Ojai gives Chase
NewsMusic Director of the 2025 Ojai Festival will be the flute virtuoso Claire Chase, it was announced tonight. She succeeds pianist Mitsuko Uchida who presides this summer.
Ara Guzelimian, Artistic and Executive Director, said: ‘Claire Chase is one of the boldest, most inventive and irresistibly joyous musicians I have ever known. She is such a generative force in all that she does, embracing composers, audiences, and entire communities with generosity. She is the perfect match for Ojai’s spirit of adventure, and I can’t wait to imagine the possibilities together for the 2025 Festival!’
Ojai is California’s Shangri-la and best-kept secret, only 2 hours from Los Angeles and yet feels a world apart. One year I saw Boulez conduct Mahler Ninth and Helene Grimaud play Bartok Concerto No. 1
Besides the annual music festival in June, there’s lots to do in Ojai all year round — olive oil tasting, horseback riding, sunday farmers market, golf, great restaurants (including an afternoon tea joint run by a British couple), and hiking trails with pixie orange trees and stunning views of the Ojai Valley.
Don’t forget Bart’s Books, though I preferred how it was during the previous owner.
Are these current shows as good as they were under Boulez? Ojai is a unique venue. Have the Kardashians discovered it yet?!
Of course they did. ‘Phhhzzz POP wheeeeeeee plffffffffffftttt toooot click clack scrreeeeeechhhhhh FAAAArrrrtttttt…’
Great. Just great.
The 2026 Festival will be led by Lizzo, we hear.
Occupée! Chauve! Bouclée! Lourde! Poupelinière! Perplexe! Brisée! Grincheuse! Tendue! Victorieuse! Bouleversante! Sèche! Humide! Grandiose! Chanceuse! Fermée! Passionnée! Sportive! Endettée! Bruyante! Fascinante!
Nonsense always sounds better in French.