The Next Movement

SummerFest La Jolla has a new artistic director, and the ambitious three-week festival opening this weekend seems poised for big changes. Coming off a rift with the previous co-directors, cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, the La Jolla Chamber Music Society last fall hired Taiwanese American violinist Cho-Liang Lin, and his first SummerFest season opened Friday.

Along with impeccable international chamber music credentials and a far-flung collegial network, Lin, 41, brings the enthusiasm and visions of a true believer to the post. Though already talking about everything from increasing the diversity of the programming to a new, purpose-built hall, Lin also has a strong feel for La Jolla traditions. He has appeared at SummerFest almost every year since 1989.

“This will be my 11th time here,” Lin said by phone, soon after arriving this week. “I really like the place and the festival, but it was a tough decision [to become artistic director]. I knew there was a lot of work involved, and I was not sure if I could take on so much more.

“What tugged at me was the place and the people--the audience as well as the staff and the artists. I have become so fond of them all. Finally all those positive attributes persuaded me to try it.”

Lin signed a three-year deal in October. Directed for its first 12 seasons by conductor Heiichiro Ohyama, a former principal violist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, SummerFest had been led for the last three terms by the husband-wife team of Finckel and Wu Han.

Shortly after the close of the festival last summer, the Chamber Music Society--the parent organization for SummerFest--announced the departure of Finckel and Wu Han, “effective immediately.” With a noticeable lack of details, rumors flourished and the principals are still not addressing the break in any specificity.

At the time, Finckel and Wu Han said they resigned because of “longstanding and unresolvable differences” between them and the festival. In an e-mail, Finckel says that they promised the festival they would make no further comment and that they intend to keep that pledge. “The festival was extremely dear to us and we miss most aspects of it terribly,” Finckel added.

In press releases and interviews, the society freely praises the departed directors for revitalizing the festival and bringing it new international prominence.

“We’ve always been known for the quality of the festival,” says Kathryn Martin, managing director of the La Jolla Chamber Music Society. “But in terms of visibility and reputation, David and Wu Han really placed us on an international level. They really helped build the festival.”

Evidence of SummerFest’s growth in stature during the past three seasons can been found in its increased media presence. The festival has been critically praised in the New York Times, the London Financial Times, Strad Magazine, and the BBC Music Magazine. A 30-minute PBS documentary on the festival was made in 1999, and SummerFest concerts have been broadcast on NPR stations in this country and on the BBC abroad.

Still, Martin explains that, in terms of artistic leadership, “it was just time to move on.”

“We are all friends,” says Lin, who played at La Jolla with Finckel and Wu Han. “I told David and Wu Han when they resigned, even before I was offered the job, that they were a hard act to follow.”

It took only six weeks for SummerFest to get from announcing the departure of Finckel and Wu Han to the hiring of Lin. His familiarity to the festival certainly helped expedite the process.

“We were looking for somebody who would embrace the SummerFest spirit,” Martin says. “This is more than a concert series. It is about building connections with the audience. Jimmy [Lin’s nickname], through his programming and his personality, embodies that spirit.

“Jimmy celebrates everything that is special about SummerFest, including featuring local talent and components such as our visual artist in residence. He knows what works and feels right here.”

The 16th edition of SummerFest certainly looks little different from its immediate predecessors. In addition to the regular concerts, the Encounters series of round-table discussions of arts issues is still in place, as is the Workshop program, which takes young ensembles--this year the Enso, Phaedrus and Vega quartets--from master-class-style rehearsals to an evening concert on Aug. 15.

Lin, with 23 recordings of eclectic repertory to his credit, has always been open to new music. He continues the previous directors’ interest in bringing composers to the festival, but with a twist.

“Commissioning tends to take so long to come to fruition,” Lin says. “The commissioning program is a wonderful idea that we will continue, but with no firm target. It is so much more fun to have composers here actually able to perform their music with us.”

Thus, Bruce Adolphe--one of last year’s composers in residence--will accompany Metropolitan Opera soprano Sylvia McNair in the West Coast premiere of his song cycle, “A Thousand Years of Love,” on the festival’s tribute Friday to the late pianist David Golub, and he will lead the family matinees featuring the second annual young performer’s showcase on next Saturday and the California premiere of his “Tyrannosaurus Sue--A Cretaceous Concerto” on Aug. 18.

The other composers in residence are also gifted performers. Guitarist Steven Mackey will play some of his works with string quartet tonight and on Aug. 17-18. Crossover violinist Mark O’Connor was to play some of his trios from “Appalachian Journey” at Friday’s opening concert and will lead his string quartet--with Lin playing the other violin part--on Aug. 14. Mackey is also one of the guitarists joining O’Connor in an Aug. 16 tribute to Stephane Grappelli, the late jazz great who was one of O’Connor’s mentors.

“In my opinion, programming content was greatly enriched by David and Wu Han, and I want to diversify even more,” Lin says. He notes that besides O’Connor, who now lives in Vista, legendary sitar master Ravi Shankar lives nearby. He says he has also been in touch with a tango ensemble in Buenos Aires and a crossover quartet in London about appearing in La Jolla in coming seasons.

Other artists performing this year include violinist Gil Shaham, violist Paul Neubauer, cellist Carter Brey, pianist Andre-Michel Schub and the Borromeo String Quartet. In addition to O’Connor and guitarists Celin and Pepe Romero, the locally based contingent includes members of the San Diego Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Some of the performances will be broadcast on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today,” program, along with artist interviews. Lin would like to see that sort of media presence increase, including Webcasts in the future.

Another element Lin would like to add to the La Jolla mix is staged music theater, including chamber operas. He had hoped to present iconoclastic director Peter Sellars’ version of “The Soldier’s Tale” next season, but said Sellars has had problems with the copyright owners and is unable at the moment to mount his staging. Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, a frequent Lin collaborator, will conduct a concert version of the work, however.

Stage productions, however, would be hindered by the limitations of Sherwood Auditorium, the festival’s main concert venue. Basically a lecture hall at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sherwood is intimate in size at least, but has scant facility for stagings.

“We have a very intimate hall, with only 500 seats, including those we put onstage. We’ve been asking ourselves, ‘Where do we go from here?’ Because we sell out our concerts, should we repeat performances, or take them outside La Jolla? We haven’t answered these questions,” Martin says, “but we need to.”

Lin is more direct. “To me, a new hall is of utmost priority,” he says. “We began to discuss that as soon as I was appointed. Sherwood Auditorium is acoustically limited, and the seating capacity is limited. There is hardly any backstage space, and we are all crammed into one dressing room.”

Lin is bringing in a representative of architect Russell Johnson’s firm to make a presentation on the process of building new concert halls. He says there is a site available nearby, in an “even more spectacular setting” than Sherwood Auditorium.

And the setting, the balmy weather and the ocean views, is an important part of the experience.

“I took Steve Mackey out to dinner last night,” Lin says. “We sat there, watching the sun set over the cove, and we agreed it would be hard to find a nicer place for a festival in August.”

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SummerFest La Jolla, through Aug. 19. Sherwood Auditorium, Museum of Contemporary Art, 700 Prospect Drive, La Jolla. (858) 459-3728