OJAI : Festival Director Urges Mix of Music

Ojai Festival Director Christopher Hunt opened a public forum on the festival Tuesday with a moment of silence in memory of conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein, who successfully combined popular and new music.

He said his own challenge is to revive that blend for the financially troubled festival.

Billed as a public forum for Ojai Valley residents to present ideas for next spring’s event, the early morning gathering in the Ojai Playhouse drew about 45 people. They quickly moved to a restaurant where coffee was served along with suggestions on how to boost involvement in the weekend event, which has drawn about 5,000 people to Libbey Bowl annually for 43 years.

“The perception is that people are not very happy with how it’s gone the past several years,” said Hunt, an internationally known festival director recently hired to commute between New York and Ojai, primarily to raise private donations that he said will be crucial to the festival’s survival.

The avant-garde music featured at last spring’s event left the nonprofit organization $98,000 in debt. But Hunt warned against dismissing new sounds entirely. Art that makes people feel uncomfortable, he said, often precedes societal change that can be equally discomforting but unavoidable. Instead, he urged a return to the festival’s former balance of “mixing the adventurous with the rare, good and old.”

“Until I know how much money we’re going to raise, I cannot confirm any type of program,” Hunt said. The projected $436,000 cost for the 1991 five-concert festival, he said, can only be defrayed by $100,000 in ticket sales at $20 per person per concert due to the 1,000 seating capacity of Libbey Bowl.

Ojai merchant Chrystie Scott said a commentary before each composition would help acquaint the audience with its merits, a suggestion Hunt endorsed.

Khaled Al-Awar, an Ojai merchant and festival board member, suggested that the concerts be scheduled to allow more time for people to relax and shop.

“I sense a wonderful updraft of enthusiasm and excitement that used to be part of the festival in the 1960s and ‘70s,” local columnist Bob Bryan said.