Tag archives: Nir Kabaretti

Soviet Sounds
By Richard Mineards   |   November 22, 2018

A tony triumvirate of talent came together as one for the Santa Barbara Symphony’s back-to-back Igor Stravinsky fest at the Granada, with the performers including the State Street Ballet and members of the Ensemble Theatre. Montecito Emmy-winning actor Christopher Lloyd narrated the Faustian story of The Soldier’s Tale with Ensemble regular Jamie Torcellini as the […]

Stravinsky, in Sound and on Stage
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 15, 2018

Fresh off a season opening concert of audience-pleasing music by Gershwin and others, the Santa Barbara Symphony next takes on two famously adventurous works by Igor Stravinsky, including his ballet score The Rite of Spring, which had a “scandalous” premiere 105 years ago in Paris, when the bizarre story of pagan sacrifice and the composer’s […]

Celebrating 65 Years
By Lynda Millner   |   November 15, 2018

The Santa Barbara Symphony (SBS) took us back to the era of Supper Clubs in a sea of sapphire. The rotunda at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort never looked more beautiful. It was totally draped in royal-blue curtains. The ceiling turned magical as the sun set, the tiny lights looking like we were sitting […]

That’s a Rhapsody
By Richard Mineards   |   November 1, 2018

Santa Barbara Symphony, under veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti, kicked offs its 65th season in fine style at the Granada with an intoxicating Rhapsody in Blue concert, featuring pianist Jeffrey Biegel, playing George Gershwin’s 1924 classic. The entertaining show kicked off with Hungarian Ernst von Dohnanyi’s folk and gospel-infused American Rhapsody, wrapping with Hector Berlioz’s epic […]

O.K. Choral
By Richard Mineards   |   October 4, 2018

Santa Barbara Choral Society, which kicks off its 71st season of song in December with its popular Hallelujah Project at the Lobero, hosted a pre-season reception at the Music Academy of the West’s Marilyn Horne House. One of the highlights of the new season is Visions of Peace and Freedom, featuring Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis […]

For Artistic Director, Ball is Well
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 4, 2018

If the Santa Barbara Symphony were an individual, it would have just qualified to start collecting Social Security. But instead of kicking back and resting on its laurels at age 65, hunkering down reminiscing over good times from a rocking chair, the orchestral organization is instead amping up its ambitions in just about every way, […]

Granada Legends
By Lynda Millner   |   September 27, 2018

The Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts (SBCPA) honored three legends in their own time at the 4th annual Granada Theatre Gala. They were singer/song writer Kenny Loggins, philanthropist Sara Miller McCune, and the Santa Barbara Symphony represented by maestro Nir Kabaretti. The gala is always tre elegant with the gentlemen in tuxes and […]

$50K: How Sweet it is
By Richard Mineards   |   May 3, 2018

The Rape Crisis Center, now renamed Standing Together to End Sexual Assault, threw its 10th annual Chocolate de Vine event at the Greek Orthodox Church, attracting more than 250 oenophiles and chocaholics, raising around $50,000 for the worthy charity which has an annual budget of $950,000. Eight chocolatiers and nine wineries participated, and for the […]

Busy as a Bee
By Richard Mineards   |   April 12, 2018

Former Montecito beekeeper Rick Sawyer is waxing poetic. Rick, 66, who created the Hollister Ranch and Santa Barbara honey companies in the mid-1970s, has re-launched Within The Shells, a 210-page book he originally published in 1973 as a limited 100 copy leather-bound version. “It is the first of three poetry books I plan to complete,” […]

Brittner-sweet Memories
By Richard Mineards   |   March 29, 2018

Santa Barbara Historical Museum was socially gridlocked for the farewell bash of executive director Lynn Brittner who is leaving after four years to take a similar position with the Indian Pueblo Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “I have made many friends here and we have made many advances in my time here,” says Lynn, who […]

BASSH One Giant Dance Party for All
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 22, 2018

Hector Sanchez appeared in so many of the pieces performed at last year’s BASSH – the theatrical showcase for local dance professionals and their protégés to show off their choreography in a wide variety of social dance genres – that one was thinking they might have to change the name of the two-decades old production […]

Soothing Sounds
By Richard Mineards   |   January 25, 2018

Santa Barbara Symphony, under conductor Nir Kabaretti, in partnership with Montecito Bank & Trust, held a free concert at the Granada to raise money for disaster relief and recovery efforts in our rarefied enclave. Guitarist and artist in residence Pablo Sainz Villegas, accompanied by a small orchestra, gave an intimate and uplifting performance. “It was […]