Music Academy of the West president to retire

American Music Teacher, June-July, 2003

David L. Kuehn, president of the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, has announced his retirement, effective June 30, 2004.

Kuehn has been president of the Music Academy since 1993, when he succeeded Robert Holmes. During his decade of leadership, the Academy has achieved the highest quality of training and performance in its fifty-six-year history. His accomplishments include realizing a merit-based full-scholarship program for the Academy in 1998; strengthening the voice program by bringing on the mezzo-soprano Marlyn Horne as its director and returning the opera to fully staged productions; and strengthening the orchestral and chamber music programs by seeking out internationally prominent musicians and artists to teach, conduct and coach.

"The opportunity to be a part of the great tradition of the Music Academy of the West has been one of the great privileges of my life," says Kuehn.