Audio and video recordings of Music Academy of the West concerts, recitals and masterclasses dating from 1961 to 2001, as well as Music Academy of the West organizational records dating from 1946 to 2012.

Located in Montecito, California, the Music Academy of the West was founded in 1947 by Southern California arts patrons, as well as musicians, conductors, and composers including Lotte Lehmann, Otto Klemperer, and Arnold Schoenberg. Artists and faculty attending the eight-week summer music festival have included Burt Bacharach, Grace Bumbry, Marilyn Horne, Peter Rejto, Jerome Lowenthal, and the Takács Quartet. Past directors have included Maurice Abravanel (music, 1954-1980), Martial Singher (voice, 1962-1981) and Marilyn Horne (voice, 1997-2018). The summer music festival and conservatory offers 140 merit-based scholarships to students from around the world in the study of voice, vocal piano, solo piano, instrumental, and collaborative piano.

102 linear feet (117 document boxes, 19 half document boxes, 784 audiotape reels, 38 videocassettes)

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

The collection is open for research. Access copies must be made before listening to recordings.