The experience of SummerFest and La Jolla Music Society unfolds at walking pace: whether a place feels welcoming, whether a program is affordable, whose work is visible and whether the benefit lasts after opening day. Attendance is one measure; access, neighborhood participation and long-term stewardship are others.
La Jolla Music Society presented 'Eastern Visions' at the Baker-Baum Concert Hall on Friday as part of the 40th anniversary season of SummerFest.
The program explored the influence of Asian musical traditions on Western composers through Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Lou Harrison's Varied Trio, Ravel's Tzigane, selections from John Cage's Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano and a chamber arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.
The wider story involves SummerFest and La Jolla Music Society and the question of who gets to participate in San Diego's cultural life. A successful event or investment can draw a crowd, but its deeper value depends on affordability, representation, community partnerships and what remains available afterward.
The roster included violinist Tessa Lark, pianist and SummerFest Music Director Inon Barnatan, horn player Stefan Dohr and percussionist Steven Schick. A free pre-concert performance by the Prometheus Quartet opened the evening with music by Lei Liang, Miklós Rózsa and Debussy.
The public life around SummerFest and La Jolla Music Society is made from more than attendance totals. It also depends on who recognizes themselves in the room, whether artists and neighbors can afford to participate and what remains available after the opening-day crowd disperses.
The next questions around SummerFest and La Jolla Music Society are attendance, affordability, neighborhood participation, artist compensation and whether funding or programming continues beyond the initial event. Those measures help distinguish visibility from lasting access.