Santa Barbara Choral Society wrapped its 75th anniversary season with a “Mozart to Modern” concert at First Presbyterian Church under veteran conductor JoAnn Wasserman, herself celebrating her 30th anniversary. The performance featured soprano soloist Tamara Bevard and tenor Jimmer Bolden with Mozart’s Requiem and works by Palestrina, Durufle, Gjeilo, Lauridsen, Aaron Copland and Christopher Tin. […]
Susanto Bhattacharya, who started his culinary career in a small town in India, is the new executive chef at the Ritz Carlton Bacara. With skills acquired in Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa, including the Caribbean, he will oversee the oceanside hostelry’s six culinary venues, including the Angel Oak, housing the tony resort’s 12,000-bottle wine […]
It was definitely an evening of extremely high note when Venezuelan male soprano Samuel Marino sang in his U.S. premiere with Camerata Pacifica at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall before winging to the U.K. to appear at the famous Glyndebourne opera festival. Marino, 20, studied voice and ballet in Caracas and at the Paris Conservatory […]
Santa Barbara Symphony concluded its seven-event Concert Aperitif series with a quintessential performance. Todd and Allyson Aldrich opened the doors of their stunning Montecito aerie for a recital by Russian violinist Philippe Quint, 49, who played in the orchestra’s Platinum Sounds: The Symphony Turns 70 concert at the Granada two days later. Playing a 1708 […]
It was anything but glacial when Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson perfumed a 95-minute Mozart and Contemporaries concert at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall. The hugely entertaining show shed light on lesser-known musical figures, including Italian composers Domenico Cimarosa and Baldassare Galuppi, and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the fifth child and second son of Johann Sebastian […]
The racketeers were out in force when the Santa Barbara School of Squash celebrated its third annual Viva Las Vegas! gala at the 1114 Sports Bar in La Arcada with 130 guests raising around $40,000. Former U.S. Number One squash champion Robert Graham, executive director, is about to embark on an $8-million capitalization campaign to […]
Riviera Ridge School celebrated its first off-campus gala in four years with an Under the Moroccan Moon bash at the Montecito Club. “We wanted to create a memorable and magical experience for our wonderful families, faculty and staff,” enthused Chris Broderick, head of school, as guests tucked into a three-course, Moroccan-inspired dinner. The fun fête […]
Montecito actor Michael J. Fox, 61, says the cure for Parkinson’s disease is “closer than it has ever been.” The now retired star, who was diagnosed with the degenerative condition when just 29, has raised more than $2 billion for the cause and says he is optimistic the disease can be eradicated following “a single […]
Wow! What a weekend. The coronation of King Charles III at London’s Westminster Abbey lived up to every expectation with pomp, pageantry, and ceremony watched by hundreds of millions worldwide. From our rarefied enclave, all eyes were undoubtedly on Riven Rock resident Prince Harry, who blasted his family in his bestselling book Spare and a […]
A torrent of tony tête toppers descended on Fieldside at the Santa Barbara Polo Club when social gadabout Rick Oshay and Teresa Kuskey Nowak, founder of the popular La Boheme dance troupe, hosted their third annual Run for the Roses bash celebrating the 149th Kentucky Derby. Known as the Greatest Two Minutes in Sport, the […]
More than 200 guests turned out for the Channel City Club’s lunch at the Hilton featuring international horse whisperer 87-year-old Monty Roberts, a resident of Solvang, who became an intimate of the late Queen Elizabeth given his unique training methods with equines. The Reagan Room lunch, hosted by his longtime friends Peter and Gerd Jordano, […]
John Daly’s Key Class graduated some of the smartest and most talented eighth graders in town at the MOXI Children’s Museum. The ceremony had no parents, just chaperones and teachers. Keynote speaker was Daisy Fuentes of UCSB, who shared her inspiring journey as a first-generation college student. The graduation was funded by the Audacious Foundation, […]
The three-day Lobero Theatre Chamber Music Project with two concerts at the historic venue and a third at the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum under artistic and music director Heiichiro Ohyama, former maestro of the now defunct Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, kicked off in fine style with works by Dvořák and Bruckner. The impressive players […]
Largesse reigned supreme when the Santa Barbara Education Foundation held its annual Hope Awards at the historical museum honoring Senator Monique Limón, who served two terms on the Santa Barbara Unified School District, and Abe Jahadhmy, former athletic director for San Marcos High School until his retirement this year. Musical entertainment was provided by the […]
More than 170 guests were in the pink when the Breast Cancer Resource Center hosted its 15th annual THRIVE fashion show at the Montecito Club, raising $100,000. The event was originally scheduled for the club’s expansive lawn, but the unusually chilly weather forced a last-minute change to indoors where the fires were roaring. Ubiquitous DJ […]
Former Santa Barbara Symphony concertmaster Gilles Apap was back in our tony town when the orchestra hosted its penultimate Concert Apéritif event to celebrate its 70th anniversary. The world-famous Algerian violinist, a good friend of the late Yehudi Menuhin, was joined by Chris Judge on guitar and Brendon Staton on bass at the Carpinteria aerie […]
Songwriting legend Burt Bacharach, who died in Los Angeles in February at the age of 94, was commemorated in energized fashion when the Brooklyn, New York-based Mark Morris Dance Company performed to his many hits at the Granada, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures series. The “Look of Love” show, a music collaboration […]
Divotees were out in force when Lobero Theatre Associates, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, hosted a Dinner & Divots gala at the Santa Barbara Polo Club in honor of the historic theater’s 150th anniversary. The event hosted 190 guests and raised more than $65,000. The bash, co-chaired by Paige Beard and Heidi Merrick, was […]
Local doctor Michael Behrman and his wife Sonia are foster parents – and graciously opened the expansive gardens of their picturesque Hope Ranch home overlooking the Pacific to Angels Foster Care when the nonprofit agency hosted its annual al fresco lunch, with a record 320 guests raising around $200,000. Founder Meichelle Arntz and K-LITE radio […]
The Santa Barbara chapter of The Association for Women in Communications hosted its 15th annual Women of Achievement Climate Champions lunch at the Cabrillo Pavilion when Hillary Hauser, a founder of Heal the Ocean, and Dr. Leah Stokes, the Anton Volk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics at UCSB, were honored. KEYT-TV anchor Beth Farnsworth, a […]
It was all too beastly for words when State Street Ballet staged The Jungle Book at the Lobero under the artistic direction of founder Rodney Gustafson and co-artistic director William Soleau. The company, which leaves this month for a two-city tour of Japan – Tokyo and Osaka – after just finishing a southwestern U.S. tour, […]
The first opera I ever saw was Wagner’s Die Walküre on a school trip to the Sadler’s Wells Opera at London’s Coliseum in 1970, a three-act production lasting nearly five hours, which almost put me off the art form for life. Thankfully Puccini and Verdi enticed me back, so it was particularly interesting attending Opera […]
Granada chairman Palmer Jackson, who regularly plays guitar with the local band the Doublewide Kings, couldn’t resist the urge to perform when the Alpha Rhythm Kings from the Bay Area performed in the cavernous auditorium for Onstage at the G, the second of a three-part series sponsored by Roger and Sarah Chrisman, and Kyle and […]
Sam Penton has been called to the bars at the Rosewood Miramar. In his role as director, he will oversee the ritzy hostelry’s cocktail program at its seven distinctive venues, including the Michelin star-rated Caruso’s, AMA Sushi, and the Manor Bar, the beach resort’s craft cocktail destination. Penton will also design special cocktails and spirit […]
CAMA – Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara – has elected four new directors to the board. The musical quartet are Laurel Abbott, a real estate entrepreneur, Robert Castle, with 35 years in managing information and telecommunications companies, Patricia Kaplan, skilled in real estate and community service, and Ben Pringle of Northern Trust in […]
Italian violin genius and Grammy Award-winner Augustin Hadelich, making his fifth CAMA appearance since 2015, played a rapturous performance at the Lobero as part of the organization’s Masterseries. Bach featured prominently in the delightful program, launching with “Partita for Unaccompanied Violin No. 3 in E major” and ending with “No. 2 in D minor,” with […]
Millions of dollars worth of mechanical horsepower scattered across the lush lawns of the Hilton when the 8th annual Rally4Kids culminated at the oceanside hostelry – raising more than $382,000 for the United Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara County. Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Bentleys, Jaguars, McLarens, Porsches and Aston Martins were just some of the […]
Eight decades of history were celebrated when the Santa Barbara Foundation held its 80th Persons of the Year awards at the socially gridlocked Hilton rotunda for 280 guests. “We are fortunate to be able to celebrate two truly inspirational role models in our community at Person of the Year,” noted Jackie Carrera, foundation president and […]
Montecito realtor Timothy Di Prizito is tying the knot in style next month at the Ritz Hotel in Paris with two days of nuptial activities. De Prizito, who has been in real estate for 18 years, is plighting his troth with Mary Becker Velardo, who also works with him at Coldwell Banker, and formerly worked […]
China was very much in the spotlight when the 106-year-old Garden Club of Santa Barbara presented In the Gardens of Splendor and Delight at the Music Academy, the club’s first two-day show in half a decade. The first night reception featured a host of colorful floral arrangements and individual specimens. More than 250 guests attended, […]
To Blackbird at uber-vintner Bill Foley’s Hotel Californian for a four-course winemaker dinner delightfully prepared by longtime executive chef Travis Watson with senior winemaker Michael Beaulac explaining the intricacies of the process with each course served to the 33 guests, including gourmands and oenophiles from far and wide. Having covered the eatery’s opening six years […]
In a spirited competition at the Lobero with more than 600 eager attendees, Jack Harwood,19, was donned as this year’s Spirit of Fiesta, marking the first time ever a male Spirit of Fiesta was selected. Jack is the son of Riley and Dacia Harwood, the Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. My Montecito […]
Tracey Solomon, a partner in the audit department at local accounting firm Bartlett, Pringle & Wolf, has joined the board of directors of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. A native of our Eden by the Beach, Solomon earned a bachelor’s degree in business economics at UCSB before joining her firm in 2003. Her specialties […]
Camerata Pacifica’s latest concert at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall was an absolute gem featuring pianist Irina Zahharenkova, cellist Jonathan Swensen, flautist Sooyun Kim, and Ben Goldscheider on horn. The eclectic program featured Yun’s “Etude No. 5” for solo flute, Ravel’s “Kaddish” for cello and piano, Pärt’s “Partita, Op. 2”, Rachmaninoff’s “Andante” from the G […]
Santa Barbara Polo Club launches its 112th action-packed season on May 7, showcasing some of the most talented players from around the globe. With a record number of teams and players at every level, the season is set to be one of the most memorable in the club’s history. “The club has always been considered […]
One805 – the local nonprofit dedicated to supporting First Responders across Santa Barbara County – gave supporters a foretaste of its flagship One805LIVE! gala event in September (that will include rockers Maroon Five at the Summerland oceanside estate of Oscar winner Kevin Costner) with a boffo bash to a crowd of 500 at the Sunstone […]
Social gridlock reigned at the historic Santa Barbara Club when the Art Foundation of Santa Barbara staged How Art Helped to Save the California Missions, a two-part program with a talk by Jeremy Tessmer, curator of Vintage American Art at Sullivan Goss. The program explored the life and work of Henry Chapman Ford, who died […]
To Santa Ynez for People Helping People’s annual Vino de Sueños at Fred Brander’s vineyard, supporting farm workers with lifesaving services – which raised $35,000. Founding vineyards of the popular event include Alma Rosa, Clos Pepe, Foxen, Feliz Noche, Presidio, Longoria, and Buttonwood. Vino de Sueños features artisanal food, wines, dynamic paintings and sculpture, and […]
Santa Barbara Symphony’s 2023-24 season promises to be an absolute cracker! Veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti has enlisted a record-breaking 23 guest artists, including eight vocal soloists, four choral groups, two trios, and a guest conductor to perform at the venerable Granada. “They cost a lot, but enrich the community,” he told VIP donors at a […]
It was definitely a ship to shore moment when hotel magnate Pat Nesbitt and his wife Ursula hosted a boffo bash for the captain and crew of the newly commissioned USS Santa Barbara at Bella Vista, their scenic oceanside 20-acre Summerland estate. The fun fête, assisted by the local council of the U.S. Navy League, […]