The La Jolla Music Society celebrates its 40th SummerFest season with an extraordinary month of musical events. This celebrates some major forces that shaped the Viennese—and world—music scene at the turn of the century. Works include Arnold Schönberg’s arrange of Johann Strauss’s Kaiser-Waltz, Richard Strauss’s early Violin Sonata (in a rare appearance), and Alban Berg’s  Sieben frühe Lieder (Seven Early Songs).
But pride of place goes to Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), a luxuriant and moving piece of late Romanticism—but with “new” chords that caused the stuffy judges of a Viennese music competition to disqualify it!

Led by Music Director Inon Barnatan, the LJMS SummerFest 2026 will offer 21 concerts, 50+ free community events, and over 100 world‑class musicians from around the globe. Prelude Lectures begin one hour before the performance in the beautiful JAI gathering space, next to the main concert hall.