Esa-Pekka Salonen's 2026 Ojai Festival: Ligeti's Violin Concerto and Sublime Fury

The 2026 Ojai Music Festival, directed by Esa-Pekka Salonen, featured a standout performance of György Ligeti's Violin Concerto by Leila Josefowicz, who delivered a cadenza she composed herself. The festival, held in Ojai, California, included free concerts at the Ojai Meadows Preserve, where clarinetist Anthony McGill played Messiaen's "Abyss of the Birds." Salonen, now a major musical figure, programmed works by late 20th-century composers including Messiaen, Ligeti, and John Adams, alongside younger composers like Gabriella Smith and Anna Thorvaldsdottir. The closing concert featured the Colburn School orchestra performing Salonen's "Fog" (a tribute to Frank Gehry), Stravinsky's "Pulcinella," and Ligeti's concerto. Ara Guzelimian, festival leader since 2020, was acknowledged for his behind-the-scenes work. The festival exemplified Ojai's ethos of focusing on 20th- and 21st-century music, with a mellow yet keen audience. Salonen noted Ligeti's Violin Concerto reflects both playfulness and tragedy, ending with an ambiguous flutter-tongued effect derived from Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony.