Classical music fans hit the “jack-pot” at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall when New York’s JACK Quartet celebrated their landmark 20th anniversary season. Founded by four alumni of the Eastman School of Music, the Fab Four – violist John Pickford Richards, violinists Ari Streisfeld and Christopher Otto, and cellist Kevin McFarland – […]
Tchaikovsky might not have approved, but a packed audience at the Arlington Theatre watching the New York-based Dorrance Dance company’s Nutcracker Suite, part of UCSB’s popular Arts & Lectures series, showed their approval after a 75-minute jazzy new version of the Christmas tradition. Set to a new arrangement of the Yuletide classic by Duke Ellington […]
Thomas Tighe, who is retiring as head of Direct Relief after 24 years was fêted by members of the charity’s Legacy Society at the organization’s headquarters. Since starting in 2000, Tighe has seen the charity’s expansion become the fifth largest charity in the U.S. among the largest providers of charitable medicine in America and globally. […]
La Arcada, the charming thoroughfare off State Street, had its 29th annual Christmas Walk with carolers in Dickensian costume, a real snow machine and free popcorn for 1,000 guests. Youngsters were even able to send letters to Santa Claus with typewriters in the Crafter’s Library which, given their age, was probably the first time they’d […]
Prince Harry and wife Meghan have no plans to return to the U.K. with their children Archie and Lilibet. The Riven Rock resident, 40, opened up about his decision to stay in the U.S. at the annual New York Times DealBook Summit in Manhattan. The Sussexes have called Montecito home for four years after leaving […]
It was a spectacular start to Yuletide when Montecito Bank & Trust held its 22nd annual Community Dividends lunch at the Hilton for 300 guests. More than 195 local charities received checks of varying amounts, with two organizations – Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families, and the Youth and Family Services YMCA’s Noah’s Anchorage, […]
The Veterans’ Memorial Building, just a tiara’s toss from Stearns Wharf, was socially gridlocked when 600 needy guests descended on the oceanside locale for the fifth annual Thanksgiving lunch organized by Adam’s Angels, founded by Douglas Elliman realtor Adam McKaig. More than 350 pounds of turkey breast bought at Shalhoob’s found its way to the […]
To the new 449-seat capacity Harbor Restaurant, atop Stearns Wharf, with my trusty shutterbug Priscilla, which opened in September with panoramic views over the Pacific through giant crystal-clear windows. The seafood eatery first opened in 1941 and has undergone an impressive renovation under its new owners, Santa Barbara realtor John Thyne III and wife Olesya, […]
Montecito actor Josh Brolin has revealed mega director James Cameron’s reaction to him rejecting a role in the Avatar sequel, The Way of Water. The Men in Black III star, 56, detailed he declined to appear as a new character in the 2022 box office smash 13 years after Cameron’s original film became the highest […]
To the Ritz-Carlton Bacara for the American Cancer Society’s annual Riviera Gala “Where Hope Grows,” which hosted 150 guests and raised around $200,000. The bustling bash was emceed by David Moorman, with a welcome from Greater Los Angeles board member Adam Lopez, and 2024 corporate chair Karina Kulangara – a scientist with Agilent Technologies, who […]
Social gridlock reigned at the Waterhouse Gallery in the charming La Arcada complex on State and Figueroa, when owners Diane and Ralph Waterhouse celebrated the 40th anniversary of their eponymous locale with a fun wine-fueled fête in the store, just a tiara’s toss from the turtle fountain. The tony twosome, who also own a Coast […]
CAMA – Community Arts Music Association – hosted its latest Masterseries concert at the Lobero when violinist Anne Akiko Meyers showed off her undoubted talents. The hugely entertaining program, with Grammy nominee Meyers, 54, playing her 1741 “ex-Vieuxtemps” Guarneri del Gesu, included Corelli’s “La Folia Sonata,” Beethoven’s “Sonata No. 5 in F Major ‘Spring,’” Lauridsen’s […]
Santa Barbara Symphony held its second Concert Aperitif event, one of five, at the charming and quirky new home of Joan Rutkowski on Chapala Street – starring Geneva-based conductor and pianist David Greilsammer before he headed to the Granada nearby for the French Connections concert spanning three centuries. The entertaining 100-minute program with Greilsammer, conducting […]
Local warbler Katy Perry is launching an iconic world tour with her daughter Daisy Dove in tow. The 13-time Grammy nominated singer says it is an “adventure together” as they travel the globe. The Montecito resident says her Lifetimes Tour will be traveling around the U.K. next year and says she loves how London is […]
The Organic Soup Kitchen, which has served more than three million bowls to needy residents in Santa Barbara County, celebrated its 15th anniversary with a bountiful bash for 250 guests at the Cabrillo Pavilion. Founder and executive director Anthony Carroccio declared: “When we served our first bowl in the park in 2009, we were visionaries […]
The tony triumvirate of British oboe player Nicholas Daniel, fellow Brit violist Timothy Ridout, and Estonian pianist Irina Zahharenkova received justifiable star billing at Camerata Pacifica’s latest concert at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall. Daniel and Zahharenkova shone brightly in Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Sonata for Oboe and Piano in D Major,” while Ridout […]
Bob and Holly Murphy celebrated the 14th anniversary of their colorful La Arcada two-story gift store Coast 2 Coast Collection with a boffo bash for more than 150 guests, a fun fête so large they took over the eatery State & Fig, just across the way to accommodate everyone. The locale – formerly Hampstead Village, […]
To the historic University Club for a coffee table tome launch and talk on the late Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga, whose name is enjoying a resurgence of late. The book Balenciaga – Kublin: A Fashion Record by the Hungarian photographer’s daughter, Maria Kublin andfashion curator and lecturer Ana Balda – records the photographer’s close relationship […]
Scott Reed, former president of the Music Academy of the West, commemorated the first year of his company Lane 4 Fundraising, a fundraising strategy firm he launched with the academy colleague Jon Bishop last fall. A nod to the dynamic duo’s passion for competitive swimming, Lane 4 works with some top nonprofits in our community […]
CAMA’s latest international concert at the Granada was La Serenìssima at its best with mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital conducting San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Grammy-winning soprano Esteli Gomez interspersing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with gondola songs. It was also the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s enduringly popular Baroque masterpiece which I last heard on a misty New […]
A tsunami of supporters descended on the FisHouse, just tiara’s toss from Stearns Wharf, for Heal the Ocean’s sunset soirée to thank donors for helping raise a record $350,000 from its fifth consecutive imaginary gala. “It’s the perfect level of event,” enthused co-founder Hillary Hauser, executive director of the popular charity. “Very little overhead and […]
Carpinteria TV host Conan O’Brien is hosting the next Oscars. Announcing Taco Bell’s new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme, O’Brien then said: “In other news, I’m hosting the Oscars.” He told his fans at the weekend. It will be his first time as Oscars host. He has emceed other high profile shows like the Emmy Awards in […]
Local rockers The Doublewide Kings were supersized when they performed The Next Waltz, celebrating the classic rock group The Band with the Santa Barbara Symphony under conductor Brett Strader at the Granada. The hugely entertaining sold-out show, presented by the theater and Earl Minnis, under executive director guitarist Palmer Jackson, Jr. – a symphony board […]
Opera Santa Barbara’s latest production, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with conductor Kostis Protopapas at the Lobero, was a triumph! Under director Octavio Cardenas, New York-based tenor Robert Stahley as the principal character and Los Angeles-based soprano Alaysha Fox as Nedda were quite superb, with baritones Ben Lowe as Taddeo and local resident Matthew Peterson as Silvio, and […]
Itzhak Perlman, one of the world’s greatest violinists with 16 Grammys and four Emmys, played in a truly memorable chamber music concert at the Granada with the stellar Juilliard String Quartet and two global piano stars Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Emanuel Ax. The event, part of UCSB’s popular Arts & Lectures program, included Leclair’s “Sonata for […]
Empty Bowls, the popular fundraiser for the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, staged its 27th event at the new $20 million Sharehouse in Goleta, with more than 750 guests participating in the artisan bread and soup event. The 77,000 square foot Foodbank property boasts ten times the refrigeration storage space, and the sold-out fun food […]
Social gridlock reigned at the charming Provençal-style Montecito estate of international interior designer Penny Bianchi when more than 200 guests attended a sunset soirée for Santa Barbara-based designer Wade Weissmann’s new 260-page plus coffee table tome Homes of Quiet Elegance: A Collection of Recent Works. Wade, who splits himself between our Eden by the Beach […]
Gina Carbajal – whose lengthy career in the nonprofit sector has included leadership roles at organizations serving local children, families, and disabled individuals – has been appointed Chief Programs Officer for the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, starting next month. A native of Los Angeles, Carbajal completed her undergraduate studies at UC Santa Barbara before […]
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have made their first joint appearance in more than three months as the Riven Rock duo shared a new video message. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex wore blue blazers and poppies in their lapels in honor of Remembrance Day in a video message about online violence against children, a […]
Scientist, inventor, and real estate investor Ray Winn celebrated the 40th anniversary of his half-century with a festive fête at the Birnam Wood Club with his partner of 36 years Peter Kevoian. The dynamic duo, who have developed and operate more than a million square feet of commercial real estate in Texas, split their time […]
The venerable Santa Barbara Club hosted a fascinating talk by Santa Barbara Museum of Art docent Lori Mohr about the State Street institution’s latest exhibition featuring the art of the late uber philanthropist Leslie Ridley-Tree and her husband Paul. There are 58 works in all, of primarily 19th century British and French provenance. After her […]
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s 13 Tongues at the Granada brought the sights and sounds of Taiwan’s legendary night markets to life in all their human and spiritual dimensions. Mixing traditional storytelling with futuristic imagery and shifting between folk, classical and electronic music sources, the energized production, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures series, […]
Camerata Pacifica’s latest show at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall was an absolute gem with works by Fukushima, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, and Schoenberg. Flutist Yoobin Son playing “Mei, for Solo Flute” opened the concert with Rachmaninoff’s “Moments Musicaux.” Stravinsky’s “Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet” with Jose Franch-Ballester was the penultimate performance, with Schoenberg’s […]
Prince William and his younger Montecito-based brother Prince Harry have now found themselves on opposite sides of a media rivalry. The Prince of Wales’s latest initiative, focused on tackling homelessness, is the subject of a British ITV documentary, marking a significant step in his efforts to bring awareness to social issues. Slated to air in […]
State Street Ballet kicked off its 30th anniversary season in grand style with an impressive colorful double bill, Scheherazade and The Firebird performed with the Santa Barbara Symphony under maestro Nir Kabaretti at the venerable Granada. Scheherazade, with choreography by Autumn Eckman and music by Rimsky-Korsakov, was first envisioned by State Street’s managing director Tim […]
Peripatetic Montecito accountant and Art Foundation of Santa Barbara president Frank McGinity opened the gates of his historic Riven Rock estate – just a tiara’s toss from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – for the third year for 80 guests at the fun fête, An Artful Affair, organized by the Art Foundation of Santa […]
It was a real gem of an event when supporters of Lotusland descended on the Belmond El Encanto for a lecture on the exquisite jewelry of Cartier, the international bling emporium. If the late opera singer Ganna Walska liked anything more than the plants and flowers at her 37-acre Montecito estate it was jewelry, and […]
Red tape caused major problems for the kickoff concert of CAMA’s 106th season with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra at the Granada when singer Thomas Bauer was unable to make the event because of visa issues. Baritone and three-time Grammy winner Dashon Burton came in as a last-minute replacement, singing Mahler’s “Songs of a Wayfarer” […]
The Duke of Sussex, 40, has beaten actor Bradley Cooper and soccer ace David Beckham in Harper’s Bazaar’s list of the hottest men of all time. Riven Rock resident Prince Harry beat out strong competition, including actors Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey. Actress Meghan Markle’s husband ranked 25th out of 50, just four years after […]
Miller McCune Executive Director Celesta Billeci, the longest serving director of UCSB Arts & Lectures, is retiring after 25 seasons. Though Celesta’s next chapter will take her beyond the Santa Barbara campus, her legacy of leadership will continue to inspire the community. She is the third director of the organization, following in the footsteps of […]