Our History

1988: Genesis

Mainly Mozart is chartered and a press conference announcing the new organization is held at the Old Globe Theatre, with David Atherton as founding Music Director and Nancy Laturno as founding Executive Director. The original four-member board of directors is comprised of Laurie Waddy, President; Ramona Sahm, Vice President; Martha Gafford, Secretary; and Jacquelyn Powell, Treasurer. The new organization is housed in corporate offices of Blaine Quick, Mainly Mozart’s founding Board Chair.

1989: Mainly Mozart Takes The Stage

The first sounds of the Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro David Atherton, are heard in 1989. Having been chartered as a non-profit corporation in September 1988, the first June Festival is performed on the outdoor stage of the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park to critical and popular acclaim. Pianist Anton Nel performed as Mainly Mozart’s first featured soloist and William Preucil as its first concertmaster. 

1991: Join The Club (Amadeus)

The Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra moves indoors to the 1,400 seat Spreckels Theatre in downtown San Diego. Club Amadeus is born as Club Twelve-Fifty, with intimate members-only concerts featuring world-class artists in exclusive private residences.

1992: Taking The Binational Stage

Mainly Mozart becomes binational, adding “Mozart Binacional” with concerts and educational programs in Tijuana, eventually to extend to Mexicali, Puerto Nuevo, Rosarito, Ensenada, Tecate and Mazatlan. In San Diego, “Living Composers” is launched for elementary school students.

1996: Origin Of Spotlight Series

Mainly Mozart began its winter presence with a 5-concert piano recital series begun in 1996 at the Neurosciences Institute (now The Auditorium at TSRI). The original purpose of this very popular chamber music series was to “shine a spotlight” on Mainly Mozart’s Festival artists from January through May. Additional series venues were added in 2004 (St. Elizabeth Seton Church, Carlsbad) and 2006 (The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe). 

2001: Mainly Mozart As Ambassador

Mainly Mozart leads a goodwill tour of the three Californias, commissioned by the Governors of California, Baja California Norte and Baja California Sur, as Mainly Mozart’s “Orchestra of the Californias” conducted by Maestro Atherton. Cuarteto Latinoamericano served as resident quartet, performing concerts in some of the Baja peninsula’s poorest communities. Public concerts, outreach programs and instrument distribution to student musicians of need were part of this two week, three state, bi-national initiative.

2006: Know How To Plan Big

Mainly Mozart spearheads a year-long celebration of the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, with more than 80 San Diego/Tijuana organizations in nearly 300 Mozart-themed events ranging from classical music to theatre to dance to art exhibitions. That year’s Mainly Mozart Festival programming was all Mozart. As part of the “Mozart Year,” Mainly Mozart donors travel to Austria for an immersive Mozartean experience. 

2008: No Place Like Home

The Mainly Mozart Festival makes the newly remodeled, historic Balboa Theatre its permanent summer home. Pianist John Lill thrills a sold-out house by performing all five Beethoven Piano Concerti in a single evening. Throughout Mainly Mozart’s tenure at the Balboa, 300 tickets nightly were gifted to families of need and HOMELESS.

2013: Shaping The Future Through Youth And Science

Mainly Mozart introduces three new series; Mozart & the Mind – Exploring the Music Brain Effect curated by neuroscientist Dr. Tim Mullen; Evolution at The Abbey – Today’s Musical Innovators curated by pianist/composer Steven Prutsman; and Festival Chamber Players at The Timken Museum curated by cellist Ronald Thomas. Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, who began her affiliation with Mainly Mozart in 1996, continues in her second year as curator of the Spotlight Chamber Music Series.  Mainly Mozart’s commitment to serving people on the autism spectrum is formalized through its youth orchestra inclusion policies and residential performance programs for autistic children. Mainly Mozart forms a partnership with the San Diego Rescue Mission with a year-round in-residence active music-making program that included June concert attendance for participants. 

The merger between 25 year-old Young Artists Symphony and Mainly Mozart was completed in May, creating the Mainly Mozart Youth Orchestra and Youth Orchestra of the Californias (in partnership with Tijuana’s music conservatory). Maestro David Atherton ends his tenure as Music Director of the Mainly Mozart Festival which he co-founded 25 years earlier, conducting his final season in June.

2015: Picking Up The Baton

British conductor Michael Francis raises his baton as the Mainly Mozart Festival’s second-ever Music Director in its 27-year history. Ticket sales for the first season of the dynamic young conductor nearly double.

2016: A New Journey With Michael Francis

Year One of Maestro Francis’s six-year journey launches with “The Prodigy Year: Mozart from 3-17” during the 28th annual Mainly Mozart Festival. Mozart & the Mind is incorporated into the June Festival, with a focus on prodigy. 

2017: Year Two of a Six Year Journey

Year Two of Maestro Francis’s six-year journey explores “Beauty through Adversity: Finding His Voice” during the 29th annual June Mainly Mozart Festival. At the urging of members of the autism community, Mainly Mozart turns the focus of Mozart & the Mind to neurodiversity. 

2018: Year Three of a Six Year Journey

Year Three of Maestro Francis’s six-year journey explores “Brave New World: From Rebel to Entrepreneur” during the 30th annual Mainly Mozart Festival.

2019: Year Four of a Six Year Journey

Year Four of Maestro Francis’s six-year journey explores “Brave New World: From Rebel to Entrepreneur” during the 30th annual Mainly Mozart Festival.

2020: Mainly Mozart Leads the Nation in Live Programming During COVID-19

On July 11, 2020, Mainly Mozart becomes the first major arts organization in the United States to produce live music in front of live audiences since the COVID-19 quarantine began in Mid-March through its brand new Mainly Mozart at the Drive-in concert series. The series, based on the grounds of the Del Mar Fairgrounds, was free to attend; Mainly Mozart’s gift to San Diego and the arts and music-loving communities and a doubling down of the organization‘s commitment to live performance, regardless of the obstacles. 

2021: Breaking Records

Mainly Mozart performs a record four orchestral festivals throughout the year, including two drive-in festivals at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and two outdoor festivals at the San Diego Surf Cup Sports Park. The Mainly Mozart Dual Orchestra is first introduced - with Metropolitan Opera Orchestra concertmaster David Chan and San Francisco symphony principal bass Scott Pingel serving as Artistic Partners - joining musicians of the San Francisco Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic in February and D.C.’s National Symphony with the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in April.

2022: Increasing Audiences

Mainly Mozart sets its all-time attendance record with 7,000+ attendees at its June 2022 All-Star Orchestra Festival. Per-concert attendance sees a 500% increase compared to pre-COVID audiences. The All-Star Orchestra returns indoors for the first time since the pandemic, with a Fall Festival serving as the opening performances at the Del Mar Fairgrounds’s The Sound. Mainly Mozart collaborates with San Diego Autism Society to promote Lights! Camera! Autism!

2023: Mainly Mozart Commissions

The 2023 Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra Festival sees an increase in ticket revenue of 52% compared to the 2022 June Festival - the previous highest grossing Festival in the organization’s history. Mainly Mozart commissions its first ever original works with Clarice Assad’s Tapestry and Edric Saphire’s Bassoon Sextet in B-Minor - both premiere to high praise and acclaim.