There's Always Room for Cello at the Laguna Beach Music Festival

I discovered the Laguna Beach Music Festival two years ago when famed cellist Lynn Harrell came to town.

Then, I was a returning student in a college music department and able to take advantage of discounted tickets. I recall being rightfully embarrassed at the time when I mentioned Harrell's name to a friend (in my obviously naive-toned voice) that I had no idea who Lynn Harrell was.

“You don't know who Lynn Harrell is?!” he exclaimed. What can I say? I'm a pianist, not a cellist.

In any case, I took my ridiculously inexpensive ticket and ended up with a lasting memory of an evening that was nothing short of amazing. When Harrell’s set was finished, everyone in the room seemed to realize that we had all just experienced something special.

But what exactly makes the Laguna Beach Music Fest so special? For me, it’s the accessibility of the musicians. During this week’s edition of the annual fete, one event takes place in someone’s backyard. In some instances, you can have an intimate chat with many of the players on the bill—perhaps while indulging in a sip of wine and a few hors d'oervres—and get to know them. You can ask them questions and find out their thoughts behind their creative decisions while they share with you a few things about themselves and the music they make, enhancing your understanding of the music. If all musicians and artists were this generous with making connections to their audiences, maybe our appreciation for the arts would be greater.

Now in its ninth year, the festival is more than just a series of performances, where you pay, show up, listen and leave. Rather, it’s an opportunity to experience a diverse collection of music from around the world. Even better, several of the events are free, so it shouldn’t be too hard to catch a gratis performance or two from this year’s main attractions: Brooklyn Rider, a string quartet from, you guessed it, Brooklyn; Kayhan Kalhor, virtuoso of the kamancheh (Persian spiked fiddle); and Kojiro Umezaki, a master of the Japanese bamboo flute, also known as a shakuhachi.

Brooklyn Rider will also be collaborating at certain performances with Kalhor and Umezaki, playing original compositions as well as pieces by Antonín Dvořák and American composers like Philip Glass and jazz clarinetist Don Byron.

It all amounts to a joyous overdose of big, meaty music, so you’ll need to go to the festival website to sort it all out. But even that, somehow, is a guaranteed good time.

For more information and details about all Laguna Beach Music Festival events, click on lagunabeachmusicfestival.com, or call the O.C. Philharmonic Society at 949-553-2422 or the at 949-497-2787.