Carnival of the Animals at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center

First public performance of a new work co-commissioned by La Jolla Music Society for SummerFest’s Synergy Initiative

Carnival of the Animals is a new evening-length piece by spoken word artist and poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph, legendary dancer Wendy Whelan (Associate Artistic Director, New York City Ballet), and acclaimed choreographer Francesca Harper (Artistic Director, Alvin Ailey II).

Rooted in the iconic Saint-Saëns composition, this reimagined vision comes to life with poignant spoken word and transcendent movement, with music from the original Saint-Saëns as well as a variety of composers spanning four centuries. Together they create a multidisciplinary mixtape that imagines the animals that reside in our country’s contemporary political jungle.

Co-commissioned by the Synergy Initiative, New York’s Lincoln Center, Washington DC’s National Gallery and others, this major work receives its first public performance at La Jolla SummerFest and features festival artists Inon Barnatan, Joyce Yang, Geneva Lewis, and Gabriel Martins.

SummerFest 2023 sees the return of the Synergy Initiative, a series co-produced by Inon Barnatan and Clara Wu Tsai, which invites top creators of music, dance, spoken word and visual arts to work together and create exciting projects that amplify one another’s vision and reach, expanding the audience’s horizons.