live performance.
For more than a decade, Sullivan Fortner has been stretching deep-rooted talents as a pianist, composer, band leader and uncompromising individualist. The GRAMMY Award-winning artist and recipient of the 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award has garnered international praise as a leader and a fierce collaborator.
Caroline Shaw is a musician who moves among roles, genres, and mediums, trying to imagine a world of sound that has never been heard before but has always existed. She works often in collaboration with others, as producer, composer, violinist, and vocalist. Shaw is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Music, several GRAMMYs, and an honorary doctorate from Yale.
The critically acclaimed East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) is a collective of dynamic like-minded artists who convene for select periods each year to explore musical works and perform concerts of the highest artistic quality. Drawing from some of the world’s finest orchestras, chamber groups, and young soloists, ECCO strives for vitality and musical integrity; a self-governing organization, each member is equal and has a voice in every step of the artistic process, from programming to performance.
CHRIS THILE, 2027 MUSIC DIRECTOR
Acclaimed GRAMMY Award-winning mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and MacArthur Fellow recipient of the prestigious “Genius Grant,” Chris Thile is a multifaceted musical talent, described by The Guardian as “that rare being: an all-round musician,” and hailed by NPR as a “genre-defying musical genius.” Thile is a founding member of the highly influential string bands Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek, and has collaborated with countless luminaries from Yo-Yo Ma to Fiona Apple to Brad Mehldau. For four years, Thile hosted public radio favorite Live from Here with Chris Thile (formerly known asA Prairie Home Companion). With his broad outlook, Thile creates a distinctly American canon and a new musical aesthetic for performers and audiences alike, giving the listener “one joyous arc, with the linear melody and vertical harmony blurring into a single web of gossamer beauty” (The New York Times).
Over the last couple of years, Thile toured with Nickel Creek in support of the critically acclaimed 2023 release Celebrants. Most recently, he has been captivating audiences with a playfully ambitious biographical composition entitled ATTENTION! (a narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra) and has been focused on the production of a new musical variety show, “The Energy Curfew Music Hour.” Created with Claire Coffee and featuring Punch Brothers, Season One is available on all podcast platforms, with Season Two exclusively out on Audible.
Thile will also be touring throughout 2026 and 2027 with Punch Brothers in support of their forthcoming album The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers — the band’s first all-instrumental release — out July 24 via Nonesuch Records.
TEDDY ABRAMS, INCOMING ARTISTIC AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Teddy Abrams is the incoming Artistic and Executive Director of the Ojai Music Festival, to assume the position in September 2026.
Abrams, a GRAMMY Award-winning conductor-composer hailed by The New York Times as a “maestro of the people” who “has embedded himself in his community, breaking the mold of modern conductors,” is also the Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra (LO), where he has been the galvanizing force behind the ensemble’s extraordinary artistic renewal and innovative social impact since his appointment in 2014. As the Aspen Institute Arts Program’s 2025-26 Harman/Eisner Artist-in-Residence, Abrams offered his artistic vision to policy discussions, events, leadership activities, and more in Aspen, New York, Washington D.C., and elsewhere. He was chosen as Musical America’s 2022 Conductor of the Year, and his work has been profiled by CBS Sunday Morning, PBS NewsHour, NPR, The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal.
Abrams’s manifold achievements in Kentucky include the Louisville Orchestra Creators Corps, a trailblazing initiative that provides a fully funded residency for three composers who receive local housing, a salary, health benefits, and dedicated workspaces, and the In Harmony Tour, a multi-season, grand-scale community-building project funded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Beyond Louisville, Abrams has conducted the Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Vancouver Symphonies; the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; the Buffalo and Los Angeles Philharmonics; Carnegie Hall’s NYO2; the Minnesota, Florida, and Sarasota Orchestras; and Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, all in North America, as well as the Czech, Helsinki, and Luxembourg Philharmonics; London’s BBC Symphony Orchestra; and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Europe.
Abrams is also a prolific and award-winning composer, whose music embraces influences from across the stylistic spectrum. He has written numerous works for the Louisville Orchestra, including a piano concerto for Yuja Wang that they recorded for her GRAMMY Award-winning album The American Project on Deutsche Grammophon.
OJAI MUSIC FESTIVAL
The Ojai Music Festival represents an ideal of adventurous, open-minded, and openhearted programming in the most beautiful and welcoming settings, with audiences and artists to match its aspirations. Now in its 80th year, the Festival remains a creative laboratory for thought-provoking musical experiences, bringing together innovative artists and curious audiences in an intimate, idyllic outdoor setting. Each Festival’s narrative is guided by a different Music Director, whose distinctive perspectives shape programming — ensuring energized festivals year after year.
Throughout each year, the Ojai Music Festival contributes to Southern California’s cultural landscape with in-person and online programming as well as robust educational offerings that serve thousands of public-school students and seniors. The organization’s apex is the world-renowned Festival, which takes place over four days in Ojai, a breathtaking valley 75 miles from Los Angeles, which is a perennial platform for the fresh and unexpected. During the immersive experience, a mingling of the most curious take part in concerts, symposia, free community events, and social gatherings. The intimate Festival weekend, considered a highlight of the international summer music season, welcomes up to 5,000 patrons and reaches exponentially more audiences worldwide through streaming and broadcasts of concerts and discussions throughout the year.
Since its founding in 1947, the Ojai Music Festival has presented expansive programming in unusual ways with an eclectic mix of new and rarely performed music, as well as refreshing juxtapositions of musical styles. Through its signature structure of the Artistic Director appointing a different Music Director each year, Ojai has presented a “who’s who” of music including Mitsuko Uchida, Rhiannon Giddens, American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*), Vijay Iyer, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, and Barbara Hannigan in recent years; throughout its history, featured artists have included Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kent Nagano, Pierre Boulez, John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Robert Spano, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, David Robertson, Eighth Blackbird, George Benjamin, Dawn Upshaw, Leif Ove Andsnes, Mark Morris, Jeremy Denk, Steven Schick, Matthias Pintscher, and Peter Sellars.
80th OJAI MUSIC FESTIVAL WITH MUSIC DIRECTOR ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, JUNE 11 – 14, 2026
Single tickets and day passes are available and may be purchased at OjaiFestival.org or by calling (805) 646-2053. Single tickets range from $60 to $185 for reserved seating in the Libbey Bowl. General admission for the Lawn in Libbey Bowl is $25, and add-on event prices are $65. Ojai Films can be purchased directly at OjaiPlayhouse.com. Student discounts and group sales are available by inquiring with the Festival Box Office at boxoffice@ojaifestival.org.
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Programs and artists are subject to change. For updates visit OjaiFestival.org.
Press contacts: Nikki Scandalios: nikki@scandaliospr.com (704) 340-4094 | Gina Gutierrez: ggutierrez@ojaifestival.org (805) 646-2094
Photo of Chris Thile by Josh Goleman.