Ojai Music Festival
An annual four-day classical music festival in Ojai, California, known for adventurous programming, contemporary music, rediscoveries, and interdisciplinary events.
Last updated August 22, 2026
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Overview
The Ojai Music Festival is an annual classical music festival held in Ojai, California, roughly 75 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Established in 1947 by music enthusiast John Leopold Jergens Bauer, it was initially conceived as a western American counterpart to the Salzburg Festival, with an expansive program of music, opera, dance, and theater. That original eight-week ambition was not realized, but the event developed into a concentrated four-day festival held each June. The festival's identity is defined less by a single house style than by artistic curiosity. Its programs commonly combine contemporary composition, modernist and experimental repertoire, overlooked works by earlier composers, chamber music, orchestral performances, jazz, world traditions, symposia, talks, and educational activities. The organization has often invited a different music director or artistic leader to shape each edition, allowing the festival to change character from year to year while maintaining a commitment to challenging and unconventional work. Ojai's setting is central to the festival's appeal. The principal venue is Libbey Bowl, an open-air performance space near the center of town. The surrounding valley had already attracted artists, intellectuals, and musicians before the festival was founded. Its cultural associations include the Theosophical Society, Jiddu Krishnamurti, and a number of prominent twentieth-century artists and thinkers who visited or lived in the region. This history helped establish Ojai as a place where music could be presented in a natural, informal, and intellectually receptive environment. Lawrence Morton, appointed artistic director in 1954, was the most important early force in shaping the festival's long-term character. His programming brought together new music, historical repertoire, unusual works, and influential performers. During his tenure, Ojai presented figures such as Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, and Pierre Boulez, and hosted extended conversations about composition, jazz, tradition, and twelve-tone technique. After Morton's departure for a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1960, the festival briefly pursued more popular programming before returning to a more exploratory artistic direction. The festival's history includes an unusually broad range of collaborators. Music directors and resident artists have included composers, conductors, instrumentalists, theater artists, and interdisciplinary creators. Participants have included Luciano Berio, Milton Babbitt, Eric Dolphy, Ravi Shankar, Steve Reich, Thomas Adès, Osvaldo Golijov, Peter Sellars, Esa-Pekka Salonen, John Adams, Rhiannon Giddens, Emanuel Ax, Mitsuko Uchida, Vijay Iyer, and the Emerson String Quartet, among many others. The Los Angeles Philharmonic has been a frequent participant since 1970, while the festival orchestra has drawn on leading Southern California studio and freelance musicians. Ojai's programming has also extended beyond conventional classical presentation. Past editions have included jazz, Indian music, mariachi, Balinese music, West African drumming, visual art, theater, opera, educational programs, and public discussions. Festival posters have been created by notable modern artists, reinforcing the event's connection to the wider visual and performing arts community. The original Libbey Bowl was built by local volunteers in 1957. After a community-supported redevelopment effort, the old structure was demolished in 2010, and a rebuilt venue opened for the festival's 65th edition in June 2011. The replacement added acoustic, structural, environmental, and aesthetic improvements while retaining the venue's rustic open-air character. The festival did not take place in 2020. It otherwise remains an active annual cultural institution whose distinctive proposition is the combination of ambitious programming, close listening, interdisciplinary exchange, and Ojai's intimate outdoor setting.
History
Ojai's cultural environment predates the music festival by several decades. In the 1920s, a trust associated with Annie Besant and the Theosophical Society acquired land in the valley that later became connected with Jiddu Krishnamurti, a prominent spiritual thinker. Krishnamurti's presence and public talks helped attract writers, artists, musicians, and intellectuals. Visitors associated with the valley included Igor Stravinsky, Greta Garbo, Christopher Isherwood, Bertolt Brecht, Thomas Mann, Charlie Chaplin, Bertrand Russell, and Charles Laughton. Ojai's scenery also entered popular culture as the setting used for Shangri-La in Frank Capra's 1937 film Lost Horizon. John Leopold Jergens Bauer founded the Ojai Music Festival in 1947. His initial idea was ambitious: an eight-week western counterpart to the Salzburg Festival combining concerts with opera, dance, and theater. The festival instead evolved into a shorter annual event, but its early editions quickly attracted distinguished performers and musicians from the Los Angeles area. By 1949, the event was already presenting figures such as the Juilliard String Quartet, pianist Shura Cherkassky, and conductor Thor Johnson. Lawrence Morton became artistic director in 1954 and gave the festival its enduring intellectual and artistic direction. Morton favored a mixture of modern works, historical pieces, and repertoire that was either neglected or difficult to categorize. He had connections with Igor Stravinsky and persuaded Aaron Copland to conduct at Ojai. In 1967 he brought Pierre Boulez to the festival at an early stage of Boulez's conducting career; Boulez later returned several times. Morton's programming pushed against the more conventional tastes of some supporters, and after he left for Paris on a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1960, the festival briefly moved toward popular entertainment before returning to a more exploratory profile. The early 1960s demonstrated the festival's interest in music as a forum for debate as well as performance. In 1962, composer Luciano Berio served as composer in residence, and Berio, Milton Babbitt, and Gunther Schuller took part in discussions about the future of composition, twelve-tone methods, jazz, and inherited traditions. That same period included Eric Dolphy performing Edgard Varèse's Density 21.5. The festival's openness to jazz continued strongly during the 1970s and 1980s, when performers included Oscar Peterson, the Bobby Hutcherson Quartet, Milt Jackson, the Heath Brothers, Ray Brown, and the Toshiko Akiyoshi–Lew Tabackin Big Band. A defining organizational practice has been the use of changing music directors. Lawrence Morton held the role during two periods, 1954–1970 and 1981–1987. He was followed by Gerhard Samuel, William Malloch, Jeanette O'Connor, Christopher Hunt, Ara Guzelimian, Ernest Fleischmann, and Thomas W. Morris. Each leader brought different priorities. Fleischmann frequently organized festivals around themes, while Morris generally preferred flexible programs not constrained by a single conceptual framework. Ara Guzelimian returned as music director from 2020 onward. The list of festival participants spans contemporary composers, historical specialists, conductors, soloists, orchestras, ensembles, and artists from other disciplines. Resident or collaborating artists have included Luciano Berio, Milton Babbitt, Peter Maxwell Davies, Elliott Carter, Olivier Messiaen, David Del Tredici, Mauricio Kagel, György Ligeti, Steve Reich, Magnus Lindberg, Thomas Adès, and Osvaldo Golijov. Performers have included Ravi Shankar, Dawn Upshaw, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, James Levine, Emanuel Ax, Mitsuko Uchida, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Vijay Iyer, Matthias Pintscher, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and the Emerson String Quartet. The Los Angeles Philharmonic has participated frequently since 1970, and other visiting orchestras have included the Lyon Opera Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, New World Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque, Atlanta Symphony, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. The festival has also presented Indian, mariachi, Balinese, West African, and other musical traditions, alongside theater, opera, visual art, and educational programming. Artists connected with the festival have included potter Beatrice Wood, Marcel Duchamp, and director Peter Sellars. For many years, festival posters were commissioned from major modern artists including Robert Rauschenberg, Kenneth Noland, Richard Diebenkorn, David Hockney, and Eliot Porter. Libbey Bowl has remained the festival's principal venue. The original shell and building were constructed by local volunteers in 1957. Following a broad community effort, the structure was demolished in July 2010 and replaced with a venue that opened during the 2011 festival. The new bowl improved acoustics, structure, environmental performance, and visitor amenities while preserving the informal outdoor character associated with Ojai. The festival did not occur in 2020, but the institution remains an active annual event centered on adventurous music and interdisciplinary exchange.
- 2020
Annual festival absent
[1]No festival was held in 2020.
- 2011
Replacement Libbey Bowl opens
[1]The rebuilt venue opened for the festival's 65th edition with upgraded acoustic, structural, environmental, and aesthetic features.
- 2010
Original Libbey Bowl demolished
[1]The 1957 open-air venue was removed as part of a community-backed replacement project.
- 1970
Los Angeles Philharmonic participation becomes recurrent
[1]The Los Angeles Philharmonic began a long-running pattern of participation in the festival.
- 1967
Pierre Boulez appears at Ojai
[1]Lawrence Morton brought Pierre Boulez to the festival during the early stage of Boulez's conducting career.
- 1962
Berio residency and modern-music debate
[1]Luciano Berio, Milton Babbitt, and Gunther Schuller participated in a multiday discussion of composition, jazz, tradition, and twelve-tone music.
- 1954
Lawrence Morton begins artistic directorship
[1]Morton established a programming approach centered on new, old, unusual, and underperformed music.
- 1949
Early festival attracts prominent performers
[1]The festival presented artists including the Juilliard String Quartet, Shura Cherkassky, and Thor Johnson.
- 1947
Festival founded
[1]John Leopold Jergens Bauer established the Ojai Music Festival as a new cultural event in the Ojai Valley.
Products and positioning
An artistically adventurous, intimate, and interdisciplinary classical music festival that uses Ojai's open-air environment to present contemporary music, unusual repertoire, and cross-genre collaborations.
Music festival · 1947
Annual Ojai Music Festival
The core offering is a four-day festival held each June in Ojai, California. It presents concerts, chamber and orchestral programs, contemporary composition, rare historical repertoire, jazz and selected world-music traditions, together with discussions and educational activities. Programming is shaped by an invited music director or artistic leader and is designed to encourage unusual combinations of artists and repertoire.
Live music venue program · 1957
Libbey Bowl performances
Libbey Bowl is the festival's principal performance setting. Its open-air design, location near central Ojai, and connection to the town's historic festival environment make it an important part of the brand experience. The current structure opened in 2011 after replacement of the volunteer-built 1957 bowl.
Cultural and educational programming · 1947
Symposia and educational programs
Alongside performances, the festival offers talks, symposia, artist conversations, and educational activities. These programs reflect its longstanding interest in discussing contemporary composition, historical context, listening practices, and relationships between music and other arts.
Brand decisions
2010
Replacement of Libbey BowlOtherBackground
The original 1957 bowl had become the subject of a broad local effort to renew the festival's principal venue.
Action taken
The original building was demolished and replaced with a venue designed to improve acoustics, structural performance, environmental qualities, and aesthetics.
Aftermath
The new Libbey Bowl opened during the June 2011 festival while retaining the open-air and rustic qualities associated with the original.
1960
Temporary shift toward popular programmingStrategyBackground
After Lawrence Morton left for Paris on a Guggenheim Fellowship, the festival moved away from his highly exploratory programming for a period.
Action taken
The festival presented more popular entertainment, including performers such as Anna Maria Alberghetti and the group Family.
Aftermath
The organization soon returned to a more adventurous artistic direction associated with modern and unusual repertoire.
Recent events
- 2020
Festival not held in 2020[1]
Other · Leadership change
The annual festival was absent in 2020; Ara Guzelimian is listed as music director from that year onward.
- 2011
New Libbey Bowl opens for the festival[1]
Other
A rebuilt Libbey Bowl opened after the original 1957 structure was demolished during a community-backed redevelopment project.
- 1954
Lawrence Morton appointed artistic director[1]
Leadership change
Morton's appointment began a formative period in which the festival developed its reputation for combining new, historical, and unusual repertoire.
- 1947
Ojai Music Festival founded[1]
Other
John Leopold Jergens Bauer established the festival, initially envisioning a large multidisciplinary event modeled in part on Salzburg.
Sources2 sources
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