Mainly Mozart Appoints Anne-Marie McDermott as Artistic Director of the Spotlight Chamber Music Series

The 2027 Spotlight Series will host world-class artists including Carter Brey, Paul Huang, Erin Keefe, Anthony McGill, Osmo Vänskä, and the Anderson & Roe Piano Duo

Anne-Marie McDermott (Photo Credit: Sophie Zhai)

SAN DIEGO (Oct. 1, 2026) — Mainly Mozart announces the appointment of pianist and arts leader Anne-Marie McDermott as the Artistic Director of its Spotlight Chamber Music Series, beginning in the 2026-27 season. The series showcases today’s leading artists in up-close and personal concert experiences at the Scripps Research Auditorium, La Valle Coastal Club, and private residences.

Mainly Mozart also announces complete programming for the 2027 Spotlight Series, featuring McDermott, violinists Paul Huang and Erin Keefe, clarinetist/conductor/composer Osmo Vänskä, the Anderson & Roe Piano Duo, cellist Carter Brey, clarinetist Anthony McGill, and more. Across multiple programs, the artists will perform beloved cornerstones of the chamber music repertoire as well as vibrant new works by some of today’s most compelling composers. See below for complete program details.

“We are delighted to welcome Anne-Marie McDermott back to Mainly Mozart as Artistic Director of the Spotlight Series,” said Mainly Mozart CEO and Artistic Partner Nancy Laturno. “This new leadership role will highlight Anne-Marie’s extraordinary talents as both a performer and a programmer, and the 2027 series lineup she has curated will deliver truly unforgettable musical experiences for our audiences.”

One of the most versatile, respected, and best-reviewed pianists of our time, Anne-Marie McDermott has played concertos, recitals, and chamber music in hundreds of cities throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. She has also made a name for herself as a curator and artistic leader of notable festivals and concert series, most recently at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival in Colorado, where she served as Artistic Director for 16 years. Under her stewardship, Bravo! Vail presented annual residencies by the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and doubled the number of performances presented each summer. She also launched the Piano Fellows program, an international chamber orchestra residency, a commissioning initiative, and new concert-series formats. Other festivals and institutions shaped by her leadership include Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival in Florida and the Chamber Music Festival at The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

“It is a true honor and joy to rejoin Mainly Mozart to lead the Spotlight Series,” shared Anne-Marie McDermott. “This role allows me to celebrate my passion for chamber music in an extraordinary city, alongside esteemed colleagues and close friends. 2027 can’t come soon enough!”

Mainly Mozart 2027 Spotlight Series Program Details

Friday concerts are held at private residences in San Diego (January-April) and Tijuana (May). Saturday concerts take place at The Scripps Research Auditorium in La Jolla, a venue with superb acoustics, where Mainly Mozart is thrilled to return for the first time since 2020. Sunday concerts take place at La Valle Coastal Club in Rancho Santa Fe and feature cabaret and bistro table seating, with fine wines and chocolates included in the ticket price.

 

——January 29-31, 2027——

Paul Huang, violin

Anne-Marie McDermott, piano

 

Friday, January 29, 2027 at 7:00 p.m (Refreshments at 6:00 p.m.)

& Sunday, January 31, 2027 at 4:30 p.m. (Doors open at 4 p.m.)

FAURÉ   Violin Sonata No. 1 in A major, Op. 13

SAINT-SAËNS   Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 75

 

Saturday, January 30, 2027 at 6:15 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)

MOZART   Violin Sonata in C major, K.296

CORIGLIANO   Sonata for Violin and Piano (1963)

 

——February 19-21, 2027——

Erin Keefe, violin

Osmo Vänskä, clarinet

Delvan Lin, piano

 

Friday, February 19, 2027 at 7:00 p.m (Refreshments at 6:00 p.m.)

& Sunday, February 21, 2027 at 4:30 p.m. (doors open at 4 p.m.)

MILHAUD   Suite for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano, Op. 157b

DEBUSSY   Violin Sonata in G minor

LIBBY LARSEN   A Tarantella for Our Times

DEBUSSY   Première Rhapsodie for Clarinet and Piano

MICHAEL STEPHEN BROWN   Relationship

SCHUBERT   The Shepherd on the Rock, D. 965

 

Saturday, February 20, 2027 at 6:15 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)

OSMO VÄNSKÄ   Duo

FRANCK   Violin Sonata in A major

SIBELIUS   Songs (Arr. for clarinet and piano)

JAMES STEPHENSON   Factors Trio

 

——April 2-4, 2027——

Anderson & Roe Piano Duo

Greg Anderson, piano

Elizabeth Joy Roe, piano

 

Friday, April 2, 2027 at 7:00 p.m. (Refreshments at 6:00 p.m.)

MOZART   Grande Scherzo (based on the Finale to Act 1 from Così fan tutte), K.588

RADIOHEAD/ANDERSON & ROE   "Pyramid Song" from Amnesiac

ANDERSON & ROE   Eight Variations on Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah”

BERNSTEIN/ANDERSON & ROE   "Somewhere" and "America" from West Side Story

 

Saturday, April 3, 2027 at 6:15 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)

MOZART   Papageno! (based on arias from Die Zauberflöte, K.620)

DVORÁK   Silent Woods Op. 68, No. 5

ANDERSON & ROE   Eight Variations on Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah”

BRAHMS   Selections from Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 52b

ANDERSON & ROE   Blue Danube Fantasy (after Johann Strauss, Jr.)

 

Sunday, April 4, 2027 at 4:30 p.m. (Doors open at 4 p.m.)

MOZART   Grande Scherzo (based on the Finale to Act 1 from Così fan tutte), K.588

GLUCK/ANDERSON & ROE   Ballet from Orpheus and Eurydice

STRAVINSKY   Part 1: The Adoration of the Earth from The Rite of Spring

RADIOHEAD/ANDERSON & ROE   "Pyramid Song" from Amnesiac

BERNSTEIN/ANDERSON & ROE   "Somewhere" and "America" from West Side Story

 

——April 30 - May 2, 2027——

Anthony McGill, clarinet

Carter Brey, cello

Anne-Marie McDermott, piano

 

Friday, April 30, 2027 at 7:00 p.m. (Refreshments at 6:00 p.m.)

& Sunday, May 2, 2027 at 4:30 p.m. (Doors open at 4 p.m.)

BEETHOVEN   7 Variations on Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen, WoO 46

MOZART   Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman Variations for Piano, K.265

POULENC   Clarinet Sonata

BEETHOVEN   Trio in B-flat major for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 11

 

Saturday, May 1, 2027 at 6:15 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)

BRAHMS   Clarinet Sonata in E-Flat major, Op. 120, No. 2

BEETHOVEN   Cello Sonata in A major, Op. 69

BRAHMS   Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114

 

About Anne-Marie McDermott

One of the most dazzling American pianists of her generation, Anne-Marie McDermott has performed concertos, recitals, and chamber music throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. She is an insightful interpreter of Baroque and Classical masterpieces, 20th-century modernism, and music by influential contemporary composers. McDermott has soloed with the New York Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the National Symphony Orchestra. She is currently recording the complete Beethoven piano concertos with Mexico City’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería under Carlos Miguel Prieto. Her recordings also include the complete piano sonatas of Prokofiev, solo works by Chopin, Bach’s English Suites and Partitas, and Gershwin’s works for piano and orchestra. She received a 2024 Honorary Doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music. McDermott is the Artistic Director of the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival and of the McKnight Center’s Chamber Music Festival. Her tenure as Artistic Director of Bravo! Vail Music Festival concluded in summer 2026.

About Mainly Mozart

Since 1988, Mainly Mozart has brought the San Diego community together to experience the finest in orchestral music, intimate concert experiences, and extraordinary music education for young people. In that time, the famed Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra Festival has made its name as the largest gathering of Concertmasters and Principal Players in the United States, boasting top-level players from the world’s greatest orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, and dozens more.