As this year’s music director of the Ojai Music Festival, Esa-Pekka Salonen, head of the Colburn Conservatory’s Negaunee Conducting Program and Maestro Ernst H. Katz Chair of Conducting Studies, has invited the Colburn Orchestra, Salonen Fellows, and alumni to join him in honoring 80 years of musical exploration at the 2026 Ojai Music Festival.
The Colburn Orchestra, the Conservatory’s preeminent ensemble, has performed in some of Southern California’s most revered venues, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Soraya, and of course, Zipper Hall on the Colburn campus. This month, the orchestra makes its debut at the annual Ojai Music Festival, held June 11–14, in Ojai, California.
In fact, Colburn plays a prominent role at this year’s event under the creative vision of the festival’s music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, head of the Colburn Conservatory’s Negaunee Conducting Program and Maestro Ernst H. Katz Chair of Conducting Studies. Along with the orchestra, violinists Geneva Lewis and Leila Josefowicz, alumni of the Community School of Performing Arts, will be performing and Salonen Fellows Mert Yalniz and Aleksandra Melanuik will step onto the conductors’ podium. Additionally, L.A. Dance Project will give the world premiere of a festival-commissioned work choreographed by Janie Taylor, Artistic Director of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute.
Here’s a snapshot of the Colburn highlights during the four-day event:
Thursday, June 11
Lewis, a former student of Violin faculty Aimée Kreston, takes the stage on the opening day for the U.S. premiere of Drømmelogikk, a new work for violin and cello by Salonen. She also performs throughout the weekend, including on Reflection Friday morning and during Sunday’s Morning Meditation session.
Friday, June 12
L.A. Dance Project debuts a work set to Luciano Berio’s Sequenza series. Taylor teamed up with Jobel Medina and Madeline Hollander to choreograph a dance performance that highlights the close interplay between dancer and musician in an exploration of the unexpected sonic landscape. A second presentation is scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
Friday evening, the Colburn Orchestra, joined by clarinetist Anthony McGill, performs Steven Stucky’s Colburn Variations, a work honoring the students, faculty, and staff of Colburn, as well as its founder, Richard D. Colburn, under Salonen’s baton. Also on the program is Witold Lutosławski’s Grave, (Metamorphoses for cello and strings) featuring cellist Jay Campbell, and Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Schoenberg’s first and most popular large-scale work.
Saturday, June 13
Saturday’s events include the LA Phil New Music Group conducted by Salonen, Yalniz, and Melanuik, featuring Lewis in a repertoire of contemporary composers specifically chosen for the festival: Gabriella Smith, Salonen, Magnus Lindberg, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, and John Adams.
Sunday, June 14
For the Festival’s finale concert, the Colburn Orchestra welcomes a cadre of celebrated guest artists: Lewis and Josefowicz—a former student of Jascha Heifetz Distinguished Violin Chair Robert Lipsett—as well as soprano Bridget Esler, tenor Eric Finbarr Carey, and baritone Abdiel González. The evening’s repertoire offers J.S. Bach’s Prelude from Partita No. 3 in E Major for Violin, BWV 1006, György Ligeti’s Violin Concerto, and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella. Also, the audience will be treated to a performance of Salonen’s Fog, a dreamlike fantasy around the Bach Partita that pays homage to Frank Gehry and the historic moment when music first filled the Walt Disney Concert Hall during Salonen’s tenure as the LA Philharmonic’s music director. Salonen premiered Fog in 2019 at a special concert celebrating Gehry’s 90th birthday held at Colburn.
Throughout the weekend, organizers have scheduled an array of happenings—both free and ticketed—including three films curated by Salonen and in-depth conversations with artists and composers. Click here for a full calendar of the concerts, activities, and venues.