Your Summer in Concert: Music Academy of the West’s 2026 Summer Music Festival

The Music Academy of the West invites audiences to experience the 2026 Summer Music Festival & School, an eight-week celebration of music, artistry, and discovery running June 17 through August 8 in Santa Barbara.

This year’s Festival theme, American Mosaic, celebrates the many artists, stories, and traditions that shape American classical music today. Across more than 100 events, the Festival brings together 150 exceptional fellows, 60 distinguished teaching and guest artists, and 60 students in the new High School Intensive for a summer of unforgettable performances, masterclasses, premieres, and community experiences.

Set across the Music Academy’s Montecito campus and Santa Barbara’s beloved venues, the season offers something for every kind of music lover: bold orchestral works, intimate recitals, contemporary premieres, family concerts, a fully staged opera, and free community events.

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ACADEMY FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA SERIES
A centerpiece of the summer season, the Academy Festival Orchestra brings the next generation of musicians together with internationally acclaimed conductors for performances that are grand, cinematic, and deeply moving. This summer’s highlights:

••• Gershwin’s An American in Paris and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 led by Miguel Harth-Bedoya (July 3/Granada).
••• Holst’s The Planets, An HD Odyssey, conducted by Xian Zhang and paired with stunning NASA imagery (July 11/Granada).
••• A powerful American program led by Gemma New featuring Copland’s Lincoln Portrait (July 18/Lobero).
••• Hannu Lintu conducting works by Samuel Adams and Sibelius (August 1/Granada).
••• David Danzmayr leading a season-closing program of Mozart and Rachmaninoff (August 8/Granada)

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OPERA OF THE SUMMER: KEVIN PUTS’S AND MARK CAMPBELL’S ELIZABETH CREE
July 24, 7:30 p.m. & July 26, 2 p.m. | The Granada Theatre

The 2026 opera is not to be missed. Elizabeth Cree is a gripping 90-minute Gothic thriller set in Victorian-era London, with a libretto by Mark Campbell and a score by Kevin Puts that is theatrical, suspenseful, and “musically magical & murderously good” (Opera Today). As a special treat, immediately following both performances, audiences are invited to stay for a post-opera talk with the artists on the Granada stage.

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LOBERO NIGHTS SERIES
The Festival continues at the historic Lobero Theatre with the Lobero Nights Series, an intimate chamber music series featuring celebrated Music Academy teaching and guest artists in one of Santa Barbara’s most beloved performance spaces.

Highlights include Jeffrey Kahane & Friends, with Kahane joined by Margaret Batjer, Yura Lee, and Zlatomir Fung (June 20); the Takács Quartet in an all-Beethoven celebration honoring founding cellist András Fejér in his final season with the ensemble (June 27); and two expansive Teaching Artist Showcases (July 2 and August 6).

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CELEBRITY RECITAL SERIES
The Celebrity Recital Series brings some of the summer’s most compelling guest artists to the stage for intimate performances that showcase virtuosity, personality, and artistic range.

This season’s featured artists include Zlatomir Fung, the International Tchaikovsky Competition-winning cellist, performing with pianist Jonathan Feldman (June 18); ARKAI, the GRAMMY-winning duo of violinist Jonathan Miron and cellist Philip Sheegog (June 19); celebrated pianist Jeremy Denk in a recital featuring Beethoven’s monumental Hammerklavier Sonata (July 15); and Mosher Guest Artist Jennifer Koh, whose Bach & Beyond program pairs Bach’s sonatas and partitas with Philip Glass (July 25).

Together, these performances offer a rare chance to experience internationally recognized artists in programs that feel personal, adventurous.

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FAMILY & COMMUNITY EVENTS
The Music Academy’s summer season extends beyond the concert hall with events designed for families, young listeners, and the broader Santa Barbara community.

PercussionFest Family Matinee invites audiences into the excitement of rhythm, movement, and hands-on discovery (July 8). The Academy Chamber Orchestra Family Concert brings Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra to life with the imaginative performers of Really Inventive Stuff (July 25). Brass @ the Bandshell returns as a free outdoor community concert, bringing the brilliance of Academy brass fellows to one of Santa Barbara’s most inviting public spaces, the Plaza del Mar Band Shell (August 2).

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MASTERCLASSES: WHERE THE MUSIC IS MADE
A signature part of the Music Academy experience, public masterclasses offer audiences a rare behind-the-scenes look at artistic training at the highest level. Throughout the summer, audiences can watch fellows work one-on-one with leading teaching artists in voice, piano, strings, winds, brass, percussion, and more. These sessions reveal the nuance, discipline, and transformation behind every great performance—and offer a uniquely personal way to experience the Festival.

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TICKETS
Tickets for the 2026 Summer Music Festival are on sale now at musicacademy.org, by phone at 805-969-8787, and through the Music Academy Ticket Office opening for the season on June 11.

The Music Academy offers $10 Community Access Tickets for Santa Barbara County residents and $10 tickets for youth ages 7–17 or free with an adult ticket purchase.

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Sponsored by the Music Academy of the West.