Kevin Fox, conductor
Kevin Fox, Founding Artistic Director of the Grammy-winning Pacific Boychoir Academy (PBA), is one of America’s few full-time boys choir directors. The Los Angeles Times called PBA’s musical sophistication and quality of sound “Astonishing”. Starting in 1998 with six choristers, Mr. Fox now runs the music program for over 170 students in PBA’s after-school program and day school, the only full-time choir school on the West Coast, where students’ daily music studies are integrated into a full academic curriculum.
Jennifer Frautschi
Two-time GRAMMY nominee and Avery Fisher career grant recipient Jennifer Frautschi has gained acclaim as an adventurous musician with a wide-ranging repertoire. As the Chicago Tribune wrote, “violinist Jennifer Frautschi is molding a career with smart interpretations of both warhorses and rarities.” Equally at home in the classic repertoire as well as twentieth and twenty-first century works, in recent seasons she has focused on such composers as Berg, Schoenberg, Prokofiev and Schumann, and premiered several new works composed for her.
Hudson Shad
Though the six-man ensemble Hudson Shad (five singers and a pianist) debuted officially in 1992, their nucleus formed in 1977 when three of them made their Carnegie Hall debuts as soloists in Penderecki’s Magnificat. Throughout the late ’70s and ’80s, their members were in demand as early music specialists, oratorio soloists and opera singers, and most of them sang at one time or another as Gentlemen of the Choir at St. Thomas Church in NYC.
Music Director Jeremy Denk Frames Programming for 2014 Festival
Ojai enthusiastically welcomes back versatile pianist Jeremy Denk, who made his Ojai Music Festival debut in 2009 performing Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Ives’ First Sonata plus numerous chamber music works. With his wide-ranging repertoire, Mr. Denk regularly collaborates with leading orchestras and festivals, and is an active writer through feature articles in The New Yorker and his blog, “Think Denk,” which delves into both musical and extramusical observations.
In Jeremy Denk’s Own Words:
“The idea of Ojai 2014 emerged from a couple of immediate enthusiasms. One was an album that I had always loved by the jazz pianist and musical thinker Uri Caine, “Primal Light,” in which he takes Mahler and explodes him, or implodes him, I can’t exactly decide which. He takes things that are already in Mahler–a sense of dislocation, of frenetic collage, of all the anxiety of the 20th century and modernism and yet some tenderness vying against it all–and does collages on that cluster of techniques, in a way turning Mahler inside out. Tom Morris and I agreed we loved Uri Caine, and he will be the first night of the Festival.
The other was a dream I had of doing an opera. An opera in which principles of music–harmony, structure–and the big three composers (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven), not to mention various disgruntled young musicians, would find themselves in conversation, immersed or enmeshed or mired in an opera buffa, with all its implausibility and silliness and artifice. Although those of us who perform and love this music like to cultivate an air of seriousness, at times we have to realize there is something ridiculous about the level to which we’ve subjected this music to consideration, analysis, thought. The opera buffa genre is simply a way of exposing this absurdity, turning music inside out to reflect on itself, with hopefully hilarious and intriguing results. The self-awareness of music.
The common thread between these two enthusiasms is essentially screwing (to use the polite word) with the canon. To that end, a lot of the other pieces in the Festival are canonical in peculiar ways, or have a very uneasy relationship with the canon. The Ligeti Etudes (favorite works of mine) are what you might call “new classics,” and they take up the Chopin, Schumann, Scarlatti, and merge them with the remorseless logic of the machine, the complexity of fractals. Uri Caine is going to create a “realization” of the 14 Canons that Bach wrote on the first eight bass notes of the Goldberg Variation ground, pieces which begin as simple lessons in counterpoint and then gradually become ever more intense, chromatic, and you might even say delightfully perverse. Leading to these canons will be scatological canons of Mozart, elaborate canons by Josquin and Thomas Ades and Nancarrow–from the sublime to the ridiculous.
A generation of young Brooklyn composers will be heard, confronting the problems of style in a time when there is no style to speak of. And of course, my perennial favorite iconoclast, Charles Ives, will be represented by the four violin sonatas, ranging from the polite and poetic (“weak stepsister” I believe Ives called his own more lyrical work) to the deranged and confrontational.
2014 Overview
For the 68th Ojai Music Festival (June 12-15, 2014), Mr. Denk and Artistic Director Thomas W. Morris are shaping a program that fully reflects both the ideals of the Ojai Music Festival and the unique and inventive musical mind of Jeremy Denk. The Festival features the world premiere of a commissioned opera, described by Mr. Denk as “at once a love letter to Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn, and a satire of classical pomp.” With libretto by Mr. Denk, music by Steven Stucky, and conducted by Robert Spano, the opera is co-commissioned by the Ojai Music Festival, Cal Performances in Berkeley, the Aspen Music Festival and School and Carnegie Hall. The Ojai premiere is supported through a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Among Mr. Denk’s collaborators, American composer and jazz pianist, Uri Caine, will perform music from his The Mahler Project, which was a sensation when released on the recording “Primal Light” in 1998, and violinist Stefan Jackiw will join Mr. Denk in a performance of Ives Violin Sonatas (complete). With music by Beethoven, Janacek, Ives, Ligeti, Mozart, Schoenberg, the Festival will also offer works by cutting-edge Brooklyn-based composers. Additional programming details for the 2014 Ojai Music Festival will be announced in the fall.
Artistic Director Thomas W. Morris said, “It is only right that Jeremy Denk returns to Ojai as Music Director, after his sensational debut in 2009. He is one of the most inventive minds in music today, both as a programmer, performer, writer and thinker. I am delighted that the 2014 Ojai Music Festival will showcase all of these myriad talents of Jeremy. It promises to be an adventure that is provocative, stimulating, engaging and fun – all of which represent Jeremy Denk.”
Jeremy Denk, Music Director
“A pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs,” (New York Times) Jeremy Denk has established himself as one of America’s most thought-provoking, multi-faceted, and compelling artists. Distinguished as both a soloist and a chamber musician, he has appeared with numerous orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and London. He regularly gives recitals in New York, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, and throughout the United States. This season he makes solo appearances in venues including Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium and London’s Wigmore Hall. Mr. Denk is known for his witty and insightful writings about music, much of which can be found on his blog entitled “Think Denk” – recently chosen for inclusion in the Library of Congress web archives. In addition to features for The New Yorker, he has written articles for the New York Times Book Review, Newsweek, New Republic and the website of NPR Music. Alex Ross of the New Yorker calls him “a superb musician who writes with arresting sensitivity … sophisticated on the one hand, informal on the other, immediate in impact.”
In 2012, Mr. Denk released an album under Nonesuch featuring Ligeti’s famously complex Etudes and Beethoven’s last Piano Sonata. Its success earned it a feature on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, while BBC Music hailed it as nothing short of “a marvel.” He lives in New York City.
Thomas W. Morris, Artistic Director
Thomas W. Morris was appointed artistic director of the Ojai Music Festival starting with the 2004 Festival, a relationship that extends through 2017. Mr. Morris is recognized as one of the most innovative leaders in the orchestra industry and served as the long-time chief executive leader of both The Cleveland Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Morris is currently active nationally and internationally as a consultant, lecturer, teacher, and writer.
As artistic director of the 67-year old Ojai Festival, Mr. Morris is responsible for artistic planning, and each year appoints a music director with whom Mr. Morris collaborates on shaping the festival’s programming. During his decade-long tenure, audiences have increased, and the scope of the festival has expanded, most recently to include an innovative partnership with Cal Performances in Berkeley, Ojai North!
Mr. Morris is a founding director of Spring for Music, and serves as the project’s artistic director. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Curtis Institute of Music and as chair of its Board of Overseers, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Interlochen Center for the Arts. He is also an accomplished percussionist.
About the Ojai Music Festival
From its founding in 1947, the Ojai Music Festival has created a place for groundbreaking musical experiences, bringing together innovative artists and curious audiences in an intimate, idyllic setting 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The Festival presents broad-ranging programs that embrace the music of our time and provides intellectual context and education around Festival programming, creating an immersion experience of adventurous inspiration and vibrant collaboration. Considered a highlight of the summer classical music season, Ojai has remained a leader in the classical music landscape, provoking thought during the Festival and long after about why music matters.
The Ojai Music Festival attracts the world’s greatest musical artists. Through its unique structure of appointing an annual Music Director by the Artistic Director, Ojai has presented a “who’s who” of music including: Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, Olivier Messiaen, 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, and Jeremy Denk.
Following the 2013 Festival in Ojai, Ojai North! takes place from June 12-15 in Berkeley, CA. The Ojai Music Festival’s multi-year partnership with Cal Performances makes possible annual reprises of Ojai concerts in Berkeley, as well as co-commissions and co-productions. More than a sharing of resources, Ojai North! represents a joining of artistic ideals and aspirations. The combined efforts of Ojai’s legacy of artistic innovation and Cal Performances’ tradition of groundbreaking productions creates a joint force that allows artists to achieve more than could even be imagined by each organization separately.
Information and Passes
2014 advance series subscriptions will be available in the summer. Program details will be released in the fall. Please call 805 646 2053 or download the order form here >>
Directions to Ojai, as well as information about lodging, concierge services for visitors, and other Ojai activities, are also available on the Ojai web site. Follow Festival updates on the web at OjaiFestival.org, Facebook and Twitter.
Visit Jeremy Denk’s website and blog >>
Eric Jacobsen, conductor
Hailed by the New York Times as “an interpretive dynamo,” conductor and cellist Eric Jacobsen has built a reputation for engaging audiences with innovative and collaborative programming projects. As co-founder and Music Director of adventurous orchestra The Knights and a founding member of genre-defying string quartet Brooklyn Rider, he may take credit for helping to ensure “the future of classical music in America” (Los Angeles Times).
Storm Large, singer
Storm Large: musician, actor, playwright, author, awesome. She shot to national prominence in 2006 as a finalist on the CBS show Rock Star: Supernova, where despite having been eliminated in the week before the finale, Storm built a fan base that follows her around the world to this day.
Gyan Riley, bass
Gyan Riley won his first guitar in a raffle when he was 12 years old. After learning all of the songs in his cassette collection by ear, he began his life-long adventure in music, becoming the first full-scholarship graduate guitar student at the San Francisco Conservatory.
Sarah Rothenberg, piano
Sarah Rothenberg is a pianist of “heart, intellect and fabulous technical resources” (Fanfare) and “a prolific and creative thinker” (Wall Street Journal) who is recognized internationally for her innovative interdisciplinary performances linking music to literature and visual art. Active as performer, writer, concert curator and institution builder, she has been artistic director of Da Camera in Houston since 1994, general director since 2011, and previously was co-founder of the Bard Music Festival.
Joshua Rubin, clarinet
Joshua Rubin is a founding clarinetist and the co-artistic director of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), where he oversees the creative direction of more than 60 concerts per season in the United States and abroad. As a clarinetist, the New York Times has praised him as “incapable of playing an inexpressive note.”
Wilfried Wendeling, video & live electronic music designer
Born in a family of theater and fascinated by connections between scene, text and music, Wilfried Wendling has already realized about 15 multidisciplinary shows, presented in many theaters and operas, on texts of Beckett, Camus, Nietzsche, Perec, Queneau, Jouet, Müller, or Boltanski. His musical compositions are also played on numerous stages and festivals. As a musician and\or video director, he has collaborated with numerous artists of many disciplines. Wilfried Wendling is at present director of France’s La Muse en Circuit, National Centre of Musical Creation.
View Our Must-Visit Ojai Destinations
The valley is full of eateries, shops and activities with their own distinctive “Ojai” flavor. Many are located downtown, while others are hidden away – and are always worth the drive!
Use our “Where To Go” guide to discover a few of the things to do while in town.
Restaurants here >>
Shops and services here >>
If you’re looking to get out for a hike, read our hiking guide >>
Complete 2013 Festival Reviews
DanceTabs
Mark Morris Dance Group at the Ojai Music Festival – California
Marina Harss
June 9, 2013
Mark Morris is halfway through his tenure as Music Director of the Ojai Music Festival (June 6-9). The festival elects a guest director each year; Morris is the first choreographer to get the job. The seemingly ubiquitous Morris has now taken to calling the current season “my festival”; he’s only half kidding. The centerpiece of the second evening (June 7) was a performance by the Mark Morris Dance Group – the only dance performance – at the outdoor Libbey Bowl, a fantastically pleasant amphitheatre set within a park in the center of bucolic Ojai. Pleasant, but not ideal for dance: the stage is trapezoidal, has no wings, and doesn’t provide ideal sight lines. But that’s what summer festivals are all about. It’s cool, the night air smells of flowers and the encroaching dusk bathes the proceedings in a lavender glow.
The focus this year is on American music, mostly by composers from the West Coast, and more specifically by composers connected to the Seattle-born Lou Harrison (1917-2003), an old friend of Morris’s whose music he has turned to again and again. Other recurring names are Henry Cowell and Charles Ives, with side excursions into the work of John Luther Adams, John Cage and Samuel Barber. Most of these composers are mainstays of the Mark Morris troupe. The evening was split into two halves, separated by a magical sunset performance of works for toy piano by Satie and John Cage (played by Yegor Shevtsov, a lanky dreamer).
Read 2013 Festival Reviews
WALL STREET JOURNAL
“The annual Ojai Music Festival, whose 67th season ran June 6 to 9, does many things well. But what it does best is reinvent itself, which it accomplishes by recalling its past while broadening its horizons. This year, that dichotomy was particularly pronounced, with the festival welcoming as its music director the choreographer Mark Morris…”
“Mr. [Mark] Morris programmed only a limited number of dances, all on Friday night—just enough for a bold experiment without fundamentally altering the character of the enterprise. His selections proved apt musically, and his compact and fresh-scrubbed dancers, all from the Mark Morris Dance Group based in Brooklyn, N.Y., seemed incapable of insincere gestures. But his engaging dances—with their signature wit and concentration on the body’s extremities.”
Click here to read the complete review of the Wall Street Journal June 12, 2013
LOS ANGELES TIMES
“But however untraditional a “Rite” for piano, bass and percussion may be, Ojai has a long tradition for being its own Stravinskyan rite of spring. The composer’s close association with the festival in the ’50s made the town musically famous.”
“Reputed to court mavericks, the Ojai Music Festival doesn’t always extend a very large welcome mat. But this offbeat weekend, the mat was massive.Attention was drawn to supposedly kooky and bizarrely neglected West Coast composers who happen to be essential contributors to American music and our national identity.”
Click here to read the complete review of the Los Angeles Times June 7, 2013 >>
Click here to read the complete review of the Los Angeles Times June 11, 2013 >>
SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT
“Every year at this time, one of the world’s best music festivals is reborn, and this phoenix rises right in our backyard. With acclaimed choreographer Mark Morris at the helm, the 67th edition of the venerable Ojai Music Festival could hardly have been more fresh or up to date.”
“Terry Riley’s In C got the full Ojai treatment from a large ensemble on Saturday. Shimmering, pulsing, syncopating, shuffling, and shifting sounds came together and drifted apart as easily and as naturally as the sun filtered through the canopy of trees.”
Click here to read the complete review of the SB Independent June 11, 2013 >>
SANTA BARBARA NEWS PRESS
“Mr. Ives loomed large over the weekend. That old Ives-ian charm and rebel spirit was powerfully moving, from the powerful String Trio (once you closed your eyes to block out the intrusive, uninvited dance component) and gutsy and quote-happy String Quartet No. 2, masterfully delivered by the American String Quartet on Sunday morning, this coming after several beauteous Ives songs on the concert’s first half (wonderfully sung by soprano Yulia Van Doren, mezzo-soprano Jamie Van Eyck, and bass-baritone Douglas Williams).”
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
“[Mark] Morris’ organizing principle was really quite simple. Taking Harrison as his focal point, he added music by Harrison’s teacher Henry Cowell, his confrere Cage and his followers Riley and Adams. The list constitutes a line of American composers, mavericks, innovators and tinkerers one and all, oriented to the West Coast, and strongly influenced by the music of Asia. The music of the father of all American mavericks, Charles Ives, became a natural addition.”
VENTURA COUNTY STAR
“In an Ojai Music Festival that revels in revelations, choosing the multi-talented choreographer Mark Morris as this year’s music director brought multiple bonuses to the alert sensibilities of the traditional festival audience.”
DANCE TABS
“As always, Morris’s ability to shape the sounds coming from the pit through a combined language of gesture and seemingly simple movement is a constant source of surprise and almost primal satisfaction.”
Click here to read the complete review of Dance Tabs June 9, 2013 >>
THE MISREAD CITY
“There are not many ideas we like better than a classical music festival, dedicated mostly to contemporary work, and held almost entirely outside in a verdant valley. This year, the existing Ojai template was sweetened further by a concentration on West Coast composers…”
Click here to read the complete review of The MisRead City June 11, 2013 >>
SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE
“This year’s music director, Mark Morris, one of the greatest choreographers of his generation and certainly the most musical (he’s also conducted), proved an ideal advocate for the triumph of song, dance, and American music at this year’s Ojai Festival.”
LA OPUS and HUFFINGTON POST
“Although bursting at the seams with 37 events — Libbey Bowl and off-site concerts, in-town movies, distant seminars and closer pre-concert talks and much more — the thematic focus remained sharp. Building on a festival trend in recent years, the fullness would make it nearly impossible for any single patron to attend all events in the non-stop schedule that revved up each day at dawn’s early light and wound down in the night’s wee hours.”
Click here to read the complete review of LA Opus June 20, 2013 >>
ALL IS YAR
“if you should know anything about Ojai, it is to expect and embrace the unlikely.”
Click here to read the complete review of All Is Yar June 6, 2013 >>
Read complete reviews posted as of June 21, 2013 >>
2013 Festival Photo Album
In just four days we experienced 37 events from music, dance and discussions to fitness classes, singing and marching band appearances! Relive the memories by viewing our photos on our Flickr page.
Please feel free to share your memories with us or any video you may have captured! Email us at [email protected]
Click here for the photo link >>
Updates on Free Events: Sunrise Concert Parking, Gamelan Performances and More!
This year, the Ojai Music Festival will present 37 events in just four days! This includes main Libbey Bowl concerts, Ojai Talks, Ojai Films, Concert Insights, and an abundance of free community events. Here are some new updates on some of these free events to help better prepare you:
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Sat June 8: The parking lot at Besant Hill will open at 7:00am. Please bring a chair or blanket for the concert, or feel free to wander as you enjoy John Luther Adams’ Strange and Sacred Noise. We highly recommend wearing flat comfortable shoes. Besant Hill School’s address is 8585 Santa Paula Ojai Road.
Sun June 9: Due to the high volume of ticket requests for the Sunday Sunrise Concert featuring John Luther Adams’ songbirdsongs, we are providing a free bus shuttle to take ticketed patrons to Meditation Mount. The shuttle and all concert parking will be located at Boccali’s Restaurant and the first shuttle will begin loading at 7:00am. Please plan to arrive well before the concert starts to guarantee parking. Only authorized vehicles will be allowed at Meditation Mount. Boccali’s address 3277 Ojai Santa Paula Road (located at Ojai Avenue and Reeves Road).
While you wait for the concert to begin at 8:00am, you can participate in bird watching with the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy at 7:15am. Please bring your own binoculars. RSVP at [email protected].
Maps and directions will be available at the Festival box office. If you have any questions, please call our box office at 805 646 2053.
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Gamelan Performances: Fri, June 7 and Sat, June 8
These two free concerts performed by the acclaimed Gamelan Sari Raras at the Libbey Park Gazebo will be special treats for the community! Limited seating will be provided; we encourage you to bring your own chairs or blankets.
Fitness Classes: Fri, June 7; Sat, June 8; Sun, June 9
Dance with MMDG: Sat, June 8
Festival patrons and the Ojai community have a rare opportunity to join dancers from the acclaimed Mark Morris Dance Group, who will help jump-start the day with basic stretching. The fitness classes will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning, 9:00-10:00am, at the Libbey Park Flagpole Lawn. We recommend wearing comfortable shoes or sneakers.
And there’s more — learn dance moves from dancers of the Mark Morris Dance Group who will teach a few moves from one of the works featured at the Friday evening concert. This free event will be at the Ojai Art Center. We recommend wearing flat shoes (you will also have the option to dance barefoot).
Both events are free and open to the public.
View complete schedule here >>
Anna Bowen, actress
Anna Bowen is thrilled to be performing at the 69th Ojai Music Festival. Her credits include the on-Broadway production of 101 Dalmatians, as well as several off-Broadway productions, including The Music of Motown, Rom and Julz, Doubletime, and Wanda’s World. On the West Coast, she has appeared in Les Miserables, RENT, Aladdin, Aida, Evita, among others, as well as with the Transcendence Theatre Company. Also active on television, her credits include appearances on Castle, Mixology, Law and Order SVU, and As The World Turns. She can be seen around Los Angeles singing with the Overstreets New Orleans Jazz Band, The Melodies, and with eclectic singer Lawrence Rothman. Bowen’s non-fiction book of interviews, Me+You, is available now and her forthcoming work, Being Biracial, will be published next spring.
Charlotte Cannon, actress
Charlotte Cannon, originally from Brighton, England, is a recent alumnus of the Chicago College of Performing Arts. Since graduating last May she has had the opportunity to collaborate on new works with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Chicago Children’s Choir, Red Tape Theatre, The Inappropriate Theatre Company, and Fearless Theatre. She is represented by Stewart Talent.
Josephine Chan, piano
Hailing from San Francisco, Josephine Chan (11) started piano lessons at the age of six. She is currently a scholarship student in the Pre-College Division at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studies piano performance with Corey McVicar. She was awarded top prize at the 2012 San Francisco Chopin Competition, and has enjoyed success at several competitions including the 2015 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition, the 2011 and 2013 Junior Bach Festivals, and the 2013 American Protégé International Piano Competition. Performance highlights include: Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the San Francisco Conservatory Fanfare Luncheon, San Francisco Conservatory Showcase Concert, and Lang Lang’s 101 Pianists Workshop.
Margaret Cook, actress
Margaret Cook is very excited to perform with the Chicago Symphony once more. Cook is an actress currently living in Chicago where she earned her BFA in Acting at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. She would like to thank her friends and family for their support.
Colin Creveling, actor
A professional actor since the age of seven, performance flows naturally from this one-man circus. Colin Creveling discovered ensemble-based circus while pursuing his passion for theatre at the Chicago Conservatory for Performing arts. Inspired by the instruction of Keland Scher, David Kersnar, and Douglas Grew, he began working with Lookingglass Theatre Company in collaboration with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This union of theatre and circus was the catalyst for the creation of the Inappropriate Theatre Company, an ensemble of physical actors and circus performers who develop large-scale spectacle performances and character-driven circus acts for shows and events within the city. Having spent the last 3 years on and off the road, from 150 shows at the largest beach resort in India to the country’s foremost traveling youth circus, Smirkus, Colin is elated to be working with his CCPA family and the monumentally talented artists and staff of the Ojai Music Festival and UC Berkeley.
Learn more at on Colin’s website >>
Ojai Rancho Inn
615 W. Ojai Ave.
Phone: 805 646 1434
Website: OjaiRanchoInn.com
**To Book: Call Sheila – 805 646 2094 x 110**
Charmingly rustic and lovingly curated (think Ojai summer camp), Ojai Rancho Inn’s vintage vibe keeps visitors immersed in a truly unique local experience. With a pool, bikes, friendly local owners, and a ‘backyard’ that connects right to the Ojai Valley bike trail, the Rancho Inn is a perfect place to park your car, leave your bags, and walk in (5 blocks) to concerts at Libbey Bowl.
The Festival has rooms reserved for patrons – to book, please call Sheila Cohn at 805 646 2094 x 110 or email [email protected].
Joseph Galizia, actor
Joseph is an actor, circus performer, performance artist, and rapper residing in Chicago. Since his graduation in 2011 he has had the pleasure of working with numerous theatrical venues including: Lookingglass Theatre Company, Next Theatre Company, Black Ensemble Theater, Actor’s Gymnasium, Chicago Children’s Choir, Fox Valley Repertory, and several shows with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra including A Pierre Dream. He is delighted to be a part of such a marvelous production with his friends, and thrilled to be sharing Pierre’s story with the world.
Derek Herman, actor
Derek Herman is a native of Portland who has since moved to the windy city of Chicago. While in Portland, Herman was in the West Coast premiere of Speech & Debate with Artists Repertory Theatre. His other appearances in the Pacific Northwest include with the Profile Theatre and Oregon Children’s Theatre. Since moving to Chicago, Herman has performed with the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in Since I Suppose, as well as with The Artistic Home, Teatro Vista, and The Raven Theatre. Derek is founder and Artistic Director of Fearless Theatre. He holds a BFA from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Learn more at derekherman.weebly.com.
Nyle Kenning, actor
Growing up in the Southwestern mountains of Colorado, Nyle Kenning has had the opportunity to experience nature in her infinite forms. He has been fortunate to have perceptive, challenging, and loving teachers for all of his life. Kenning currently lives in Chicago as an actor and theatre artist where he pursues a greater understanding of Shakespeare, music, and the circus arts. He feels blessed to be a part of this great piece again.