Montecito Foothills Alive with Music

The Westmont Conference Center hosts the second annual Montecito Summer Music Festival through Friday, Aug. 7. The festival brings world-class musicians together with advanced students of classical piano and strings for two weeks of instruction and performance. All the events (several concerts, recitals and master classes) will be in Westmont’s Page Multi-Purpose Room and are free and open to the public, including Mendelssohn’s 200th Birthday Faculty Chamber Concert Tuesday, July 28, at 7:30 p.m. and the Ivry Gitlis Tribute Concert Saturday, Aug. 1, at 7:30 p.m.

The Mendelssohn concert, featuring an all-Mendelssohn program conducted by Westmont music professor Michael Shasberger, includes chamber music performed by members of the Montecito Music Festival faculty. The Gitlis concert presents music by Vivaldi and the world premiere of “The Montecito Variations,” a collaborative work by six Southern California composers commissioned by the festival in honor of Gitlis, the 2009 Faculty Honoree. Gitlis, who turns 87 on Aug. 22, is considered one of the most talented musicians of his generation, and many of his recordings are regarded as classics.

The programs for the student recitals and master classes will be determined as the festival progresses, featuring outstanding soloists and chamber ensembles from among the 14 faculty members and 65 participants, who range in age from 9 to 30.

Download the complete schedule of recitals and master classes