Tag archives: music

Ted Nash, a regular figure of Jazz at Lincoln Center led by Wynton Marsalis, made his debut with the Santa Barbara Symphony, under conductor Nir Kabaretti, premiering a new orchestral expansion of his work Transformation at the Granada. Nash also performed with a trio led by Los Angeles-based pianist Josh Nelson. A short film also […]

Man’s inhumanity to man was vividly on display with Opera Santa Barbara’s (OSB) latest one-act production An American Dream by Jack Perla and Jessica Murphy Moo at the Lobero. The moving 70-minute work, that premiered at the Seattle Opera in 2015, is set in Puget Sound in the 1940s, intertwining the fates and tragedies of […]

Aging Cossack Taras Bulba reigned supreme when Filharmonie Brno Philharmonic, the Czech orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, performed at the Granada, part of CAMA’s international series. The Leoš Janáček work, a three-part rhapsody for orchestra based on the 17th-century historical novella, concluded the first half on a high note after Martinu’s “Sinfonietta ‘La Jolla’” […]

In the early days of the pandemic, Angelin Preljocaj, the French choreographer famed for creating contemporary classics, dove into developing his distinctive version of Swan Lake, perhaps the most iconic ballet in the canon. Transforming the timeless tale of love, seduction, betrayal, and remorse into a modern cautionary story of ecological tragedy and societal failure, […]

Due for a day trip but desiring to hear chamber music at your destination? Here are a couple of concerts to consider. Over in Ojai, the Chamber On The Mountain presents the Neave Piano Trio, featuring violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura, who have been praised for “eloquent phrasing and deft […]

In a season that has seen premieres of two locally generated works in Cody Westheimer’s San Marcos Preserve-inspired Wisdom of the Water, Earth, and Sky and Peter Bernstein’s arrangement of his father Elmer’s Toccata for Toy Trains, the Santa Barbara Symphony’s third successive concert centered on a new work might produce the most profound piece […]

An American Dream represents mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen’s 10th production with Opera Santa Barbara over two decades, but there’s no doubt that the California debut of the 2015 opera represents a milestone for the Montecito native.  Nelsen, who has sung in the world premieres of seven new operas, had a hand in shaping the role […]

The Westmont Orchestra performs at several locations as part of a Presidents’ Day weekend tour, Feb. 16-18. These concerts are open to the public and free. The orchestra will perform “Amazing Grace,” Bizet’s “Carmen Suite” and Franck’s “Symphony in D minor” at 7 pm Thursday in San Marcos High School (4750 Hollister Ave., Santa Barbara); […]

The culmination of jazz saxophonist/composer/educator Ted Nash’s expansive winter residency in town and over Zoom this year comes next weekend (Feb. 18-19) when the Santa Barbara Symphony premieres his Transformation – a rethinking and newly arranged for orchestra take on a segment of his 2021 collaboration with Glenn Close, Transformation: Personal Stories of Change, Acceptance, […]

Still stuck about where to take your sweetheart for Valentine’s Day? SOhO might have the solution. Veteran Santa Barbara songbird Shawn Thies, who has emotional richness amid the silky smoothness, is bringing along a bunch of her musical friends for a Tuesday, Feb. 14, dinner show at 7 p.m. at the restaurant-nightclub, including local stalwarts […]

If Jesse Colin Young never sang another song besides “Get Together,” his place in rock history would be assured. Indeed, the ‘60s feel-good, quasi-protest song is so iconic that FestForums has borrowed it as the title of their tribute concert to the late producers of Woodstock and Newport Folk & Jazz festivals. Young will both […]

President Todd Aldrich and his wife, Allyson, opened the doors of their Montecito aerie for Santa Barbara Choral Society’s annual Canto Society bash for more than 30 top donors. The fun fête was catered by Italian eatery Via Maestra 42 with music from the dynamic duo of Kim Collins on double bass and Debbie Denke […]

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. […]

Amy Tatum has been chosen out of 150 applicants to be the new principal flutist for the Santa Barbara Symphony. Tatum, who was one of 70 musicians traveling to our Eden by the Beach for the final auditions, made her debut at the Granada with the “Plains, Trains & Violins” concert last month (Jan). As […]

Taking the famed Monterey Jazz Festival out on its official tour for a third successive road trip (2020-22 were dormant) is just the latest MJF honor for pianist Christian Sands, a two-time Grammy nominee and former child prodigy who started playing professionally at 10. MJF is celebrating its 65th year as one of the world’s […]

Less than six years after the four-decades-old Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra played its final concert in town, a new ensemble that’s even more community-based and oriented is stepping in to fill the void with an even more ambitious approach.  The Santa Barbara Chamber Players (SBCP), created by local musicians who first practiced during the pandemic […]

David Crosby’s death at age 81 on January 18, just five weeks before he was slated to perform as part of the Lobero’s 150th anniversary celebration, was surprisingly shocking even though he’d been in less than perfect health for years. After the initial sadness, what came quickly to mind and heart was both the first […]

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 […]

A week after California finally emerged from a series of threatening atmospheric river rainstorms, award-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is bringing her new passion project to town. EDEN is a timely theatrical experience co-commissioned by UCSB Arts & Lectures that explores our connection to nature and its impact on our world adding movement and theater to […]

Over 30 years, 15 albums, and untold thousands of miles on the road, blues guitarist/singer-songwriter Tommy Castro has played everything from horn-fueled R&B to blues-tinged rock ‘n’ roll to Memphis-infused blue-eyed soul. But in 2021, with more time on his hands due to pandemic closures, he decided to step way outside of his comfort zone […]