This happens a lot. A newcomer arrives in the soul-soothing hideaway of Ojai, 100 miles from Los Angeles in the Topatopa Mountains of Ventura County, and flashes on Shangri-La—unaware that folks who live there have been using that nickname forever. Though it lasts only four days, the annual music festival is something special, too, with artistic leadership passing into new hands every season. This year, those hands belong to Mitsuko Uchida, 75. A quicksilvery, reflective Japanese pianist trained in Vienna, she has never been one to chase novelty, and her highest achievements, in the view of many fans, lie in Mozart and Schubert. Yet her programming for Ojai is spikier than you might expect. Alphabetically, the composers run the gamut from John Adams to John Zorn. Attention is paid to the 20th-century mandarins Schoenberg, Bartók, and Stravinsky as well as younger mavericks like Sofia Gubaidulina, Helmut Lachenmann, Missy Mazzoli, and Kaija Saariaho. Haydn and Mozart fly the flag for Uchida’s beloved First Vienna School. Her performances in two Mozart piano concerti are sure to be highlights. —Matthew Gurewitsch