July Highlights at Music Academy of the West Include New Bartered Bride, Plus Alan Gilbert, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Takács Quartet, and More
This July, the Music Academy of the West’s 69th annual Summer School and Festival presents a rich array of concerts, recitals, and masterclasses – many of them free to the public – on its picturesque Miraflores campus and throughout California’s scenic Santa Barbara. Highlights include Matthew Aucoin – “opera’s 25-year old hope” (New York Times) – conducting a new production of The Bartered Bride; New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert leading Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony; the world premiere of a new chamber work by Paul Chihara; two community concerts headlined by Jean-Yves Thibaudet; recitals by Lynn Harrell and Emmanuel Pahud; and the launch of a new ChamberFest series. As the Santa Barbara Independent observed after last year’s festival: “The era in which classical music is stereotyped as either irrevocably highbrow or irreversibly in decline has finally ended.” To view the season brochure, visit musicacademy.org/festival.
On Independence Day weekend, Mosher Guest Artist Jean-Yves Thibaudet – one of only two classical pianists to be inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame – headlines two special Academy Festival Orchestra Community Concerts at the historic Granada Theatre. Under the baton of Larry Rachleff, “a take-charge maestro who invests everything he conducts with deep musical understanding” (Chicago Tribune), the French pianist’s “hard to beat” (BBC Music) account of Gershwin’s jazzy Rhapsody in Blue forms the centerpiece of a patriotic program that also includes John Adams’s high-octane Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Dvořák’s stirring “New World” Symphony. As part of the Music Academy’s ongoing Community Access initiative, more than 2,000 tickets were made available at just $10, and young people aged 7–17 will be admitted free of charge.
On July 29 and 31, the Academy’s 2016 Elaine F. Stepanek Foundation Opera Conductor Matthew Aucoin leads fellows from the Voice Program and the Academy Festival Orchestra in a fully staged new production of Smetana’s masterwork, The Bartered Bride, at the Granada Theatre. This features dancing by the State Street Ballet, and costume and set design by Hewes Design Award nominee Charlie Corcoran, whose work previously graced the Academy’s staging of The Magic Flute. Returning to direct the production – his fifth at the Summer Festival – is David Paul, a faculty member of the Juilliard School and the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. At last year’s festival, as Opera News reported, it was Paul’s treatment of Rossini’s Cenerentola that “achieved a new level of polish and sophistication.” Aucoin also gives a vocal masterclass on July 15.
Music Academy of the West is the first American partner in the New York Philharmonic’s Global Academy, and 2016 marks the third summer of their innovative four-year partnership. Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert – one of the Academy’s two 2016 Luria Foundation artists in residence – leads the Academy Festival Orchestra in Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra, an excerpt from Haydn’s oratorio The Creation, and Beethoven’s monumental “Eroica” Symphony (July 16). Gilbert also teaches, coaches, and gives a chamber music masterclass (July 12), while the Philharmonic’s former associate conductor, Solti Conducting Award-winner Case Scaglione, leads the Music Academy of the West Concerto Competition winners in strings, brass, winds, and percussion in a program of orchestral fireworks (July 9).
2016 marks the inaugural ChamberFest, a new addition to the Summer Festival. This sees fellows practicing chamber music with selected faculty over an intensive ten-day rehearsal period, culminating with a pair of chamber recitals in Hahn Hall. Faculty members violist Richard O’Neill (’98, ’99), cellist David Geber and violinist Kathleen Winkler perform with the fellows on July 27, and violist Karen Dreyfus, cellist Robert deMaine (’90) and violinist Jorja Fleezanis on July 28.
Besides overseeing the ChamberFest rehearsal period, the resident Takács Quartet – the first string quartet to be inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame – joins pianist Margaret McDonald (’00,’01,’02) to perform Elgar’s Piano Quintet in the Festival Artists Series (July 19). In the same series, on July 5 faculty artists Glenn Dicterow and Karen Dreyfus give the world premiere of Paul Chihara’s Duo Lyrico. The new work was written for them as a gift, to commemorate Dicterow’s retirement from the New York Philharmonic after 34 years there as concertmaster.
The July lineup also features two Mosher guest artist recitals. Cello legend Lynn Harrell, whose extensive discography has been recognized with two Grammy Awards, appears with pianist Victor Asuncion on July 7; and Emmanuel Pahud, principal flutist of the Berlin Philharmonic and an eminent soloist, chamber musician, teacher, and new-music commissioner, with faculty artist pianist Jonathan Feldman on July 20. Among other recital highlights, faculty artists Jerome Lowenthal, a Grammy nominee, and Conor Hanick – a “true champion of contemporary music” (NPR) whose “technical refinement, color, crispness and wondrous variety of articulation … benefit works by any master” (New York Times) – join forces for a program of solo piano repertoire on July 11. Harrell, Pahud, and Feldman are also among the many world-class artists who – like pianist Leon Fleisher and legendary mezzo Marilyn Horne, now in her 21st year at the helm of the Academy’s Voice Program – give July masterclasses, which are one of the hallmarks of the Music Academy experience.
For tickets and further information for all Music Academy of the West events: call the Ticket Office at 805-969-8787, email [email protected], or visit online at www.musicacademy.org. To request a brochure, email [email protected] or write to the Music Academy of the West, 1070 Fairway Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108.
About the Music Academy of the West
The Music Academy of the West is among the nation’s preeminent summer schools and festivals for gifted young classically-trained musicians. At its ocean-side campus in Santa Barbara, the Academy provides these musicians with the opportunity for advanced study and performance under the guidance of internationally renowned faculty artists, guest conductors, and soloists. Admission to the Academy is strictly merit based, and fellows receive full scholarships (tuition, room, and board). The Academy’s distinguished teaching roster has included famed soprano Lotte Lehmann, composers Darius Milhaud and Arnold Schoenberg, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, pianist Jeremy Denk, and current Voice Program Director Marilyn Horne. Academy alumni are members of major symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, and university and conservatory faculties throughout the world. Many enjoy careers as prominent solo artists. In 2014 the Music Academy entered into a four-year partnership with the New York Philharmonic, resulting in unprecedented training and performance opportunities for Academy fellows, and Summer Festival residencies for Philharmonic musicians. The Music Academy of the West cultivates discerning, appreciative, and adventurous audiences, presenting more than 200 public events annually, nearly half of them free of charge. These include performances by faculty, visiting artists, and fellows; masterclasses; orchestra and chamber music concerts; and a fully-staged opera. For more information, visit musicacademy.org.
High-resolution photos may be downloaded here, and a PDF of the Music Academy’s 2016 season brochure may be downloaded here.
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Music Academy of the West
2016 Summer Festival: June 13–August 6
Santa Barbara, CA
July festival highlights “at a glance”
July 2 & 3 Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs Rhapsody in Blue
July 5 Festival Artists Series: Schubert piano trio and World Premiere
July 7 Lynn Harrell and Victor Asuncion in Recital
July 9 Academy Festival Orchestra performs Firebird
July 11 Jerome Lowenthal and Conor Hanick in Recital
July 12 Festival Artists Series: Bach and Handel
July 13 BrassFest
July 14 Concerto Competition Finals (piano)
July 16 Academy Festival Orchestra with Alan Gilbert
July 19 Festival Artists Series: Takács Quartet
July 20 Emmanuel Pahud and Jonathan Feldman in Recital
July 26 Festival Artists Series: Shostakovich Piano Quintet
July 27 & 28 ChamberFest
July 30 PercussionFest
July 29 & 31 The Bartered Bride
Chronological listing of July events
July 1
Clarinet masterclass: Richie Hawley
Trumpet masterclass: Barbara Butler
Horn masterclass: Julie Landsman
Vocal masterclass: Warren Jones
Picnic Concert: Academy fellows
July 2 & 3
Special community concert: Rhapsody in Blue; Larry Rachleff, Jean-Yves Thibaudet
July 4
Solo piano masterclass: Jerome Lowenthal
July 5
Chamber music masterclass: Karen Dreyfus
Trombone/tuba masterclass: Mark H. Lawrence
Percussion masterclass: Michael Werner
Violin masterclass: Jorja Fleezanis
Festival Artists Series: Schubert piano trio and World Premiere
July 6
Oboe masterclass: Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida
Cello masterclass: Lynn Harrell
Double bass masterclass: Nico Abondolo
Bassoon masterclass: Dennis Michel
Vocal masterclass: John Churchwell
July 7
Chamber music masterclass: Jerome Lowenthal
Collaborative piano masterclass: Jonathan Feldman
Viola masterclass: Richard O’Neill
Flute masterclass: Timothy Day
Mosher guest artist recital: Lynn Harrell, Victor Asuncion
July 8
Clarinet masterclass: Richie Hawley
Trumpet masterclass: Paul Merkelo
Horn masterclass: Julie Landsman
Picnic concert: Academy fellows
July 9
Vocal masterclass: Marilyn Horne
Community Chamber Concert
Academy Festival Orchestra/Case Scaglione: Concerto Celebration; Stravinsky’s Firebird
July 11
Solo piano masterclass: Jerome Lowenthal
The Path to Optimal Performance: Bill Williams
Faculty Artist Piano Recital: Jerome Lowenthal/Conor Hanick
July 12
Chamber music masterclass: Alan Gilbert
Trombone/tuba masterclass: Mark H. Lawrence
Percussion masterclass: Michael Werner
Violin masterclass: Kathleen Winkler
Festival Artists Series: Bach & Handel
July 13
Oboe masterclass: Eugene Izotov
Cello masterclass: David Geber
Double bass masterclass: Nico Abondolo
Bassoon masterclass: Benjamin Kamins
Vocal masterclass: Martin Katz
BrassFest: Mark H. Lawrence, Academy fellows
July 14
Chamber music masterclass: David Geber
Collaborative piano masterclass: Jonathan Feldman
Viola masterclass: Richard O’Neill
Flute masterclass: Timothy Day
Concerto Competition finals: Piano fellows
July 15
Clarinet masterclass: Richie Hawley
Trumpet masterclass: Paul Merkelo
Horn masterclass: Julie Landsman
Vocal masterclass: Matthew Aucoin
Picnic Concert: Academy fellows
July 16
Community Chamber Concert
Academy Festival Orchestra/Alan Gilbert: Gilbert conducts Beethoven
July 18
Vocal masterclass: Fred Carama
Solo piano masterclass: Leon Fleisher
Vocal masterclass: The Bartered Bride “Covers in Concert,” Matthew Aucoin
July 19
Chamber music masterclass: Leon Fleisher
Trombone/tuba masterclass: Ralph Sauer
Percussion masterclass: Michael Werner
Violin masterclass: Glenn Dicterow
Festival Artists Series: Takács Quartet, Margaret McDonald
July 20
Oboe masterclass: Eugene Izotov
Cello masterclass: David Geber
Double bass masterclass: Nico Abondolo
Bassoon masterclass: Benjamin Kamins
Vocal masterclass: Warren Jones
Mosher guest artist recital: Emmanuel Pahud, Jonathan Feldman
July 21
Chamber music masterclass: Takács Quartet
Collaborative piano masterclass: Jonathan Feldman
Viola masterclass: Richard O’Neill
Flute masterclass: Emmanuel Pahud
July 22
Clarinet masterclass: Richie Hawley
Trumpet masterclass: Paul Merkelo
Horn masterclass: Julie Landsman
Picnic concert: Academy fellows/String Quartets
July 23
Community Chamber Concert
July 25
Solo piano masterclass: Conor Hanick
July 26
Harp masterclass: JoAnn Turovsky
Trombone/tuba masterclass: Ralph Sauer
Percussion masterclass: Michael Werner
Violin masterclass: Kathleen Winkler
Festival Artists Series: Shostakovich piano quintet
July 27
Oboe masterclass: Eugene Izotov
Cello masterclass: Robert deMaine
Double bass masterclass: Nico Abondolo
Bassoon masterclass: Benjamin Kamins
ChamberFest: Richard O’Neill, David Geber, Kathleen Winkler, Academy fellows
July 28
Collaborative piano masterclass: Jonathan Feldman
Viola masterclass: Richard O’Neill
Flute masterclass: Timothy Day
ChamberFest: Karen Dreyfus, Robert deMaine, Jorja Fleezanis, Academy fellows
July 29
MERIT Recital: MERIT fellows
Clarinet masterclass: Richie Hawley
Trumpet masterclass: Paul Merkelo
Horn masterclass: Julie Landsman
July 29 & 31
Smetana’s The Bartered Bride/Matthew Aucoin
July 30
Community Chamber Concert
PercussionFest: Ted Atkatz, Michael Werner, Percussion fellows
