Summertime living

BY STEVEN LIBOWITZ
The Daily Sound has fired up a new web address – www.thedailysound.com – that replaces www.santabarbarafree.com as our main online site. But just because we took the word “free” out of the URL doesn’t mean we’re abandoning a mission to let you know about some of the great events in the area that won’t set you back or penny.

Free isn’t usually a word associated with classical music, but at the Music Academy of the West, community outreach is a big part of the Montecito music institutes summer festival. Fully half of MAW’s events don’t cost a dime, including nearly 80 instrumental master classes featuring performances of concerto excerpts, sonatas and other pieces by the Academy Fellows and critiques from the faculty encompassing all the woodwind, brass and percussion instruments as well as the double bass. (See the schedule for a complete listing of the master classes).
But you can also hear the students perform downtown, and without interruption for instruction, at hour-long community concerts at the Museum of Art every week. The concert series gets underway this afternoon and continues every Thursday at 2 p.m. throughout the remainder of the season, with the final performance on August 14.
The concerts are patterned after the very popular –completely sold out, in fact, we’re told – Picnic Concerts that take place on campus about once a week during the season. The Fellows – which is the institute’s new name for the advanced young artists furthering their studies at MAW in the summer – play selections they have been working on either in preparation for auditions, performances when they return to school, or simply to broaden their repertoire.
Hence, the programming has no theme at all; it’s merely a matter of who’s ready when. The music can come in any sort of combination, from solos to duets to trios and larger ensembles and cover any era, style or instrumentation.
Meanwhile, next Wednesday, July 16, MAW ups the ante with its annual open house, a daylong affair that cuts out fees for any of the normal master classes while adding a variety of special events. Included are a tour of the gardens at Miraflores conducted by MAW board members and Lotusland docent Georgia Lynn at 10 a.m.; an introduction to the festival, with special tips and advice, from president NancyBell Coe and dean of students Tiffany Schoemaker at 11 a.m.; a tour of Hahn Hall, the brand new recital hall and rehearsal facility that just opened three weeks ago, at 12 noon; “Up Close and Musical,” a hands-on, questions-encouraged program geared toward children conducted by the Academy Fellows and MERIT students (locals studying with the Fellows during the summer); and a tour of the entire campus, featuring lots of lore and legend, from longtime Academy staff member Fred Lehto at 3:15 p.m.
Master classes are conducted by Jonathan Feldman (Collaborative Piano), David Jolley (Horn) and David Weiss (Oboe), all at 1 p.m. and Alan Stepansky (Cello) and Mark Lawrence (Trombone & Tuba) at 3:15 p.m. Finally at 7:30 p.m., a special Concerto Night master class will feature three of the Academy Fellows who have earned one of five coveted slots performing in front of the Academy Festival Orchestra on July 26 being coached in preparation for the big night.
The Concerto Competition Finals – which takes place on Saturday – is also one of the Academy’s great bargains of the summer, as admission is only $8 for the morning session, and $12 for the afternoon. Alas, we’re told, all seats have been sold.

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If classical music isn’t your cup of tea, there are lots of other opportunities in town this weekend. The Concerts in the Park series at Chase Palm Park has its second segment of the summer this evening, featuring Coldwater Canyon, a Los Angeles-based country outfit that had more people dancing than ever when they played last year. The music runs 6 to 8:30 p.m. and admission is free.

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The 89th annual Santa Barbara National Horse Show – which began last weekend with the Multi-Breed Show – continues today through Sunday Earl Warren Showgrounds with National and Regional Hunter and Jumper Champions from throughout the western United States vying for year-end Horse of the Year awards. The featured class for jumpers, the Channel Island Jumper Classic, will be held Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m., with world-class horses and riders competing for prize money, trophies and honor. The show is the only one in the area with the coveted “A” rating from the U.S. Equestrian Federation.
Events begin as early at 8 a.m. every day and continue into the evening, and admission and parking are absolutely free throughout the sessions. Call 687-8711 for more info.

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Celebrate 51 years of fun as St. Joseph’s Church launches into its second half-century of hosting a family-oriented festival, tomorrow through Sunday. Partake of the real deal in Mexican food and enjoy rides, games for all ages, and a variety of music and other entertainment at the three-day extravaganza located beneath the foothills in Carpinteria.
What sets this event apart from similar festivals is that member families use their own recipes to prepare specialty dishes in the days leading up to the festival, cooking Taco de Cabeza, Pozole, BBQ Tri-tip Tortas to serve to visitors all weekend long. Folkloric dancers and singers will perform daily and there are several bands scheduled during the weekend. The festival takes place 5-10 p.m. tomorrow, 12 noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and 12 noon to 10 p.m. Sunday at 1532 Linden Avenue in Carpinteria. Admission is free. Call 684-2181.

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The best happy-hour bargain in town, Environmental Defense Center’s monthly TGIF party in its tree-shaded 906 Garden Street courtyard, returns 5:30-7:30 p.m. tomorrow evening after a one-month pause for the special environmental award presentations to Santa Barbara educated and part-time resident Jack Johnson. Claude Hopper & Friends provide the music from the back porch, and County Supervisors Salud Carbajal and Janet Wolf serve as hosts, while progressives mingle and nosh. The $10 admission includes two drinks and tasty, healthy hors d’oeuvres (Compare that to the Museum of Art’s NIGHTS!). Get info at 963-1622 or bweber@edcnet.org.

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Finally, the Santa Barbara French Festival, the most popular local ethnic festival by far, turns 21 this year and celebrates with the same eclectic formula that has had everyone saying “ooh la la” for two decades. More than 40 acts perform on three different stages at Oak Park, including Can Can dancers, singers offering tributes to Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier, French-Morrocan bellydancers, French-Polynesian dancers, accordion players and the wild and wacky Femmes Fatales Drag Revue. Add in the famous Poodle Parade at the end of each afternoon, the sizeable Eiffel Tower statue near the food court, and mouth-watering french foods from crepes to quiche and the only possible response is “mais, oui.” Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and admission, as always, is free. Call 564-PARIS or visit www.frenchfestival.com.