SummerFest Mixes Tradition with Shows That Aim to Cross Boundaries

The Synergy Initiative returns as part of the La Jolla Music Society’s annual SummerFest, with performances showcasing artists working in different genres and media.

Co-produced by Inon Barnatan and Clara Wu Tsai, the initiative features musicians, dancers, and artists in the spoken word and visual arts fields collaborating to produce performances that inspire “audiences in unexpected and powerful ways,” society officials said in a news release.

On Opening Night Friday, which is sold out, British composer and conductor Thomas Adès will lead a performance of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale which will be accompanied by hand-drawn animation by the British visual art ensemble The Paper Cinema. Live narration will be performed by Broadway actor Danny Burstein.

Programs on opening weekend include Saturday’s Danse Macabre and Sunday’s “Passions and Storms.”

Other Synergy Initiative performances:

• Aug. 15, jazz pianist Dan Tepfer performs his album Natural Machines, improvising at the piano and interacting both musically and visually in real time with computer-written programs. 
• Aug. 16, pianist Conrad Tao and tap dancer Caleb Teicher return to La Jolla with the world premiere of Counterpoint II.

Tao’s and Teicher’s new work follows the success of their Counterpoint program in 2021, offering “a dynamic exploration of movement and music, celebrating the dialogue between tap dance and classical music, with an expanded range of instrumentation,” according to the society.

SummerFest packages and single tickets are on sale. A subscription for all 17 concerts in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center starts at $1,249. Single tickets range from $30 to $130.