Tag archives: Santa Barbara Symphony

The Santa Barbara Symphony (SBS) took us back to the era of Supper Clubs in a sea of sapphire. The rotunda at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort never looked more beautiful. It was totally draped in royal-blue curtains. The ceiling turned magical as the sun set, the tiny lights looking like we were sitting […]

Santa Barbara Symphony, under veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti, kicked offs its 65th season in fine style at the Granada with an intoxicating Rhapsody in Blue concert, featuring pianist Jeffrey Biegel, playing George Gershwin’s 1924 classic. The entertaining show kicked off with Hungarian Ernst von Dohnanyi’s folk and gospel-infused American Rhapsody, wrapping with Hector Berlioz’s epic […]

Santa Barbara Choral Society, which kicks off its 71st season of song in December with its popular Hallelujah Project at the Lobero, hosted a pre-season reception at the Music Academy of the West’s Marilyn Horne House. One of the highlights of the new season is Visions of Peace and Freedom, featuring Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis […]

If the Santa Barbara Symphony were an individual, it would have just qualified to start collecting Social Security. But instead of kicking back and resting on its laurels at age 65, hunkering down reminiscing over good times from a rocking chair, the orchestral organization is instead amping up its ambitions in just about every way, […]

The Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts (SBCPA) honored three legends in their own time at the 4th annual Granada Theatre Gala. They were singer/song writer Kenny Loggins, philanthropist Sara Miller McCune, and the Santa Barbara Symphony represented by maestro Nir Kabaretti. The gala is always tre elegant with the gentlemen in tuxes and […]

Santa Barbara Symphony’s 65th anniversary season, which kicks off at the Granada on October 20, promises to be a real humdinger. It includes a Stravinsky double bill, including The Rite of Spring, directed by the Ensemble Theatre Company’s Jonathan Fox with the State Street Ballet, and, for the first time on November 24, a Thanksgiving […]

The concept of the Granada Theatre as the acoustic jewel that the city of Santa Barbara deserves gets no argument from Kevin A. Marvin, the executive director of the Santa Barbara Symphony, which is also receiving a Granada Legend Award at this year’s gala. Marvin took over the orchestra’s reins in December 2016 after an […]

The Monarch is ready for its closeup! The 45-seat eatery, which replaces the iconic Montecito Cafe at the Montecito Inn, has been dogged with problems, including the Thomas Fire, the mudslides and, more recently, the heatwave that caused an electricity transformer to explode, knocking out power to the eatery and its neighboring nosheteria, Lucky’s. The […]

PATH – People Assisting the Homeless – hit a definite home run with its second Making It Home tour, a sell-out event with 260 supporters taking a tour in eight trolleys – two more than last year – of four of our rarefied enclave’s toniest properties and raising around $75,000 for the nonprofit formed three […]

Three former UCSB students have become pedal peddlers! The tony triumvirate of Mark Gustafson, Jason Lam and Matt Soares have launched electric bicycle brand Story Bikes, selling them to avid cyclists and also donating to the charity World Bike Relief. “It all started two years ago when we were in Santa Monica and rented electric […]

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 […]

Santa Barbara Historical Museum was socially gridlocked for the farewell bash of executive director Lynn Brittner who is leaving after four years to take a similar position with the Indian Pueblo Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “I have made many friends here and we have made many advances in my time here,” says Lynn, who […]

Montecito nun Pauline Krismanich, 88, who has lived at La Casa de Maria for 48 years, is retiring and moving to the Immaculate Heart Community center in Los Angeles. After being displaced by both the Thomas Fire and the mudslides, Pauline saw them as her sign to finally retire. She has been a figure around […]

Santa Barbara Symphony, under conductor Nir Kabaretti, in partnership with Montecito Bank & Trust, held a free concert at the Granada to raise money for disaster relief and recovery efforts in our rarefied enclave. Guitarist and artist in residence Pablo Sainz Villegas, accompanied by a small orchestra, gave an intimate and uplifting performance. “It was […]

It was all too beastly for words when the Santa Barbara Symphony, under guest conductor Lara Webber, held its second annual family concert Carnival of the Animals at the Granada. With tickets a mere $10, the 1,500-seat venue was packed with parents and children as the ubiquitous Andrew Firestone hosted and narrated the show with […]

The 20th annual Empty Bowls fundraiser at the Ben Page Youth Center was so busy there had to be three seatings for the simple soup and bread meal, which allowed the 1,000 participants paying just $30 to choose a hand-painted bowl and, after dining, take the bowl home. The bustling event, founded by Danyel Dean, […]

Back in 2015, Joanna Murphy was searching for an outlet in art to counter frightening medical issues she was suffering as a result of trauma when she came across alcohol-ink paintings on the social media site Pinterest. Drawn initially by the bright colors associated with the medium, Murphy found an even greater affinity once she […]

Santa Barbara Symphony staged a Spanish Symphony Soirée at the Casa De La Guerra featuring wineries from the Presidio neighborhood and hors d’oeuvres from local eateries. The musical bash, which featured classical, tango, and jazz instrumental sets by violist Alan Busteed with the band, Tinto Tango, was hosted by symphony board member Stephen Erickson. An […]