Music Academy of the West
1070 Fairway Rd
Santa Barbara, CA 93108
805-969-4726
The Next Generation of Great Classically Trained Musicians
The Music Academy of the West makes a unique and enduring contribution to the world of music by:
- Advancing the development of the next generation of great classically trained musicians and
- Cultivating discerning, appreciative, and adventurous audiences
The Music Academy of the West community values:
- an idyllic environment that is supportive, creative, nurturing, and inspirational
- excellence in all we do
- institutional sustainability
- integrity
- trust
- building constructive and productive relationships
The Music Academy of the West was founded in 1947 by a group of visionary Southern California arts patrons and musicians, including the legendary soprano Lotte Lehmann and the famed conductor Otto Klemperer.
Initially serving 54 young artists, the Academy’s first four summer sessions took place at Cate School in Carpinteria.
Also contributing to the Academy’s beginnings were Ernest Bloch, Richard Lert, Darius Milhaud, Gregor Piatigorsky, William Primrose, Arnold Schoenberg, Reginald Stewart, Lawrence Tibbett, and John Charles Thomas, who together with Roman Totenberg, Richard Bonelli, and England’s Griller String Quartet, formed the faculty in the early years.
Four years after it opened, the Academy relocated to its current home, the former estate of John Percival Jefferson.
