Santa Barbara Symphony, under dashingly attired veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti, concluded its 70th anniversary season at the Granada with An Evening with Sinatra with Tony DeSare singing not only the music of Ol’ Blue Eyes, but a medley of favorites by Cole Porter, and wrapping up the highly entertaining show with the 1957 hit, “Great […]
Social gridlock reigned at the Santa Barbara Club when 245 guests converged on the historic venue when UCSB Arts & Lectures, which is celebrating its 64th anniversary, revealed its slate of performances for the 2023-2024 season that features 48 events. These include recitals by Broadway star Audra McDonald and Kristin Chenoweth, jazz legend Herbie Hancock, […]
Kevin Costner’s divorce from estranged wife Christine Baumgartner would appear to be getting more acrimonious by the day with claims the Oscar winner is now “homeless,” she splurged $95,000 on his credit card, and has a restraining order against him. The Carpinteria-based actor’s attorneys claim they have made “multiple offers” to get his wife to […]
U.S. Army veteran Chad Blomgren has joined the board of the Dream Foundation. He has been a member of the organization’s Veterans Advisory Council since its 2021 inception and will continue to work closely with the Dreams for Veterans program. Blomgren, a senior director of managed markets at Gilead Sciences, a biotechnology research firm, comes […]
It was really a hair-raising event when extensive millinery and glorious vintages of wine from the Birnam Wood home of the late uber philanthropist Leslie Ridley-Tree, who moved to more heavenly pastures at the age of 98 in October, were auctioned off at Moving Miss Daisy’s Consignment and Auction House and the Louis John Boutique […]
To the charming town of Solvang for CommUnify’s 17th Annual Champions Dinner at the Alisal Inn’s River Grill restaurant, which attracted 200 guests and raised $216,000, including a matching grant from CenCal Health of Santa Barbara. The 56-year-old organization, formerly the Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County, serves 8,000 members of the community to […]
It was all kids play when 18 children, aged four to five from the preschool at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Parish School, enjoyed a “graduation” ceremony at the Summerland estate of hotel magnate Pat Nesbitt and his wife, Ursula. Students in the Bear class were all handed little diplomas by Jennifer Tucker, school director, while the […]
Susan Strick opened the gates of her charming Hope Ranch oceanside estate for a LifeChronicles sunset soirée for 100 guests honoring the late Nancy Koppelman, who died all too soon in 2017 at the age of 63, on what would have been her 69th birthday. The festive fête, emceed by the ubiquitous KLITE radio host […]
Jonathan Fox, who is departing as artistic director of the Ensemble Theatre Company after 17 years, has come up with a culinary cracker with his last production Seared, a fast-paced kitchen comedy, which is also the last show of the current season at the New Vic. Andrew Elvis Miller does an excellent job as the […]
A sold-out crowd of 420, many of them in magnificent millinery, descended on the Piocho Ranch home of the Happy Canyon Vineyard owned by Santa Barbara Polo Club billionaire patron Tom Barrack for the 11th anniversary Santa Ynez Valley Polo Classic that raised around $200,000 for People Helping People, a Solvang-based organization providing human and […]
A record $310,400 was raised for the Scholarship Foundation when 500 guests attended the South Coast Business & Technology Awards celebrating leadership and ingenuity at the Hilton. Initiated in 1995 by local business and industry executives, the awards laud companies and industries that demonstrate extreme commitment to the economic vitality in Santa Barbara County. “Since […]
Homer Montecito owner Terry Pillow popped up with a one-day store at the Santa Barbara Polo Club using his vintage ‘60s Land Rover as part of the impressive props. Terry, former head of Tommy Bahama and Ralph Lauren, displayed his English bridle leather wares next to the club’s boutique. “It couldn’t have been a better […]
Travel guru Charles de L’Arbre is the new board president of the Lobero Theatre Foundation. Charles, CEO of the Santa Barbara Travel Bureau, a family company started in 1947, has had a long association with the historic theater. He formerly enjoyed a long career as a stage actor and voiceover artist, performing in several shows […]
On a personal note, I remember Andy Smith, match announcer at the Santa Barbara Polo Club for more than 30 years, who has died at the age of 82. Born in Brentwood, he spent six years in the Air Force, much of it in New Zealand, with the rank of captain. A member of the […]
Prince Harry and his actress wife Meghan Markle may have enjoyed celebrating their daughter Lilibet’s second birthday at their Riven Rock estate, but the Duke of Sussex’s behavior didn’t cut it with a top British judge. The top legal eagle rebuked Harry’s barrister when King Charles III’s youngest son was “unavailable” on the first day […]
Actor Kevin Costner, 68, has mortgaged a ten-acre plot of prime undeveloped coastline on Padaro Lane in order to finance the development of his forthcoming Western movie franchise Horizon. “I’ve mortgaged ten acres on the water in Santa Barbara where I was going to build my last house,” the Oscar winner tells Deadline. “But I […]
The Music Academy’s 76th anniversary gala, The Magic of Miraflores, paid homage to the distinguished 25-year career of president and CEO Scott Reed, who started his successful relationship as an intern and is now moving on to another trajectory in fundraising when the summer festival concludes in August. More than 350 guests turned out for […]
No need to crane your neck seeing Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Vatican’s iconic Sistine Chapel. The internationally acclaimed exhibition of the glorious artwork has just opened at the Old Mission with the reproduction in a format that allows art lovers to get face-to-face with the legendary masterpiece through 34 artfully displayed reproductions, including world renowned […]
Compassionate Care of Carpinteria had a record turnout of more than 150 guests when it hosted its fifth annual The Light Shines Ahead lunch at the Rincon Beach Club, raising around $40,000. The boffo bash – chaired by Marybeth Carty – featured guitarist Hector Hurtado’s music before speeches from David Selberg, Hospice of Santa Barbara […]
The venerable Granada was not surprisingly sold out when the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel performed for the last concert of CAMA’s 104th season international series. It was one of the last chances to see Dudamel, 42, at the orchestra’s helm – he took over from Finn Esa-Pekka Salonen who had […]
Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation had a record turnout of more than 1,000 people when it held its annual Memorial Day ceremony at Santa Barbara Cemetery. The Pledge of Allegiance was read by retired Air Force Lt. Col. Patricia Rumpza, with the national anthem sung by retired police sergeant David Gonzales. Santa Barbara Choral Society, under […]
British actor James Corden, 44, who just retired as host of The Late Late Show on CBS after eight years, winged back to the U.S. especially to host The Adderley School’s 30th anniversary gala at the Lobero, which featured his son Max, 12, as the emcee singing “Willkommen” from the show Cabaret. Earlier, former Ralph […]
It was a very in-tents occasion when Santa Barbara’s Polo Training Center hosted its sixth annual dinner for 120 guests at the Carpinteria venue, raising around $100,000. Each year, the 11-year-old organization makes $10,000 grants to UCSB and Westmont polo team members to cover expenses at the Santa Barbara Polo Club’s polo academy. In addition […]
The venerable Granada hosted its third and final Onstage at the G, sponsored by uber philanthropists Roger and Sarah Chrisman, with the string picking duo of former Westmont student Phil Claypool, guitarist, and Paraguayan Carlos Reyes on violin. More than 80 guests caught the intimate show. Theater executive Tracy Dunn described it “a great success.” […]
Petal power reigned supreme when the Dream Foundation hosted its 12th annual Flower Empower lunch at the Rockwood Woman’s Club, with a record 225 guests raising around $250,000 for the popular charity. Last year the scheme handed out 8,400 bouquets of flowers with volunteers putting in more than 4,900 hours, says Valerie Banks, coordinator. Since […]
Montecito chef Dario Furlati, who owns the Ca’Dario chain of Italian eateries, has been helping out with the Ensemble Theatre Company’s latest production Seared, directed by departing artistic director Jonathan Fox. “The play takes place in a small restaurant kitchen that suddenly gets acclaim in New York Magazine and is absolutely overwhelmed with customers,” says […]
The 61-year-old Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara has awarded a total of $148 million in grants to students, with nearly $7.2 million this year to 1,864 recipients, retiring board chairman Matt Rowe told 200 guests at the annual dinner at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. The scheme started humbly six decades ago with the awarding […]
Prince Harry has suffered a major defeat in the British courts and now faces a hefty $620,000 legal bill. The Riven Rock resident sought a judicial review over a Home Office decision that he should not be allowed to pay U.K. police for his personal protection. The Duke of Sussex, 38, was stripped of police […]
It was an evening of high note, not to mention many in between, when Opera Santa Barbara hosted a captivating La Dolce Vita, A Night of Puccini gala at the Montecito Club with a sell-out crowd of 180 raising more than $200,000 for the popular organization. The fun fête, co-chaired by Karen Knight and Carol […]
After days of May gray, the sun shone brightly when Santa Barbara City College Foundation hosted its 4th annual Spring Forward! gala on the campus’s Great Meadow with 320 guests raising around $450,000 for general funds. Chief Executive Officer Geoff Green welcomed the supportive crowd of staff, faculty, college trustees and volunteers, and auctioned off […]
Inclement weather and a time change marked The Power of MOXI brunch for 100 guests at the Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, which has welcomed more than 790,000 visitors since opening in 2017, just a tiara’s toss or two from Stearns Wharf. Normally the event, which raised more than $40,000 for the institution’s education […]
Hearts Therapeutic Equestrian Center galloped off with nearly $100,000 when it hosted a barn dance for 175 supporters at the Carriage & Western Museum. The horsey hoedown, chaired by Carol Kallman, had Dena Davis as speaker, who gave a moving testimony about her 17-year-old son Benjamin, who suffers from a genetic syndrome that severely impacts […]
Astoundingly it was 63 years ago that America and the world learned how to do The Twist, as performed by a fresh-faced 17-year-old Ernest Evans, known to his millions of fans as Chubby Checker. In the last six decades the Twist has been continually in and out of the charts and at the weekend, as […]
Prince Harry and his actress wife Meghan Markle are marking Mental Health Awareness month. The Riven Rock twosome visited with a local youth group for an hour in ‘candid conversion’ with teenagers aged 14 to 18 from AHA! Santa Barbara about how mental well-being is affected by societal pressures and social media in the digital […]
CAMA, Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara, left one of its best for last when Philadelphia’s Curtis Symphony Orchestra under Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, former maestro of the Minnesota and Seoul Philharmonic orchestras, performed the penultimate show of its 104th international series season at the Granada with Russian pianist Yefim Bronfman playing Schumann’s “Concerto […]
Jonathan Fox, artistic director of the Ensemble Theatre Company for the last 17 years, is moving to newer pastures. Jonathan, who I’ve known since moving to our Eden by the Beach in 2007 when the company performed at the rustic Alhecama Theatre, directs his latest and last play Seared at the New Vic, the final […]
President Ronald Reagan’s school principal granddaughter Ashley, 40, married her police officer beau, Joe Dunster, 44, in an intimate ceremony at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel before a reception at the nearby Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara. During the reception, the newlyweds were surrounded by photos of America’s 40th president and memorabilia, which included […]
Santa Barbara’s 124-year-old Family Service Agency hosted its first Dreams in Bloom fundraiser with 170 guests and raised around $160,000 toward programs that serve more than 24,000 annually, ensuring access to food, shelter, and other basic needs. The boffo bash at the historic Rockwood Woman’s Club, co-chaired by the tony triumvirate of Maria McCall, Sandy […]
Uber party planner Merryl Brown and Ashley Adelson hosted a blooming boffo bash at Villa Corbeau, Ashley’s charming Riven Rock estate, just a tiara’s toss or two from the $15 million, six-acre home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The fun sun-soaked fête celebrated former Ojai resident Loria Stern’s Eat Your Flowers: A Cookbook, […]
Local literature lover and attorney Steven Gilbar was busy promoting his latest work, The Little Book of Montecito Actors at Tecolote in the upper village. The 207-page book spotlights the stars of stage and screen who have lived in our rarefied enclave over the years, including Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell to more […]