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Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara — Step Inside the 2024 Gala: Exclusive Photos & Highlights

by Community Contributor • June 4, 2024 • Comments Off

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Pat Yzurdiaga, teaching artist Richie Hawley, and Ann Edmonston

Music Academy Board President Maurice Singer, President & CEO Shauna Quill, Joshua Roman, and Hyon Chough

SANTA BARBARA — The Music Academy of the West hosted their 77th Anniversary Festival Gala on Saturday, June 1 on the Music Academy’s Miraflores campus. Themed “Magic of the Music Academy: A New Era,” the curated event focused on the Academy’s mission of advancing the development of the next generation of great classically trained musicians.

The Gala raised $325,000 which supports the Music Academy’s full-scholarship program that brings 137 fellows from across the country and around the world to study and perform with world-class teaching artists in Santa Barbara during the annual eight week Summer Festival, benefits 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’s 225 guests enjoyed a spectacular Italian-themed evening from start to finish, including a cocktail reception, exciting raffle prizes, and an al fresco dinner. The gala also featured a moving performance by cellist, curator, composer, and Music Academy alumnus Joshua Roman in the Academy’s Hahn Hall.

Joshua Roman’s solo cello program included the beauty of J.S. Bach’s well-loved Cello Suite No. 1, followed by his unique interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s iconic “Hallelujah.” Joshua 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. After the performance, the Music Academy of the West’s new President and CEO Shauna Quill sat down with the artist to discuss the impact of the Music Academy on his career.

SOLO PROGRAM with JOSHUA ROMAN cello

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major
(1685-1750)

JOSHUA ROMAN Immunity

(b. 1983)

LEONARD COHEN Hallelujah

(1934-2016)

arr: Joshua Roman

About Joshua Roman

Joshua Roman is a cello soloist and composer, hailed for his “effortlessly expressive tone… and playful zest for exploration” (New York Times). His genre-bending programs and wide-ranging collaborations have grown out of an “enthusiasm for musical evolution that is as contagious as his love for the classics” (Seattle Times). Committed to bringing Classical music to new audiences, Roman opened the acclaimed 2017 TED Conference, and his performance of the complete Bach Solo Cello Suites after the 2016 U.S. Presidential election was the most-viewed event in the history of TED’s social channels, with nearly a million live viewers. Roman has collaborated with world-class artists across genres and disciplines, including Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, DJ Spooky, Tony-winner/MacArthur Genius Bill T. Jones, Grammy Award-winning East African vocalist Somi, and Tony Award-nominated actor Anna Deavere Smith. Roman attended the Music Academy of the West in 2002.

pictured L to R: Gala Committee Members Christine and Kelly Teich, Danner Schefler, guest artist Joshua Roman, Susan Lichtenstein and John Rokacz, and Arno Schefler

GRAZIE! to the generous Gala Sponsors and Committee members that made this unforgettable evening possible:

GALA SPONSORS

Mary Lynn & Warren Staley

Stephanie & Fred Shuman

Pam & Russ Strobel

Kathleen & Jerry Eberhardt

Val & Bob Montgomery

Francis Family Foundation

with additional support from the Luria/Budgor Famioly Foundation and The Zegar Family Fund

GALA COMMITTEE

Susan Lichtenstein & John Rokacz

Josh & Colette Ramirez

Danner & Arno Schefler

Stephanie & Fred Shuman

Pam & Russ Strobel

Kelly & Christine Teich

special thanks to Steinway & Sons for their contribution of the evening’s Spirio player pianos

About the Music Academy of the West

Located in Santa Barbara, the Music Academy of the West creates a space where exceptional talent can thrive by encouraging artists to stretch, experiment, improvise, and play. The Music Academy provides artists with the tools they need to become not just great musicians but great leaders. The Music Academy’s programs include the annual eight-week Summer School & Music Festival which trains up to 150 fellows ages 18-34 and presents more than 130 performances and events, competitions, and a fully staged opera; Sing!, a children’s choir that performs with local, national, and international partners; the MAX (Music Academy Exchange) partnership with international orchestras; the innovative Alumni Enterprise Awards; and the Mariposa Series of concerts by Academy-affiliated artists. The 2024 Summer School & Festival takes place from June 12 through August 3. Learn more at musicacademy.org.