London, Vienna, New York and…Santa Barbara? Santa Barbara might be a small town, but when it comes to music, it sits on an international stage thanks to the Music Academy of the West.

Tucked into the former Montecito Country Club, Music Academy of the West is a world-renowned music conservatory known for its acclaimed Summer Festival. Since its founding in 1947 by musical legends Lotte Lehmann, Otto Klemperer, Roman Totenberg, Rosalyn Tureck, John Charles Thomas, Ernest Bloch, Darius Milhaud, Roy Harris, and Arnold Schoenberg, the school has trained over 7,000 musical students.

Summer Festival

The signature 8-week summer program awards fellowships to talented musicians from ages 18-34 to train, practice and perform in Santa Barbara.

This year, over 8,000 artists applied for the 137 fellowships available in vocals, piano, strings, woodwinds, brass, harp and percussion, and timpani. The 2024 fellows come from 15 different countries. The Summer Festival also features guest teachers to guide the fellows.

Once a fellow arrives in Santa Barbara, the program covers all their instruction and expenses.

The fellows perform in a variety of orchestra and opera shows throughout the summer at The Granada Theatre. Tickets for this year’s performances are still available.

“While the fellows are here, they spend about 6-8 hours a day in everything from one-on-one lessons, rehearsals for our orchestra and opera concerts, to learning in master classes and practicing,” said Shauna Quill, the President, and CEO of Music Academy of the West. “But we also give them free time to go to the beach and experience Santa Barbara.”

Local Involvement

One way the fellows immerse in the Santa Barbara community is through the Compeer Program.

Santa Barbara residents can apply to be a friend to a fellow. According to Quill this can mean anything from showing the musicians around town, having them over for dinner, attending their performances, and everything in between.

The experience is similar to hosting a foreign exchange student, but without the student living with you. Music Academy of the West takes great care to match residents and fellows who have similar interests. The Compeer program opens its applications in March 2025 for next summer.

Sing Program

While the heart of Music Academy of the West is the summer fellow program, it works year-round to promote the arts in Santa Barbara. One way it does this is through its Sing! Program.

Sing! is a free after-school program for children in kindergarten to ninth grade that runs in 43 schools in the Santa Barbara area.

“Sing! is fantastic,” enthused Quill. “It’s a lovely way for us to make sure we have roots in our local community.

Nearly 300 children participate in the vocal program. Sing! allows budding musicians to perform in two annual concerts and collaborate with world-renowned arts organizations like the London Symphony Orchestra and local groups like State Street Ballet and Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara (CAMA).

“Right now, Sing! Is all vocal, but in the future, we hope to expand into an instrument program through a partnership with other organizations,” said Quill.

The best way to learn more about Music Academy of the West is to see it in action this summer during a wide variety of performances at The Granada Theatre.