Tag archives: music
Music lovers packed the Granada for the Santa Barbara Symphony’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” concert featuring works by Johannes Brahms and Modest Mussorgsky. The first half of the performance, conducted by veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti, was an all-Brahms affair with his Tragic Overture and Concerto in A minor, featuring the symphony’s principal cellist Trevor Handy […]
As the Santa Barbara International Film Festival celebrated its 35th anniversary, the Anti-Defamation League marked the occasion with a reception in the courtyard of the Lobero Theatre as a rainstorm raged outside. The 120-guest fifth anniversary bash, chaired by Marina Stephens, raised nearly $50,000 towards funds and, as is tradition, honored the film Liberté: A […]
It was all two grand for words when Montecito philanthropic dynamic duo Roger and Sarah Chrisman opened the door of their charming Ennisbrook home for a Santa Barbara Symphony prelude party with husband and wife Israeli pianists Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg performing a four-hand keyboard work on the back to back Baldwin and Steinway […]
Montecito TV titan Oprah Winfrey, Kenny Loggins, and actor Rob Lowe paid tribute to the 23 people who lost their lives and many who lost everything a year ago, as our tony enclave was ravaged by catastrophic mudslides. Oprah, 64, was among hundreds of local residents taking part in the first anniversary vigil, walking from […]
Theater rarely comes as simultaneously raw and virtuosic as Mouthpiece, co-created and performed by the two co-artistic directors of Toronto-based Quote Unquote Collective. Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava have fashioned an hour-long piece that combines spoken text, strenuous movements, a cappella harmony, and vocalizations to express the inner conflict that exists within one modern woman’s […]
Peter Harper’s grandparents were musicians. They owned Folk Music Center in Claremont, which sold and repaired instruments and served as something of a gathering place for many people back in the day, and served as a pseudo daycare center for Peter when he was growing up. His mother, Ellen, is also a music lover, one […]
Community Arts Music Association (CAMA) is deep in the midst of its centennial season that celebrates the major milestone with a crowded calendar of events. The 100th anniversary kicked off early in the fall with a gala honoring philanthropist Sara Miller McCune at the Four Seasons Biltmore, staged a red carpet reception before the annual […]
A Soul Train of Motown music steamed on to the Granada stage when the Santa Barbara Symphony, under energized maestro Bob Bernhardt, staged its annual New Year’s Eve Pops concert, Dancing in the Streets. The highly entertaining show featuring American Idol finalist Michael Lynche, alongside Broadway stars Shayna Steele, who appeared in Rent, Jesus Christ […]
To the historic Union Hotel in Los Alamos when English rocker Alan Parsons, who has been nominated for 11 Grammys, celebrated the 20th anniversary of his half century with a heavenly host of friends and music stars. The songwriter and record producer, who worked on the Beatles’ Abbey Road and Let It Be albums, as […]
“They are excellent, they sing really well,” David Crosby tweeted last October, hours after seeing The Brother Brothers open for I’m With Her at the Lobero Theatre. The folk-rock icon surely wasn’t the only music lover who was pleasantly surprised, as the sustained applause and cheers proved that many were basically blown away by the […]
After the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra ceased operation in 2017, chamber music, with veteran maestro Heichero Ohyama, was back on the Lobero stage. The affable conductor, who led the 40-year-old orchestra from 1983 to 2017, returned to inaugurate a new Chamber Music Project with three concerts, the final two taking place next month. Last weekend’s […]
Montecito animal activist Gretchen Lieff and her fiancé Miles Hartfeld opened the doors of their charming home for a hopping holiday bash. Social gridlock reigned as the festive guests quaffed wine and champagne and noshed on a cornucopia of comestibles, including Brenden Twigden, Melinda Gandara, Hal and Haley Conklin, Lisa Osborne, Edie Caldwell, Laurie Ashton, […]
As usual, there are all sorts of options for ringing in the New Year in Santa Barbara, including a brand new event in the increasingly trendy Funk Zone centered around the new Hotel Californian. Just about the entire neighborhood is involved, with events starting at 10 am with the preliminary rounds of the first annual […]
It was less than two months ago that the Bryan Titus Trio played his last gig in town as a Santa Barbara resident, the last in a series of shows that had established the organic roots rocker/Americana artist as a true local sensation, capable of exciting the crowd whether jamming in a bar’s outdoor patio […]
Santa Barbara Revels, presenting its 11th anniversary production at the Lobero, moved to Ireland this year after its Alta California Rancho period piece in 2017. “We wanted to honor the strength and courage of the intrepid Irish emigrants who left their homeland in the early 1900s, specially those who might have traveled on the S.S. […]
Hahn Hall at the Music Academy of the West was gridlocked when Moldovan violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, accompanied by pianist Polina Leschenko, put on a sizzling display of her musical dexterity. The Grammy-nominee, clearly at the top of her form, played works by Bartok, Poulenc, and Romanian composer Georges Enescu. Afterwards major supporters of UCSB Arts […]
After 60 years, UCSB Arts & Lectures is still churning out dozens of events a year. One of the latest is “An Evening with Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen” at Campbell Hall. They have performed in Santa Barbara before and the house was packed this time too. Lovett is a four-time Grammy Award winner […]
Dreamtime Continuum has been one of Santa Barbara’s most eclectic ensembles since Sudama Mark Kennedy first formed the group way back in 1994 as an outlet for his all-encompassing world music approach that he came by naturally as the son in a diplomatic family. The group underwent a few personnel changes over the years and […]
The 2018 holiday season is finally upon us and preparations are now being made for the arrival of Santa Claus and the gifts of love and laughter he leaves behind. If Santa has his magic iPhone plugged in at the North Pole, what very special transmission might he be hearing from Santa Barbara? If you […]
On Saturday, December 8, Montecito was treated to an outdoor live music performance from Our Lady of Mt. Carmel [OLMC], Montecito Union [MUS], and Cold Spring School [CSS] students. The area in front of Giovanni’s on Coast Village Road was transformed into a festival holiday center, with white chairs in the roped off parking area, […]
