Tag archives: Orchestra
With the virulent coronavirus pandemic sweeping the nation impacting innumerable cultural programs, the orchestra, under veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti, has not been deterred in any way whatsoever and has launched a series of seven virtual concerts to sate the appetites of its many local fans. Last week I was at the cavernous Granada Theatre where […]
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 […]
Kevin Marvin, CEO of the Santa Barbara Symphony, is leaving our Eden by the Beach and returning to Colorado for personal and family reasons. Kevin, who previously headed the now defunct Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, has led the orchestral organization, under maestro Nir Kabaretti, for three seasons. He was responsible for organizing the benefit concert […]
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 […]
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra was founded by renowned conductor-pianist Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian scholar/author Edward Said 20 years ago to bring together outstanding young Palestinian and Israeli musicians in a collaboration superseding national and cultural boundaries. The group, Barenboim has said, was conceived as a project against ignorance and aims to promote understanding […]
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 […]
If violinist-violist Sara Bashore hadn’t been craving cookies as a kid, she might never have made it to Montenegro. At least that’s what Bashore remembered about her first exposure to the violin at age five. “My parents took me to an orchestra concert and asked me if I was interested in any of the instruments,” […]
Violinist Benjamin Beilman was slated to make his debut with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra in the 2017-18 season, but then the venerable ensemble closed operations after nearly 40 years. Now, barely more than two years later, Beilman has been booked for an even bigger role in the Lobero Theatre Chamber Music Project, a new collaboration with […]
The Westmont Music Department added a Saturday matinee to its 15th annual Christmas Festival schedule after tickets to the first three performances sold out in about a week. Tickets are available for the concert on Saturday, December 14, at 2 pm in First Presbyterian Church at westmont.edu/christmasfestival. The festival, which retells the Christmas story by […]
Montecito Bank & Trusts’ MClub spent an evening with Santa Barbara Symphony music and artistic director Nir Kabaretti. It began in the Founders room of the Granada for light bites and wine and a chance to meet and greet Janet Garufis, who is the Symphony board chair and CEO of MB&T, and Kevin Marvin, president […]
Westmont’s performance of Nikolai Gogol‘s The Government Inspector delivers heavy doses of hilarity and introspection. Award-winning director Mitchell Thomas brings the play back to Porter Theatre for three final performances Octpber 24-26, all at 7:30 pm in Westmont’s Porter Theatre. General admission is $15; and $10 for seniors and students. Purchase tickets at westmont.edu/boxoffice. For […]
Westmont President Gayle D. Beebe and alumnus Stan Anderson cut the ribbon to the new Stan Anderson Golf Complex at a public dedication ceremony September 10 on Westmont’s lower campus. Anderson then sank a ceremonial first putt surrounded by hundreds of cheering Westmont student-athletes and supporters. The new facility features an 8,000-square-foot artificial putting green, […]
The Music Academy of the West concluded its 72nd annual summer festival on a high note when the Academy Festival Orchestra, under conductor Marin Alsop, performed Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7 at the Granada. The entertaining program also comprised of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon‘s 13-minute piece blue cathedral, just a week after her well received […]
Marin Alsop is a serious classical musician, perhaps even more so than the average conductor, given what she had to go through to accomplish what she has over a 35-year career. Along with her many other achievements, Alsop became the first woman ever to lead a major American orchestra when she was appointed music director […]
Montecito attorney David Gersh has just published his sixth book, How to Collect Great Art on a Shoestring. David, who studied at UCLA and Harvard, says his latest work talks about how to acquire paintings by artists who are in the Guggenheim, the Whitney, and MoMA for just a few thousand dollars, not tens or […]
Westmont researchers are using a new high-tech tool to understand human neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease. As part of a summer research project, Yi-Fan Lu, Westmont assistant professor of biology, and senior Heidi Pullmann used the new microelectrode array, purchased through the Westmont Provost’s Office, to detect and record the response of neurons to […]
How do you top a 70th anniversary season that featured the culmination of a four-year partnership with the venerable New York Philharmonic featuring music director Alan Gilbert leading the orchestra for the final time in a monumental concert at La Playa Stadium, in what was Santa Barbara biggest single classical musical event in its history? […]
The Westmont College Choir and Orchestra will host its Masterworks Concert tour performing Handel’s Messiah (parts 2 and 3) beginning in Santa Barbara on Friday, April 6, at 7 pm at First United Methodist Church, 305 E. Anapamu St. Admission is $10, students are free. For more information, contact the music department at (805) 565-6040. […]
Greg Spencer, Westmont professor of communication studies, hopes that his new book, Reframing the Soul: How Words Transform Our Faith, will help members of the local community as they remember the challenging events of this past winter. On the night after the massive January 9 debris flow, Spencer said his last thought before going to […]
This was a long-awaited occasion when the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) appeared on the Arlington Theatre stage. The orchestra was so large, there was barely room to get the conductor Zubin Mehta on stage and onto his platform. The theatre was filled as well. UCSB Miller McCune executive director Celesta M. Billeci had many sponsors […]
