Tag archives: Music Academy
Maybe the Music Academy of the West had some unanticipated smarts in scheduling the annual Percussion Fest for the first Saturday of the season, just four days into the 2024 Summer Festival. With the fellows flying in from San Francisco, Cleveland, Houston, and New York and driving up from L.A. they’d all have to arrive […]
You might say Navasard Hakobyan had a pretty good summer in Santa Barbara last year. The Armenian baritone not only made his debut as Marcello, one of the principal roles in La Boheme at the Granada, he also secured the most coveted and longstanding prize of the festival in the Music Academy’s 2023 Marilyn Horne […]
Just days before the kickoff of its 77th summer festival, the Miraflores campus of the Music Academy of the West was packed with 225 supporters for the “Magic of the Music Academy: A New Era” gala with a special solo performance by top cellist Joshua Roman in Hahn Hall. Roman, 40, attended the academy in […]
In just about every city across America, summer is when the classical music season grinds to a halt, with both professional and university institutions going on hiatus until the fall. But for more than three-quarters of a century, Santa Barbara has had the great distinction of having two months at the beginning of summer bring […]
The Music Academy of the West’s annual Summer Gala, set for Saturday, June 1, not only serves as an elegant appetizer to the enviable eight-week festival that follows, but also an official welcome to new Music Academy President and CEO Shauna Quill. The 2024 gala, appropriately titled “A New Era,” features an Italian-themed culinary journey […]
Pianist Bruce Liu, 27, showed his very obvious talent in a 90-minute concert at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures program, with works by Chopin, Kapustin, Rameau, and Prokofiev. Born in Paris and brought up in Montreal, Canada, Liu was the first prize winner of […]
After postponing their concert in February given a mandatory evacuation warning because of heavy rain, the charmingly named Grammy Award-winning octet Roomful of Teeth with pianist-guitarist Gabriel Kahane, performed in a UCSB Arts & Lectures show at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall. The tony troupe is dedicated to reimagining the expressive potential […]
Social gridlock reigned at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall when VIP donors got a sneak peek at this year’s 77th annual summer festival “The Magic of Music.” Featuring 150 performances with more than 137 fellows between June 12 and Aug. 3, new academy president and CEO Shauna Quill outlined the many programs […]
Santa Barbara Museum of Art held its annual fundraiser titled, “Artful Affairs: Seasons of Change, Midwinter Night’s Dream,” on Saturday, February 24, at the museum galleries. The coveted upscale attire event saw the mix of art and music, as the SBMA joined with the Music Academy for a collaborative affair, accented with art themed hors […]
Meghan Markle gave paws for thought when she made a surprise appearance via video link to open the new wing of an animal charity named in honor of her late friend Oli Juste. The Riven Rock resident emotionally told how the dog trainer suddenly died in January 2022, leaving her heartbroken as his family and […]
While we were busy with winter rains and staring at stars strolling down the red carpet for SBIFF at the Arlington, the Music Academy – Montecito’s great claim to fame in the classic music world – has been brewing up some bright new things. Make that the Music Academy of the West. Thankfully, the strange […]
Montecito’s Music Academy has appointed Nate Bachhuber as Chief Artistic Officer. He is recognized for his collaborative and strategic approach to artistic planning with prestigious performing arts organizations, including the L.A. Philharmonic, and St. Louis and Cincinnati symphony orchestras. Bachhuber has wide experience in public relations and digital strategy at New York’s Carnegie Hall and […]
Magnificent classical music reigned supreme with three impressive concerts in our Eden by the Beach, two at the venerable Granada and one at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall. Kicking off the week was the Community Arts Music Association’s first concert of the new year with London’s 79-year-old Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko, […]
The Music Academy has elected Montecito residents Susan Lichtenstein and Kelly Teich, and Santa Barbara resident Tom Orlando to the board. Lichtenstein is a retired senior vice president and chief legal officer, while Teich is president of Warner Group Architects, and Orlando is an industrial property manager. The organization also recognized two long-term board members, […]
Novelist Jane Austen would have been in her element at the Music Academy’s Lehmann Hall when the Miraflores campus’ creative Auxiliary hosted the Aux Ball: Celebrating the Eras with 120 guests in their Regency finery, many donning tiaras, raising around $50,000 towards the SING! choral program for youngsters from first to ninth grade. Mally Chakola, […]
Choir lovers rejoice: It’s the most wonderful time of year as several of the city’s classical vocal groups perform holiday concerts this week. Sing! – the Music Academy’s free community youth choral program – gets things going at 6 pm December 7 with a free one-hour concert featuring Christmas carols and holiday songs from across […]
The Music Academy staged its third and final performance of its Mariposa series at Hahn Hall with two former alumnae, Frank Huang, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, who attended the Miraflores campus in 1998, and Natasha Kislenko, who was at the academy in 2001 and has also served as a teaching artist since 2004. […]
The Music Academy’s Hahn Hall was socially gridlocked when the ILLUMINATE Film Festival, a leading event for evolutionary cinema, celebrated its 10th anniversary and move to Santa Barbara from Sedona, Arizona. The fun fest included an exclusive screening of The Monk and the Gun, a charming and provocative feature film set in Bhutan in 2006, […]
The beloved Music Academy’s (MA) Auxiliary held its 2nd Annual Sip and Swap Fundraiser at the MA’s Marilyn Horne Main House on Thursday, November 9. The event saw both its members and their friends joining for a lovely evening of libations and top tier swapping of one or more treasured items from one’s closet to […]
New York Philharmonic principal clarinet Anthony McGill and Taiwanese pianist Gloria Chien were quite the dynamic duo when they performed in the second concert of the Mariposa series at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall. The tony twosome performed works by Telemann, Jessie Montgomery, Brahms, Teng Yu-hsien, Lee, and Von Weber for the sold-out audience. McGill […]
