Mainly Mozart is a

501(c)3 A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...

non-profit based in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Mainly Mozart was created in 1988 by

Maestro Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning "master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera, in line with the ubiqu ...

David Atherton David Atherton (born 3 January 1944) is an English conductor and founder of the London Sinfonietta. Background Atherton was born in Blackpool, Lancashire into a musical family. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar School. His father, Robert ...

and Executive Director Nancy Laturno, formerly of the

San Diego Symphony The San Diego Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in San Diego, California. The orchestra is resident at Copley Symphony Hall. The orchestra also serves as the orchestra for the San Diego Opera. History On December 6th 1910, th ...

, to give the people of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

an opportunity to experience classical music performed live in the summer by principal orchestral musicians. The focus was placed on Mozart because he is considered by many to be the greatest composer of all time and because of the variety of his musical genius. Since its inception, Mainly Mozart has added the works of other composers with an emphasis on those of the 18th and 19th centuries. Using the common language of music, Mainly Mozart has served as a regional resource by connecting communities in Southern California and

to Mainly Mozart musicians, classical music, and stories behind the music.

Presentations

Concerts

The first Mainly Mozart Festival in June 1989 – a series of nine concerts—was performed on the outdoor stage of the

Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which i ...

in Balboa Park. Over the ensuing years, Mainly Mozart has increased its overall annual concert performances staged at various venues. In June 2008, and just in time for the 20th anniversary of the Mainly Mozart Festival, Mainly Mozart will become the primary tenant of the restored 83-year-old, 1,300-seat Balboa Theatre in downtown San Diego. A $26-million renovation of the “jewel box” theatre has maintained its blend of

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

, Moorish and

Spanish Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In th ...

architectural styles. Since 1992, the Balboa Theatre has been on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. San Diego’s Centre City Development Corporation funded the restoration.

Spotlight Series

In 1996, Mainly Mozart began producing the Spotlight Series featuring chamber music concerts during the winter and spring. The principal home of the series is The

Scripps Research Institute Scripps Research, previously known as The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the institu ...

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

, but facilities in the north

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

coastal community of Carlsbad, and the inland community of Rancho Santa Fe are also used.

Bi-national and educational outreach

In 1992 the Mainly Mozart Orchestra was invited to participate in the first Festival Internacional de Mozart in

(now Mozart Binacional). This was also the year that Mainly Mozart established an educational component to bring music to students in low income or at risk neighborhoods in both San Diego County and Baja California. These programs are continually expanding and now reach over 60,000 students in both countries. The lives and music of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

and

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

are brought to school children through the Living Composers Series. These informative and entertaining half-hour assemblies engage students in interactive mini-plays set to the music of these master composers. Question and answer session rounds out the teaching session, and in-school materials are provided for both the pre- and post- performance educational activities. Mainly Mozart also has been working to enrich the lives of economically disadvantaged families in

Southeast San Diego Southeast San Diego refers to the southeastern portion of the City of San Diego (excluding South San Diego) and the neighborhoods south of State Route 94 ( Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway) and east of Downtown San Diego. There are three official ...

through a partnership with the Jackie Robinson Family

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

. Mainly Mozart's free ticket program has allowed hundreds of children to enjoy their very first concert experience at Copley Symphony Hall (home of the

). In another outreach program, Mainly Mozart offers high school and college music students discounted concert tickets.

Other endeavors

The Amadeus Suite

Mainly Mozart commissioned “The Amadeus Suite” in 1999. It was created by British jazz trumpeter

Guy Barker Guy Jeffrey Barker, (born 26 December 1957) is an English jazz trumpeter and composer. Early life Barker was born in Chiswick, London, the son of an actress and a stuntman. He started playing the trumpet at the age of twelve, and within a yea ...

, who based his composition on characters from Mozart operas. In 2006, the suite was expanded by Barker and was performed in San Diego during the Mainly Mozart-led year-long San Diego County-wide celebration of Mozart's 250th birthday (January 27, 1756). The celebration was coordinated with cultural officials in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Club Amadeus

To show its appreciation of its patron/donors, Mainly Mozart has presented a smaller, more intimate concert series known as Club Amadeus. The supporters hear chamber music in elegant private residences and other special venues throughout San Diego. Other annual funding for Mainly Mozart is provided, in part, by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture; the County of San Diego Community Enhancement program; the

California Arts Council The California Arts Council is a state agency based in Sacramento, United States. Its eight council members are appointed by the Governor and the state Legislature. The agency's mission is to advance California through arts, culture and creativit ...

; the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

; and contributions from local businesses and foundations.

References

External links

Mainly Mozart Website
{{Authority control Classical music festivals in the United States 1988 establishments in California Mozart festivals Music organizations based in the United States Arts organizations established in 1988 Music festivals established in 1988