Ventura Music Festival Program Book

The 26th Annual Ventura Music Festival July 23, 24 & 25, 2021 Dear Friends, The Ventura Music Festival is back – LIVE in July – and we Dr. Richard Reisman, Chair couldn’t be happier. We know fans of live music will be happy, too. Because we stayed in touch throughout this long Covid year, we know people want to experience the thrill of live performances again and they want to feel safe. Thus, for safety and peace of mind, this July festival is designated a “100%- vaccinated event.” While a little shorter than usual, the 2021 festival shines with the Susan Scott, Executive Director excellence and musical diversity for which VMF is known. The line-up: Aubrey Logan - a trombone-playing jazz singer whose career is soaring; Time For Three - a sensational ensemble at the crossroads of Americana, pop and classical; and Andrea Roberto - winner of the 2019 Parkening International Classical Guitar Competition and on presenter lists worldwide. We look forward to celebrating live music with you. Nuvi Mehta, Artistic Director Come to the Festival!

In Remembrance, a Festival Dedication VMF lost two dear supporters since our 25th Anniversary Festival in 2019. The first is Ben Namba, a successful business owner and gentle, music-loving man who, with his wife Julia Campbell, was an important sponsor of VMF as well as founder of Namba Performing Arts Space in downtown Ventura. The second person is Virginia Mendoza-O’Neil, Chair of the committee process that led to the creation of the Ventura Music Festival over 25 years ago. She, with her beloved husband Tim, graced the festival with her sparkling presence and exceedingly good humor every year after. It was a privilege to know them. It is a pleasure to remember them.

Aubrey Logan Friday, July 23rd 8pm Pacifica PAC Lovers of Jazz, R&B and Pop—don’t miss this global star of stage and stream with her transfixing voice and slide-in-your-tracks trombone technique.. Aubrey Logan—a.k.a. the “Queen of Sass”—has cast a spell on audiences large and small with her postmodern jukebox concerts that tilt hard for Jazz standards, Pop hits and R&B classics. An “American Idol” contestant—who has worked with Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, Josh Groban, Dave Koz, Linda Ronstadt, Smokey Robinson and Pharrell Williams—she uses her phenomenal vocal powers—now chanteuse, now opera singer—and sly Tommy Dorsey inspired “glides” on her trombone (the only brass instrument with a slide) to draw her listeners into compellingly sultry and adventuresome arrangements of popular music. Around the corner of every familiar tune (and the songwriter’s originals) are “anything but standard” surprises—a favorite song magically transformed by her singular brass and vocal gifts. Don’t miss witnessing this once-in-a-generation talent! By Richard Newsham, VMF Consultant

Time For Three Saturday, July 24th 8pm Pacifica PAC It’s “time” for “three of a perfect pair”—three musicians flawlessly “pairing” impeccable voices to astonishing strings (two violins and one double bass)—in other words, a string trio who sings! Charles Yang, Nicolas Kendall and Ranaan Meyer bring their sensationally uncommon blend of vocals and instruments to the 2021 Ventura Music Festival. Time For Three (TF3) celestially navigates the busy intersection of bluegrass and jazz, Americana, modern pop and classical music. To experience live this \"classically trained garage band of fervent travelers” is to hear the various eras, styles and traditions of Western music (including Leonard Cohen, Jack Johnson and Bachs' \"Chaconne”) fold in on themselves and emerge anew. This unequalled ensemble of energy, intensity and artistry makes every audience—from PBS and NPR to Carnegie Hall and Yoshi’s jazz club—feel transportive joy! “This remarkable group is not to be missed, and its members play and sing with joy, mastery, creativity and supreme artistry in all that they do,” says music critic Leah Hollingsworth. “Truly, no one else is like Time for Three.” By Richard Newsham, VMF Consultant

Andrea Roberto Sunday, July 25th Pre-concert Talk with Nuvi Mehta - 2:15 pm Performance - 3 pm Pacifica PAC 25-year-old guitar prodigy Andrea Roberto from Italy— the Parkening International Guitar Competition Gold Medalist in 2019—returns to California to demonstrate the musicianship that won him this coveted title. This wunderkind’s fingers have been on a guitar since age 4 under his father’s tutelage, followed by admission at 9 and graduation at 14 from the Conservatorio di Musica Umberto Giordano and further studies in Naples, Koblenz (Germany) and Maastricht (Netherlands). His artistic career includes performances throughout Europe, including the 14-guitar-festival tour of the European Euro String Project, the Americas and first prizes at eight international competitions. Italian, German, English and Spanish masterworks by Mauro Giuliani, Michael Praetorius, John Dowland, J.S. Bach, Joaquin Rodrigo, Isaac Albéniz, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Francisco Tárrega are all on his ambitious Festival program. Don’t miss this rare “rapt music” performance by a young guitar genius at the Ventura Music Festival’s Sunday matinee finale! By Richard Newsham, VMF Consultant

The Venue

Pacifica High School's Performing Arts Center is a state of the art 600-seat theater located at 600 E. Gonzales Rd. in Oxnard. Parking is free and plentiful.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) This is an “all-vaccinated” event (see below and website.) If you are or will be 100% vaccinated by July 9, you can order tickets now and supply proof later. Click Tickets link on website for details. For problems or to order tickets by phone, the VMF Box Office is available to help. Monday-Thursday – 10 to 4 – 805-648-3146. This is a digital festival. No paper will change hands! Print e-tickets at home or send to your phone for later scanning by ushers. While “distancing” is not required for an all-vaccinated event, audience size is restricted. For this 600-seat venue, we can sell up to 300 tickets (Yellow Tier). If guidelines after June 15 permit even more, we will still provide for some comfort distancing. Concerts will be 75 to 90 minutes and intermission-free. With some rows as large as 24 seats, we will ask you to enter/exit via Door 1 or Door 2 based on your seat number. The venue is Pacifica High School Performing Arts Center (PAC), 600 E. Gonzales Rd. in Oxnard. Guidelines prohibit will-call and ticket sales at the door. However, if you cannot locate tickets purchased earlier, we can verify your seat assignment(s) on the night of the concert(s). Though not expected, changes in Covid-19 circumstances could change event status. *Vaccination proof: People are considered “fully vaccinated” two weeks after receiving a one- dose vaccine or the second in a two-dose series. Acceptable proof: copy of CDC or health provider vaccination card (or report). The mission of the Ventura Music Festival is to build community through the shared experience of live, world-class music and to create an inclusive environment in which people both see and hear themselves reflected in the music. We are ecstatic to welcome you back to live in-person concerts on July 23, 24 and 25 where – in addition to presenting world-class entertainment - the safety and well- being of our audience, artists and entire Festival family is of utmost importance.

With gratitude to the Sponsors and other donors who make the music possible.







Founders Monthly Sustainers Diamond Antoinette Ballenger Jordan Laby Penelope Barnds Barbara Meister Regina Barnes John Biggs Emerald Judith Delanerolle Joanna Dovalis Bob & Mary Braitman Diane Ellis Barbara Fitzgerald Lois & Roy Fischman Herb Hemming Mary Kerrigan Bill & Elise Kearney Sheila McCollum Irma Paramo Ruby Russell Richardson Marta Smith Ann Ahlstone Alfred & Rose Thot Don & Bonnie Carlton Elaine White Pete & Diane Dowler Jim & Mary Harrison Lydia Hopps Patricia Lathrop-McPherson Susan Van Abel & Eric Oltman Tim & Virginia O'Neil Steven & Diane Perren Dr. Richard & Lori Reisman Steve & Shirley Simms Timothy & Diana Smith S. Blake & Charles Wade

VMF's 2020-21 (mainly) Virtual Festival!

VMF's weekly curated music video series includes the inaugural 34-week \"Soundtrack for a Pandemic,\" along with specialized series featuring Beethoven piano sonatas, past Festival favorites and great divas. Our virtual lecture-performance Zoom series illuminated important artists and epochs, starting with Gershwin and the birth of jazz and, most recently, Go For Baroque: art & music featuring Bach, the \"father of Western classical music.\" For a complete archive of these programs visit VenturaMusicFestival.org.

Two wonderful Drive-In concerts: & LIVE - but in your car 2020

& With Covid putting our in-school program on hiatus, we created the weekly KIDnote series: reviews and drawings from past audience members of grades 3, 4 & 5. VMF's Music in the Schools program is supported by grants from Aera Energy Ltd., the Julius Gius Foundation of the Ventura Downtown Rotary and Limoneira. The 60-edition series is available on the VMF website.

Ventura Music Festival July 23, 24 & 25, 2021 Tickets on Sale! VenturaMusicFestival.org Box Office (805) 648-3146 Monday - Thursday 11am-4pm