Community Calendar

Join us in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara for an all-Beethoven celebration of founding member cellist András Fejér in his final performance with the Quartet.

The Music Academy’s Lehrer Vocal Institute fellows perform art songs of their native land, sharing their unique voice and artistic identity.

The Music Academy’s teaching artist roster is unmatched—artists who mentor at the highest level and shine in performance throughout the summer. Teaching Artist Showcases spotlight this extraordinary talent in concert, bringing our influential teaching artists to the stage in chamber music collaborations.

The Festival opens with an orchestral program combining Gershwin’s American classic with Brahms’ Pastoral symphony, led by renowned conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and performed by tomorrow’s stars.

Hear a kaleidoscope of orchestral works as the Orchestra explores infinite space, performed with awe-inspiring NASA images and footage in HD on the big screen, led by renowned conductor Xian Zhang.

Opera scenes are reimagined by director Paul Curran in a program that cuts to the heart of some of opera’s most beloved repertoire.

Immerse yourself in the genius of celebrated pianist and teaching artist Jeremy Denk in an evening of brilliant performance featuring select piano etudes and Beethoven’s thrilling ”Hammerklavier.”

Experience the powerful words of Abraham Lincoln on the power of democracy when Gemma New conducts Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, with narration by acclaimed actor Josh Brolin. Plus: the world premiere of the orchestrated version of Jasmine Barnes’ American Lament, commissioned and performed by Sasha Cooke.

The SLO Music and Arts Festival kicks off with an exciting opening night chamber music concert featuring three masterpieces. A lovely quartet by Haydn opens the concert, dubbed the “Lark” because of a famous singing theme in the first movement. Martinů's sextet is a complex piece that brought the composer recognition in the U.S. after it was premiered in Washington D.C. and received the 1932 Coolidge Prize. Closing the concert is Bloch’s agitated and energetic first piano quintet, which he composed while serving as director of the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Festival Mozaic is proud to return to the Patty Boyd Concert Hall in Santa Maria, this time for a full-length chamber music concert. Adams’s Shaker Loops, a string septet inspired by the Shaker communities of 1700s New England, kicks off this program. Following is a string quintet by Brahms that features two violas rather than two violins. Closing the concert is Dohnányi’s first published work, a piano quintet that took the classical music world by storm receiving high praise from his superstar contemporary Brahms.