Ojai Music FestivalA Celebration for the Sensesby Valerie SummersNestled in a magical valley once dubbed Shangri-La during the filming of the 1937 movie Lost Horizon, Ojai’s annual Music Festival draws an international audience. Surrounded by sprawling horse ranches, farms and orchards, the town of Ojai, just 85 miles north of Los Angeles, has attracted artists of all kinds to its bosom for decades. The festival itself began more than sixty years ago where it re-emerges each spring.  On the festival’s opening night, I made my way through the great white arch of Libbey Park, past a children’s playground and down a path leading to the informal outdoor festival site, the Libbey Bowl, a rustic amphitheatre right in the center of town. Hundreds of audience members sprawled on blankets on the grassy lawn behind the wooden benches and fold up chairs fronting the stage, many enjoying picnics. Other music lovers found their way to their seats beneath the boughs of the sycamore and great oak trees which embrace the amphitheatre.
 The four day festival included a mix of music ranging from works written in the 1800s to 21st century offerings attracting the musically curious from all over the globe. The opportunity to meet and converse with these fascinating folks was an added bonus to my musical adventure. Each year the festival has drawn some of the most prominent names in musical history including Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, Michael Tilson Thomas, Esa-Pekka Solonen, Robert Spano, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Kent Nagano and Simon Rattle. The impressive list goes on and on.
The variety of musical presentations included many unfamiliar sounds as well as traditional offerings. Since the founding of the Ojai Music Festival, eclecticism and musical courageousness continue to produce concerts that are both playful and inspiring. This year’s festival featured California-born conductor David Robertson as musical director along with soprano Dawn Upshaw, composer/artist Steve Reich, conductor Brad Lubman and his new contemporary ensemble Signal, So Percussion, the Ojai Festival Orchestra and others. The four-day event featured six concerts, festival symposia, pre-concert insights held on the tennis courts adjacent to the Festival stage and three free bonus musical offerings. Dawn Upshaw enchanted the audience not only with her exquisite voice, but also her unaffected demeanor. Her eclectic program included songs by Stephen Collins Foster, Aaron Copland, Debussy, Ravel, Brahms and Kurt Weill. On a much more contemporary note, composer and innovator of computer composition Philippe Manoury combined the operatic voice of Juliana Snapper with surprisingly sensual and ghostly computer sounds. Charlie Chaplin’s silent film Modern Times accompanied by Chaplin’s musical score played by the Festival Orchestra was another audience pleaser. The west coast premiere of Michael Jarrell’s Cassandre featured a dramatic reading by Barbara Sukowa accompanied by the Ojai Festival Orchestra. Other new works included Steve Reich’s (hand) Clapping Music and the Nexus Percussion Ensemble performance of his Drumming which included bongos, marimbas and glockenspiels with whistling and piccolo.   Each night, under starlit skies, along with my friends who had joined me in Ojai, I walked the few blocks back to our lodgings. During the four day festival, we booked a brand new three bedroom villa situated close to festival activities. Villa Ojai was the perfect answer to a girl’s getaway, family gathering or retreat. The bright and airy spacious modern villa featured a great room with a wood burning fireplace where we gathered each evening post concert for wine and conversation. Just through the French doors leading to the back of the property we relaxed on the covered patio, which also incorporated a built in working fireplace, and drank our morning coffee while discussing the day’s agenda in the warm and comfortable setting. From one year to the next, festival goers reserve their accommodations early because of the scarcity of rooms available in the immediate area. There are a variety of places to stay in the town including spas and B&B’s but we were delighted with our choice of the very private Villa Ojai.
 In addition to nourishing my soul with music, I also had the opportunity to nourish my body at the Harvest Lunch held at the close by Lavender Inn B&B. In their beautiful flower and fountain filled garden I feasted under sunny blue skies. Buffet offerings from the Slow Food movement introduced diners to the wonderful seasonal produce grown in Ojai and throughout Ventura County accompanied by fine local wines. The tempting taste treats reminded me of the days before fast food and bemoaned my palate’s sacrifice to the current lost flavors of out of season produce shipped hundreds of miles.
When not involved in festival activities, I explored the quaint, well kept downtown area, fortunately minus any chain stores, perusing galleries and shops and checking out the restaurants. Happily, I also discovered that Ojai offers some wonderful hiking and bicycle trails and places to horseback ride. I made a note to myself to return in the near future for further exploration. In the relaxed setting of Ojai, where its downtown ambience has not changed much since the 1930’s, a long list of actors, writers, artists and musicians are included among its residents in this tiny town that was once called Shangri-la. And people from all over the world keep coming back each year for a special feast of music. The Ojai Festival’s legendary place in musical history as one of the world’s special performance venues continues to live up to its stellar reputation. For information:Ojai Music Festival
201 South Signal St.
Ojai, CA 93023
805/646-2094
www.ojaifestival.org Villa Ojai
Darryl Gurwich
802 Canada St.
Ojai, CA 93023
310/709-1000
Darryl@villaojai.com
www.villaojai.com Lavender Inn & Ojai Cooking School
210 E Mantilla St.
Ojai
805/646-6635
www.lavenderinn.com | 