It was a very in-tents occasion when Teresa Kuskey, the bubbly founder of the La Boheme dance company, and social gadabout Rick Oshay hosted their annual fiesta bash at the Santa Barbara Polo Club for 175 guests. The fun fête in a giant marquee featured Teresa’s colorful dancers, who led our Eden by the Beach’s […]
Montecito’s Magic Castle, after five years as a club, is closing its doors. Dynamic duo Milt and Arlene Larsen, who bought the former Cafe del Sol eatery owned by Jack and Emilie Sears, a tiara’s toss from the 42-acre Andree Clark Bird Refuge, in 2016 hosted a farewell bash with 130 club members and friends […]
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Patricia Westley, daughter of the Santa Barbara Polo Club’s John Westley, who used to manage the polo training school, had just scored the experience of a lifetime two months before Russia invaded Ukraine. The Kiwi-American opera singer had won an Atkins Foundation fellowship to work at the historic Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, finding an […]
We were all clearly in the right aria when the Music Academy staged Tchaikovsky’s classic Eugene Onegin at the Granada, directed by Peter Kazaras, head of Opera UCLA. With the orchestra under Slovenian-born conductor Daniela Candillari, Yale-educated baritone Samuel Kidd as Onegin, and soprano Johanna Will as his lover, they were absolutely superb in the […]
Santa Barbara’s Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation has elected Erin Bonski-Evans to its board. A prolific pianist and collaborative artist, serving on the faculties of Westmont College and Santa Barbara City College, Erin is the resident coach and répétiteur for Ensemble Theatre Company and assistant conductor for the Santa Barbara Master Chorale. She frequently works with […]
On a personal note, I remember Ivana Trump, a friend of many years and a former Upper Eastside neighbor, when I lived in Manhattan. Ivana, who died at her East 64th Street townhouse, opposite the home of the late Italian designer Gianni Versace, at the age of 73 was a partner at many social events, […]
Social gridlock reigned when, after a two-week hiatus, Santa Barbara Polo Club launched its highly anticipated high goal season with four top teams playing in the roster at the Carpinteria equine paradise through September. The 20-goal culminates at the end of August with the Netjets Pacific Coast Open, the biggest tournament on the Left Coast, […]
A sold-out crowd of 400, many of them in tony tête toppers, descended on the sprawling Piocho Ranch home of the Happy Canyon Vineyard, owned by Santa Barbara Polo Club billionaire patron Tom Barrack, for the 10th anniversary Santa Ynez Valley Polo Classic that raised more than $150,000 for People Helping People, a Solvang-based organization […]
To the Rockwood Woman’s Club to hear former British Beefeater Steve McMenamy talk about his life in the notorious fortress The Tower of London built by William the Conqueror. McMenamy served 23 years in the Royal Armored Corps before becoming a Yeoman of the Guard, founded in 1485 by King Henry VII, in 2010. They […]
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Joan Davidson, who currently serves on the Santa Barbara Museum of Art board, where she co-chaired the recent $50 million “Imagine More” capital campaign, has joined the board of 32-year-old Camerata Pacifica. Davidson also served as Third District member of the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission and its county art in public places committee, and […]
Oenophiles and gourmands were out in force at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History when, after a two-year pandemic hiatus, it hosted the region’s premier wine and food event, attracting 1,000 supporters to the beautiful 17-acre Mission Creek campus and raising more than $200,000 for the museum’s programs and exhibits. Around 200 VIP tickets, […]
It was a double celebration for the popular nonprofit Heal The Ocean at the popular oceanside eatery, The FisHouse, when Alison Thompson, operations policy coordinator since 2018, was given a “Great Wave” goodbye as she leaves for New Haven, Connecticut, to join graduate school at Yale University. She is working her way towards a master’s […]
The Lobero Theatre was almost gridlocked when the Music Academy staged a concert by the popular Takács Quartet, with four Academy fellows adding to the wonderful mix as the 75th annual summer festival kicked off. The program featured works by Mozart, Beethoven, and wrapped with Mendelssohn’s “Octet in E-flat Major,” which he wrote when he […]
Zach Mendez, Opera Santa Barbara’s Director of Operations and member of the organization’s team since 2018, and a member of the chorus before that, is leaving to dedicate his talents full time to his photography business. “Zach has been my closest partner, deputy, confidant, and friend for over four years, and every area of our […]
