Thu, Jun 6 - Sun, Jun 9  2019

LUDWIG Ensemble in Residence at Ojai Music Festival

The 73rd Ojai Music Festival in California, June 6-9, is on the horizon welcoming Music Director Barbara Hannigan and her artistic collaborators – LUDWIG, Equilibrium Singers, JACK Quartet, Steven Schick, and others to the beautiful Ojai Valley, curating a fully-staged production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, delving into the musical variations of John Zorn, while highlighting works of Rachmaninoff, Grisey, Schoenberg, and Knussen and ending with a grand Sunday finale – Gershwin’s Girl Crazy Suite!

The festival celebrates and explores the creative breadth of Music Director Barbara Hannigan, as conductor, singer, and mentor. LUDWIG, the celebrated collective from Amsterdam, with whom Ms. Hannigan works closely and collaborated with on the recent Grammy and Juno award-winning album Crazy Girl Crazy (Alpha Classics), makes its Ojai and US debut with the 2019 Festival.

Schedule

Tickets are available via Ojai Music Festival.

June 6, 7:30 pm 
Ojai, Libbey Bowl

Stravinsky – The Rake’s Progress
Conductor: Barbara Hannigan

With Los Robles Master Chorale

June 7, 9:00 pm
Ojai, Libbey Bowl

Debussy – Syrinx
Schönberg – Verklärte Nacht
Vivier – Lonely Child

Conductor: Barbara Hannigan

June 7, 10:15 pm
Ojai, Art Center
LUDWIG’s Dance Orchestra

June 8, 11:00 pm 
Ojai, Libbey Bowl

Knussen – Masks
Knussen – Triptych part 1: Autumnal
Knussen – Sonya’s Lullaby
Knussen – Cantata for oboe and string trio
Knussen – Eccentric Melody
Knussen – Ophelia’s last dance
Knussen – Study for Metamorphosis

With Stephen Gosling, piano

June 8, 12:20 pm
Ojai, Libbey Bowl

Rachmaninoff/T. Beyer – Toteninsel
Turnage – Twice through the heart

With Edo Frenkel

June 8, 8:15 pm
Ojai, Libbey Bowl

Rites of Passage – Folk music

LUDWIG & a variety of other musicians

June 8, 9:30 pm
Ojai, Libbey Bowl

Grisey – Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil

Conductor: Steven Schick
Soprano: Barbara Hannigan

June 9, 11:00 am
Ojai, Libbey Bowl

Walton – Façade

Soprano: Barbara Hannigan

June 9, 12:15 pm
Ojai, Libbey Bowl

Riley – In C

LUDWIG & a variety of other musicians
Conductor: Steven Schick

June 9, 4:30 pm
Ojai, Libbey Bowl

Stravinsky – Pulcinella
Haydn – Symfonie nr. 49 ‘La Passione’
Gershwin – Girl Crazy Suite

Conductor/Soprano: Barbara Hannigan
and a variety of other soloists

Barbara Hannigan singing and conducting LUDWIG.
Concertgebouw Amsterdam 4-12-2017
Photo: Marco Borggreve

About LUDWIG

In 2012, six Dutch orchestral musicians defied prevailing trends and created a new musical collective. They wanted an ensemble which would distinguish itself not only artistically but in its range and flexibility. LUDWIG – the name of course refers to the cultural entrepreneur in classical music – varies in size from a single soloist to full-scale symphonic orchestra. Their dream became reality: in no time at all the collective, with its fearless elan and contemporary vision for established repertoire, shot to prominence in the Netherlands.

LUDWIG’s programming is as thoroughly thought out as it is adventurous. Artistic director Peppie Wiersma effortlessly brings together composers from different time periods, styles, and backgrounds. The musicians perform the greatest music to the highest possible standard but free from the organizational and management norms of conventional ensembles and orchestras. And distinctive it certainly is: the musicians often interact directly with their audience, play from memory, experiment with different forms of presentation, collaborate with makers in other disciplines and have staged a number of legendary appearances with leading soloists such as Barbara Hannigan, the Jussen brothers, and Remy van Kesteren.

In July 2015 LUDWIG received a grant from the prestigious governmental funding program The Art of Impact for their pioneering research project LUDWIG and the Brain, exploring the impact of music. In LUDWIG and the Brain, LUDWIG develops innovative implementations for music that have a positive effect on the wellbeing and education of specific target groups in cooperation with leading scientists. As of 2016, LUDWIG introduced a series of so-called Brainwaves: multidisciplinary events revealing the latest developments in different fields of music-related brain research. Brainwave #1 Music and Identity toured the Netherlands in 2016, in 2017 Music as Medicine was presented and in 2018 Music and the Future researches the transition into the new era of infinite possibilities that digitalization has created.

In September 2017 LUDWIG and conductor/singer Barbara Hannigan recorded their first cd Crazy Girl Crazy, which was awarded a Grammy in January 2018. In 2019 Barbara and LUDWIG will tour Europe and the United States with Stravinsky’s Rake’s Progress.

© Timothy Norris

About the Ojai Music Festival

From its founding in 1947, the Ojai Music Festival has created a place for groundbreaking musical experiences, bringing together innovative artists and curious audiences in an intimate, idyllic setting 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The Festival presents broad-ranging programs in unusual ways with an eclectic mix of rarely performed music, refreshing juxtapositions of musical styles, and works by today’s composers. The four-day festival is an immersive experience with concerts, free community events, symposia, and gatherings. Considered a highlight of the international music summer season, Ojai has remained a leader in the classical music landscape for seven decades.

Through its unique structure of the Artistic Director appointing an annual Music Director, Ojai has presented a “who’s who” of music including Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, Olivier Messiaen, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kent Nagano, Pierre Boulez, John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Robert Spano, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, David Robertson, Eighth Blackbird, George Benjamin, Dawn Upshaw, Leif Ove Andsnes, Mark Morris, Jeremy Denk, Steven Schick, Peter Sellars, Vijay Iyer, Barbara Hannigan (2019), and Matthias Pintscher (2020).

As the Ojai Music Festival approaches its 75th anniversary and looks toward the future, Thomas W. Morris concludes his remarkable 16-year tenure as Artistic Director following the 73rd Festival in 2019. With the appointment of Chad Smith as the next Artistic Director, Ojai’s artistic momentum is clearly poised to continue. Mr. Smith will succeed Mr. Morris as Artistic Director with the 2020 Festival (June 11-14).