Tag archives: Music Academy of the West

Canadian Barbara Robertson, who has held a succession of finance, operations and administrative positions with several area nonprofit organizations, has been named president and CEO of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. Robertson studied business economics at the University of British Columbia and accounting at the British Columbia Institute of Technology before working as a […]

On a personal note, I remember Santa Barbara realtor Chip Lawson, who has moved to more heavenly pastures at the all too early age of 62. A jovial soul, we first met at Cafe Del Sol, the former popular local bar hangout by the Andree Clark Bird Refuge, now the Magic Castle. Chip, a former […]

Eileen Sheridan, partner at the local account firm Bartlett, Pringle & Wolf, is the new board chair of the Music Academy of the West. She has served on the board for nine years and is a former vice chair under Warren Staley. Ellen Barger, who works for the Santa Barbara County Education Office, joins the […]

World-renowned cellist, composer, and curator Joshua Roman is an alumnus of the Music Academy of the West (MAW) since 2002. He sent out letters of inquiry around the U.S. to secure a space undisturbed for composing a 16-minute piece for the Cleveland Orchestra. Scott Reed, President and CEO of MAW, reached out to Ashley Woods […]

Hahn Hall at the Music Academy of the West was socially gridlocked when the Z.E.N. Trio, made up from the initials of pianist Zhang Duo, violinist Esther Yoo, and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, performed as part of UCSB’s popular Arts & Lectures series. The concert, part of the long-running Robert Weinman-sponsored Up Close & Musical Series, […]

It was another high note when the Women’s Auxiliary of the Music Academy of the West hosted its second annual benefit Music in the Gardens on the Miraflores campus, with a record 400 guests raising around $80,000 to benefit the community access program, which provides subsidized and free tickets to MAW events. Themed American Rhythms, […]

Pianist Zhang Zuo, violinist Esther Yoo, and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan met as BBC New Generation Artists in 2015, and hit it off so well they decided to continue working together as a piano trio for chamber music concerts as The Z.E.N. Trio, employing their first initials as an acronym. Since the three are all also […]

The Music Academy of the West suffered social gridlock when Santa Barbara Beautiful hosted its 55th annual awards, co-chaired by Mark Whitehurst and Kerry Methner, at the Miraflores campus. Ubiquitous KEYT-TV senior reporter John Palminteri emceed the ceremony in the Lehmann Ballroom after a welcome by organization president Penny Haberman, who revealed SBB had provided […]

The Gaviota Coast Conservancy (GCC) held its first annual fundraiser at the Music Academy of the West to celebrate the donation of $165 million to buy the Bixby Ranch and to preserve 32 acres (76 miles) of precious coastline forever. This was all due to the largess of Jack and Laura Dangermond. They wanted to […]

You won’t find any violins, violas or cellos on the grounds of the Music Academy of the West next Sunday afternoon, October 13, when the classical music institute hosts the Music in the Gardens benefit. But there will be plenty of guitars, electric basses, banjos, horns and even a fiddle or two at the second […]

It was a decidedly busy night when Santa Barbara Choral Society held a kick-off reception for its 72nd season at the Music Academy of the West. Claudia Scott, who has sung with the choir for half a century, was recognized for her sterling contribution to the choir, while Debra Stewart and Erica Di Bartolomeo, both […]

Supporters of The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County got a sneak peek of the charity’s forthcoming 8th annual Table of Life event at the Ennisbrook home of John and Betsey Muller when a reception was hosted at Marge Cafarelli‘s Public Market. Guests at the sunset soirée were able to taste bites from a number of […]

The Gaviota Coast Conservancy hosted its first ever Coastal Legacy bash at the sun-soaked Music Academy of the West, attracting 230 guests and raising around $200,000 for the environmental non-profit. The event honored philanthropists Jack and Laura Dangermond who, two years ago, preserved in perpetuity the largest privately-owned ranch on the Gaviota Coast with the […]

On Saturday September 21, from 2 to 5 pm in the sun-dappled environs of the Music Academy of the West, Jack and Laura Dangermond will be honored with the Gaviota Coast Conservancy’s (GCC) Coastal Legacy Award for 2019 – a festive and deeply grateful acknowledgement of the couple’s show-stopping rescue of 24,000 long-contested acres with […]

Despite the fact that she is Kenny Loggins’ youngest daughter, and half-sister to Crosby Loggins, once a stalwart on the Santa Barbara music scene who was the winner of MTV’s Rock the Cradle back in 2008, it wasn’t pre-ordained that Hana Aluna would become a professional musician. Sure, Kenny wrote and recorded the lullaby with […]

Marin Alsop is a serious classical musician, perhaps even more so than the average conductor, given what she had to go through to accomplish what she has over a 35-year career. Along with her many other achievements, Alsop became the first woman ever to lead a major American orchestra when she was appointed music director […]

A positive plethora of presidents, past and present, descended on the Hilton Beachfront Resort for the sold-out 71st annual La Reception del Presidents, kicking off Fiesta Week in grand style. The fun fête in the Plaza del Sol, short on speeches and long on tradition with dancing and music, attracted more than 330 local dignitaries, […]

School students had to face the music at the Music Academy of the West. More than 300 youngsters from United Way of Santa Barbara County’s Fun in the Sun scheme attended a concert at Hahn Hall as part of the Up Close and Musical program, now in its eighth year. The fun event, a collaboration […]