Tag archives: musicians

Toad’s Evolving Comeback is ‘Starting Now’
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 2, 2021

The journey of Santa Barbara native singer-songwriter Glen Phillips from an ambitious 15-year-old forming a rock band with some friends in high school to the 50-year-old multi-faceted artist he is today is something to treasure. That band, Toad the Wet Sprocket, is one of the more successful to have emerged from Santa Barbara, having released […]

Summing up a MAW Summer
By Steven Libowitz   |   August 24, 2021

Despite the pandemic, the Music Academy of the West managed to complete what seemed a remarkably ambitious, largely in-person season that brought together 100 fellows – the vast majority of the virtual-only “student” participants from last year – a full complement of faculty members, and an audience eager to once again enjoy classical music from […]

Busy, Busy: Sitting Down with Two MAW Artists with Plenty on Their Plates
By Steven Libowitz   |   July 29, 2021

Juggling all the tasks and opportunities a fellow faces at the Music Academy of the West is a stiff if rewarding challenge in a normal summer, what with private lessons and sectional coaching, studying new pieces of repertoire, practicing as an individual and rehearsing for chamber, orchestra, and duo concerts, performing in master classes and […]

Silver Linings Play
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 18, 2020

UCSB Theater’s new show is generating historical perspective for the challenges of the pandemic UCSB Theater’s Generations, a new piece devised for Zoom and directed by Anne Torsiglieri, aims to make the best of the bad situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps finding the silver lining in the seemingly endless sequestering. Fashioned as an […]

Running into GSAC Championships
By Scott Craig   |   November 12, 2020

Westmont cross-country first-year students Caleb Mettler and Anneline Breytenbach, Golden State Athletic Conference Athletes of the Month for October, lead their teams into the GSAC Championship on Saturday, November 7, at William Jessup University in Rocklin. Mettler, a San Clemente High School graduate, claimed second place in race two of The Master’s Invitational on September […]

Girl Power
By Richard Mineards   |   November 12, 2020

The venerable Granada was socially gridlocked when the popular Danish String Quartet returned to Santa Barbara with the Danish National Girls’ Choir, under conductor Phillip Faber, putting on an entertaining UCSB Arts & Lectures concert. The Fab Four – violinists Rune Tonsgaard Sorensen and Frederik Oland, violist Asbjørn Norgaard, and cellist Fredrik Schoyen Sjolin – […]

Sundays With the Symphony
By Steven Libowitz   |   August 20, 2020

The next episode of the Santa Barbara Symphony’s live broadcast series takes place at 3:30 pm on August 23, when the Music-Artistic Director Nir Kabaretti will be joined by the symphony’s new Director of Music Education, Kristine Pacheco, to shine the spotlight on students of all levels from the youth program. The young musicians persevered […]

Sister City Support on Zoom
By Steven Libowitz   |   June 25, 2020

COVID-19 can’t conquer the community created by the Santa Barbara-Kotor Sister City Committee. While at this point nobody is able – or willing – to cross the ocean to meet and make music in person, the organization that fosters cooperation between our seaside city and the coastal town in Montenegro has booked a fundraising event […]

Santa Barbara Symphony, Under New Management, Segues to Streaming
By Steven Libowitz   |   May 28, 2020

Having your CEO depart in the middle of a pandemic that caused cancellation of the rest of the season’s concerts probably isn’t the best thing for building the confidence of the local classical music community. Fortunately, the Santa Barbara Symphony was able to announce its Interim CEO, Kathryn Martin, even before the then-current Executive Director/CEO […]

Virtual Virtuosos
By Richard Mineards   |   April 30, 2020

The Music Academy of the West, whose 73rd annual summer festival was due to kick off on June 15 until July 10, is launching the Music Academy Remote Learning Institute to connect with audiences online during the lockdown. “Our hope is to bring the faculty and fellows to Santa Barbara and enjoy music together with […]

Jazz Society Joins the Jump to Streaming
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 16, 2020

The Santa Barbara Jazz Society doesn’t have much in its own archives to air during our shelter-in-place era, but the folks who run it are offering some links to fill in the gaps until the nonprofit can stage its next monthly concert at SOhO after the all clear order. If live is king, you’ll want […]

New ‘Music That Matters’ Marks K-LITE’s Morning Show
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 9, 2020

K-LITE 101.7’s morning show team of Gary and Catherine quickly came to confront the COVID-19 crisis with a new feature called “Music That Matters Now!” The segment, which airs every weekday morning at 8:45 am on the popular Santa Barbara station, also combines talking with a local musician about their ideas about the role music […]

Persevering Through the Pandemic with Performances
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 9, 2020

The stated purpose of the Lois & Walter Capps Project is “Connecting our community through authentic and essential dialogue,” but its mission comes down to an even simpler three-word mantra, said president and executive director Todd Capps: “Bringing Us Together.” That encompasses all of the project’s enterprises from Common Table – which began a few […]

CAMA Centennial
By Richard Mineards   |   March 12, 2020

One hundred years to the very day the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel performed in a special CAMA – Community Arts Music Association – sold-out concert at the Granada. Both CAMA and the orchestra are celebrating centenaries this year, with the Big Orange musicians having made its Santa Barbara debut at the […]

Musicians Compete for Scholarships
By Scott Craig   |   February 27, 2020

The eighth annual Westmont Instrumentalist Guild Competition features eight musicians vying for Westmont music scholarships on Saturday, February 29, at 7 pm in Deane Chapel on the lower Westmont campus. Prospective Westmont student instrumentalists Sean Tran (piano), Daniel Macy (violin), Katie Peel (French horn) Natasha Loh (bassoon), Emma Wu (piano), and Evan Zhou (violin) will […]

The NAMM Show
By Joanne A Calitri   |   February 20, 2020

The 2020 NAMM, National Association of Music Merchants, show at the Anaheim Convention Center January 16-19 welcomed over 2,000 exhibiting member companies, 7,000 brands, and 115,888 attendees internationally to exhibits, demos, and over 350 classes for kids through professional. Notable locals at NAMM 2020: In his large booth filled with celebrity users of his gear […]

Double Treble
By Richard Mineards   |   February 13, 2020

The Lobero Theatre Chamber Music Project, which launched with pianist Alessio Bax and violinist Benjamin Beilman last month, had the second performance of its triple feature with pianist Louis Schwizgebel at the weekend. The Swiss keyboardist was accompanied by violinists Beilman and Ida Kavafian – a teacher at the Curtis Institute –, cellist Clive Greensmith […]

SB Choral Society Soirée
By Richard Mineards   |   February 13, 2020

It was an evening of high note when board member Todd and Allyson Aldrich hosted a sunset soirée for Santa Barbara Choral Society at their Montecito ocean view aerie. “It’s a nice way of saying a big thank you to our Canto Society members who are the real foundation of all the work we do,” […]

CAMA Pulls Out all the Stops
By Richard Mineards   |   February 6, 2020

CAMA, now celebrating its 101st year, is having to face the music! The popular organization is justifiably renowned for bringing the world’s top orchestras as part of its International Series to the venerable Granada, with the musicians often booked more than a year in advance to ensure their availability. But sometimes even the best laid […]

Crowded Classical Calendar
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 6, 2020

The “core four” of Camerata Pacifica’s chamber musicians chairs – violinist Paul Huang, violist Richard O’Neill, cellist Ani Aznavoorian, and pianist Warren Jones – congregate in various formats for an enticing program at Hahn Hall on Friday, February 7. Sandwiched around 250th birthday boy Beethoven’s Sonata in C Major for Piano & Cello, Op. 102, […]