Tag archives: Santa Barbara Symphony
Santa Barbara Symphony, under bubbly guest maestro Bob Bernhardt, conductor of the Louisville Orchestra for 41 years, played its annual fun-filled New Year’s Eve Pop concert at the Granada with the music of James Bond, the Beatles, John Williams, Sondheim, and Andrew Lloyd-Webber while guests donned party hats and quaffed Champagne. Bernhardt, who missed last […]
Back in 2020, the Santa Barbara Symphony canceled its annual New Year’s Eve pop concert due to the pandemic in its pre-vaccine stage. But everyone got to return to the Granada last December 31 to hear the orchestra play movie themes, pop songs, celebratory symphonic favorites and, of course, join in on the sing-along of […]
Italian pianist Alessio Bax, a frequent visitor to our Eden by the Beach, who performed with the Santa Barbara Symphony at the Granada playing Schumann’s “Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54,” gave a private concert 48 hours earlier for VIP supporters in the second of its Concert Aperitif series at the historic APS aerie […]
The threat of imminent development of the western parcel of the San Marcos Foothills Preserve 18 months ago not only triggered an astonishingly speedy and successful campaign to purchase the land as a nature preserve in perpetuity, it also synchronistically spawned a sensational new piece of music from a Santa Barbara native: Cody Westheimer’s Wisdom […]
High school choirs from across the Southern California region join the Westmont College Choir and Choral Union to share an off-campus concert of vocal music from an array of different musical traditions. The high school choirs, who have received coaching from Westmont’s music faculty, get a chance to shine individually as well as part of […]
The Santa Barbara Symphony last presented Carmina Burana just seven years ago, but, says music and artistic director Nir Kabaretti, the time is ripe to launch its new season with an even bigger community cultural collaborative effort in presenting the Carl Orff classic cantata composed in the mid-1930s based on 24 poems drawn from a […]
It was music of a very different kind when Kathryn Martin, President and CEO of the Santa Barbara Symphony, celebrated the tenth anniversary of her half century with an ABBA-solutely fabulous fête for 70 guests at the La Lieff tasting room in the Funk Zone. Featuring a cover band of the Swedish singers, Abba Dabba […]
Santa Barbara Choral Society, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary and the 30th anniversary of its artistic director and conductor Jo Anne Wasserman, hosted a donor appreciation and season kickoff bash in the Lobero Theatre Courtyard. On Saturday the choir will be joining 150 other performers, including Quire of Voyces, the State Street Ballet, and […]
The cavernous stage at the venerable Granada Theatre was socially gridlocked with more than 200 guests for the sixth annual Legends gala emceed by the ubiquitous Andrew Firestone. The recipients, who have illuminated and advanced the performing arts in a significant way, were philanthropists Palmer and Joan Jackson, who have contributed to hundreds of nonprofits […]
Supporters of the Santa Barbara Symphony, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary, had to face the music at the historic Lobero Theatre when veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti outlined the season’s nine programs in the next nine months, kicking off with Carmina Burana in collaboration with the State Street Ballet at the Granada in October. Local […]
It’s no accident that Rodney Gustafson landed in Santa Barbara to launch his State Street Ballet dance company almost three decades ago. The company’s executive and artistic director had targeted returning to town ever since he’d performed as a dancer with the famed American Ballet Theatre (ABT) at the Arlington Theatre many years before. “I […]
Santa Barbara Symphony’s Crescendo Society hosted its second annual brunch at the Santa Barbara Club as the talented musicians, under maestro Nir Kabaretti, celebrate their 70th anniversary. As the 100 guests, major donors to the Granada Theatre-based organization, tucked into fresh fruit and quiche, while quaffing coffee and orange juice, the Gatsby Trio with symphony […]
Every year in recent times, the Santa Barbara Symphony announces a new season that’s about expanding its audience while keeping core fans as well as strengthening community connections. But this year feels different. Maybe it’s residue of having had to pivot to persevere during the pandemic or the impact of a recent five-year commitment from […]
Longtime team member Juli Askew has been promoted to development manager of the Santa Barbara Symphony. Askew, who has been in charge of special events, will oversee critical donor appeals and seven distinct events celebrating the symphony’s 70th anniversary. A native of our Eden by the Beach, Askew is a seasoned development professional with expertise […]
The Santa Barbara Symphony is proud of its upcoming 2022-23 season, which marks the organization’s milestone 70th anniversary. Understandably so, as the season’s nine concerts boast an impressive list of guest artists including pianist Alessio Bax, jazz saxophone legend Ted Nash, Sinatra crooner Tony DeSare, and two different Grammy-nominated violin soloists in Guillermo Figueroa and […]
It was a night on the tiles when Dan and Meg Burnham hosted a Crescendo bash for Santa Barbara Symphony supporters at their penthouse aerie above the Granada Theatre to celebrate the orchestra’s Fandango Picante concert under maestro Nir Kabaretti. Violin superstar Anne Akiko Meyers performed music by legendary composer Arturo Marquez during the Mexican […]
Still pivoting due to the pandemic, the Santa Barbara Symphony is squeezing in the pair of postponed performances featuring violin superstar Anne Akiko Meyers as guest soloist beginning just a week after the ensemble offered the world premiere of Concerto for Piano Four Hands and String Orchestra by composer Richard Dünser via Brahms and Schumann. […]
After tough times during the pandemic, which saw the Santa Barbara Symphony lose $250,000 in concert ticket sales last year, the outlook is considerably brighter given many restrictions being lifted, according to president and CEO Kathryn Martin. With a $3 million annual budget, Martin told major supporters of the Crescendo Society at a bash at […]
A boffo bunch of bibliophiles descended on Tecolote in the Upper Village to mark the publication of Steven Gilbar’s Little Book of Montecito Writers, a 160-page paperback including more than 60 authors, which derived from a talk he gave at the village library last summer. The book signing, which benefitted the Montecito Library, also featured […]
Santa Barbara Symphony was in fine form under maestro Nir Kabaretti when it staged Beethoven in Bloom at the Granada. The show featured five-time Emmy Award-winner Jeff Beal’s new work The Great Circle, with an impressive backdrop of photos provided by the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden of the damage done by the cataclysmic fire and […]
