Music Fest Brings World-Class Talent to Montecito

The Montecito International Music Festival returns to Westmont for its fifth season with a stellar lineup of visiting artists and talented faculty. About 140 students from around the world take part in a three-week, music-intensive program July 16-Aug. 3. “They are among the most talented young musicians in the world, coming together to learn from today’s masters and to share the joy of chamber music with their contemporaries,” says Director Chan Ho Yun.

Legendary violinist Ida Haendel performs at a Jascha Heifetz tribute concert Thursday, July 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Porter Theatre. Tickets, which are $15 for students/seniors and $30 general admission, will be sold at the door.

Premiere concert violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, a Southern California native who played with the Santa Barbara Symphony earlier this year, performs in a master class Saturday, July 28, at 2:30 p.m. in Porter Theatre. Tickets, which are $10 for students/seniors and $20 general admission, will be sold at the door.

Meyers will also headline a performance Sunday, July 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Porter Theatre, joining the Arensky Trio, which includes Yi-Ju Lai and Ko Iwasaki, and the Mendelssohn Octet, which includes Sam Fischer, Rebekah Durham, Mai Ke, Bethany Pereboom, Yi Zhou, Xian Zhuo and Marek Szpakiewicz. Tickets, which are $15 for students/seniors and $30 general admission, will be sold at the door.

Violinist Philip Ficsor and pianist Constantine Finehouse, a duo named American Double, present a master class Monday, July 30, at 2:30 p.m. in Porter Theatre. Tickets, which are $10 for students/seniors and $20 general admission, will be sold at the door. The American Double will also perform a concert Tuesday, July 31, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, which are $15 for students/seniors and $30 general admission, will be sold at the door.

Ficsor, who begins his seventh year as an assistant professor of violin at Westmont, recently released his third recording, “Summer Day,” featuring the complete works for violin and piano of Emma Lou Diemer, with the composer at the keyboard.

Finehouse, who has performed extensively in the U.S. and abroad since receiving his master’s degree in piano performance from Yale University, is a champion of music by Bolcom, whose complete solo piano works Finehouse is currently recording for Naxos Records. He has been an artist-in-residence at Westmont.

Here is a pdf of an updated calendar of the 2012 season.