Since 2020 San Diego’s Mainly Mozart has made an art form of pivoting — from becoming the nation’s first classical music presenter to present drive-in concerts during the pandemic shutdown to reinventing its decades-old indoor summer season as an entirely open-air event.
This June will see the plucky nonprofit pivot yet again as it bids farewell to the Del Mar Surf Cup Sports Park — the home of its all-star Festival of the Orchestras since 2021 — and holds all of the festival’s 2024 concerts in La Jolla.
Running June 20 to June 29, this year’s edition will feature four outdoor concerts at UC San Diego’s Epstein Family Amphitheater and two in the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center’s Baker-Baum Concert Hall. Tickets for all six concerts are now on sale on the Mainly Mozart website.
“We did a test run last year with two concerts at the Epstein and the Conrad, and people responded really positively,” said Mainly Mozart Communications Director Mark Laturno.
“And we have a longstanding relationship with UCSD,” added Mainly Mozart co-founder and CEO Nancy Laturno, Mark’s mother. “So, it’s great to be at a permanently established venue that will just keep keep getting better.”
This year’s Festival of the Orchestras will several soloists, including soprano Erica Petrocelli, violinist Stefan Jackiw, cellist Robert DeMaine and pianist George Li.
The repertoire will feature works by Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Dvorak and other composers. As at previous editions of the festival, which debuted in 1988 at downtown San Diego’s Balboa Theater, the ensemble at each concert will feature the concertmasters from some of the nation’s leading orchestras.
Dividends and challenges
Holding all of its 2021 and 2022 summer festivals at Del Mar Surf Cup Sports Park — which was also the site of two of last year’s concerts — paid unexpected dividends for Mainly Mozart.
Attendance soared and more than half of the audience was first-time festival attendees. In addition, a notable number of attendees were considerably younger, thanks to Mark Laturno’s focus on social media to attract new audiences.
“Our budgeted ticket income last year rose from $180,000 to $280,000,” he said. “And our AMAs (Ask Me Anything) sessions on Reddit, with some of the festival’s performers, had millions of views.”
But staging a festival in a grassy Del Mar sports field with almost no infrastructure was a challenge, logistically and financially. A temporary stage and band shell needed to be erected and power generators brought in, along with tented backstage dressing areas, food vendors, plastic folding seats and tables for the audience, portable toilets and more.
Conversely, the Epstein is a year-round amphitheater with a state-of-the-art sound and lighting system, permanent restroom facilities, on-site floor and drink options, and other amenities.
“We’re looking for a ‘forever place’ to present music and this feels like it could be among them,” Nancy Laturno said.
“Certainly, for the foreseeable future, our outdoor summer home will be at the Epstein. In Del Mar, we had a seating capacity of 2,000 and at the Epstein it’s only 1,200. We work hard to keep our ticket prices accessible, so increased capacity and attendance for us in the future will have to come through an increased number of performances.”
Mainly Mozart 2024 Festival of the Orchestras
The June 20, 22, 27 and 29 concerts are at 7:30pm at UC San Diego’s Epstein Family Amphitheater, 9480 Innovation Lane, La Jolla.
Thursday, June 20
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 featuring pianist George Li; Beethoven: Symphony No. 6
Saturday, June 22
Mozart: Symphony No. 31; Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre; Gabriel Faure: Faure Requiem featuring the San Diego Master Chorale and soprano Erica Petrocelli
Thursday, June 27
Mozart: Symphony No. 38 in D Major; Gulda: Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra featuring cellist Robert DeMaine
Saturday, June 29
Bruch: Scottish Symphony; Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 featuring violinist Stefan Jackiw
The June 23 and 25 concerts are at 3 p.m. and 7:40 p.m., respectively, at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center’s Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Avenue. La Jolla.
Sunday, June 23
Mozart: Serenade No. 10 “Gran Partita”
Tuesday, June 25
Britten: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10; Tchaikovsky: Serenade, Op. 48
Tickets: Early-bird tickets will be on sale through March 1, after which there will be a 10 percent increase. Single tickets for the Epstein Family Theater concerts range from $25-$149 per person. Tickets for the Baker-Baum Concert Hall performances range from $40 to $149.
Phone: (619) 239-0100
Online: mainlymozart.org
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