Tag archives: music

Berets abounded and everyone was getting an Ei-ffel when Santa Barbara Choral Society hosted its annual gala Springtime in Paris at the Rockwood Woman’s Club. The fun French-themed fête, co-chaired by president Karen Williams and Debra Stewart, attracted 120 guests and raised $60,000 for the popular group. Before dinner, catered by Via Maestra 42, veteran […]

Expensive Water The five current Montecito Water District directors, who raised over $200,000 in campaign funds to help get elected, are close to finalizing a 50 years agreement with the City of Santa Barbara to purchase some of its desal water that could cost the 4,600 Montecito Water District customers about one quarter of a […]

The Doublewide Kings will be playing the music of the Rolling Stones at SOhO music club in Santa Barbara on Friday night, May 31, beginning at 7:30 “with some of the mellower acoustic stuff while folks are having dinner (think ‘Angie,’ ‘Wild Horses,’ etc.),” says the group’s henchman (and high-profile Montecito resident musician) Palmer Jackson, Jr. […]

Just chalk it up as another spectacular success for Janet Adderley and her Adderley School for the Performing Arts, as some two dozen-plus of her students performed West Side Story onstage at the Lobero Theatre twice on Saturday, May 4 and twice again on Sunday, May 5. The highlight, for me, was the heartwarming and […]

The amazons ruled when Girls Rock, which helps youngsters through music and arts appreciation, threw a third annual beach bash at the rustic Carpinteria home of music entrepreneur Marla McNally Phillips and her husband Lee. Our Eden by the Beach is home to the largest Girls Rock program in the world, says president Kerri Murray, […]

At the Granada it was time for the tony triumvirate of violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Steven Isserlis, and pianist Jeremy Denk to shine, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures program. The talented threesome were in glorious harmony playing works by Mendelssohn, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff and Ravel. A blockbuster show… Like Father, Like Daughter CAMA […]

The idea of Conspiracy of Beards – the Bay Area-based all-male choir that sings its own original, a cappella arrangements of Leonard Cohen songs – was conceived of in a dream by a co-founder’s brother. San Francisco performance artist Peter Kadyk even journaled about the dream, which came complete with the choir’s name, before he […]

Santa Barbara Quire of Voyces performs a pair of “Cathedral Classics” concerts May 18-19 at St. Anthony’s Chapel, closing out its 25th anniversary season… Earlier that same Saturday afternoon, the Santa Barbara Music Club presents the first of two free concerts featuring winners of the 2019 Scholarship Awards at First United Methodist Church, 305 East […]

For more than four decades, the Isla Vista Juggling Festival has had to – pardon the expression – keep a lot of balls in the air in order to produce the annual event that began in 1977. Rumor has it that the IV weekend extravaganza is the longest running jugglers festival held at a single […]

There are a lot of paths to a career in comedy, but working as a life and emotional coach has to be one of the weirdest. JP Sears wouldn’t dispute that contention. In fact, his own life – which includes a decade and a half in the self-help industry working with individual clients – serves […]

Aside from having one of the great names in pop music history, the Cowboy Junkies also more or less created their own genre, creating almost excruciatingly slow, country-blues based folk-rock that emphasized Michael Timmins’ songs and his sister Margo’s vocals. It was 30 years ago that Cowboy Junkies proved the appeal of such quiet and […]

On April 13, the evening before Tax Day, three musicians’ musicians packed the house, literally a house turned French restaurant, called the Little Door. The restaurant decided to have a popup menu with Full of Life Flatbread’s Chef Clark Staub, former Capitol Records Marketing VP. The trio was “Morganfield Burnett” (Larry Edwards) on harmonica, Chas […]

Pianist Jeremy Denk isn’t the only MacArthur Fellow returning to town under the auspices of Arts & Lectures this week. Michelle Dorrance, the founder of the New York City-based dance company that bears her name, won the prestigious prize back in 2015. ETM: Double Down is the title for her latest evening-length work that merges […]

If chamber music were an Olympic sport, one could hardly imagine a more formidable dream team than the trio of violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Steven Isserlis, and pianist Jeremy Denk. The three are each considered among the elite on their instruments as recitalists and symphonic soloists as well as other formats, and in many ways […]

A tony triumvirate of new members have joined the board of CAMA – Community Arts Music Association –, which is completing its centennial year. The trio are renowned soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, retired internist George Messerlian, and local arts benefactor Marta Babson, who lives in Montecito and Chicago. “We’re very pleased to have these talented and […]

The venerable Granada was the place to be when UCSB Arts & Lectures hosted the world premiere of the multi-talented 15-strong Silkroad Ensemble’s Heroes Take Their Stands with a 90-minute, five-piece concert, making ample use of the theater’s state of the art movie screen. Of particular note was Bharatanatyam dancer Aparna Ramaswamy, who added an […]

Veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti has signed a multi-year extension as conductor of the Santa Barbara Symphony, which is celebrating its 66th season. Nir has been with the orchestra since 2006, when he was chosen from a pool of 300 candidates for the position. Since then he has used his considerable experience and talent in symphonic […]

Authentic Relating Games (ARG for short) – an entry point into the relational field that I’ve been a part of locally for the better part of five years – went on hiatus more than a year ago when its Santa Barbara founders Simon Darcy and Tamra Rutherford stopped leading the once monthly events. But this […]

Jazz singer Tierney Sutton has such a clear, compelling, and communicative voice, it’s surprising to learn that early on in the 20-plus-year career of the band that carries her name, Sutton was a reluctant focal (and vocal) point for the group. “When I came out to L.A., my heroes were Bobby McFerrin, Al Jarreau, Flora […]

There’s just one piece on the program for Santa Barbara Symphony’s pair of concerts this weekend, but it’s a big one: Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 6 (“Tragic”). The 112-year-old, nearly 90-minute work scored for more than 100 musicians is finally making its debut with the Symphony 64 years after the ensemble was founded and a […]