Area Students in Free Public Masterclass
For Immediate Release January 4, 2012
Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908
Santa Barbara, CA – Colorado Symphony Principal Violist Basil Vendryes and cellist Andrew Smith will lead a free public masterclass featuring accomplished local students at the Music Academy of the West on Thursday, January 19. Performers will include a harp trio, a string quartet, and a soloist. Co-presented by the Music Academy and Santa Barbara Strings, the event will take place at 6:30 pm in Weinman Hall, which is located in the Academy's new Luria Education Center. Free parking is available on the Music Academy campus, at 1070 Fairway Road in Santa Barbara.
Masterclass participants will include musicians enrolled in both the Music Academy's MERIT Extended chamber music training program for area instrumentalists ages 10 to 18, and Santa Barbara Strings, a comprehensive instructional program for string instrumentalists ages 4 to 18. Flutist Elizabeth Van Renerghem (Santa Barbara), violinist Sophie Collins (Ojai), and harpist Kristina Martell (Santa Maria) will perform Handel's Sonata in F Major and Jacques Ibert's Deux Interludes No. 1; violinists Sage Williams (Buellton) and Junia Work (Santa Barbara), violist Liam Burrows (Solvang), and cellist Madeline Matthys (Santa Barbara) will perform Haydn's Quartet in G Major, op. 77; and Mr. Burrows will perform the first movement of J.C. Bach's Concerto in C Minor. The latter four instrumentalists are co-enrolled in MERIT Extended and Santa Barbara Strings.
Mr. Smith serves as an associate professor of music at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
For more information on the January 19 public masterclass, call 877-398-4599.
MERIT Extended students, who are selected upon auditioning for the program, participate in chamber ensembles, receive coaching twice a month, and take part in masterclasses and performances at the Music Academy throughout the school year. This year's program serves 13 young classical musicians from Santa Barbara and surrounding communities. Under a temporary partnership, violinist Mary Beth Woodruff, who serves as artistic director and conductor for Santa Barbara Strings, is leading one of four MERIT Extended chamber ensembles. The others are led by Santa Barbara Symphony Principal Trombonist Andy Malloy, harpist and Music Academy alumna Marcia Dickstein, and flutist Linda Holland, who directs the Music Academy's MERIT Program.
Inaugurated in 1998, MERIT (Music Education Reinforces Intellect and Talent) Extended provides promising local students with an opportunity to expand their chamber music education. Generously supported by Bel Air Investment Advisors, the Henry E. and Lola Monroe Foundation, the Cheeryble Foundation, the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation, Connie Frank and Evan Thompson, Michelle and Michael O'Brien, Patricia and Larry Durham, and Goldman Sachs, the program also operates as an intensive two-week immersion in the Music Academy's annual Summer School and Festival, including mentoring from Academy Fellows. This version of the program, known simply as MERIT, requires a separate application process. All MERIT participants receive scholarships covering program expenses.
Applications for the 2012 Summer MERIT Program will be available in February. For more information, contact Ms. Holland at 687-6875.
Founded in 1947, the Music Academy of the West is among the nation's preeminent summer schools and festivals for gifted young classical musicians. The Academy provides these promising musicians with the opportunity for advanced study and frequent 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). 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. Based in Santa Barbara, the Music Academy of the West presents more than 200 public events annually, including performances by faculty, visiting artists, and Fellows; masterclasses; orchestra and chamber music concerts; and fully staged opera. The Music Academy began broadcasting live simulcasts by the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera at Hahn Hall in October 2008. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
