The Amazing Martinez

As part of its ever-expanding efforts to simultaneously raise the level of artistry for its summer festival while also deeply engaging the local Santa Barbara community, the Music Academy is making its first real foray into reaching the Latino population in the area by bringing in soprano Ana María Martínez as a Mosher Guest Artist. The multi-Grammy winner is considered to be among the finest sopranos working today, one who enjoys an international career that spans the world’s most important opera houses and concert halls, and has recently included a professor position at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and appointment of Houston Grand Opera’s first-ever Artistic Advisor.

Martínez and teaching artist César Cañón will collaborate as coaches and curators of a special showcase at the Lobero on June 23 titled “Una Noche en Miraflores” that serves as an immersion into Spanish language song, culture, and dance starring all of the 2023 vocal fellows and featuring Flamenco dancer Manuel Gutierrez and guitarist Andres Vadin. The latter two are familiar to Santa Barbara audiences as they have appeared several times over the years under the aegis of Flamenco Santa Barbara, including as recently as last week at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. But this will be the first time as part of a classical music program. 

“Manuel is a master flamenco dancer and teacher and he really transports everybody, both the fellows and the audience, when he’s dancing,” said Martínez, who made her Academy debut last summer as a judge in the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition. “Having his collaborator Andres was vital for the experience rather than just the piano, as the guitar is so important for Flamenco music.” 

Martínez, who was born in Puerto Rico and has Cuban ancestry as well, also intends to feature songs from Latin America to suit some of the fellows’ voices more than music from Spain. 

“Everyone is on their own trajectory,” she explained. “Just like in life, the voice is very Zen, and it tells us where it wants to go and what it’s ready for, so it’s important to choose repertoire that will help the singers highlight their strengths and show them off beautifully, so that as they’re learning, they’re also enjoying that they’re doing it well. Each piece has a different flavor and is thrilling in its own way, all very rich in colors and dynamics… I’m hoping that the experience will inspire the fellows to keep digging into this repertoire because it’s just stunning stuff.” 

While Gutierrez won’t be teaching the fellows how to dance Flamenco, they will have the opportunity to work with him on how to move to convey the meaning and subtleties of the songs. 

“There’s a type of body language that corresponds with this repertoire, which is very important, and vital for an operatic role,” Martínez said. “Every character moves differently, and the body language also has to match the era the production is set in.” 

As part of her residency, Martínez will also lead several of the vocal fellows in a public master class on Tuesday, June 20, at Hahn Hall, where they can get her input on everything from vocal technique to song interpretation. She’ll also show off her own singing and style as part of The x2 Series concert on June 22 at the Lobero. 

At all of her Academy events, she’ll employ the lesson gleaned from a favorite Spanish expression that translates as “I’m looking for the 10 legs of the cats.” 

“It means spending time on really detailed observations because you’re going to find all of these morsels of information in the score, in the music, in the harmonies, in the key changes, in the dynamic markings, and in reading between the lines of the text,” she explained. “That’s what I love to do, and to share with students because it all feeds the interpreter exactly what they need in order to shade and color their voices. It’s all there if you look closely enough.” 

Upcoming @ MA 

Friday, June 16: Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard’s early successes included claiming the 2005 Horne Vocal Competition at MA before she went on to star in opera productions around the world and garner three Grammy Awards so far. Leonard returns to the Miraflores campus this week for a residency that includes a recital tonight in the intimate setting of Hahn Hall accompanied by guest pianist John Arida and featuring more than a dozen works, including a closing section of Broadway favorites with selections from Bernstein, Sondheim, and Harold Arlen. (7:30 pm; Hahn Hall; $65)

Saturday, June 17: Jorja Fleezanis was a dynamic violinist and dedicated teacher who was the first woman to serve as concertmaster of a major symphony orchestra in the United States. Her skills at both playing and “acting as second in command to the conductor” won raves from Minnesota Orchestra’s music director Osmo Vänskä, who, coincidentally, will be conducting the Academy Festival Orchestra next weekend. After retiring from the concertmaster chair, Fleezanis brought that same fervor and commitment that earned her the position at the Minnesota Orchestra in 1988 to an academic career, including a decade at the Music Academy, where she not only taught violin but also created concert master and string section master classes to clue in the public on her process. Tonight’s tribute concert to Fleezanis, who passed away last September at 70, features 11 faculty members and seven fellows performing eight pieces befittingly ranging from Bach and Bartok to Korngold, Adams, and Humperdinck. (7:30 pm; Hahn Hall; $40)

Monday, June 19: The dozen members of the three distinct fellows-powered quartets who came to campus early to receive coaching by the Takács Quartet – even before this week’s official opening of the festival – now get to show off their skills and subtleties in the 2023 String Quartet Showcase. The program includes select movements from Bartók’s “Quartet No. 6 in D minor, Sz. 114, BB 119,” and “Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Sz. 67, BB 75”; Dvořák’s “Quartet No. 13 in G major, Op. 106, B. 192”; Gabriela Lena Frank’s “Quijotadas”; Beethoven’s “Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132”; and Smetana’s “Quartet No. 1 in E minor, ‘From My Life.’” (7:30 pm; Hahn Hall; $40)

Tuesday, June 20: The Academy aims for an amusing as well as academic height in its ambitious programming for 2023 with So a Clarinetist & Comedian Walk into a Bar: An Evening of Comedy, Conversation, and Clarinet featuring clarinetist Anthony McGill, the 2020 Avery Fisher prize recipient and the first Black principal player of the New York Philharmonic, and Kimberly Clark, the writer-comedian famed for appearance on Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready on Netflix, The Late Late Show with James Corden, and more. Clark, who is also an amateur clarinetist, and McGill, who both grew up as Black band kids in largely white schools, reminisce about how being middle school band geeks continues to inform them as performers and people and more in a heartwarming new project honoring the power of music education. The pair employ a combination of photos, performance, and conversation to connect, share their art and discuss their intersecting journeys, and even come together to collaborate on a triumphant clarinet duet. The program, which will be announced from the stage, features all American music, including works by Leonard Bernstein and Augustus Hailstork. (7:30 pm; Hahn Hall; $55)

Thursday, June 22: The x2 Series is about pairing apprentices and legends, in this case teaming up Academy faculty artists with fellows, but as of press time only the faculty and guest artists hitting the stage at the Lobero for this season’s inaugural event had been announced. So expect two emerging artists to join pianist Tamar Sanikidze for Brahms’ “Two Songs for Voice, Viola, and Piano,” and cello and viola fellows fleshing out Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir de Florence”alongside the Takács String Quartet, before soprano Ana María Martínez (see above) and pianistJohn Churchwell perform a selection of Spanish language songs. (7:30 pm; Lobero Theatre; $55)