Opera Santa Barbara 25 Years

Opera Santa Barbara (OSB) celebrated its 25th anniversary with a concert at the Lobero Theatre followed by a party across the street at the El Paseo Restaurant. To add some sparkle to the occasion, the evening began with a champagne reception on the terrace at the front of the theatre for 500 guests.

After going inside, there began a “hit parade” of opera music conducted by Kostis Protopapas and Valery Ryvkin and sung by: mezzo soprano Audrey Babcock, soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, tenor Adam Diegel, tenor Nathan Granner, mezzo soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen, baritone Lee Poulis, baritone Todd Thomas, bass Kevin Thompson, and soprano Karin Wolverton. From the Chrisman Studio Artists were soprano Jennifer Lindsay, mezzo soprano Ashley Kay Armstrong, tenor Michael Kollmorgen, and baritone Yazid Gray.

OSB founder Marilyn Gilbert was introduced to cheers and a standing ovation. She and her late husband Nathan Rundlett co-founded the group believing that a cultural town like Santa Barbara deserved its own opera company. And the dream came true!

Chairman of the board, Joan Rutkowski, says, “Opera truly is life set to music. Knowing from the beginning that opera’s future depends on educating younger audiences, our outreach programs began almost immediately, offering performance opportunities to young singers, encouraging creativity and bringing the great joy of opera to schoolchildren across our community.” This philosophy has culminated in the Chrisman Studio Artists program, the Opera Lab and the Santa Barbara Youth Opera.

OSB is deeply indebted to major season sponsors: Sarah and Roger Chrisman, Herb and Elaine Kendall, Dianne Dodds Mithun Family Foundation, Elaine F. Stepanek Foundation, and Maya Smidt.

After the concert we trekked across the street to the El Paseo Restaurant for mingling with wine, music, and hardy hors d’oeuvres like lamp chops and sliders.

Artistic and general director Kostis Protopapas informed, “The classical Greek word for ‘perform’ is ‘teach.’ It was this idea of theatre as a place of enlightenment that in 1600 AD inspired the members of the Florentine Camerata to invent a new form of sung drama, which they called opera.” As sponsor Bob Urquhart says, “Managing an opera company is a little like running a restaurant: success depends on serving what your customers like and keeping them coming back for more.”

So “come on down” and experience the opera Eugene Onegin on March 1 and 3 followed by The Crucible April 26 and 28 at the Lobero Theatre.