This isn't your father's Mozart festival. That is, if your dad was a classical music fan who liked to visit the central California coast, he might have attended the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival any time since 1971, when it began as a modest weekend program. Over the years, especially since master violinist Scott Yoo took over as musical director in 2004, it has grown into one of the West Coast's most important classical festivals.
And as of this year it is not strictly a Mozart festival at all. Renamed Festival Mozaic to match its expansive mission to celebrate all movements and periods of classical music, the festival is being billed as "five centuries of music on the Central Coast." This year's program focuses on "world roots" by exploring how classical music grew out of diverse world cultures.
The composers represented range across centuries and cultures: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Copland, Grieg, Golijov, Stavinsky and Bartok, among others. The works chosen are more unusual than the composers themselves—picked because they explore indiginous roots in some way, according to Yoo.
"A specific place can have a profound influence on the music that comes out of it. Vienna influenced Mozart, and Bach is as inseparable from Leipzig as Copland is from our imagination of the American West and Bernstein is to Broadway," he said.
The festival summer series includes 16 concerts over 11 days, running July 16-26 in various locations in and around San Luis Obispo, the charming Spanish-flavored town on the California coast midway between Santa Barbara and Monterey. The concerts include full orchestral performances, a series of chamber concerts, and a new Notable Encounters format that includes a shorter "cocktail hour" performance along with discussion and commentary by some of the musicians. There is also a "fringe festival" performance that explores modern classically influenced musical directions.
The festival orchestra gathers musicians from around the world. Featured solosts this year include pianist John Novacek, cellist Bion Tsang and violinist Steven Copes. San Francisco’s jazzy Orchestra Nostalgico is featured in the fringe performance.
The venues for the performances include the Cohan Center concert hall, Mission San Luis Obsipo, Hearst Castle/San Simeon, a vineyard in nearby Paso Robles, the United Methodist Church and other locations.
As good as is the music, a big part of the attraction for attendees who travel in for the festival is the spectacular California coastal culture. Visitors can make the festival a centerpiece for a complete package of wine tasting, gallery hopping and myriad outdoor activities including some of the most spectacular beaches in the world.