Tag archives: UCSB Arts & Lectures

A&L Going Strong at 64
By Richard Mineards   |   June 27, 2023

Social gridlock reigned at the Santa Barbara Club when 245 guests converged on the historic venue when UCSB Arts & Lectures, which is celebrating its 64th anniversary, revealed its slate of performances for the 2023-2024 season that features 48 events. These include recitals by Broadway star Audra McDonald and Kristin Chenoweth, jazz legend Herbie Hancock, […]

Standing up to Dictators… and Facebook… to Save Democracy
By Gwyn Lurie   |   May 24, 2023

I don’t have many heroes. Maybe because I’m too easily disappointed. Or that just beneath my optimistic surface lives a somewhat jaded self. Or perhaps it’s simply that it’s hard to find heroes these days who stand up to the test of time, not to mention under the harsh glare of modern-day journalism. But when […]

A Dash of Quartet and Ballet
By Richard Mineards   |   March 21, 2023

It was certainly a plucky performance when the Grammy award-winning Attacca Quartet, a decidedly funky and exuberant foursome, played at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall, as part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures series. The works, all by Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy-winning composer Caroline Shaw, known for “a world of sound never heard before,” […]

Segueing From SBIFF
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 28, 2023

After hundreds of screenings and appearances by more Academy Award-hopefuls (and likely winners) gathered in one place this side of the Oscar luncheon, the 38th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival wrapped last weekend. But there’s still plenty of movie magic around beyond the cineplex and streaming.  UCSB Arts & Lectures’ annual visit from the […]

A Flipping Good Time
By Richard Mineards   |   February 21, 2023

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 […]

A Stirring Evening
By Richard Mineards   |   February 14, 2023

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, […]

DiDonato’s ‘EDEN’ Communing with nature through music
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 24, 2023

A week after California finally emerged from a series of threatening atmospheric river rainstorms, award-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is bringing her new passion project to town. EDEN is a timely theatrical experience co-commissioned by UCSB Arts & Lectures that explores our connection to nature and its impact on our world adding movement and theater to […]

Mariachi in His Veins
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 17, 2023

Born and raised in Bakersfield, Jimmy Cuéllar has never lived a day of his life in Mexico, but it’s safe to say that mariachi music is in his blood. Both of his parents migrated to the United States with their parents when they were kids, his father brought here in his pre-teens to work the […]

Abundance After the Winter Dry Spell
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 10, 2023

The arts and entertainment scene in Santa Barbara stays particularly fallow in the current year-spanning four-week period, as none of the major producing organizations in town are staging events between mid-December and mid-January, save for the Santa Barbara Symphony’s annual New Year’s Eve concert. The Lobero is the first downtown to spring back into action, […]

Merry Mariachi 
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 6, 2022

The Arlington Theatre, our town’s largest indoor venue, hosts Santa Barbara’s first-ever Mariachi holiday concert produced by a local organization, in this case UCSB Arts & Lectures. The incomparable José Hernández will lead Mariachi Sol de México in a festive musical tribute to Mexico’s Christmas traditions, offering holiday favorites in a December 7 performance that […]