Listen to This “Soundtrack to Summer”

Now in its 78th season, the Music Academy of the West’s annual summer festival, which runs from June 15 to August 9, offers an unparalleled blend of world class performances and musical discovery.

Themed “Soundtrack to Summer,” the mega event showcases international artists performing alongside 150 of the academy’s gifted young musicians and 60 esteemed teaching artists in 120 one-of-a-kind shows, including orchestral and chamber performances, a full-scale opera, plus masterclasses, competitions, and groundbreaking new works.

The live performances at the academy’s Hahn Hall, the venerable Granada, and other settings in our Eden by the Beach will also feature special appearances by Jeremy Denk, Randall Goosby, Sasha Cooke, Christina George, Andy Akiho, Stewart Copeland of The Police, and the Takács Quartet.

The fest kicks off with dynamic, family friendly programming, including the 50th anniversary of Jaws at the Granada with the Academy Festival Orchestra and conductor Ben Palmer, and a bilingual production of Peter and the Wolf.

There’s also the world premiere of adapted excerpts from Huang Ruo’s new opera The Monkey King, and the summer festival makes history with its first-ever, free community brass concert at the newly restored Santa Barbara Plaza del Mar bandshell.

And for the first time, on July 11 the academy’s annual Music Note Gala will take place at the Montecito Club, president and CEO Shauna Quill told more than 100 guests at a pre-festival bash at Hahn Hall. That Montecito Club gala event will feature performances by Grammy Award-winning mandolinist Chris Thile in collaboration with the Academy Festival Orchestra and members of Sing!, conducted by Daniela Candillari.

Among the music-loving throng were Robert Weinman, Mashey Bernstein, Peter and Linda Beuret, Dan and Meg Burnham, Mary Collier, Peter and Dorian Wirth, Carole Macelhenny, Dick and Marilyn Mazess, Joel and Jamie Knee, Keith Moore, Bob and Carole Nicholas, John and Ellen Pillsbury, Anne Towbes, Andre Yew, and Brian Mann and Naomi Yamada.