For the second year in a row, some of L.A.'s hottest young chamber musicians will gather in Carlsbad this weekend for the annual Carlsbad Music Festival.

Created last year by 25-year-old composer and part-time Carlsbad resident Matt McBane, the festival features high-profile young Southern California musicians performing traditional work as well as new multimedia pieces and classical versions of rock 'n' roll songs.

This year's festival kicked off Sunday with an educational program at the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, followed by in-class visits at Carlsbad schools all this week. The festival culminates this weekend with two concerts by two top Los Angeles chamber ensembles at the Schulman Auditorium. On Friday, the acclaimed Calder Quartet will perform, and on Saturday, the Section Quartet will be featured.

On Friday, the Calder Quartet —— led by McBane's lifelong friend and former Carlsbad resident, Ben Jacobson —— will be premiering one of McBane's original compositions, which includes live audio sampling and video accompaniment. In future years, McBane said he'd like to commission works by other composers for the festival so there's always both new work and rising classical artists making their debuts in Carlsbad.

"We want the festival to become a place where new works are performed and we want to do more multimedia projects," McBane said. "We want to share with the Carlsbad community the cutting-edge music that I, and other musicians involved, find compelling and exciting."

The festival was started last year when McBane, Jacobson and a few other Carlsbad-bred musicians decided they wanted to give back to their hometown. McBane, Jacobson and many other prominent Southern California musicians met as children when they were all students of the late Donna Christmas, who taught violin in Carlsbad for many years until her death. Many of these musical friends also studied under Michael Tseitlin in Fairbanks Ranch and later earned degrees at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.

They've since gone off in different musical directions, but McBane and Jacobson, a 25-year-old violinist, remain committed to returning each May for the Carlsbad Music Festival.

Last year's festival featured the Calder Quartet, the Freestyle Los Angeles Creative Orchestra (led by Jacobson's cellist brother, Peter, 26), and San Diego's California Quartet. This year, the Calder Quartet returns, and new to the program is the Section Quartet, a Los Angeles ensemble that specializes in performing string interpretations of rock 'n' roll music.

Here's a look at the two concerts this weekend:

The Calder Quartet. 8 p.m. April 29. One of California's most popular chamber ensembles (L.A. fire marshals had to turn 100 ticket-buyers away at a recent sellout), the Calder Quartet is known for its youthful energy (all of its members are in their mid-20s), exceptional musicianship and its eclectic repertoire, which ranges from classical to jazz to avant-garde. The 7-year-old group has performed at numerous U.S. music festivals and was featured last summer in the Mostly Mozart Festival at New York's Lincoln Center.

Friday's concert program will include classical and new works. The program includes a Debussy String Quartet, the andante con moto movement from Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" and the presto movement from Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 130. The program will close with the premiere of "Ghosts in the Machine," a multimedia composition by McBane for amplified processed string quartet and video. Using a live audio sampler, McBane will digitally record an eight-measure loop of the Calder Quartet as they play, and he will then play it back so the quartet can use the recorded sample as the rhythmic bass line that they can play on top of, a process called "ghosting."

Meanwhile, video artist Lucy H.G. (who recently founded the Institute of Arts and Multimedia at Los Angeles Mission College), will present live video accompaniment that will include abstract imagery of water, electricity and even the Calder Quartet, captured live while they're playing. McBane admits that with all the high-tech equipment involved in "Ghosts in the Machine" it is more complicated than most chamber pieces, but there have been several rehearsals and he predicts all will go smoothly.

- The Section Quartet. 8 p.m. April 30. Formed in L.A. five years ago by multi-instrumentalist and arranger Eric Gorfain, the Section Quartet is the American music industry's leading rock 'n' roll string ensemble. The group has performed and recorded with artists such as David Bowie, Kelly Clarkson, Faith Hill, Wilco, A Perfect Circle, Pink and many other artists. They've also made numerous television appearances (they accompanied Christina Aguilera on her single "Beautiful" on awards shows, MTV and "Saturday Night Live"), and they've worked on film scores such as "I Heart Huckabees" and "Saw." The group's arrangements of rock 'n' roll classics have also been used on numerous string tribute albums.

Their program will include original arrangements of songs by Radiohead, the Muse, the Clash, David Bowie and other pieces announced from the stage.

Although the Section has no personal connection to Carlsbad, McBane said he asked them to perform at the festival this year because he's so excited by their music.

"They put on a really compelling show that's very high energy. Also, it's much fresher-sounding than you might think. For me, I find it inspiring. The harmonies and rhythms of pop and rock music are completely different than classical music, and it has a fresh and energetic sound that I know people will enjoy."