In first, London Symphony ties up with California academy

The Music Academy of the West, a leading classical school and festival set on the California coast, announced Thursday that it will offer a seasonal home for the London Symphony Orchestra.

In its first long-term educational partnership in the United States, the premier British orchestra signed on to a four-year relationship with the academy which recently concluded a similar arrangement with the New York Philharmonic.

The full London Symphony Orchestra will take up residence in 2019 and 2021 at the Music Academy of the West, set on the Pacific in Santa Barbara in southern California wine country.

The school selects promising young adults each year to spend the summer studying music, with room, board and tuition provided.

As part of the partnership, 12 students will be chosen to train further each winter in London under the orchestra's music director Simon Rattle, one of the world's most prominent conductors.

"Nurturing the next generation of musicians is central to the LSO's mission," the orchestra's managing director, Kathryn McDowell, said in a statement.

Michael Tilson Thomas, the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and former principal conductor in London, will spend each summer in Santa Barbara.

Announcing its season, the Music Academy of the West also said that Gustavo Dudamel, the star Venezuelan conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will close the summer by leading Mahler's Symphony No. 2, known as the Resurrection Symphony.

The outdoor August 11 performance, which will feature 4,000 tickets at just $10 and free admission for young people, is meant to pay tribute to Santa Barbara after a deadly mudslide and fires.