Composer

Bassist

This new work – conceived and composed by Doug Balliett – tracks the fall of Rome in the form of a high-energy opera in the Libbey Park gazebo. Bringing together members of AMOC and Ruckus – the critically-acclaimed early music band with a fresh approach to baroque music – Rome is Falling presents an exciting new telling where song, spoken word, and driving music come together to contextualize the action. Complete with audience engagement and the performance of members of a local children’s choir, Rome is Falling is a free, public opportunity for Ojai Festival-goers and locals alike to bring a picnic blanket to enjoy.

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Rome is Falling

Libbey Park 

A multi-dimensional performance piece, EASTMAN reflects the performers’ consideration of Julius Eastman’s art and the larger context of his life, creativity, and humanity. The program will include performances of some of Eastman’s most affecting works, including Buddha, Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc, and his epic, joyous Stay on It.

Eastman

Libbey Bowl

This concert brings together improvisatory works by two of the most formidable composers of our time, Roscoe Mitchell and George Lewis. In the composer’s words, Lewis’s Artificial Life “[presents] a model of group improvisation as an emergent phenomenon arising from negotiation and local intelligence.” Mitchell’s “Cards from At 440 Oakwood Drive” are excerpted from an in-progress multi-movement work that is being composed for Emi Ferguson, Ruckus, and the Immanuel Wilkins Quartet as a co-commission with Metropolis Ensemble.  The “Cards” invite the performers into Mitchell’s language through unmeasured melodic and harmonic material, leaving the creation of the musical structure to the performers.

Ojai Dawns: Mitchell & Lewis

Besant Hill School

Sitting onstage just feet from world-class performers is an exhilarating experience, even more so when you’re experiencing the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the exciting ensemble that plays with what the Boston Globe calls “irresistible exuberance” and a sense of joy. In their return to our stage, in addition to sublime interpretations of Balliet, Purcell, and Golijov, they will again bring to thrilling life a piece by fellow Californian and renowned composer John Adams. The foremost composer of his generation, Adams has a long-time relationship with St. Lawrence String Quartet. Together, they personify the excitement of contemporary classical music.

St. Lawrence String Quartet

Established in Toronto in 1989, the St. Lawrence String Quartet quickly earned acclaim at top international chamber music competitions and was soon playing hundreds of concerts per year worldwide. It established an ongoing residency at Spoleto Festival USA, made prize-winning recordings for EMI of music by Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Golijov, earning two Grammy nominations and a host of other prizes before being appointed ensemble-in-residence at Stanford University in 1998.  Praised as “modern,” “dramatic,” “superb,” “wickedly attentive,” “with a hint of rock 'n roll energy,” the St. Lawrence String Quartet is renowned for the intensity of its performances, its breadth of repertoire, and its commitment to concert experiences that are at once intellectually exciting and emotionally alive.

Doug Balliet

Composer, Bassist

Events

Past events

Dec 6, 2022

Rome is Falling · Ojai Music Festival

Oct 6, 2022

Eastman · Ojai Music Festival

About

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