La Jolla Music Society’s Artist Development Program provides professional development for local teenagers and internationally emerging artists through the Coaching Workshops during SummerFest, Prelude Performances and the special partnership with the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory. Middle school students from our own neighborhood to pre-professional students from the renowned Juilliard School of Music benefit from coaching with master teachers. Through the Artist Development Program, they also gain valuable experience by performing on stage during SummerFest or in musical Preludes prior to a series concert.

Coaching Workshops and Master Classes

The SummerFest Fellowship Artists and associated Coaching Workshops are the most notable and publicly recognized components of the Artist Development Program. Each August, the SummerFest Music Director invites several conservatory students to participate in this intensive series of master classes conducted by senior artists from the SummerFest roster. The students are in residence for the entire festival participating in three weeks of classes which culminate in a performance during SummerFest. During the residency, they also perform in other works and may do outreach on behalf of La Jolla Music Society.  The training they receive in this intense atmosphere contributes to their growth as the next generation of celebrated musicians.

San Diego area students at the high school and university level may also take master classes in both music and dance with artists performing on La Jolla Music Society series. Over the past several years, these opportunities have included: classes by the Chiara String Quartet for students at the California Institute of Music; a composition class with Oswaldo Golijov at UCSD; and a special class for students at the Baja Conservatory of Music in Tijuana with the Cuarteto Latino Americano. The dance community has benefited from public master classes with companies such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and the José Limón Dance Company.

Prelude Performances

Since 2003, La Jolla Music Society has invited young local musicians (typically teenagers) to perform music Preludes prior to concerts in the Discovery and North County Series. A special partnership with the San Diego Youth Symphony allows three of that organization’s strongest performers the opportunity to perform in a professional concert environment prior to a Discovery Series concert. Other Prelude assignments are made based on recommendations from other community partners such as the Musical Merit Foundation of Greater San Diego or the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus. The students are coached on concert preparation and etiquette and, when possible, the students take a master class with the visiting artist. Many of these students have gone on to win competitions on the local and national level.

San Diego Youth Symphony Partnership

The Community Music Center has been an outstanding curriculum for introducing children to the joys of music making. Through a partnership with the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory, these young performers will be able to move beyond the elementary level of instruction. Senior players in the Youth Symphony visit the CMC campus each year to encourage those students to audition, speaking with the children in the classroom and performing at recitals.  The Youth Symphony places the successful students into the most appropriate ensemble waiving the standard tuition and registration fees.

San Diego State University Partnership: Musicians in Residence

La Jolla Music Society is proud to be the community partner with San Diego State University’s School of Music and Dance in support of the String Quartet in Residence program. Student string quartets from around the country audition for the two-year program during which the quartet studies and performs, ultimately obtaining the degree of Artist Diploma. The participating artists are jointly selected by faculty of San Diego State University with the President &Artistic Director of La Jolla Music Society.  The current String Quartet in Residence, the Cecilia String Quartet, performs regularly in the San Diego area and does outreach on behalf of La Jolla Music Society.

For more information about La Jolla Music Society’s Education Programs, please contact Hannes Kling, Production and Education Manager, at (858) 459-3724, ext. 218