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Music Academy of the West Announces its 2007 Season: June 18-August 11

For Immediate Release April 23, 2007

Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908

Season Highlights Include:

  • Acclaimed composer John Williams conducting the Academy Festival Orchestra and violin virtuoso Gil Shaham in a special community concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl
  • An ambitious production of Puccini's timeless La Bohème, conducted by Christopher Larkin, directed by Casey Stangl, and presented by the Academy Voice Program
  • Renowned baritone Thomas Hampson showcasing his storied versatility at the Lobero Theatre
  • The incomparable Marilyn Horne leading a public masterclass as only she can
  • Other Guest Conductors:
    • Alexander Lazarev-Conductor Emeritus of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
    • Alexander Mickelthwate-Music Director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
    • Edwin Outwater-Music Director of the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony
    • David Robertson-Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
    • Jeffrey Tate-Music Director of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Italy
  • Other Guest Artists
    • Violinist Gilles Apap
    • Clarinetist David Shifrin
    • Pianist Orli Shaham
    • Takács Quartet and Canadian Brass
    • CABARET Director Don Pippin

Santa Barbara, CA-The Music Academy of the West will celebrate its 60th anniversary with an unprecedented 2007 season program featuring performances by John Williams, Thomas Hampson, and numerous other classical music luminaries. The Academy will present more than 190 events over the course of this year's summer school and festival, which begins June 18 and concludes on August 11. Additional highlights will include an ambitious mounting of La Bohème, performances by violinist Gilles Apap, pianist Orli Shaham, and the Takács Quartet, and conducting turns by Alexander Lazarev, Edwin Outwater, and David Robertson. Featuring the Academy's exceptionally talented young artists, together with illustrious guest performers, conductors, and faculty, the events will be presented at the Academy's scenic Miraflores campus and in venues throughout Santa Barbara.

"This season will mark a major milestone for both the Academy and the classical-music-loving public," noted Academy President NancyBell Coe. "We have worked hard to assemble a program befitting the significance of a 60th anniversary and we are very excited about the caliber of the musicians coming to the Academy this summer. Audiences, to say nothing of our students, are sure to be delighted."

"The substance of this year's program itself marks something of a milestone for the Music Academy. In point of fact we have never hosted so many marquee performers in a single season. More exciting still, the 2007 season program has something for just about every musical taste, which goes a long way toward explaining the broad-based enthusiasm that has begun to build in anticipation of the Festival's kickoff. We are immensely proud of the coming season's rich musical offerings," said Richard Feit, vice president for artistic programs and operations at the Music Academy of the West.

Music Academy of the West 2007 Season Highlights

FESTIVAL

Community Concert
The Music Academy will celebrate its 60th anniversary on Saturday, June 23, with a community concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl featuring John Williams conducting the Academy Festival Orchestra and celebrated violinist Gil Shaham. One of the most popular and successful orchestral composers of our time, Mr. Williams has been awarded five Oscars and multiple Grammys, Golden Globes, and Emmys as well as gold and platinum records for his scores for Jaws, E.T., Schindler's List, and the original Star Wars trilogy, among others. In addition, he is a noted composer of concert works. In 1980 Mr. Williams was named conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra and he currently holds the title of Artist-in-Residence at Tanglewood. Mr. Shaham has been hailed widely for his sure and engaging playing and is much sought after for concerto performances with world-renowned orchestras and conductors, as well as recital and ensemble appearances. The program will include selections from Mr. Williams's film scores and his violin concerto, as well as Shostakovich's Festive Overture, op. 96. Tickets are $13.50 each. Sponsored in part by The Lehrer Family Foundation, Michael J. Connell Foundation, Northern Trust, and The Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation.

Opera
The Music Academy Voice Program will present a fully staged production of Puccini's La Bohème at the Lobero Theatre on Friday, August 3, at 7:30 pm and on Sunday, August 5, at 2:30 pm (an open dress rehearsal will take place at 7:30 pm Wednesday, August 1). Conductor Christopher Larkin will make his second consecutive Academy appearance, as will stage director Casey Stangl. The pair worked together in the same capacities on the Music Academy's 2006 production of Il viaggio a Reims. Mark Somerfield, a resident designer for the Music Academy, Opera Santa Barbara, and State Street Ballet, will design the lighting. Jean-Francois Revon, in his first engagement with the Music Academy, will serve as scenic designer, and Stacie Logue, in her third year working with the Academy, will serve as costume coordinator. The set will be custom built. The Music Academy last presented La Bohème in 1987. "Bohème is the B in the ABCs of opera. Everyone should see it!" said celebrated mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, who is celebrating her 10th year directing the Academy Voice Program.

Mr. Larkin has appeared as guest conductor with the Santa Fe Opera (La Traviata), Washington Opera (Samson et Dalila, I Puritani), New York City Opera (Don Giovanni, La Bohème), Houston Grand Opera (Tosca, Romeo et Juliette, Le Nozze di Figaro), Portland Opera (Il viaggio a Reims and Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Boston Lyric Opera (East Coast premiere of Todd Machover's Resurrection), Nashville Opera (La Bohème), and Lake George Opera (L'Italiana in Algeri). This season, he debuted with the Florentine Opera for Il Barbiere di Siviglia and with the Oberlin Conservatory of Music for Little Women.

Named Artist of the Year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Best Director by City Pages and Lavender magazine, Ms. Stangl directed the American premieres of Darwin in Malibu and Barbra's Wedding for Garry Marshall's Falcon Theatre in Burbank. Her opera credits include Dialogues of the Carmelites for Fort Worth Opera and The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein for Northstar Opera. She also served as assistant director for Frank Corsaro's production of The Marriage of Figaro at Juilliard Opera Center.

The 24 young artists who will perform in the production - chosen from among more than 460 applicants as part of the Academy's Voice Program audition process - represent some of today's finest singing talent. The 35-member orchestra will consist of Music Academy instrumentalists. The production also will feature singers from the Santa Barbara Community Chorus.

Orchestra Concerts by the Academy Festival Orchestra
The 100-member Academy Festival Orchestra, led by guest conductors David Robertson, Jeffrey Tate, Edwin Outwater, and Alexander Lazarev, will present four concerts at the Lobero Theatre in downtown Santa Barbara. Mr. Robertson, who serves as music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, will join award-winning pianist Orli Shaham for John Adams's Century Rolls and Nielsen's Symphony No. 5, op. 50, on Saturday, June 30. Mr. Tate, who serves as music director of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Italy, will conduct Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, op. 67, and Sibelius's Symphony No. 5 in E-flat Major, op. 82, on Saturday, July 14. Mr. Outwater, recently named music director of the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, will take up the baton for Concerto Night, featuring winners of the Academy's 2007 Concerto Competition, on Saturday, July 21. And Mr. Lazarev, who holds the honorary title of Conductor Emeritus of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, will lead an all-Russian program consisting of Stravinsky's Divertimento, Ballet Suite from The Fairy's Kiss, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, op. 64, on Saturday, August 11. All four concerts will begin at 8 pm.

Chamber Music
Chamber music is a vital component of the Academy's instructional program. In addition to being coached on standard chamber music repertoire, Academy young artists are encouraged to explore new works by living composers and to hone presentation skills by giving pre-concert talks. In order to provide such opportunities, the Academy presents three separate chamber music series.

The Picnic Concert Series, named for the tradition of pre-concert picnicking on the Academy's Miraflores grounds, features Academy young artists in eclectic chamber music concerts, programmed by the musicians themselves. Individual programs can range from early baroque to a classical quartet to a new work for three marimbas. The series includes pre-concert talks by the evening's featured performers in "Young Artists Speak Up." Performances take place at 7:30 pm in the Academy's Abravanel Hall.

Tuesdays @ 8 concerts feature Academy faculty artists performing beloved favorites and undiscovered treasures of the chamber music repertoire. Guest artists this season will include the peerless Takács Quartet (Tuesday, July 24), and acclaimed clarinetist and Yale music professor David Shifrin, who received the Academy's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1998 (Tuesday, August 7). Tuesdays @ 8 performances take place at the Lobero Theatre.

The Visiting Artist Series showcases the Academy's Artists-in-Residence, who also lead masterclasses and participate in informal chamber music coaching. This season the series will feature the Takács Quartet (8 pm Thursday, July 19, at The Lobero); celebrated baritone Thomas Hampson in a sumptuous program of European lieder and American song (7 pm Sunday, July 22, at The Lobero); gifted conductor Alexander Mickelthwate with the brilliantly iconoclastic violinist Gilles Apap, who will himself conduct in addition to playing the solo parts in concerti by Mozart and Karl Amadeus Hartmann (8 pm Saturday, August 4, at First Presbyterian Church); and the famed Canadian Brass (7:30 pm Monday, August 6, at Abravanel Hall).

Chamber Music Marathon: This all-day chamber music event features a varied repertoire performed by ensembles of all sizes and configurations (10 am to approximately 4 pm at Abravanel Hall). Ticket holders may come and go throughout the day.

Chamberfest: As the 2007 Festival nears its close, Academy faculty and young artists unite to demonstrate the range and delights of the chamber repertoire (8 pm Friday, August 10, at The Lobero). Sponsored in part by Santa Barbara Bank & Trust.

Competitions
This year's Concerto Competition Finals, in which Academy solo pianists and other instrumentalists vie for the honor of performing with the Academy Festival Orchestra on Concerto Night, will take place Saturday, July 7, at Abravanel Hall. An all-day event, the competition will begin at 10 am.

Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition: Academy vocalists and vocal pianists vie for prestigious Marilyn Horne Foundation Awards, presented to those who excel in performance of song repertoire and display a unique gift for communicating with the audience (10 am to 4 pm Saturday, July 21, at Abravanel Hall).

Special Events
"Songs from the Silver Screen" will be the theme of this year's CABARET, the Music Academy's signature gala benefit. Under the direction of Tony Award-winning director Don Pippin, Academy young artists will perform an alluring program of unforgettable movie music (5:30 pm Thursday, August 9, at Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort). The event will include cocktails, a gourmet dinner, and a live auction.

Free Concerts
Ninety performances and masterclasses are presented free of charge during the Music Academy of the West Summer School and Festival. These concerts provide Academy young artists with performance opportunities and serve to enrich the surrounding community. Highlights include:

  • Community Concerts feature Academy young artists performing a variety of solo and chamber works (2 pm Thursdays at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art's Craig Auditorium).
  • Academy Open House Day enables the public to sample a few of the many offerings at the Music Academy's Miraflores Campus free of charge (Thursday, July 12).
  • Woodwind, Brass, Percussion, and Double Bass Masterclasses take place at the Miraflores Campus throughout the summer season and are always free.
  • The Academy Brass Ensemble, featuring Academy brass students, presents its annual community concert, under the direction of brass faculty member Mark Lawrence (2 pm Sunday, July 22, at First Presbyterian Church).
  • The MERIT Community Concert is the culmination of the Academy's two-week mentoring program, which pairs local young musicians with Academy young artists for coaching, private instruction, and masterclasses (1 pm Sunday, July 15, at Abravanel Hall).

Festival Tickets
Subscription packages start at $80 and offer savings of up to 34 percent on single tickets. Single tickets, which range in price from $10 to $65, will go on sale May 11. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 805.969.8787, or by fax at 805.969.8769. The Music Academy Ticket Office is located on the Music Academy campus at 1070 Fairway Road in Santa Barbara.

Sponsors
The following organizations and individuals have provided invaluable support for the 2007 Summer Festival at the Music Academy of the West: The Lehrer Family Foundation, Michael J. Connell Foundation, Northern Trust, Robert W. Weinman, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, Shirley and Seymour Lehrer, and The Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation. Media partners for this year's Festival include KUSC Classical/FM 88.7, KDB 93.7 FM, the Santa Barbara Independent, CASA Magazine Santa Barbara, and Santa Barbara Seasons.

ACADEMICS

Dramatic Workshop for Singers
Former San Francisco Opera general director Lotfi Mansouri will once again lead a three-week acting and movement workshop for Academy Voice Program students. The workshop will culminate with a pair of public Opera Showcase performances (2 pm Saturday, July 14, and 7:30 pm Monday, July 16, both in Abravanel Hall). These are among the most popular events of the Festival season! This year best-loved scenes from Mozart's Don Giovanni, Britten's Peter Grimes, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, and five other operas will be brought to life in a staged operatic potpourri directed by Mr. Mansouri and the Academy's own Warren Jones.

New!
Injury Prevention Classes
Pianist Mary Spire will instruct Academy young artists in the Feldenkrais method, a system of lessons to reduce arm, finger, and wrist strain (Monday, June 18, and Wednesday, July 18, both at 7:30 pm at Cate School in Carpinteria). Ms. Spire performed for many years before becoming a certified Feldenkrais trainer. She has taught the method at UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco, Boston University, SUNY Stonybrook, Tanglewood, and other schools and hospitals. Since 1994 she has taught for the San Francisco Symphony's Prevention & Wellness Program. Ms. Spire also maintains private practices in Berkeley and Corte Madera, California, where she specializes in working with infants and children, older adults, people with neurological conditions, and performing artists.

Masterclasses
The masterclass is one of the hallmarks of the Music Academy experience for students and audience members alike. All students participate in the Music Academy's extensive masterclass program, which is designed to complement individual private instruction. Throughout the eight weeks, more than 100 public masterclasses are presented by faculty and guest artists, including vocal masterclasses with mezzo-soprano and Voice Program Director Marilyn Horne (3:15 pm Tuesday, July 10 and August 7, at Abravanel Hall, and 3 pm Saturday, July 28, at the Lobero Theatre) and vocal piano and interpretation faculty member Warren Jones (3:15 pm Tuesday, June 19, at Abravanel Hall; 3 pm Saturday, June 30, at the Lobero Theatre; and 3:15 pm Friday, July 6, at Abravanel Hall). In addition, weekly Masterclass series are presented by members of the string, woodwind, brass, percussion, voice, and piano faculty, including pianists Jonathan Feldman and Jerome Lowenthal, violinists Kathleen Winkler and Zvi Zeitlin, and violist Donald McInnes. The public is invited to attend these classes, which provide unique insight into the music teaching process at its most dynamic and intimate.

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 performance under the guidance of internationally renowned faculty artists, as well as guest conductors and soloists. Admission to the Academy is strictly merit based, and students receive full scholarships. Academy alumni are members of major symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies and university and conservatory faculties throughout the world. Many have established themselves as prominent solo artists. Based in Santa Barbara, the Music Academy of the West presents scores of public events annually. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.

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