Tag archives: violinist

Scoring the Marriner 100
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 2, 2024

It would be hard to overstate the popularity of The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, whose reputation and name recognition soared following its recording of all the music for the soundtrack of the 1984 film Amadeus, which occurred about halfway through the 50-year leadership of founding artistic director Sir Neville Marriner. The album […]

With Bells On
By Richard Mineards   |   February 15, 2022

International violinist Joshua Bell was at the top of his game when he performed at the Granada, marking the glorious return of UCSB Arts & Lectures classical shows to the venerable venue, which celebrates its centenary in two years’ time. With a career spanning almost four decades, Grammy Award-winning Bell, 54, has performed with virtually […]

Ring That Bell at the Granada
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 1, 2022

After a couple of months’ hiatus due to the calendar and concerns about COVID, UCSB Arts & Lectures’ 2021-22 Creating Hope series resumes next Thursday, February 3, with a recital from violinist Joshua Bell, one of the most celebrated artists of his era. The recipient of a number of enviable accolades from the coveted Avery […]

Cuba to California: Hope and Faith Carry Sisters Safely to College
By Scott Craig   |   November 30, 2021

Two first-year students encountered setbacks and obstacles on their journey to Westmont. But as sisters Roxana and Rosario Montané traveled to Southern California from Havana, Cuba, they witnessed God’s provision.  “It’s important to always have faith, believe that you can do whatever you want to do and know that God is with you and is […]

‘Storm Reading’ Revisited
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 19, 2021

Back in 1988 nobody could have predicted the success or impact of Storm Reading, a theatrical play starring and based on the life experiences of Neil Marcus, a humorist-philosopher who lives with a neurological disorder called Dystonia that dramatically impacts his ability to speak and control movement. That includes Rod Lathim, who as head of […]

On the Right Foot
By Richard Mineards   |   February 6, 2020

There was a lot of sole searching going on at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall when violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja performed in a UCSB Arts & Lectures concert with cellist Jay Campbell, playing on an instrument crafted in the 1750s by Italian luthier Paolo Antonio Testore of Milan. Moldovan Kopatchinskaja, 43, who was […]

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 […]

Back in the Chamber
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 6, 2020

The Lobero Theatre Chamber Music Project, which had a sneak preview concert early last month, mounts the first of a planned annual festival this weekend by pairing Artistic and Music Director Heiichiro Ohyama, the violist who previously helmed the now defunct Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, and violinist Benjamin Beilman, who Ohyama selected as Musical Advisor […]

From Cookies to Cultural Concerts
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 30, 2020

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,” […]

Celebrating Perlman
By Richard Mineards   |   January 30, 2020

Legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman, who has appeared in Santa Barbara many times over the years for CAMA and UCSB Arts & Lectures, celebrated this 75th birthday at the sold-out Granada for Stories of His Life and Career, accompanied by pianist Rohan de Silva. The charming two-hour A&L retrospective, which traced his career from a 13-year-old […]

Elsewhere on the Classical Calendar
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 16, 2020

Celebrate the great Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman on both film and in person as UCSB A&L first presents Alison Chernick’s 2017 documentary Itzhak, which  details Perlman’s struggles as a polio survivor and Jewish émigré who rises to vast artistic success, at Campbell Hall on Thursday, January 16, then lets the musician himself share the tales […]

Bach, Busoni, Grieg
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 2, 2020

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 […]

Captivated by Koh
By Richard Mineards   |   April 18, 2019

UCSB Arts & Lectures supporters, Richard and Annette Caleel, opened the doors of their magnificent modern and tribal art filled Birnam Wood home for a reception for violinist Jennifer Koh, who later performed to a sold-out audience at St. Anthony’s Chapel, her second consecutive year, featuring works by Philip Glass, David Lang, Bryce Dessner, Andrew […]

Finding Passion in Playing Through Tragedy
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 14, 2019

The last week of February was a tough one for Anne-Sophie Mutter. Not only did the famed violinist lose her former husband and longtime musical partner when André Previn died on February 28, but she also came down with influenza, forcing postponement of the Los Angeles opening concert in her upcoming five-city American tour, making […]

Fiery Fiddling from France
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 6, 2018

Not surprisingly, the Moldovan-born virtuoso violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja turned out to be one of the most ambitious and active music directors of the Ojai Music Festival when she headed up the venerable classical music festival this past summer. Her four-day visit to the mountain village veered from a solo performance unplugged in Libbey Park to […]

Here’s the Lo-down for Shaw and MAW
By Steven Libowitz   |   July 5, 2018

Violinist-composer-vocalist Caroline Shaw – who became the youngest Pulitzer Prize winner for composition at the age of 30 years ago for her vocal piece “Partita” – has guested at Music Academy of the West (MAW) every summer since 2016, first as a visiting artist, then a composer in residence, and now Mosher Guest Arts, which […]

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 […]