Tag archives: Arts & Lectures
Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet mesmerized at the Granada when they performed for two consecutive nights as part of UCSB’s Arts & Lectures program. The magnificent company under Scottish artistic director Ashley Wheater kicked off the first night with Liam Scarlett’s “Vespertine,” originally created for the Norwegian National Ballet in 2015 and premiering with the Joffrey three […]
To UCSB’s Campbell Hall to see the talented Danish String Quartet perform part two of its four-year-old Doppelgänger Project, supported by the college’s Arts & Lectures program, as well as New York’s Carnegie Hall. The project pairs world premieres from four renowned composers with chamber music masterpieces by Schubert, including “Death and the Maiden” and […]
An energized and frenetic program provided a thoroughly entertaining evening when New York-based Ballet Hispánico performed Noche de Oro: A Celebration of 50 Years at the Granada, as part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures program. The tony troupe, under artistic director Eduardo Vilaro, performed three very differing works with Arabesque from 1984, an […]
Multi Grammy winner Sir John Eliot Gardiner, founder and music director of the English Baroque Soloists, was in fine form when the 44-year-old orchestra performed at the Granada as part of CAMA’s 103rd international concert series. Playing two works from Mozart – “Sinfonia concertante in E-flat Major” and “Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major” – […]
Duos continue to be de rigueur this week, as Britain’s brother-sister breakout stars Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Isata Kanneh-Mason follow Jennifer Koh and Davóne Tines’ April 12 world-premiere presentation of Everything Rises at Campbell Hall, with a concert of their own at Campbell on Tuesday, April 19. Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason first gained renown as winner of […]
Just 48 hours later, at the same venue, it was an extraordinary performance of a very different sort when Memphis Jookin’: The Show featuring Lil Buck kicked off UCSB Arts & Lectures’ first dance performance in two years, given the pandemic. Jookin’, which derived in Memphis, Tennessee, as a sort of rivalry between freestyle-based dancers, […]
International violinist Joshua Bell was at the top of his game when he performed at the Granada, marking the glorious return of UCSB Arts & Lectures classical shows to the venerable venue, which celebrates its centenary in two years’ time. With a career spanning almost four decades, Grammy Award-winning Bell, 54, has performed with virtually […]
Transform Through Arts Theater’s annual Colors of Love dance show at Center Stage Theater returns to its usual Valentine’s Day weekend performance slot for 2022 after moving to August due to the pandemic last year, and the local collective’s approach to the concept of love has expanded in the interim. “It’s evolved into more diversity […]
After a couple of months’ hiatus due to the calendar and concerns about COVID, UCSB Arts & Lectures’ 2021-22 Creating Hope series resumes next Thursday, February 3, with a recital from violinist Joshua Bell, one of the most celebrated artists of his era. The recipient of a number of enviable accolades from the coveted Avery […]
Kulāiwi has only been together for less than two years, but the three Hawaiian musicians that make up the group – Lehua Kalima, Shawn Pimental, and Kawika Kahiapo – have been making music of the islands for decades. Between them they have claimed dozens of Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, which is considered Hawaii’s equivalent of […]
UCSB Arts & Lectures invited its Producer Circle members to a holiday party in the Arlington Courtyard. There were cozy firepots and signature holiday cocktails along with DJ Darla Bea. United Way of Santa Barbara was also there to promote their seasonal toy drive for kids. After the reception there was a line outside the […]
UCSB’s popular Arts & Lectures program welcomed 90 guests to the courtyard at the Arlington Theatre for its holiday bash before the performance of My Bluegrass Heart with Béla Fleck, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Bryan Sutton. The fun fete also a featured a toy drive from United Way of Santa […]
“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” And Zooey Deschanel hasn’t stopped doing so ever since her musical introduction to the world in the holiday cult classic, Elf. As a 21-year-old at the time, Deschanel feels fortunate to have identified the script as one that was timeless — […]
Jackie Waddill, who has served Dream Foundation recipients, their families, and the organization’s family of supporters for the last 23 years, has announced her retirement. “In my career with the foundation I’ve seen the delight and pure joy a final dream can bring,” says Jackie. “I’ve felt the short distance between hello and goodbye. I […]
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, UCSB Arts & Lectures, like every establishment across the country, was forced to close and cancel all its programs. But the 62-year-old organization — still the largest and most influential arts and lectures presenter not only in the Santa Barbara region but in the several hundred- mile […]
It’s not hyperbole at all to suggest that the original production of Kismet that will play three performances at the Granada Theatre later this month might be the most exciting show ever to play in Santa Barbara. While official touring shows of classic Broadway hits and more modern musical fare are still appearing at the […]
Although surf rock pioneers Jan & Dean first rode their surfboards and sang their tunes more than 60 years ago barely 90 miles south of Santa Barbara, Dean Torrence, the surviving member of the duo, can only recall playing in town twice before. Both times were at the Santa Barbara Bowl with the Beach Boys, […]
After 20 months of forced inactivity because of the pandemic, UCSB’s popular Arts & Lectures program is back with a bang! “The wait is over!” declared Miller McCune executive director Celesta Billeci at a Creating Hope launch bash at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum for 170 guests. “This is a big step for us. The […]
My job here at the Sentinel as a Man About Town encompasses keeping everyone informed about what’s been going on around town in the performing arts in and near State Street and beyond, even if some of it’s on the down low. The thing is, these days in my case the DL refers more to […]
Last October, Santa Barbara City College’s Jim Mooy used the Jamulus audio platform and live-streamed videos of each performer generated via Zoom to direct a synchronous audio and video stream of a university ensemble performance of SBCC’s Lunch Break Jazz Ensemble concert. This week, Mooy lends his expertise to his counterparts at UCSB’s Music Department, […]



