Gerald Carpenter: Academy Concerts Make Big Music, Intimately

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By Gerald Carpenter, Noozhawk Contributor

A music marathon kicks off Thursday with a 'Vocal Chamber' program

At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 29, in Hahn Hall, the Music Academy of the West will present a concert of “Vocal Chamber Music” — defined as a “program of art songs and chamber works for multiple instruments and voice.”

There may be a part for a pianist in all of this, but the intent is obviously to avoid the traditional star-vocalist-with-piano tableau.

John Churchwell, of the academy’s vocal-piano faculty, will direct the young singers and players, and the $25 price tag implies an ambitious and rewarding program.

Those who have been following this year’s Marilyn Horne Song Competition — won by soprano Megan Hart and pianist Sun Ha “Sunny” Yoon — will no doubt see some familiar faces and hear familiar voices among the evening’s performers.

There will be one of those miraculous Picnic Concerts — chamber music ranging from the well-known and beloved to the unusual and challenging, programmed and played by the academy Fellows — at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 30, in Hahn Hall. One hopes these brilliant young musicians will get a good night’s sleep — unlikely at that age — since many of them will have to be back in Hahn Hall at 10 a.m. Saturday for the start of the eagerly anticipated Chamber Music Marathon.

The first session ($8) runs until noon; the second ($12) from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. If you haven’t been able to attend as many Picnic Concerts as you wished this summer, this is a great chance to play catchup, and you certainly can’t beat the prices.

Some of those attending the afternoon session of the marathon might be willing to yield their seats to late-comers, in order to slip off to the Lobero Theatre for the 3 p.m. vocal masterclass led by Warren Jones, the academy’s unique guru of collaborative piano and vocal performance. To attend one of Jones’ masterclasses is to fall under a spell — from which one wishes never to be restored to “real life.”

For tickets and more information about the academy, click here or call 805.969.8787.

Tickets for the Jones masterclass are $30, and can be purchased at the Lobero box office, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. or 805.963.0761.

— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributor. He can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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