Laguna Beach Music Festival is live with an online auction fundraiser.

Artistic Director for the 2012 Festival is Grammy-award winning violinist Joshua Bell, who has brought in a line-up of superlative musicians to celebrate the Festival's 10th Anniversary.

Laguna Beach Music Festival (Feb. 6-12, 2012) is a week-long event in scenic Laguna Beach, California co-presented by Laguna Beach Live! and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. Dedicated to artistic excellence and innovation, each Festival stars prominent and promising musicians in concerts and informal activities that attract both the casual listener and the aficionado to the Festival's charming, intimate venues.

Starting on January 5, 2012, Laguna Beach Music Festival will be auctioning off one of a kind, unique violin art masterpieces created by nationally renowned artists.

For the fourth year, the Laguna Beach Music Festival has invited talented artists to transform musical instruments into works of art that celebrate the festival.  Involving visual artists in the Music Festival was an idea that came naturally in Laguna Beach, known since the 1920 as artists colony and home now to many galleries and artistic traditions such as the First Thursday Art Walk.  The Artful Violins each are as different as the individual artists who created these extraordinary combinations of music and art.

No surprise that the public is eager to see all of these Artful Violins -- and they can -- both in person at Laguna Beach art galleries (Jan.7 - Feb.5)--and they can bid on the website to make one of these treasures their own. Sales of the violin art benefit the Festival music education programs.

Festival activities include concerts, talks, open rehearsals, meet-the-artist sessions, plus music programs in local schools.