"David Robertson was music director, and the context was impossibly rich -- war and peace, modern times and tradition, technology and divinity.”

“Is there any question by now that the Ojai Music Festival is far and away the most important international cultural event in these tri-counties? Any doubts seemed brushed away over the weekend, as the striking 62nd annual festival was unveiled under the brilliant scheming of mastermind David Robertson.”

“…a good number of the 20th century’s most acclaimed musical creators and interpreters have directed the four-day extravaganza."

“Ojai Music Festival conductor and 2008 music director David Robertson made that simple statement when he took the podium Friday night for a weekend that brought together music of genres and styles crisscrossed with influences from a world that grows ever closer in music as in every other human activity.”

“They have a jones for contemporary music in Ojai, the more far-fetched the better. Something in the water must make them perpetually curious.”

“Four days of some of the most compelling music of our time, played by some of its finest interpreters. Like I said, paradise.”

“…this festival was the best yet in the era guided by artistic director Thomas Morris.”

"As for year 2008, the festival will be remembered as the stunning debut of Mr. Robertson, whose ingenious programming and conducting instincts make him tailor-made for repeat visits to this fabulous thinking person's festival.”

“…Then came the highlight, and one of the peak experiences of my musical life, a live performance of Reich’s Drumming.”

“In between came an extraordinary 65-minute performance of 1971’s “Drumming,” a piece of “pure” minimalism for four pairs of tuned bongo drums, three marimbas, three glockenspiels, two female voices, whistling and piccolo, that hypnotized as much with its thrumming rhythms somersaulting in the air as with the tag-team choreography of the instrumentalists (including, again, Reich) who played it, their hands and arms interacting in a robotic ballet.”

“Reich contains multitudes and continues to express himself in new and surprising ways. His output since the 1960s stands up remarkably well to the kind of close attention given at Ojai, and it was a great pleasure to hear his works, early and late, in the magical Libbey Bowl. Reich’s work manages to be both pleasing —even in large doses—and eminently provocative for reflection on the nature and state of music today.”

“…the composer {Reich] was central to "Drumming," a hypnotic hourlong celebration of the power of the beat, setting the pace on bongos with a pattern that ultimately moved to marimbas, and added voices to underscore and elevate the subtle shifts.”

“Manoury layers synthesized sounds and plays with the soprano's voice to create a new and daring texture;
Snapper stood still, alone on the stage before screen panels that lit up with patterns, but her extraordinary
voice and the technical variations worked on it gave the piece an otherworldly aura.”

“Here it is the electronic score that responds to the solo vocal line, but it is a response of infinite subtlety. The effect is haunting, other-worldly, with a sense of barely controlled hysteria in the face of utter loneliness. Los Angeles-based Snapper, known for her off-the-wall work, sang the challenging part with superb control.”

“Here it is the electronic score that responds to the solo vocal line, but it is a response of infinite subtlety. The effect is haunting, other-worldly, with a sense of barely controlled hysteria in the face of utter loneliness. Los Angeles-based Snapper, known for her off-the-wall work, sang the challenging part with superb control.”

“Her hour-long dramatic retelling of the Trojan War from the loser’s perspective (based on Christa Wolf’s 1983 novel) was gripping throughout. The music itself, played by the Ojai Orchestra, mostly hovered in the background, supplying atmosphere and punctuation, but taken as a whole, the performance was an audience-pleasing success.”

“…the real main event on Saturday evening was the West Coast premiere of Michael Jarrell's hour-long "spoken opera" "Cassandre." Its rich and ranging orchestral score swirled around the force of nature that was the great German actress Barbara Sukowa, dazzlingly performing the text by Gerhard Wolf.”

“[Dawn Upshaw] She is a singer who does not stay in the same place. Her voice is filling out, and her involvement in music keeps reaching new levels of intensity.”

“Can you imagine anything more divine than waking up on a sunny Saturday morning, strolling through a leafy park, and sitting a few yards away while Dawn Upshaw sings Debussy? Me neither.”

“…a selection of her [Upshaw] favorite songs highlighted a consummate artist with impressive linguistic ability and a great sense of musical style. She was superbly languid in Debussy, displayed a gamine freshness for Schumann's “Er ist's!” tenderness for Wolf's “Die Bekehrte,” and perfectly captured the heartbreak of Kurt Weill's “Je ne t'aime pas.”