It has been a long, long time, eight years to be exact, since Chinese piano legend Lang Lang has played at the Granada. But it was clearly worth the wait as the man, described by The New York Times as “the hottest artist on the classical music planet,” mesmerized the sold-out audience at the concert, […]
After the Soweto Gospel Choir and Step Afrika! at UCSB’s Campbell Hall, courtesy of the Arts & Lectures program, it was time for the venerable Lobero, celebrating its 150th anniversary, to host Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a nine-member Durban-based South African male choral group, who have won five Grammy awards. The highly entertaining troupe, founded in […]
To Gala, a new Anacapa Street eatery, formerly known as Pacific Crêpes, where I would eat regularly when I first came to Santa Barbara in 2007 and churned out a column for the Santa Barbara News-Press, just a tiara’s toss away. Now it has gone from a decidedly French theme to Spanish-owned by chef Jaime […]
My congratulations to Montecito-Based former world champion surfer Shaun Tomson, who is receiving the Community Hero Award in San Diego next month at the 25th anniversary gala of Boys to Men Mentoring. For nine years, Shaun, 67, has participated in the 100 Wave Challenge as an ambassador, an event I have covered annually in these […]
Former policy analyst Tessa Kaganoff, who went on to direct prospect research at UCLA, has joined the board of directors of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. A native of Goleta, Kaganoff received a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Vassar College before earning a master’s degree in public policy at Duke University and an MBA […]
Santa Barbara Maritime Museum has a new deputy director, Jessica Tade. Tade, who holds a Ph.D. in art history from UCSB, has worked for more than a decade for organizations either promoting the arts or providing access and opportunity to the community. Among other positions, she has served as the director of communications and marketing […]
After being asked to leave their historic home, Frogmore Cottage, just a tiara’s toss from Windsor Castle, Prince Harry and his former actress wife Meghan Markle have been offered alternative accommodations at Buckingham Palace by his father, King Charles III. The tony twosome moved into the 10-bedroom property, just a short distance from Queen Victoria’s […]
Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network is battening down the hatches as “baby season” kicks off! Executive Director Ariana Katovich says that since the New Year the nonprofit, based in the Goleta foothills, has had 222 “patients” of 62 different species, 70% of them birds, like herons and pelicans, and 30% mammals, including bush rabbits. But […]
Having written about the sale of uber philanthropist Leslie Ridley-Tree’s Birnam Wood home and her extensive couture wardrobe in last week’s illustrious organ, now it’s time for her amazing collection of bling to hit the market. John Moran Auctioneers in Monrovia is selling 85 lots, including necklaces, earrings, bracelets, brooches, and rings featuring fine gemstones, […]
The classical 1877 Tchaikovsky ballet Swan Lake took on a whole new complexion when France’s 27-year-old Ballet Preljocaj, based in the charming university city of Aix-en-Provence, performed at the Granada, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures program. With extremely creative video and lighting design by Boris Labbé and Eric Soyer, the 110-minute work […]
Santa Barbara realtor Adam McKaig has won the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Adam, an agent with Douglas Elliman, is recognized for service positively impacting the community and inspiring those around him to take action, too. The award was founded in 2003 by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation to recognize the important role […]
Montecito dynamic duo Bill and Sandi Nicholson co-hosted a boffo bash at the Sullivan Goss Gallery for a new feature documentary, Helen Believe, which debuted at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The film, one hour and 33 minutes in length, focused on Helen Maroulis, who debuted in her first Olympics aged 23 in Rio […]
Santa Barbara Choral Society, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary, put on a heavenly concert at Trinity Episcopal Church under veteran conductor JoAnne Wasserman, herself celebrating 30 years at the helm. The performance, For the Love of Music, with Music Academy graduate David Potter on piano, featured works by Pachelbel, Byrd, Bradbury, and Morten Lauridsen’s […]
TV Santa Barbara and our Eden by the Beach hosted the two-day Alliance for Community Media (ACM) Western Region conference and trade show, with events at the station’s South Salinas Street studio, the Mar Monte Hotel and a welcome reception for 100 guests which I attended at the Cabrillo Pavilion. The conference, which attracted 168 […]
Former Montecito resident Michael Douglas has moved into truly majestic accommodations in London. The Oscar winner, 78, and his Welsh actress wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, 53, have rented an apartment in historic St. James’s Palace, just a tiara’s toss from Clarence House, the home of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla. The monarch’s sister, Princess […]
Ted Nash, a regular figure of Jazz at Lincoln Center led by Wynton Marsalis, made his debut with the Santa Barbara Symphony, under conductor Nir Kabaretti, premiering a new orchestral expansion of his work Transformation at the Granada. Nash also performed with a trio led by Los Angeles-based pianist Josh Nelson. A short film also […]
Man’s inhumanity to man was vividly on display with Opera Santa Barbara’s (OSB) latest one-act production An American Dream by Jack Perla and Jessica Murphy Moo at the Lobero. The moving 70-minute work, that premiered at the Seattle Opera in 2015, is set in Puget Sound in the 1940s, intertwining the fates and tragedies of […]
Aging Cossack Taras Bulba reigned supreme when Filharmonie Brno Philharmonic, the Czech orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, performed at the Granada, part of CAMA’s international series. The Leoš Janáček work, a three-part rhapsody for orchestra based on the 17th-century historical novella, concluded the first half on a high note after Martinu’s “Sinfonietta ‘La Jolla’” […]
Baubles, bangles, and beads reigned supreme at the colorful, energized second annual Mardi Gras bash presented by La Boheme dance group founder Teresa Kuskey and social gadabout Rick Oshay at the Carriage and Western Art Museum. The fun fête was so popular that more than two dozen would-be guests had to be turned away because […]
Step Afrika!’s Campbell Hall performance Tribute paid homage to the African American step show technique combining the distinct styles from different African American fraternities and sororities, blending them together in an energized, exuberant and frenzied 90-minute show, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures program. It included all the exciting elements of “stepping,” with […]
To the historic Santa Barbara Club for a talk by local writer Lorie Dewhirst Porter, author of the fascinating coffee table tome Montecito Style: Paradise on California’s Gold Coast with 250 colorful photos by Firooz Zahedi, whose work has been seen in Vanity Fair, Interview, Town & Country, Time, and Architectural Digest. Zahedi, a 74-year-old […]
The former Birnam Wood home of uber philanthropist Leslie Ridley-Tree, who died in October at the age of 98, has hit the market for $7.95 million. The 4,900-square-foot, single-story home on 1.06 acres, which I last visited for Leslie’s Christmas party, is just a tiara’s toss from the tony enclave’s clubhouse. Her extensive 700-piece wardrobe, […]
Prince Harry and former actress wife Meghan Markle are eyeing entering their two children, Archie and Lilibet, at a local private school, I can exclusively reveal. The Riven Rock twosome were spotted inspecting an institution’s campus last week, bringing them one-step closer to a decision. School fees in our area range from $6,000 to $50,000+ […]
Social gridlock reigned when retired technology executive Howard Cannon opened the doors of his George Washington Smith home, just a tiara’s toss from the estate of singer Katy Perry and her British actor fiancé Orlando Bloom, for more than 90 guests for his sixth annual Super Bowl party. With commercial time during the Fox broadcast […]
Hearts Aligned, the two-year-old Santa Barbara charity which supports critically ill children, threw its first Hearts to Hearts Valentine’s lunch with 156 guests at the Cabrillo Pavilion, raising around $100,000 for low-income youngsters. The ubiquitous Janet Garufis, chairman and CEO of Montecito Bank & Trust, emceed the fun oceanside fête, as well as acting as […]
It’s two exhibitions for the price of one at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art! Scenes from a Marriage: Ed & Nancy Kienholz centers on a recently acquired 1982 masterpiece Bout Round Eleven by Nancy Reddin Kienholz and Edward Kienholz and their collaborative way of working and living. Thanks to generous loans to supplement works […]
Cirque FLIP Fabrique staged Muse at the Granada, part of the popular UCSB Arts & lectures series. Playing with gender roles, the production offered up a refreshing view of contemporary circus with the eclectic performers, whether wearing high heels or shoulder pads, football uniforms or ballet attire, using the cavernous stage to its fullest for […]
Nearly half a century ago the society glossy Town & Country featured Montecito interior decorator Penny Bianchi in a cover article with the late comedy legend Bob Hope on the backlot of Universal Studies in L.A. in an iconic pose à la America Gothic, the 1930 painting by Grant Wood now in the collection of […]
Climate champions Hillary Hauser and Leah Stokes are being honored at the 15th annual AWC-SB Women of Achievement Awards presented by Women Connect4Good. KEYT-TV anchor and 2019 Women of Achievement award recipient Beth Farnsworth will emcee the event at the Cabrillo Pavilion on April 27. “This is an honor that takes every one of my […]
Investec Real Estate Companies’ founding principal and president Kenny Slaught is stepping down as Dream Foundation’s board chair after a decade at the helm. He will continue to serve as vice chair under the organization’s newly appointed chair, Mario Muredda. Muredda is currently a member of the foundation’s board and was formerly co-chair of the […]
Retired attorney Jen Brown, whose legal work over two decades included high profile litigation spanning multiple continents has joined the board of directors of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. She received a bachelor’s degrees in political science and communications at the University of Washington before earning a law degree at Gonzaga University School of […]
Prince Harry, 38, was this close to hosting the iconic NBC show Saturday Night Live as part of the promotional tour for his bestselling memoir, Spare. But talks reportedly stalled at the final hurdle and he went on to appear on other high-profile shows, including 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper and The Late Show with […]
When the Kansas City Chiefs take the field against the Philadelphia Eagles at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., this Sunday, Santa Barbara producer David Bolton, director of the California Missions Foundation and this year’s El Presidente of Old Spanish Days, will be handling the live international Spanish language broadcast for Fox Sports for […]
Pink Martini, the 11-member group of talented multi-lingual musicians, made their 10th appearance in our Eden by the Beach, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures series. The venerable Granada was sold-out as pianist Thomas Lauderdale, the Portland, Oregon-based founder, and his fellow Harvard classmate China Forbes led the group singing songs in Armenian, […]
The sixth annual FestForums, which serves the festival industry from ticketing, sponsorship, programming, sustainability, and marketing, hosted a boffo bash at MOXI for 300 guests to mark the launch of the two-day event in Santa Barbara. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams,” said Laurie Kirby, co-founder and president. “It is a magical event and the first […]
Ensemble Theatre Company (ETC) kicked off its first performance of the New Year with the suspenseful Californian premiere of the thriller Selling Kabul, written by Sylvia Khoury and directed by Nike Doukas. An off-Broadway hit and 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama, the suspenseful play of abiding family love centers on an Afghani former interpreter […]
After three years of enforced layoff because of the pandemic, Santa Barbara’s Master Chorale, under new director David Lozano Torres, was in fine voice when it performed Haydn’s great masterpiece The Creation, an oratorio written in 1797 based on the book of Genesis, at First Presbyterian Church. Now in its 39th season, the group stages […]
The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara has honored 23 student artists during a presentation and reception at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Chosen as winners of the foundation’s Art Scholarship competition, each received a scholarship and their selected art submissions will be exhibited in the museum’s Family Resource Center through Feb. 12. “This was […]
After tying the knot 15 years ago, former TV talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres, 65, and actress wife Portia de Rossi, 50, renewed their wedding vows at their $70 million Montecito estate. The dynamic duo’s good friend, Kris Jenner, matriarch of the Kardashian clan, officiated at the intimate ceremony with guests including near neighbor Prince Harry […]
It’s a marriage made on Earth! Michael Smith, entrepreneurial son of Montecito philanthropist Anne Towbes, has partnered with Oscar superstar Leonardo DiCaprio in Regeneration.VC, an early-stage venture capital fund supercharging consumer-powered climate innovation driven by circular and regenerative principles, which he co-founded. The fund’s vision, according to its literature, is “to empower all consumers in […]