For local — and not so local — music lovers, June means two things: the Santa Barbara Music Club’s Scholarship Showcase Concerts, which take place at 3 p.m. Saturdays June 3 and June 10, both in First United Methodist Church, 305 E. Anapamu St.; and, of course, the opening of the Music Academy of the West’s Summer Festival.
“For several decades,” says the Music Club, “the Santa Barbara Music Club Scholarships have provided support to deserving instrumental and vocal music students from Santa Barbara County. The scholarships are made possible by the generosity of our donors who wish to provide aid and encouragement to outstanding music students from local schools and teaching studios that show promise of becoming our future soloists, orchestral musicians, opera singers, and other music professionals. Success stories from past scholarship recipients testify to the positive effects of this scholarship program.”
Each of the two free concerts will have a different program, made up, usually, of the pieces that, in the performance competition, won the scholarship for the young musicians.
They are a double bouquet of blooming young, and each of these concerts that I have myself attended has left me delighted and enriched — not to mention amazed at the scale of our reservoir of talent.
As noted above, these concerts are free and open to the public, but that need not deter anyone from making a donation — of any size — toward the funding of future scholarships and free concerts.
There will be, no doubt, provisions for donation in the lobby of the church, and if you can’t wait, you can always go to the Music Club’s user-friendly website at www.SBMusicClub.org.