Tag archives: UCSB Arts & Lectures
“Grief is just the receipts for love,” Scott Galloway told a sold-out Arlington Theatre during an evening that began with masculinity and modern America, but ended somewhere more personal. Presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures, the NYU professor and New York Times bestselling author joined Talk Easy Host Sam Fragoso for a conversation inspired by […]
France is still favored to win the World Cup – at least as of this writing – but the boys in blue are going to have to compete with output from their country even more artisanal than a sizzling Mbappé strike. Which is to say, the annual SBIFF French Wave Film Festival invades Santa Barbara […]
Between conversations, croquettes, and glasses of bubbly, a crowd gathered for the UCSB Arts & Lectures 2026-2027 Season Reveal party at the Hotel Californian. After a touch of cavorting outside, the guests moved into the Alhambra Ballroom to see what is in store for the world-class set of performances and speakers that audiences have come […]
San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet has, for more than half a century, been a leader in expanding the environment and extent of what a string quartet can do. The Quartet’s CV now boasts more than 70 recordings, thousands of concerts across the globe, constant collaborations with composers and other adventurous musicians – and a seemingly endless […]
Several no-cost events are on their way from UCSB’s Arts & Lectures, all with tie-ins to full presentations as part of its current season. The classical corner comes up big this season, first with violinist Nicola Benedetti leading a masterclass on Thursday, January 29, at Geiringer Hall, the morning after her concert at Campbell Hall. […]
Another longstanding Santa Barbara-based chamber music program also launches its new season this weekend, as the Santa Barbara Music Club opens its 56th series of concerts featuring purely pianists. The “Six Hands at One Piano: Romantic and Modern Perspectives” program, slated for 3 pm on Saturday, September 27, at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (4575 Auhay […]
For most of its history, the UCSB Arts & Lectures-produced program ¡Viva el Arte de Santa Bárbara! operated under the radar of the usual A&L events. That wasn’t an accident. The idea was always to cater to the Spanish-speaking segment of the community, one that frequently might have been overlooked not only by A&L but […]
UCSB Arts & Lectures’ annual series of free summer film screenings outdoors under the stars at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Gardens might have come up with its smartest theme yet. Dubbed “Dog Days of Summer,” the series sports seven nights of dog-themed movies in one of the more spectacular venues in the heart […]
Following a rigorous national search, Meghan Bush has been appointed the Miller McCune Executive Director of UCSB Arts & Lectures effective immediately. Bush brings two decades of dedicated service to A&L and a proven record of creative leadership, operational excellence, and deep commitment to the role of arts in public life. In accepting the new […]
The Santa Barbara Symphony’s adventurous 2024-25 season comes to a close this weekend with another unusual entry, as the pair of concerts represent the first time the organization has booked a soloist – in this case the very estimable violinist Gil Shaham – to perform different repertoire in the Saturday and Sunday concert. The Grammy-decorated […]
Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights, UCSB Reads’ 2025 selection, is a New York Times bestselling collection of essays – written daily over the course of a year – celebrating small, ordinary wonders. Gay’s humorous, poetic and philosophical essays cover a wide range of topics, with vignettes that include such luminous oddities as sharing a […]
Famed Santa Barbara architect Robin Donaldson has traveled the world with the recent pair of documentary films – The House: 6 Points of Departure and This Is Not a House – that chronicle his immersive work on two important homes in the Montecito foothills; the Crawford House and Hill House. Donaldson, who studied painting and […]
Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theater is described as “an American cultural treasure” and after two performances at the Granada, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures series, one can see why, as it brought its unique blend of contemporary and classic movement to the cavernous stage. Showcasing a dazzling range of cultural influences and […]
Owls, a New York-based string quartet collective, wooed the audience at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall with their original, visceral performance, part of UCSB Arts and Lectures. The entertaining foursome, which unusually included two cellists rather than two violinists – Gabriel Cabezas and Paul Wiancko, violist Ayane Kozasa, and violinist Alexi Kenney […]
Legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma reigned supreme when he performed to a sold-out crowd at the Arlington, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures series. The Paris-born musician talked about his fascinating life dedicated to music, and played a number of his favorite pieces. Yo-Yo’s career has been multifaceted and a testament to his belief […]
Given its members’ history and the quartet’s “inverted” composition, it’s no surprise that Owls has been called “a dream group” by The New York Times. Featuring a distinctive instrumentation variation of the traditional string quartet that trades the second violinist for an additional cellist, the individual Owls are also no strangers to our area. Cellist […]
Sultry lounge singer Storm Large lived up to her billing when she sang at the Granada with the Santa Barbara Symphony, under veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti in Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins with additional vocals by the Hudson Shad Quartet. Other sensual works in the concert included Jacques Ibert’s “Divertissement,” William Grant Still’s “Seven Little […]
UCSB Arts & Lectures Miller McCune Executive Director Celesta Billeci was honored by the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce in recognition of her 25 years at the university. Celesta, a longtime friend, received the Visionary Arts Leadership Award as part of the Regional Business Awards Gala at the Hilton from Dr. Colin Marlaire, […]
Security was paramount at the Granada when Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company performed as part of UCSB’s popular Arts & Lectures program. A small number of protesters were present, carrying disparaging placards. More than 18 Santa Barbara police officers were stationed in and outside the theater and guests had to go through metal detectors placed in […]
It was definitely a 90-minute production with a difference when Cirque Kalabanté performed at the Lobero, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures series. The show, Afrique en Cirque, was created by Yamoussa Bangoura, a multidisciplinary artist of Guinean origin, who eventually joined his country’s Circus Baobab touring Africa and Europe. In early 2000 […]
