Tag archives: Community Arts Music Association

CAMA – the Community Arts Music Association – closed its 106th season’s International Series with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by beloved conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, joined by French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard at the Granada.  The concert hailed maestro Salonen’s 16th appearance conducting for CAMA over the past three decades – 12 with the L.A. Phil […]

Mark E. Trueblood, who has guided Community Arts Music Association (CAMA) of Santa Barbara to new programming heights over the course of his 27-year tenure as executive director and later president, will retire once the current concert season concludes. Elizabeth Alvarez, currently CAMA’s director of development, will succeed him as managing director of the venerable […]

It was clearly worth the wait when the London-based Chineke! Orchestra made its West Coast debut at the Granada, part of CAMA’s 106th season. The talented company’s 2020 tour had been unfortunately cancelled in the wake of the COVID pandemic, just weeks before its scheduled concert. A champion of diversity in classical music, Chineke’s vibrant […]

CAMA – Community Arts Music Association – hosted its latest Masterseries concert at the Lobero when violinist Anne Akiko Meyers showed off her undoubted talents. The hugely entertaining program, with Grammy nominee Meyers, 54, playing her 1741 “ex-Vieuxtemps” Guarneri del Gesu, included Corelli’s “La Folia Sonata,” Beethoven’s “Sonata No. 5 in F Major ‘Spring,’” Lauridsen’s […]

Red tape caused major problems for the kickoff concert of CAMA’s 106th season with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra at the Granada when singer Thomas Bauer was unable to make the event because of visa issues. Baritone and three-time Grammy winner Dashon Burton came in as a last-minute replacement, singing Mahler’s “Songs of a Wayfarer” […]

Our Eden by the Beach’s Community Arts Music Association ended its 105th International Series on a particularly high note when the U.K.’s 66-year-old Academy of St. Martin in the Fields – under the directorship of legendary Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell – played a sold-out concert at the Granada. The wonderfully entertaining show featured the […]

CAMA, the Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara. hosted its last concert of its current Masterseries with the 18-member Sphinx Virtuosi at the Lobero. The talented ensemble was founded in Detroit in 1997 to champion black and Latinx composers and musicians to bring more diversity to the arts. The tony troupe performed four commissioned […]

Magnificent classical music reigned supreme with three impressive concerts in our Eden by the Beach, two at the venerable Granada and one at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall. Kicking off the week was the Community Arts Music Association’s first concert of the new year with London’s 79-year-old Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko, […]

British pianist Stephen Hough, making his fifth appearance with the Community Arts Music Association, mesmerized in a Masterseries concert at the Lobero. Hough, 61, who was recently knighted by King Charles, received a Master’s Degree at the Juilliard School in New York, was clearly at the top of his game with his Yamaha grand piano […]

Violinist Frank Huang is deep into his ninth year as concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, but the joys of performing as part of much smaller ensembles has never strayed far from his heart. “Before I got into the orchestra world, I was pursuing life as a quartet player,” shared Huang, who was the first […]

Retired lawyer Robert (Bob) Montgomery, probably the longest serving president in the Community Arts Music Association’s 106-year history, received the organization’s top Bravo! Award for his extraordinary service at a packed dinner of 70 guests at the Birnam Wood clubhouse. Fittingly enough, it was presented by former award winner Deborah Bertling, immediate past president of […]

CAMA Masterseries’ 40th anniversary season opens with a recital by a somewhat left-of-center duo, at least by instruments, as mandolinist Avi Avital and accordionist Hanzhi Wang team up to perform at the Lobero Theatre. The two are veritable virtuosos – Avital’s skill has been compared to Jascha Heifetz while Wang is the only accordionist ever […]

Musette Profant is the new Women’s Board president for Community Arts Music Association (CAMA), succeeding Deborah Bertling after four years, who is now chair of the organization’s board. Profant continues a proud family tradition as her grandmother Mabel Profant was a founding member of the CAMA Women’s Board and served on the board of directors […]

The venerable Granada was not surprisingly sold out when the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel performed for the last concert of CAMA’s 104th season international series. It was one of the last chances to see Dudamel, 42, at the orchestra’s helm – he took over from Finn Esa-Pekka Salonen who had […]

CAMA, Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara, left one of its best for last when Philadelphia’s Curtis Symphony Orchestra under Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, former maestro of the Minnesota and Seoul Philharmonic orchestras, performed the penultimate show of its 104th international series season at the Granada with Russian pianist Yefim Bronfman playing Schumann’s “Concerto […]

CAMA – Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara – has elected four new directors to the board. The musical quartet are Laurel Abbott, a real estate entrepreneur, Robert Castle, with 35 years in managing information and telecommunications companies, Patricia Kaplan, skilled in real estate and community service, and Ben Pringle of Northern Trust in […]

CAMA’s first concert of the New Year and its 104th season at the Granada was an absolute cracker! Chicago’s 132-year-old symphony under renowned Italian maestro Ricardo Muti, which first visited our Eden by the Beach at the Arlington 58 years ago, was in rare form with not a single seat available in the 1,553-capacity auditorium. […]

Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara, aka CAMA, is deservedly well-known and cherished for its commitment and ability to bring the finest classical musicians from around the world to Santa Barbara, a cultural coup of musical riches that would normally be beyond the means for such a small community.  It helps that it all […]

CAMA – the Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara – kicked off its 104th concert season in grand style at the Granada Theatre with the City of Birmingham Symphony and its dynamic conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, who last appeared in our Eden by the Beach 34 years ago. She succeeded British conductor Sir Simon Rattle, […]

It was an evening of decidedly high note when Lebanese-born soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian performed in a Glorious and Free concert at the Lobero, part of CAMA’s – the Community Arts Music Association – Masterseries. The performance of Romani-inspired songs and operetta arias featured works by Dvorak, Brahms, Lehar, Salman, and Yvain sung effortlessly by the […]