Tag archives: CAMA

Art Hacks
By Richard Mineards   |   March 28, 2019

Montecito attorney David Gersh has just published his sixth book, How to Collect Great Art on a Shoestring. David, who studied at UCLA and Harvard, says his latest work talks about how to acquire paintings by artists who are in the Guggenheim, the Whitney, and MoMA for just a few thousand dollars, not tens or […]

Not All Heroes Wear Capes
By Richard Mineards   |   March 14, 2019

It was an early start when the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation hosted its 5th annual Little Heroes breakfast for 350 guests at the Hilton, which was expected to raise around $100,000 for the popular charity. The boffo bash, co-chaired by Heather Ayer, Matthew Fish, Emilee Garfield, and Nina Johnson, featured keynote speaker Eduardo Garcia, a […]

Finding Passion in Playing Through Tragedy
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 14, 2019

The last week of February was a tough one for Anne-Sophie Mutter. Not only did the famed violinist lose her former husband and longtime musical partner when André Previn died on February 28, but she also came down with influenza, forcing postponement of the Los Angeles opening concert in her upcoming five-city American tour, making […]

Inspired by Itzhak
By Richard Mineards   |   January 24, 2019

Legendary New York-based violinist Itzhak Perlman mesmerized the sold-out audience at the Granada when he appeared in CAMA’s – Community Arts Music Association – first concert of the New Year. It was his sixth appearance for the century-old organization going back more than 50 years, having first appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1967 […]

Chronicling CAMA’s Centennial
By Hattie Beresford   |   January 17, 2019

Community Arts Music Association (CAMA) is deep in the midst of its centennial season that celebrates the major milestone with a crowded calendar of events. The 100th anniversary kicked off early in the fall with a gala honoring philanthropist Sara Miller McCune at the Four Seasons Biltmore, staged a red carpet reception before the annual […]

Oh, Brothers
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 10, 2019

“They are excellent, they sing really well,” David Crosby tweeted last October, hours after seeing The Brother Brothers open for I’m With Her at the Lobero Theatre. The folk-rock icon surely wasn’t the only music lover who was pleasantly surprised, as the sustained applause and cheers proved that many were basically blown away by the […]

Fiery Fiddling from France
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 6, 2018

Not surprisingly, the Moldovan-born virtuoso violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja turned out to be one of the most ambitious and active music directors of the Ojai Music Festival when she headed up the venerable classical music festival this past summer. Her four-day visit to the mountain village veered from a solo performance unplugged in Libbey Park to […]

Voices Carry
By Richard Mineards   |   November 22, 2018

The ballroom at the Hilton was packed when Human Rights Watch held its 12th annual Voices for Justice dinner, which raised around $600,000 for the 40-year-old nonprofit, which is a leading defender of fundamental freedoms, the activists who uphold them, and vulnerable people worldwide in 90 countries globally. The bustling bash for 460 guests, co-chaired […]

Jazzy Jeff
By Richard Mineards   |   November 15, 2018

Actor Jeff Goldblum, who has starred in many of Hollywood’s top-grossing films, including Jurassic Park and Independence Day, showed off his musical talents at UCSB’s Campbell Hall when his Mildred Snitzer Orchestra entertained a packed house. An accomplished pianist, Goldblum, 66, and his jazz band of friends play regularly at L.A.’s Rockwell Table and Stage […]

All’s Fair
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 8, 2018

An even newer work also gets its Santa Barbara debut over the same two weekends as UCSB Theater presents Vanity Fair, based on William Makepeace Thackery’s classic 1848 novel, and adapted for the stage with a modern twist by playwright Kate Hamill. Thomas Whitaker directs the tale of misadventures, friendship, and morally questionable acts, which […]

Grand Granada
By Richard Mineards   |   November 8, 2018

CAMA – the Community Arts Music Association – kicked off the first concert of its centennial series at the Granada in grand style when the 1,500 music lovers were treated to a bounteous champagne reception an hour before the performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which is also celebrating its centenary. The talented L.A. musicians […]

Tempest in a Spaceship: RTC Goes Back to the Future
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 25, 2018

Bringing Return to the Forbidden Planet back to the Rubicon Theatre just two years after the Ventura debut of the hit early-1990s jukebox musical based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest and the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet was a case of a trite theater cliché actually turning out to be true. “It very definitely is […]

Just for Funds
By Richard Mineards   |   October 25, 2018

Philanthropist Sara Miller McCune was front and center when CAMA – the Community Arts Music Association – threw its centennial gala at the Biltmore, with 110 guests raising around $210,000 for the organization that brings many of the world’s most famous orchestras and performers to our Eden by the Beach. Sara, who has donated millions […]

Clef Notes
By Richard Mineards   |   October 18, 2018

It was like a scene from a Merchant-Ivory movie when CAMA – the Community Arts Music Association – kicked off its 100th anniversary season with a Music on the Riviera reception for major donors at Riviera Park. More than 100 guests strolled the grounds, seeking shade under the umbrellas from the blazing sun, as the […]

Fiesta Finale 2018
By Lynda Millner   |   August 23, 2018

One last “Viva” and one last cascaron happened on August 12 at the end of Fiesta. It’s the Fiesta Finale given by the Profant Foundation at the El Paseo Restaurant – the perfect venue. This was the center of the celebration at one time. Rita Hayworth danced here in her father’s troupe. This is where […]

One for the Books
By Richard Mineards   |   May 17, 2018

Food writer and inveterate traveler Michael Cervin has just completed his eighth work and fifth travel book, The Santa Barbara Know-It-All: A Guide to Everything that Matters. “I really wanted to write a travel book that was fun, entertaining, and funny,” says Michael, who I used to work with at the News-Press when he was […]

Get Your Phil
By Richard Mineards   |   May 17, 2018

CAMA – the Community Arts Music Association – is celebrating its century with 12 concerts featuring the world’s finest instrumentalists. Highlights will include appearances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, violinist extraordinaire Itzhak Perlman, the Russian National Orchestra, and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen in its International series at the Granada. The […]

Seventh Heaven
By Richard Mineards   |   April 19, 2018

Hungarian pianist Sir Andras Schiff, making his seventh CAMA appearance since 1985, mesmerized with his Master Series performance at the Lobero. The concert, the penultimate show in the popular series, featured 65-year-old Schiff, who is appearing with the New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony this season, on his Bosendorfer grand playing works by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, […]

CAMA
By Lynda Millner   |   April 12, 2018

Community Arts Music Association (CAMA) has been presenting the world’s finest classical artists since 1919. This concert at the Granada was the last of their 99th year. The next show will be the beginning of its 100th anniversary. What a testament to all the people who founded CAMA and to all those who have supported […]

Ham It up
By Richard Mineards   |   April 5, 2018

Our tony town’s Rescue Mission hosted its annual Easter Feast for our community’s more impoverished residents, and for the 11th year my trusty shutterbug, Priscilla, and I volunteered our services as waiters. Kitchen director Wesley Jones served 320 pounds of ham, 200 pounds of potatoes, 360 pounds of carrots, and 75 pounds of peas to […]