Shakespeare is hot in the Santa Barbara region: Hot on the heels of Rubicon Theatre presenting The Acting Company’s reinterpreted version of A Comedy of Errors, both Ensemble Theatre Company and PCPA are readying new productions of classics by the Bard. L.A. theater veteran Margaret Shigeko Starbuck is directing her own reimagined adaptation of Hamlet, […]
Lea másTales from the Tavern – the Santa Ynez singer-songwriter series that has now outlasted the late, lamented Lobero trend-setter Sings Like Hell by almost seven years – has announced its schedule for spring, which begins February 12 with Steve Poltz, who, ironically, played Hell in the last series in 2018. All of the other series […]
Lea másJames (Jimmy) Searcy passed away on January 30, 2025. He was a beloved Husband/Father/Brother/Grandfather/Great-Grandfather, Uncle, and friend to so many and will be deeply missed by all who knew him. Jimmy was born in Cleveland, OH on September 19, 1932. He was the son of Frank Ellsworth Searcy and Margaret Spruit. Jimmy was in the […]
Lea más
For the first time since being established in 1951, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Women’s Board (SBMAWB) is now fully DEI with its first men members introduced alongside new women members at its annual January Luncheon. I attended the luncheon held on Thursday, January 23, at the University Club. Presiding was SBMAWB President, Paula […]
Lea másYour trusty Society reporter is here with the new board members appointed to your favorite nonprofits. The Music Academy of the West, now in its 78th season, has three new officers and four new members appointed to its Board of Directors. The new Board Officers are Board Chair Danner Schefler, Vice Chair Susan Lichtenstein,and Secretary […]
Lea más
It was an evening of many facets at the Music Academy of the West when it hosted a Denk, Denim and Diamonds gala which attracted more than 100 guests and raised around $50,000 for the Miraflores oceanside campus. Drinks on the terrace outside Lehmann Hall kicked off the sunset soirée before supporters filed into the […]
Lea más
It was all too heavenly for words when Dean Wilson, head honcho of the Turner Foundation, celebrated his half century at Valinor, the former St. Mary’s Seminary which sold for $7.618 million in December 2022, and is now a 35.69-acre retreat center, a tiara’s toss from the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens. More than 140 guests […]
Lea más
After a decade of producing Super Bowl touchdowns and fumbles, David Bolton, Executive Director and CEO of the California Mission Foundation will be watching the big game in New Orleans between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles in the comfort of his Santa Barbara home. David tells me Fox Latin America Mexico, sold […]
Lea más
It was the perfect combination when the 30-year-old Boston Brass and three-time Grammy-nominated Imani Winds performed at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lecture series. Adventurous programming and dynamic playing is the wind quintet’s trademark; playing Paquito D’Rivera’s “Selections from Aires Tropicales” and even Stevie Wonder […]
Lea más
During NAMM 2025, I had the privilege to interview Tom Sumner the President of Yamaha and the Chair of the NAMM Board of Directors. We conversed in person at the Yamaha Dealer meeting rooms, and I took a photo of him with the Yamaha grand piano for Alicia Keys’ 2023 tour that hallmarked their display […]
Lea más
LW called me while her friend’s house in the Palisades was still smoldering. She asked me this important question: “Elizabeth, W didn’t have an appraisal for his contemporary lithography and modern art collection. He assumed the artwork was insured under the fine art category in his general homeowner’s policy, and he seems to recall the […]
Lea másFor a nonprofit whose main asset is a modest seven-acre farm in Summerland known as Sweet Wheel Farms, the Santa Barbara Agriculture and Farm Education Foundation (SBAFE) has a rather large and lofty goal. Namely, to upend our “modern” food systems and reconnect people to the understanding that our food comes from the land, and […]
Lea más
As you probably know, the words in our language have a tendency to change over time; in spelling, in pronunciation, or even in meaning. But there is at least one case in which the word has come to mean the exact opposite of what it once did. To make matters even more confusing, both meanings […]
Lea más
It’s painful to think, to imagine, to realize, that I’ll never experience the joy of being with Erin Graffy de Garcia ever again. She passed away – surrounded by family – at Cottage Hospital at 2:54 am on January 21 after a frighteningly short bout with cancer. To say that she’ll be missed is a […]
Lea más
To start the year, Casa del Herrero Executive Director Rosie Rafferty announced their new Board of Trustees officers and members as follows: Beth Esrey, President; Isabel Wendt, Vice President; Mari McAlister, Secretary; Lily Marx, Treasurer; and new Board of Trustee Members: Susan Budinger, Miles Hartfeld, Marty McDermut, and Kevin O’Toole. Esrey replaced Board of Trustees […]
Lea más
The Santa Barbara Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was held on January 4, 2025. This was part of the 125th National Audubon’s CBC. This year the Santa Barbara CBC Team leaders are: Libby Patten, Head CBC Compiler and Coordinator/Compiler for North SB and the Boat team; Glenn Kincaid, Scouting Coordinator, Head Data Coordinator, and the Compiler […]
Lea másSanta Barbara Black Culture House, founded and headed by Darrell M. McNeil and Sally A. Foxen McNeill,are inviting all community to their monthly series of cultural events, music, programs, community talks, exhibits, and poetry, for Black History Month 2025. The events are at their pop-up location, Soul Bites Restaurant (423 State Street), and two events […]
Lea másThe Montecito Association Annual and January meeting was held in person at the Montecito Library community room and on Zoom, Tuesday, January 21. MA President Doug Black called the Annual MA meeting to order, and held a vote to ratify the 2025 actions of the MA Board. He highlighted what the MA accomplished in 2024, […]
Lea más
Our thoughts are with all those impacted by the devastating Los Angeles County Wildfires, and we welcome those who have now joined our community. In light of current dry conditions and ongoing concerns, Montecito Water District would like to reassure the public of its preparedness and commitment to providing adequate water supply for the community. […]
Lea más
“It wasn’t a mutiny. It was the bone-weary ship’s crew selecting – by voice vote – a new captain, one whose brusque nature and laudable transparency in speech gave them hope of precisely the rigorous captainhood the increasing stormy seas obliged. There were trifling misgivings. “The gentleman had been captain once before and had acquitted […]
Lea más