The Ojai Music Festival welcomes as Music Director one of today’s most vital artists, Claire Chase. The 79th edition celebrates collaboration and dialogue across multiple generations of composers and performers, including four World Premieres of works by Susie Ibarra, Tania León, Terry Riley and Bahar Royaee; the US Premiere of Liza Lim’s Cardamom; eight West Coast Premieres; residencies by Tania León, Annea Lockwood, Liza Lim, Craig Taborn, Susie Ibarra, Leilehua Lanzilotti, and Marcos Balter; and seminal works by John Coltrane, Julius Eastman, Sofia Gubaidulina, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, and more
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 March 12, 2025.
THU 06|05
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OJAI TALKS
3:00PM | 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.
PAN
8:00PM | 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 Lockwood’s Bayou-Borne, an affectionate tribute to Pauline Oliveros, then culminating in Marcos Balter’s Pan, an already iconic work from Claire Chase’s 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 – true to the Ojai spirit!
FRI 06|06
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OJAI DAWNS
8:00AM | Zalk Theater, Beasant Hill School
Liza LIM Cardamom (US Premiere)
Eduardo AGUILAR HYPER (West Coast premiere)
Tania LEÓN Abanico
Vicente ATRIA Roundabout (West Coast premiere)
Early morning program featuring JACK Quartet with works by Tania León, Leilehua Lanziliotti, and two exciting emerging composers, Vicente Atria and Eduardo Aguilar.
Member Circle donors have first access to tickets. Click here to learn more.
PULSING LIFTERS
10:30AM | 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 Thorvaldsdottir’s Impressions for harpsichord as well as a summit meeting between two dazzlingly inventive composer/pianists whose worlds encompass jazz, new music, and beyond.
OJAI FILMS
1:00PM | Ojai Playhouse
32 Sounds Film by Sam Green
OJAI AFTERNOONS
3:30PM | 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 Lim’s Density 2036 contribution Sex Magic for solo contrabass flute and electronics centers Friday afternoon. Inspired by Claire Chase’s towering contrabass flute (Bertha), Sex Magic evokes and celebrates women’s 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.
Partner Circle donors have first access to tickets. Click here to learn more.
THE HOLY LIFTOFF
8:00PM | 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 ko’u inoa
Sofia GUBAIDULINA Mirage: The Dancing Sun
Julius EASTMAN The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc
Terry RILEY The Holy Liftoff (Realization by Samuel Clay Birmaher)
Music for a “chorus of cellos” 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 “I feel like this piece sums up a lot of things I’ve worked for.”
SAT 06|07
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MORNING MEDITATION
8:00 AM | 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 Kolubrí
Pauline OLIVEROS Horse Sings From Cloud
Free and open to the public
CHAMBERS
10:30AM | Libbey Bowl
Claire Chase, flute | Katinka Kleijn, Seth Parker Woods, cello | Cory Smythe, piano | JACK Quartet
Marcos BALTER Chambers
Leilehua LANZILOTTI ahupua’a
Anna THORVALDSDOTTIR Ubique (West Coast premiere)
A program centered on the West Coast premiere of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Ubique for flute, two cellos, piano and electronics, a work of enigmatic lyricism by a composer who is inspired by the “musical qualities of nature.”
OJAI FILMS
1:00PM | Ojai Playhouse
Deep Listening: The Story of Pauline Oliveros Film by Daniel Weintraub
HOUSATONIC
1:00PM | Location TBA
Annea LOCKWOOD Housatonic Sound installation
Ticketing information to be announced
OJAI AFTERNOONS
3:30PM | Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School
Claire Chase, flute | Joshua Rubin, clarinet | Craig Taborn, piano | Susie Ibarra, percussion | Levy Lorenzo, 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, cello, 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.
HOW FORESTS THINK
8:00PM | 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 LEÓN Hechizos
Liza LIM How Forests Think
Music by Bach, Sofia Gubaidulina (inspired by Bach) and Tania León, 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, “that 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.
OJAI LATE NIGHT
10:30PM | Ojai Playhouse
Liza Lim | Steven Schick | Leilehua Lanzilotti; speaker TBA | Annea Lockwood, sound diffusion
Annea LOCKWOOD Spirit Catchers
Ticketing information to be announced
SUN 06|08
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MORNING MEDITATION
8:00AM | 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
RITUAL
10:30AM | Libbey Bowl
Wu Wei, sheng | Alex Peh, piano | Claire Chase, flute | Susie Ibarra and Levy Lorenzo, percussion | JACK Quartet
Modern Medieval (arr. Christopher Otto and Austin Wulliman)
Susie IBARRA New work for sheng and percussion (World premiere)
Tania LEÓN Ritual
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 Ibarra’s 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.
FAMILY CONCERT
12:00PM | Libbey Park Gazebo
Program to be announced
OJAI FILMS
1:00PM | Ojai Playhouse
32 Sounds Film by Sam Green
OJAI AFTERNOONS (repeat performance)
2:30PM | Greenberg Center, Ojai Valley School
Claire Chase, flute | Joshua Rubin, clarinet | Craig Taborn, piano | Susie Ibarra, percussion | Levy Lorenzo, 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, cello, 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.
PULSEFIELD
5:30PM | Libbey Bowl
Claire Chase, flute | Festival Artists | Steven Schick, conductor
Leilehua LANZILOTTI ko’u inoa
Pauline OLIVEROS The Witness
Tania LEÓN 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 Oliveros’s The Witness, and the world premiere of a new version of Tania León’s Singsong adapted for solo flute. The Festival culminates in the world premiere of Terry Riley’s Pulsefield 3, in a joyous celebration of the composer’s 90th birthday.