The Music Academy of the West is an institution that is both as venerable as an old cathedral and as current as this season’s high school athletic teams. Now in its eighth decade, the academy remains a work in progress, adding and dropping programs as the situation demands, expanding and deepening the public performances, while increasing the private tutorials and masterclasses.
In the face of the global shutdown of large scale public events, together with the demands of physical distancing, the academy has fashioned a typically innovative response, in complete harmony with the youth of their students (fellows): they have decided, as Clausewitz might say, to continue the Summer Festival by other means.
They have founded and set in motion a Music Academy Remote Learning Institute, which will conduct the festival’s first four weeks virtually, online, using digital technology.
The academy explains it this way: “Over the first four weeks of the Academy’s annual Summer School & Festival (June 15-July 10), all 139 full-scholarship fellows will receive mentorship online from faculty, guest artists, and industry leaders. Dedicated community compeers will connect with the fellows in online social meetings.
“Home audiences around the world will be able to watch performances by fellows, faculty, and alumni through live streams and video recordings. If federal, state, and local guidelines allow, the Music Academy’s eight-week Summer School and Festival will transition to a four-week public Festival to take place from July 13-August 8.
“The program would include signature events at the Lobero and Granada Theaters and the Community Concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl. Full details will be announced on May 15 or prior.”
The online aspects will present little challenge to the fellows, who have been, from an early age, diving and leaping through the internet like dolphins. It is their everyday ambiance. The rest of us will have to keep up as best we can, but the Music Academy will be going to some lengths to make it easy for us.
“It’s critical that we provide talented musicians a supportive place to develop their artistry,” said Music Academy president and CEO, Scott Reed.
“In this unprecedented time, the world is looking to artists to flourish in new ways. With our outstanding faculty and unique curriculum, the Music Academy is equipped to offer these young people the tools for creative success beyond our physical campus through a virtual space,” he said.
As luck would have it, 2020 marks an all-time high for the number of musicians applying to audition for the Summer Festival. Aptly, exactly 2,020 candidates applied for the 139 available fellowships in a highly competitive process. Aged 18-34, the musicians hail from 23 countries and 22 of the United States, representing 42 universities and conservatories. 26 of this year’s fellows are also returning Music Academy alumni.
The Music Academy’s 2020 curriculum for fellows will include:
Convocation keynote speakers Vijay Gupta and Beth Morrison on Innovation.
Weekly private lessons and studio classes with academy faculty and guest artists.
Career-Building Seminars designed for the 21st century musician.
Music Academy Concert Hall Online – live streamed and recorded performances.
Interview spotlights with faculty, guest artists and fellows.
Fellow meetings with compeers, community members who provide ongoing social support.
Orchestral excerpts coaching sessions for instrumental fellows.
Diction coaching and acting workshops for Vocal Institute fellows.
Wellness activities for all fellows.
“The Music Academy’s mission for 73 years has focused on performance-based training for artists,” said Reed. “We’re fully committed to continuing that this summer. Chief artistic officer Jamie Broumas and faculty artists have curated a robust program for the first half of the Summer Festival that will challenge and inspire our fellows.”
Academy Board Chair Eileen Sheridan adds: “Our Board of Directors enthusiastically endorses the Remote Learning Institute’s connection to audiences. A community collaboration through the Compeer Program will undoubtedly lead to new relationships as well as support the young musicians while working from home alone.
“The music lovers in Santa Barbara are here to provide that much-needed positive social connection.”
If the pandemic prevents the presentation of public events this summer, the Remote Learning Institute will transition to training resulting in fellow projects that will be presented in a virtual finale event. Fellows will also participate in the annual Solo Piano Competition and Keston MAX auditions for the opportunity to study and perform with the London Symphony Orchestra in London in 2021.
For more information on the Music Academy, or to donate, visit www.musicacademy.org.
— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributing writer. He can be reached at gerald.carpenter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are his own.