On Wednesday, December 14 at 7 AM PST through Thursday, December 15 at 7 PM PST, the Carlsbad Music Festival will be participating in giveBIG organized by the San Diego Foundation. During this period, all tax-deductible donations to the Fest will be match by the Foundation at 25%. So, if you donate $100, we get $125. The nature of this fundraiser is social, so please help us spread the word. We hope to get many small donations and hopefully a few large ones. All funds raised through this event will help make next year's Fest more exciting than ever, so please mark your calendars and consider making a donation. Click here to donate and for complete info:

"It was all like a dream, and I didn't want to wake up!*"

The 2011 Carlsbad Music Festival in September was a tremendous success! It began Friday night with the percussion of red fish blue fish at the Carlsbad Train Station and ended on Sunday with a haunting solo viola at the conclusion of the Calder Quartet's world premiere performance of bad black bottom kind, the commissioned string quartet by our Composers Competition winner Jacob Cooper.

In between, we experienced artists creating new worlds of musical possibility by mixing up sounds from European classical, African dance, and American indie music.  We heard new compositions by composers-in-residence Sarah Kirkland Snider, Florent Ghys and Matt McBane and Shara Worden, and heard performances by My Brightest Diamond, Build, Vicky Chow, Burkina Electric and Mando Basso, all while enjoying the beautiful Village of Carlsbad.

In addition to the raves of the Festival-goers, the Fest got great reviews in the press. Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times said the Fest "is making a significant statement. It reminds me of what the Ojai Festival was before it became famous." James Chute of the San Diego Union Tribune praised Jonathan Moerschel's solo viola performance: "you could go a lifetime and never hear a more expressive, certain account” of the works he played.

*a quote from one of our fans!

On Friday, November 18, two exciting new grants were announced: the NEA Artworks Grant and the American Music Center CAP Recording Grant.

The NEA Artworks grant is a prestigious national grant that we were thrilled to be awarded our first time applying. Funds from the grant will go towards expanding the Fest for 2012.

The Calder Quartet was awarded the AMC Recording Grant for 5 works by young composers commissioned by or premiered at the Fest: Honey Flyers by Christine Southworth, Glitch by Daniel Wohl, Interface by Tristan Perich, Skrzyp Skrzyn by Nathan Davis, and grip by Ryan Carter. 3 of these works were commissioned by the Fest through our annual Composers Competition whose deadline is approaching (see above). We are very excited to help bring these works birthed at the Fest to the wider world through recordings.

The Carlsbad Music Festival is made possible by the tax-deductible contributions of people like you who support adventurous music and want to see it thrive in Carlsbad. With the growth in the size and scope of the Festival this year (7 concerts versus 3 last year plus the Music Walk), our expenses have outpaced our contributions, so we need your support!

Please consider a tax-deductible donation of any size to help us continue to bring this amazing Festival to Carlsbad each year. Your donation is especially important now as we begin to plan for next year’s 9th Annual Carlsbad Music Festival – help us keep the Festival spirit alive throughout the year!

Donate Now!

The Carlsbad Music Festival, in partnership with its Founding Ensemble-in-Residence, the Calder Quartet, announces its seventh annual composition competition with a prize of $3,000. The Festival and Quartet seek to commission a new string quartet from a highly original, creative, and compelling composer age 35 or under at the time of application (born after 12/9/1975). The winning composition will be premiered at the 9th annual Carlsbad Music Festival in September 2012. Full information can be found on our Competition page

The Carlsbad Music Festival is launching a fundraising drive with twin goals:

1) to raise $10,000 and

2) to receive donations from 100 individuals

All by the beginning of the Festival on September 23rd ! Can you help us by donating and spreading the word?

The Carlsbad Music Festival is very excited to announce its 2011 Main Stage Concerts which will take place in the historic Carlsbad Village Theatre : Calder Quartet, My Brightest Diamond, Build, Penelope and pianist Vicky Chow. Read up on these fantastic artists on our ARTISTS page. Tickets are now on sale for these events. Individual tickets are just $15 for general admission or $5 for students and Festival Passes are just $60, or all 5 concerts for the price of 4. Get yours now!

This past winter, the Calder Quartet and Matt McBane went through the always fascinating and exciting journey of judging the annual Composers Competition. The panel whittled down the 134 applicants from all over the world and all over the stylistic spectrum to a handful of fantastic finalists and finally down to the winner: Jacob Cooper.

We are very happy to announce the dates for the 2011 Festival: Friday-Sunday, September 23-25.

This year, for the first time, the Festival will take place entirely in the charming seaside Village of Carlsbad. The entire Festival will be walkable and within short walking distance (less than three minutes) of the train, beach, hotels, and restaurants.

Be sure to sign-up to our mailing list for an announcement of the artists and venues soon!