Beatles tribute bands are not uncommon. Heck, one of them, simply named Yesterday, performed at SOhO in mid-September, and another one known as Sgt. Pepper will be playing this Sunday afternoon, October 4, at the Avocado Festival in Carpinteria.  But make no mistake, the “Orchestrated Tribute to The Beatles” benefit concert at the Arlington Theatre […]

“I came here 45 years ago to this community, and I’ve always been amazed at the quality of all of you and how you keep this place special,” Bo Derek said. “Thank you so much for keeping this place beautiful and keeping it going.” It was an appropriately heartfelt note for the Granada Theatre’s 10th […]

Music Academy of the West fellows don’t normally return to the Miraflores campus as professionals just 14 months after finishing their residency at the summer festival. But that’s exactly what will happen when young pianist-composer August Baik, a 2025 MAW fellow who just turned 21, performs with violist Richard O’Neill, who was a fellow back […]

Westmont Theatre Arts unleashes Momentum! A Musical Revue, an exhilarating showcase celebrating the courage to leap into the unknown, chase ambitious dreams and embrace life’s unexpected turns. Directed by Samantha Eve, Westmont instructor of theater arts and artistic director of Out of the Box Theatre Company, the show features dynamic performances that highlight the choices […]

Folk Orchestra of Santa Barbara has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 2016 as a one-off jam session fashioned and hosted by Adam Phillips. Back then, the former Voice and Musical Theatre major was singing tenor with Quire of Voyces, the Santa Barbara Chorale Society, and Opera Santa Barbara, and was already […]

The old adage “write what you know” pretty much has not applied to John Romano. The East Coast scribe holds a Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature from Yale and spent the first years of his career teaching English at Columbia University, authoring a book on Charles Dickens Dickens and Reality and reviewing lit for […]

Victorian women were expected to be demure, decorous, and to generally avoid spending their evenings in the company of bloodthirsty Transylvanian counts. Thankfully, times have changed. On September 19, some of Santa Barbara’s most formidable women will descend upon the Music Academy of the West for State Street Ballet’s annual gala, Victorian Vogue. There will […]

Building on a decade of successful summer youth programming, Westmont launches a year-round community music school designed for every age and skill level. Joanne Kim, who teaches clarinet at Westmont and Santa Barbara City College, directs the Westmont Music Academy (WeMA), which begins its inaugural session Aug. 28 on the Montecito campus.  WeMA builds on […]

I’ve been invited to rock ‘n’ roll’s inner sanctum by its madcap custodians; they who will usher me into the catacombs from whose torchlit stores they assemble their annual tent revival at the Lobero theatre. They’ve put together a particularly wig-flipping rock show for José Lobero’s venerable 150-year-old opera house, the curtain rising on their […]

“The Music Note Gala was a stunning success.” So said honoree Cheryl Goldberg – and “stunning” suited an evening of Broadway royalty, golden-hour cocktails and philanthropy at the spectacular Bella Vista Estate in Summerland, raising a record-breaking $1.2 million dollars for their music education and community outreach programs.  The sold-out Music Academy of the West […]