Ojai Music Festival Ears Open Event: 2018 Festival Director and Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja

Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles is excited to partner with Ojai Music Festival to present an evening of conversation with critically acclaimed violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Festival Artistic Director Thomas W. Morris followed by musical excerpts from Kopatchinskaja. Currently the 2018 Festival Music Director, Kopatchinskaja is praised for her ‘mesmerizing artistry’ (The Strad) and ‘savage energy’ (The Washington Post). Her unbounded musical creativity will be in full force, showcasing her as a soloist, collaborator, and new music advocate.

This event is free, however, reservations recommended.

About Patricia Kopatchinskaja, 2018 OMF Music Director

Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja's versatility shows itself in her diverse repertoire, ranging from baroque and classical often played on gut strings, to new commissions and re-interpretations of modern masterworks. Her first visit to Ojai was in April 2016 as a guest on the Festival’s off-season “Open Ears” series. Kopatchinskaja’s 2017-18 season commenced with the world premiere of her new project Dies Irae at the Lucerne Festival in the summer, where she was ‘artiste étoile’. Dies Irae is her second staged program following the success of Bye Bye Beethoven with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in 2016 and uses the theme from the Latin Requiem Mass as a starting point for her new concept featuring music from Gregorian Chant and Early Baroque to Giacinto Scelsi and Galina Ustvolskaya. The Stravinsky Violin Concerto will be a particular focus in her 2017-18 season - performances include the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Alain Altinoglu in London and on tour around Europe, Teodor Currentzis and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and with Gustavo Gimeno and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Kopatchinskaja will also appear with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under Rafael Payare, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, and she will be part of the Southbank Centre’s Ligeti weekend performing his Violin Concerto with Aurora Orchestra under Nicholas Collon and the Horn Trio with Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Marie-Luise Neunecker. Chamber music is immensely important to Kopatchinskaja and she performs regularly with artists such as Markus Hinterhäuser, Polina Leschenko, Anthony Romaniuk and Jay Campbell appearing at such leading venues as the Berlin Konzerthaus, London’s Wigmore Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. A prolific recording artist, her latest release Death and the Maiden for Alpha is with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra with whom she is an Artistic Partner.

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 in unusual ways with an eclectic mix of rarely performed music, refreshing juxtapositions of musical styles, and works by today’s composers. The four-day festival is an immersive experience with concerts, free community events, symposia, and gatherings. Considered a highlight of the international music summer season, Ojai has remained a leader in the classical music landscape for seven decades.

Through its unique structure of the Artistic Director appointing an annual Music 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, Jeremy Denk, Steven Schick, and Peter Sellars. Following Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Ojai will welcome Music Director Barbara Hannigan (2019).

Photo: Image provided by the Ojai Music Festival. Courtesy Patricia Kopatchinskaja