High Note

It couldn’t have been a more splendiferous end to the Music Academy of the West’s 71st annual summer fest when the Academy Festival Orchestra, under Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel, in his academy debut, performed with the L.A. Master Chorale, under artistic director Grant Gershon, at a sold-out Santa Barbara Bowl.

Soprano Susanna Phillips and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung added their superb voices to Mahler’s rousing 1894 Resurrection Symphony No. 2 and the 200-plus performers on stage for the special “community concert,” with many tickets at a nominal $10.

It was an evening to remember, much like three years ago when the New York Philharmonic brought its summer pops program to the enchanting venue.

Three of a Kind

Celebrated guitarist and composer Chris Fossek was in fine form at the New Vic when he joined three other like-minded musicians on the Ensemble Theatre’s stage for a sold show.

Chris’s wife, former State Street Ballet principal Leila Drake, performed a solo and duet with fellow dancer James Folsom, both choreographed to his original music.

With a unique blend of classical and Spanish and Macedonian folk music, with rock overtones, Chris, who normally performs in the Biltmore’s Ty Lounge, was in his element with Peter Slocombe on sax, Music Academy of the West Fellow Paul Merkelo on trumpet, and percussionist Nate Keezer, adding to the sparkle.