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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

"Welcome Home!!" – Jacobs Music Center Opening Night

The pianist Inon Barnaton.

September 28, 2024
750 B St, San Diego, CA 92101, United States

It’s not every orchestra that has a world-class state-of-the-art open-air concert facility in its home city, but ¡bienvenidos a San Diego!, where the opening of the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park in the summer of 2021 changed the cultural landscape completely. Only three years later, the San Diego Symphony moves back indoors to the Jacobs Music Center, the former pre-Depression Era movie palace that has been its home since 1984. After a new-year renovation, the functionality and comfort of the hall are on a par with those at the Rady Shell—even as the auditorium’s dizzying opulence remains intact. The conductor Rafael Payare, now in his fifth season as music director, has galvanized San Diego’s musicians and audiences alike. Now another new chapter begins. Commissioned for the era’s inaugural gala, Texu Kim’s Welcome Home!! Fanfare for Brass gets the ball rolling with the obligatory spark of novelty. Bonbons by Villa-Lobos, Rossini, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, and others follow. The glittering roster of soloists includes the soprano Hera Hyesang Park, the pianist Inon Barnaton, the violinist Jeff Thayer, and the cello divinity Alisa Weilerstein, who (as Payare’s wife) is family. The following weekend brings serious uplift with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (the “Resurrection”). —Matthew Gurewitsch

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