Music Academy of the West

Marin Alsop returns to Santa Barbara this summer to lead 2 Community Concerts on Sat, Aug 7 The Granada Theatre. Tickets are ALL $10 - on sale Fri, Jun 25 Music Academy of the West

Alumnus pianist Jacopo Giacopuzzi (‘13) performing for our dedicated Auxiliary volunteers. Thank you, all!

Happy 93rd birthday to our Distinguished Alumni Award WinnerBurt Bacharach ('50)!

Join us in person for the 2021 Summer School & Festival. Can't wait to meet this group of incredible fellows and welcome our faculty back!

Alumnus flutist Anthony Trionfo (‘16, ‘17) has a new video!

Wow! Alumnus pianist Dominic Cheli (‘17) completed an Ironman.

Shout out to Vocal Institute Creative Director James Darrah and 2021 guest artist Daniela Candillari! They will be appearing at Lyric Opera of Chicago this coming season.

Impressive achievements! National Advisory Council member Tracy K. Smith has been elected to the Academy of Arts and Letters and 2021 Mosher Guest Artist Tyshawn Sorey has won their Lieberson Fellowship.

Alumni Enterprise Award winner Rich Coburn (‘14) seeks submissions for his project that will serve as a great resource for vocal music.

The Takács Quartet, faculty artists at the Music Academy of the West, are performing live this week in Luxembourg. Safe travels and enjoy making live music again!

Our dedicated Board member Clive Chang shares the exciting changes in store at LincolnCenter PerformingArts. So grateful he mentors #musicacademyw fellows!

Props to alumnus bassoonist Joshua Elmore ('18). We learned that he won a Principal audition with Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra!

After receiving a record number of applications for this year's Alumni Enterprise Awards, we are pleased to announce the 2021 winners: Camila Barrientos Ossio (clarinet '11, '12) and Bruno Luiz Lourensetto (trumpet '12), Rich Coburn (vocal piano '14), Cristina Cutts Dougherty (tuba '20, '21), Adanya Dunn (mezzo-soprano '14, '15), and Christina Giuca Krause (vocal piano '13, '17). Click below to read more about the winning projects. Congratulations to these six recipients!

Two more alums were announced as Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions District Winners over the weekend!! Soprano Yvette Keong ('19) is a District Winner in the Tennessee District and Sun-Ly Pierce ('19, '20) is a District Winner in the Buffalo-Toronto District! Congratulations, Yvette and Sun-Ly!!

Great Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions news for another Music Academy alum! Mezzo-soprano Talin Nalbandian ('18, '19) is a District Winner from the Washington district! Congratulations, Talin!

Congratulations to alumna soprano Magdalena Kuzma ('19) on winning Third Place AND being voted Audience Favorite in the Scholarship Division of the National Opera Association's 2021 Vocal Competition! Brava!!

We're so proud of the AWESOME kids in our Sing! Choral Program, who have continued making music together despite the ongoing pandemic. As part of a year-long project, the Sing! Choir is learning Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's "Songs from Childhood," the first half of which they performed on their 2020 Winter Concert. Thank you to the Arvo Pärt Centre for sharing the concert video! If you haven't yet watched the Winter Concert, be sure to check it out below!

Have you checked out our latest issue of FanFare? Read online to learn all about the 2021 Summer Festival guest artist line-up and the launch of the Innovation Institute. Plus, we share alumni achievements, donor stories and events, faculty artist and administration news, and exciting media coverage of the Music Academy Remote Learning Institute.