The New York Philharmonic has selected 10 outstanding young instrumentalists from the Music Academy of the West — one of the nation’s pre-eminent summer music schools and festivals — to come to New York City for a 10-day immersion amidst its musicians as Zarin Mehta Fellows, inaugurating the Philharmonic’s Global Academy Fellowship Program.

Fellowship activities will  begin Jan. 3 in New York and include coaching, chamber music and other professional development activities with Alan Gilbert and members of the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall.

The January program is part of the two organizations’ innovative, four-year educational partnership announced in the spring that includes training of Music Academy Fellows by Philharmonic musicians, biennial performances by Alan Gilbert and the Philharmonic at the Music Academy’s Summer Festival in Santa Barbara, and Alan Gilbert conducting Academy Festival Orchestra performances at each Music Academy Summer Festival. A new group of Music Academy students will be selected to come to New York as Zarin Mehta Fellows in each of the four years of the partnership.

The first class of the New York Philharmonic Global Academy Fellowship Program will include 10 Zarin Mehta Fellows, selected by audition: Douglas Aliano, 20 (double bass); Anthony Bellino, 22 (trumpet), Matthew Cohen, 25 (viola), Sean Krissman, 24 (clarinet), Simon Michal, 21 (violin), Charlie Rosmarin, 22 (percussion), Michael Severance, 24 (bassoon), William Shaub, 22 (violin), Genevieve Tabby, 23 (cello), and Jennifer Zhou, 21 (flute). A total of 68 Music Academy of the West instrumentalists, all full-scholarship participants during the summer of 2014, auditioned for the program.

The New York Philharmonic’s extensive partnership with the Music Academy of the West also calls for Philharmonic conductors and musicians to be in residence in Santa Barbara for portions of Music Academy Summer Festivals through 2017, performing and taking part in master classes, chamber music coaching sessions, private lessons, and lectures. In August 2015, the New York Philharmonic will make its debut at the Santa Barbara Bowl. In 2017, the orchestras will perform together under the baton of Gilbert in Santa Barbara to commemorate the Music Academy of the West’s 70th anniversary.

“I was truly impressed with the level of musicianship of the students at Music Academy of the West I worked with this past summer — it is absolutely one of the finest training institutions in the country and I’m pleased we’re able to work with them on a consistent basis through this partnership,” Gilbert said. “I look forward both to having these select Fellows with us here in New York in January, and to continuing this work in beautiful Santa Barbara this summer.”

“At the Music Academy of the West, we pride ourselves on providing training worthy of the classical music stars of tomorrow, including unique educational and performance opportunities to prepare them for successful careers as musicians,” Music Academy President Scott Reed said. “This historic collaboration with the New York Philharmonic is nothing less than a validation of our program, as the Philharmonic is similarly intent on providing the next generation of elite musicians with transformative educational and performance opportunities. We are enormously proud to be working so closely with this iconic musical institution.”

“The opportunity to bring students to New York to train with Philharmonic musicians here in our hall is an important facet of our partnership with Music Academy of the West and of all current and future Global Academy partners,” said Matthew VanBesien, president and executive director of the New York Philharmonic. “We are grateful to our donors who have supported the Global Fellowship Program in the name of my predecessor, Zarin Mehta, who has made the nurturing of young musicians a priority in his career.”

The Music Academy of the West is the first American partnership of the New York Philharmonic Global Academy, a series of long-term, immersive partnerships with select cultural and music education institutions in New York, the United States and worldwide to offer intensive training of pre-professional musicians by Philharmonic members alongside regular performance residencies by the full Orchestra. The Global Academy Fellowship Program is a key component of the Global Academy, offering opportunities for Academy participants to travel to New York City to train and play with Philharmonic musicians in Avery Fisher Hall. The Fellowship Program has been made possible by gifts made in the name of Zarin Mehta, who served as Philharmonic President and Executive Director, 2000–2012. The Philharmonic has also created a four-year Global Academy partnership with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, launched in September 2014, which includes the establishment of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy (SOA), in partnership with the Shanghai Conservatory, and annual performance residencies, by Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic in Shanghai. Students from the SOA will participate in the Global Academy Fellowship Program in New York in the 2015–16 season; further details will be announced.

Gilbert formally launched the Philharmonic’s partnership with Music Academy of the West in summer 2014, leading the young members of the Academy Festival Orchestra in a sold-out performance at Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre on July 26. Los Angeles Times critic Mark Swed called the concert “a notable occasion, not only because the program was sensationally well played … Gilbert looked as though nothing in the world was more enjoyable than making the academy ensemble look good, which is to say sound great.… There was a sheen to the academy sound that was reminiscent of the New York Philharmonic, and an irresistible playfulness.” New York Philharmonic cellist Eric Bartlett, Principal Flute Robert Langevin, and Principal Trombone Joseph Alessi led training activities.

While this new collaboration has created the first official partnership between these two organizations, the Music Academy has long enjoyed an informal connection to the New York Philharmonic through its faculty and visiting artists. In the summer of 2014, Glenn Dicterow, who retired at the end of last season after 34 years as the Philharmonic’s Concertmaster, joined the Music Academy faculty, where he has been a visiting artist in previous summers. In addition to 12 New York Philharmonic musicians who are Music Academy alumni, past Music Academy faculty members have included former New York Philharmonic Principal Flute Jeanne Baxtresser, former Associate Principal Cello Alan Stepansky, and current Philharmonic trombonist David Finlayson. Philharmonic Principal Viola Cynthia Phelps, a Music Academy alumna (‘79 and ’83) and Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, also returned as a visiting artist this past summer.

— Tim Dougherty is the communications manager for the Music Academy of the West.