The Music Academy of the West raised $325,000 at its 77th Anniversary Festival Gala June 1 on the Music Academy’s Miraflores campus.

Themed Magic of the Music Academy: A New Era, the event focused on the academy’s mission of advancing the development of the next generation of great classically trained musicians.

The gala supports the Music Academy’s full-scholarship program that brings 137 fellows from around the world to study and perform with world-class teaching artists in Santa Barbara during the annual eight week Summer Festival.

Funds raised also benefit the Academy’s Sing! Children’s Chorus of Santa Barbara County youth, and subsidizes 3,000 community access tickets for the Santa Barbara community to attend live performances.

The gala featured a performance by cellist, curator, composer, and Music Academy alumnus Joshua Roman in the Academy’s Hahn Hall.

Roman’s solo program included J.S. Bach’s “Cello Suite No. 1,” followed by his interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s iconic “Hallelujah.”

Roman also shared an original composition inspired by his acclaimed “Immunity” project, celebrating the power of human connection and the liberating act of letting go of perfectionism.

Gala sponsors were:
Mary Lynn & Warren Staley
Stephanie & Fred Shuman
Pam & Russ Strobel
Kathleen & Jerry Eberhardt
Val & Bob Montgomery
Francis Family Foundation

Additional support came from the Luria/Budgor Famioly Foundation and The Zegar Family Fund.