The Flamenco Flair
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 28, 2023

Maria Bermudez has a metaphor she likes to employ to describe flamenco – what for her has been a lifelong passion and something hard to describe. “The beauty of flamenco is that it’s like a very big fan,” she said. “When you open a fan, it’s got all those ridges that are all equal. And […]

The Divine Sounds of Bruce Cockburn
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 21, 2023

Singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn has released some 35 albums over his half-century career, enjoying enough success stateside to sustain making music, but also falling far short of the household name recognition of fellow Canadians like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, or even Gordon Lightfoot.  Now at 78, Cockburn – whose catalog includes such transcendent love songs as […]

 

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Moving Mariposa Tunes
By Tim Buckley   |   November 21, 2023

Violinist Frank Huang is deep into his ninth year as concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, but the joys of performing as part of much smaller ensembles has never strayed far from his heart. “Before I got into the orchestra world, I was pursuing life as a quartet player,” shared Huang, who was the first […]

A Dynamic Duo
By Richard Mineards   |   November 21, 2023

New York Philharmonic principal clarinet Anthony McGill and Taiwanese pianist Gloria Chien were quite the dynamic duo when they performed in the second concert of the Mariposa series at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall. The tony twosome performed works by Telemann, Jessie Montgomery, Brahms, Teng Yu-hsien, Lee, and Von Weber for the sold-out audience. McGill […]

Art Museum Goes Big with 675 Small Works
By Scott Craig   |   November 14, 2023

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art’s most popular exhibition and fundraiser returns to Montecito on Nov. 30 to Dec. 15, offering viewers an opportunity to see and bid on more than 675, small five-inch-square works by regional, national, and international artists. The museum hosts a free, public opening reception on Thursday, Nov. 30, from 4 […]

New Landscapes Part I: Group Exhibit at the Atkinson Gallery
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 14, 2023

I attended the opening of an exhibition at the Atkinson Gallery at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) titled New Landscapes Part I, which is on view through December 8. The artists exhibiting are Whitney Bedford, Diedrick Brackens, Manuel López, Cruz Ortiz, Jonathan Ryan,and Jonas Wood. The exhibition was conceived and curated by Atkinson Gallery Director […]

Illuminate Festival Moving to Town 
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 14, 2023

Illuminate Film Festival (IFF) is celebrating its 10th anniversary by moving from Sedona, Arizona, to another somewhat spiritually-elevated community much closer to the sea. A leading festival for evolutionary/conscious cinema – focusing on films that uplift, elevate, and inspire lasting personal and social transformation – the IFF is hosting a benefit reception at the Music […]

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  • 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 […]

    The Leaves of Fall and Books
    By Leslie Zemeckis   |   November 7, 2023

    As a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, author Vanessa Lillie’s compelling Blood Sisters is based on a real crime involving multiple missing indigenous girls and women. Syd, an archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, finds herself back in her small-town home in Oklahoma to solve the mystery of a recently discovered skull. […]

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    Outing to Ojai 
    By Steven Libowitz   |   November 7, 2023

    Film festivals are coming fast and furious in the middle of fall, with the Jewish Film Festival continuing for four more days through November 5, and the Ojai Film Festival set to hit the theater November 2-6. The latter fest found in the mountain community will screen more than four score films from around the […]

    One-Shots on Screen 
    By Steven Libowitz   |   November 7, 2023

    All Time, the 2023 ski film from Warren Miller Productions screening at the Lobero on November 7, results from 74 years of filmmaking reimagined, full of good turns and good snow on good hills with good people. Narrated by Olympic and World Cup Freestyle skiing analyst Jonny Moseley, the movie dives deep into elements that […]

    Christmas Festival Offers ‘Fullness of Joy’
    By Scott Craig   |   November 7, 2023

    Tickets are on sale now for the 19th annual Westmont Christmas Festival, which marks the beginning of the holiday season for many in Santa Barbara. The concert combines orchestra and choirs at the Granada Theatre, the central coast’s premier performing arts venue in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, on Saturday, December 2, at 7 […]

    American Double Returns
    By Scott Craig   |   November 7, 2023

    Violinist Philip Ficsor, who served on Westmont’s music faculty from 2006-13, returns to college for a recital with American Double, a violin-piano duo consisting of Ficsor and pianist Constantine Finehouse, on Sunday, November 5, at 3 pm in Deane Chapel. The concert, featuring American masterworks for violin and piano by John Corigliano and Daniel Gee […]

    Anderson & Roe Rock Hahn
    By Richard Mineards   |   November 7, 2023

    It was all two grand for words when the Music Academy launched the first of its Mariposa Series concerts at Hahn Hall with the extraordinary keyboard duo of Anderson and Roe with academy alum Elizabeth Joy Roe and Greg Anderson playing back-to-back Steinway pianos. Since forming their dynamic musical partnership in 2002 as students at […]

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