Summer Festival 76 Starts Strong

After 75 years of having the Music Academy (née “of the West”) in our backyard – marked last summer by a celebratory return to fully in-person programming – it can be easy to take the institute’s summer festival for granted. But the truth is, the Academy not only keeps the classical music scene afloat during what would otherwise be the fallow season, it also provides a true treasure trove of opportunities to dive deeply. Locals can see 130-something of the most talented emerging and already burgeoning young fellows performing in a variety of settings, and growing in real-time in master classes. Lucky locals enjoy as well summertime concerts, opera, and themed programming from the top-echelon instrumental and vocal stars on both the faculty and visiting artists roster, plus cutting-edge conductors, directors and more. 

Year 76 will be getting underway on Tuesday just a few weeks after president and CEO Scott Reed announced the end of his 13-year tenure at the helm, a period that has both solidified the Music Academy’s financial footing and expanded its reach and reputation, including two four-year partnerships with world-renowned orchestras (the latter one with the London Symphony Orchestra continues this year with a bunch of LSO players in residency for a midsummer week). But it’s also Year Four for Chief Artistic Officer Jamie Broumas, whose vision and programming acumen have resulted in a number of new ventures and innovative initiatives. That includes the X2 series that pairs fellows with the faculty for high-profile concerts; Chamber Night concerts with faculty-coached fellows performing post-wine reception salon-style shows; meet-the-conductor previews for the Academy Festival Orchestra concerts (Stéphane Denève, Osmo Vänskä, Anthony Parnther, JoAnn Falletta, and Hannu Lintu this year); collaborating with acclaimed opera director James Darrah to turn MA’s opera scenes into an annual Cabaret show (focusing on the music of 1979 for 2023); and commissioning composers to create and/or curate music on campus, among many others. 

All those are back for 2023 with new additions – ranging from the Celebrity Series concert nights augmenting the ongoing Mosher Guest Artist recitals, to a residency with famed New Yorker music critic Alex Ross, who is working with 10 fellows on their aspirations to write about classical music and hosting a critics’ roundtable on campus. Yes, there’s more – including Una Noche en Miraflores, a collaboration between multi-Grammy winning soprano Ana María Martínez and teaching artist César Cañón, who together create an immersion into Spanish language song, culture, and dance that features Flamenco star Manuel Gutierrez and Flamenco guitarist Andres Vadin. 

“Everything we do, and all of these people we invite, are committed to our mission of providing the fellows with the best possible training and preparation for a career in classical music,” Broumas said. “Then we build these gifted invitees into the curriculum for the week that they’re here.” 

So belly up to the (classical musical) bars and drink up from the vast Music Academy cask bursting with more than 120 performances and events. Tickets start at $10 (and free for accompanying youth ages 7-17). Visit https://musicacademy.org and check this space weekly for features and a calendar highlighting some of the week’s events. 

Tuesday, June 13: Opening day at Miraflores features no master classes at all. Instead, the events calendar boasts a triple-header of former fellows performing at Hahn Hall – specifically the winners of last summer’s competitions, reconvening on campus to kick off the summer rather than at concerts spread out over the winter and spring. Each of the winners in solo piano, instrumental duos, and voice/vocal piano will also be playing a world premiere piece commissioned for the concert as part of their prize package. Pianist Adria Ye gets the first recital slot at 3 pm when she’ll play a Beethoven sonata, Brahms’ “Variations on a Theme by Schumann,” and will debut Stewart Goodyear’s Rhapsody. At 5 pm tuba player Joshua Williams and pianist Yu-Ting Peng take the stage to perform Beethoven, Schumann, and Piazzolla before premiering Grammy-nominated composer Christopher Cerrone’s “Groundswell.” Last year’s Marilyn Horne Song Competition winners Joanne Evans (mezzo-soprano) and Tzu Kuang Tan (piano) close out the festivities with eight art songs and other selections, including the premiere of “Aubade with a Chance of Rain,” by Tom Cipullo, last year’s composer-in-residence. (3, 5, and 7:30 pm; Hahn Hall; $40 each, or $100 for all three). 

Wednesday, June 14: The Washington Post calls the Takács Quartet “one of the most esteemed and beloved string quartets today.” But of course we already know that, with the Academy having years ago installed the Takács Quartet as its quartet-in-residence in early summer, including an opening week concert. The fearsome foursome – which now features former MA faculty violist Richard O’Neill as its newest member bookending cellist András Fejér, who co-founded the quartet 48 years ago at the Music Academy in Budapest – will perform the “Quartet in E-flat major, H. 277,” of Fanny Mendelssohn, older sister to the more famous Felix, and Schubert’s “String Quartet No. 15 in G major, D. 887.” (7:30 pm; Hahn Hall; $65). 

Thursday, June 15: Two more Takács tie-ins today, including the first master class of the summer with the quartet coaching several fellow ensembles in Chamber Music (1:30 pm; Lehmann Hall; $10), followed immediately by Takács violinist Edward Dusinberre discussing his recent book Distant Melodies: Music in Search of Home with the quartet performing illustrative excerpts (3 pm; Lehmann; free)… For those who prefer reeds to reading, longtime MA faculty clarinetist Richie Hawley, whose parents live in Montecito, kicks off the first of his six masterclasses this summer at Hahn (3:30 pm; $10)… Focus on film: in its first-ever Met Live in HD presentation under the auspices of the summer festival, the Academy hosts an encore presentation of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, in a daring staging by renowned English director Simon McBurney that incorporates projections, sound effects, and acrobatics. Music Academy alum Kathryn Lewek (soprano) and Brenton Ryan (bass) portray the Queen of the Night and Monostatos (7 pm; Hahn; $28).