When La Jolla SummerFest opens in the Southern California beach town next month, violinist Cho-Liang Lin, above, will pray for two things: spark and chemistry.

"That is the best thing that could happen for the festival," said SummerFest's music director for the past seven years.

"When great musicians get together, much like when jazz musicians jam, certain great things come alive — the music sparkles. I want every concert to have that energy."

Sixteen concerts over three weeks underpin La Jolla SummerFest 2007. A three-part Beethoven series is at the festival's core exploring the composer's early, middle and later work, but concertgoers also can hear Gershwin's American classics, jazz ensembles, contemporary acoustic musicians Real Quiet and see progressive modern dance troupe BodyVox perform.

The award-winning chamber music festival was honored in 2003 for its adventurous programming; this year 70 world-class artists will perform at the festival, striking a note with Lin's overall vision. "In addition to die-hard classical fans from the La Jolla/San Diego area, I want to make SummerFest a destination in itself," he said, ... "so that music lovers from afar, including Hawai'i, will come to lovely La Jolla to hear first-rate music and performances."

Tickets: $15 to $75; (858) 459-3728, www.ljms.org.

Reach Chris Oliver at coliver@honoluluadvertiser.com.