Montecito Bank & Trust’s 31st annual Anniversary Grants reception, originally scheduled for the courtyard of the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, had to be changed at the last minute to the bank’s imposing State Street headquarters because of the heavy rains. More than 100 guests turned out for the popular fête celebrating the bank’s 48th anniversary, […]

Santa Barbara Zoo has added four new members to its board of directors – Yvette Birch Giller, Angela Sanchez, Bradley Vernon, and Karen Wintringham. Giller is president of the Mosher Foundation, which supports nonprofit organizations in our Eden by the Beach within the areas of education, healthcare and the performing arts. She has also served […]

Montecito actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus was honored by President Joe Biden in a star-studded ceremony at the White House to present the 2021 National Humanities Medals and the 2021 National Medals of Art. In total, 24 artists, authors, and humanitarians, including rocker Bruce Springsteen, singers Gladys Knight and José Feliciano, fashion designer Vera Wang, and authors […]

A visit to Lotusland—the 37-acre Montecito botanical garden—to co-chair the launch lunch of a new coffee table tome with philanthropist Anne Towbes last year, has led to Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning British actress Jane Seymour designing a scarf to mark the 30th anniversary of Polish opera singer Ganna Walska’s estate as a public garden. […]

Hollywood musical giant John Williams, 91, who was featured in last week’s Oscars coverage, was celebrated in grand style by the Santa Barbara Symphony under Fresno Symphony guest conductor Rei Hotoda at the Granada. The hugely entertaining performance, dubbed John Williams: A Symphonic Celebration, included music from most of his major hits, including Jaws, E.T., […]

Lotusland, the 37-acre botanical paradise just a tiara’s toss from Westmont College, goes from strength to strength even though visitor numbers to the former estate of Polish opera legend Ganna Walska are limited to 20,000 visitors annually, including 5,000 guests for educational programs. Treasurer Stephen Schaible told the annual meeting held in the charming Theatre […]

It was the perfect blend of beer and botanicals when the 99-year-old Santa Barbara Botanic Garden hosted its 13th annual beer event, with the region’s highest-rated breweries pouring one-of-a-kind beers inspired by the 78-acre Mission Canyon Garden, which contains 1,000 specimens of rare and indigenous plants. The fun floral fête, co-chaired by Jonathan DiBenedetto and […]

Still in sprightly form at 91, legendary and pre-eminent pedagogue, Manhattan-based pianist Jerome Lowenthal, who has taught at the Music Academy for more than half a century, was honored at the Miraflores campus’s Hahn Hall with a “Lowenthal’s Legend” concert featuring his daughter Carmel Lowenthal, Grammy nominee Ursula Oppens, Vassily Primakov, Grammy Award-winner Nadia Shpachenko, […]

It was certainly a plucky performance when the Grammy award-winning Attacca Quartet, a decidedly funky and exuberant foursome, played at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall, as part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures series. The works, all by Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy-winning composer Caroline Shaw, known for “a world of sound never heard before,” […]

After a three-year enforced hiatus caused by the COVID pandemic, the 75th annual Santa Barbara International Orchid Show, with 500 colorful exhibitors, kicked off at the Earl Warren Showgrounds. The three-day event “Orchids: The Adventure Returns,” is one of the oldest, largest, and most prestigious shows in the U.S. with glorious displays installed by local, […]