San Diego weekend arts events: 'My Intimate Partner,' 'Primary Trust,' Mahler and more

Top picks | Live music picks | More art and culture weekend events

Top picks

'My Intimate Partner'

Visual art | Oceanside Museum of Art will celebrate two new, groundbreaking exhibits with a reception this weekend. "Transformative Currents," which is part of the Getty's PST ART initiative, has been open since mid-August. "My Intimate Partner" is just opening this weekend. This multimedia exhibit looks at the interplay between power and intimacy that leads to domestic violence, or intimate partner violence (IPV). The exhibit features video performance work by local contemporary dance company The Rosin Box Project, art by Carlos Castro Arias, Mely Barragán, Hugo Crosthwaite, Trinh Mai and many more.

Courtesy of Rich Soublet II

'Primary Trust'

Theater | Playwright Eboni Booth's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Primary Trust" just opened at La Jolla Playhouse last week. It's a story about Kenneth, who struggles to fit in, desperately craves friendship and is grappling with a deep-seeded trauma. This may suggest a heavy viewing experience, but the script and performances are bright, layered, funny and deeply human.

"Kenneth is an incredible character who reminds us that we have the power to actually change our lives no matter how old we are, and that the community around us actually has the capability to impact change if we are open to the idea of it," said Eric Keen-Louie, artistic producing director at La Jolla Playhouse.

The play won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in drama.

Listen to my full interview with Keen-Louie here:

Arts & Culture

'Primary Trust' brings joy, sorrow and healing to the stage

Julia Dixon Evans

Listen • 10:51

Sasha Israel

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ArtPower

Aoife O'Donovan

Music, Americana/Classical | American folk singer Aoife O'Donovan will perform a unique concert with the La Jolla Symphony and the San Diego Children's Choir, performing songs from her latest album "All My Friends" as well as pieces from composers Florence Price and Ethel Smyth. "All My Friends" is a collection of songs that are connected to women's suffrage.

In advance of the performance, the San Diego Children's Choir made this video of some of the girls speaking about what it means to them to be singing this music alongside O'Donovan:

Chuck Koton

San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival

Music, Jazz | This inaugural festival spans two countries across three days, bringing an all-star lineup of jazz, world and classical performers, including the Binational Youth Ensemble featuring musicians from the Young Lions Jazz Conservatory and Instituto Contemporáneo de Música de Baja California; Magos Herrera and the Hausmann Quartet performing her recent album "Aire"; Nortec Jazz Experience; Gerald Clayton; Sure Fire Soul Ensemble; Gilbert Castellanos and more. It's a chance to celebrate a broad range of quality regional jazz acts and consider the intersection of jazz within other music niches.

Each night, the performances are held in a different venue, with a ticketed show in Escondido to kick things off, followed by two free concerts. On Saturday, in Tijuana, is a street festival on Avenida Revolución, followed by closing night at Quartyard in San Diego's East Village on Sunday.

'Resurrection'

Music, Classical | To properly follow last week's opening night of Jacobs Music Center, the San Diego Symphony is pulling out all the stops to show off their new space. They'll perform Mahler's 2nd Symphony, a powerful, complex and majestic piece of music. If you're wondering just how good the acoustic architecture is in the new performance hall, Mahler's 2nd will be a worthy test.

Also on the program is a piece by contemporary composer Thomas Larcher, "Time," which is a co-commission from the Symphony that premiered several years ago.

This three-day set of performances will mark the debut of the new San Diego Symphony Festival Chorus, made up of local talent, and they'll be perched on the hall's new choral terrace.

Kids Free San Diego

Museums and Attractions, Families | San Diego Museum Council's annual KIDS FREE SAN DIEGO is underway, spanning the month of October. Kids 12 and under can get free admission to 50 participating museums and attractions.

To get free admission: Enter an email address, and you're instantly given a link to the free pass. You don't need to download or print anything (but you can). For some museums, like the Birch Aquarium, you need to book a visit in advance and use a code at checkout. Some have blackout dates, like Legoland, Comic-Con Museum and New Children's Museum. Most places grant one free kid admission with one paying adult, though Birch Aquarium gives you two kid tickets per adult. View the list of participating museums and amusement parks here.

Philipp Scholz Rittermann

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Oolong Gallery

Naomi Nadreau and Hiroshi McDonald: 'Absolute Fulfillment in the Spectacle'

Visual art | Oolong Gallery recently opened an impressive exhibit featuring sculpture by Naomi Nadreau and salt prints by Hiroshi McDonald, both artists with local ties. Nadreau's sculptures are exquisite, using found or natural materials, ceramics and metals formed into shapes and structures on the edge of familiarity and unfamiliarity — a concept inspired by science fiction. McDonald's salt prints are strikingly hued and fascinating.

Borrego Art Walk and 'The Art of Flora and Fauna'

Visual art | Catch the return of Borrego Springs' monthly art walk this Saturday evening, and take in art in multiple gallery spaces in the center of town. Desert Lovers and Co., the House of Borrego Springs West Gallery and Borrego Art Institute are participating in this month's event.

At Borrego Art Institute, they'll celebrate the opening of three new exhibits, including "The Art of Flora and Fauna," which features art about the natural world.

More arts and culture weekend events