Tag archives: Santa Barbara Master Chorale

Former Julliard Suitemates Join Forces in Dreammusik 
By Steven Libowitz   |   May 20, 2025

There’s another world premiere presenting just its second performance in town this weekend, this one fully commissioned by a patron of the local ensemble that will perform it at Hahn Hall on May 17. But the last time Camerata Pacifica played Dreammusik, written by Lera Auerbach for principal cellist Ani Aznavoorian, was back in 2014 […]

Montecito’s McIntyre Returns to Celebrate Maria Callas’ Centennial
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 14, 2023

The entire opera world and other cultural institutions are all taking note of Maria Callas again as the 100th birthday of the soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century approaches on December 2. That includes both Angelina Jolie, who will star in an upcoming biopic, and […]

Punch Bros. Bark up a New Tree 
By Steven Libowitz   |   May 16, 2023

Banjo player Noam Pikelny and guitarist Chris Eldridge of the Punch Brothers have teamed up with bassist and founding former member, Greg Garrison of Leftover Salmon fame, and mandolinist Andrew Marlin (Watchhouse) to form a bluegrass bound band called Mighty Poplar. Born out of impromptu backstage jams at festivals, Mighty Poplar lets the members return […]

Double Debut Day for Classical Ensembles 
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 31, 2023

Less than six years after the four-decades-old Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra played its final concert in town, a new ensemble that’s even more community-based and oriented is stepping in to fill the void with an even more ambitious approach.  The Santa Barbara Chamber Players (SBCP), created by local musicians who first practiced during the pandemic […]

Holiday Happenings
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 13, 2022

A Christmas ‘Unicorn’: And Now for Something Completely Different… It would be hard to imagine something more polar opposite from a Christmas show than Bulletproof Unicorn, a one-woman show from Los Angeles-based comedian and singer-songwriter Stacie Burrows rife with dark humor about trying to fix her dysfunctional family that culminates in her estranged, alcoholic brother […]

Trees a Crowd
By Richard Mineards   |   November 21, 2019

Caroline Doiron, owner of the Village Gardener, is going to have her hands full over the next few weeks. Caroline, who regularly decorates the Christmas tree at the Four Seasons Biltmore with thousands of ornaments, has also taken on the daunting task, along with her team of eight designers, of installing and decorating Yuletide trees […]

New Addition
By Richard Mineards   |   December 27, 2018

William Gallivan and staffers at the Orthopedic Institute of Santa Barbara welcomed some new bones to the roster at the annual holiday celebration at their downtown offices. The boffo bash, held in an enormous tent connected to the Junipero Street office, became the vortex for the festive fest that included music by guitarist Bruce Goldish, […]

Violinist is Red-y to Sync or Swim
By Steven Libowitz   |   June 7, 2018

Normally, there’s nothing major on the classical calendar between the closing of the Ojai Festival and the opening bell of the Music Academy of the West’s summer festival, which this year is on Monday, June 18. But due to the closure of the 101 Freeway in the wake of the Montecito debris flow, the Santa […]