Serious Musical Summer Harvest Ahead

In one of the most dramatic annual transformation moments in town, the Music Academy of the West (MAW) has sprung to life this week. The formerly sleepy and idyllic Miraflores campus in Montecito, home of the Academy for nearly eight decades, has become host to a bustling roster of activity and summer encampment for hundreds of boldly gifted student “fellows” from around the world. They have been carefully chosen, tuition-free, to engage in a cherished program often compared to similar summer events in Aspen and Tanglewood.

But what happens on campus doesn’t stay on campus. That’s where we, the spoiled music fans, benefit from the Academy’s summer harvest. 

Santa Barbara music lovers get to know these temporary citizens, who will show their wares publicly, in Saturday night orchestra concerts at The Granada Theatre, in on-campus Hahn Hall, and elsewhere, alongside an impressive list of classical music artists of global repute. The parade begins with what has become a festival-opening tradition, the arrival of the much-acclaimed Takács Quartet, which leads the string quartet seminar at the beginning of the Academy schedule and gives the first major public concert of the festival. This year, their Lobero Theatre concert, on Friday, June 20, comes during the quartet’s milestone 50th year in existence.

More generally, the live-music list this summer includes MAW faculty and ever-engaging pianist Jeremy Denk, performing a three-night stand of late Beethoven Sonatas (July 15-17); a fully produced opera, Mozart’s Don Giovanni (July 18 and 20); and Mosher Guest Artist recital by violinist Randall Goosby (June 25). An intriguing new Beyond Boundaries series showcases living contemporary composers.

One distinction in this year’s program is the inclusion of events extending appeal to audiences beyond the serious classical music fans, from bluegrass meets Bach and all-around trans-genre virtuoso mandolinist Chris Thile performing at this year’s fundraising Gala at the Montecito Country Club on Friday, July 11. The Academy is also reaching beyond classical dimensions to present Steven Spielberg’s Jaws with a live orchestral accompaniment of John Williams’s iconic score, at the Granada on June 21.

In another left-of-classical feature, the ever-popular Percussionfest program is moving from its traditional Hahn Hall site to the Granada on July 3, with a program featuring Police drummer Stewart Copeland as drummer and composer, with the West Coast premiere of his piece The Bells. The program also includes a West Coast premiere of noted composer Andy Akiho’s Sculptures, utilizing a ritualistic, sonically charged sculpture, which has piqued curiosity from its current perch outside the Hahn Hall in recent weeks.

This year’s installment of the Academy, in its 78th anniversary edition, also represents a change at the top of the organization. Last year, the administrative branch shifted to a pair of newcomers, Executive Director Shauna Quill and Chief Artistic Director Nate Bachhuber, who inherited last year’s program but was hands-on in creating this year’s roster. 

In a surprising blast of news, the Music Academy announced its acquisition of the former Forever 21 building, at the corner of Canon Perdido and State Street, thanks to donor Cheryl Goldberg’s $10 million gift. Goldberg and Quill devised a plan for creating an expansive educational and performance space, in honor of Goldberg’s late husband.

Once renovations are finished, in a year or more, the adjunct downtown Academy compound — with rooftop performance space as part of the plan — will inject arts energy into a centralized three-block radius also incorporating the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Film Center across the street and the Lobero Theatre a block away.

On a larger scale, the future looks bright for the Academy, and its deepening connection with the Santa Barbara community. More immediately, the next eight weeks promises a bright future unfolding into an enticing live performance present tense.

For the complete schedule and ticket information, see musicacademy.org.