The Divine Sounds of Bruce Cockburn
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 21, 2023

Singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn has released some 35 albums over his half-century career, enjoying enough success stateside to sustain making music, but also falling far short of the household name recognition of fellow Canadians like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, or even Gordon Lightfoot.  Now at 78, Cockburn – whose catalog includes such transcendent love songs as […]

Kings and Strings Meditate on Morrison
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 14, 2023

When the home-grown classic rock band Doublewide Kings plays the Granada Theatre on November 11, it will mark a lot of firsts for the group. It will be the debut at Santa Barbara’s grandest venue for the band founded by Montecito’s Palmer Jackson, Jr., who also happens to be the Executive Chairman and Chairman of […]

 

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Christmas Festival Offers ‘Fullness of Joy’
By Scott Craig   |   November 7, 2023

Tickets are on sale now for the 19th annual Westmont Christmas Festival, which marks the beginning of the holiday season for many in Santa Barbara. The concert combines orchestra and choirs at the Granada Theatre, the central coast’s premier performing arts venue in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, on Saturday, December 2, at 7 […]

American Double Returns
By Scott Craig   |   November 7, 2023

Violinist Philip Ficsor, who served on Westmont’s music faculty from 2006-13, returns to college for a recital with American Double, a violin-piano duo consisting of Ficsor and pianist Constantine Finehouse, on Sunday, November 5, at 3 pm in Deane Chapel. The concert, featuring American masterworks for violin and piano by John Corigliano and Daniel Gee […]

Anderson & Roe Rock Hahn
By Richard Mineards   |   November 7, 2023

It was all two grand for words when the Music Academy launched the first of its Mariposa Series concerts at Hahn Hall with the extraordinary keyboard duo of Anderson and Roe with academy alum Elizabeth Joy Roe and Greg Anderson playing back-to-back Steinway pianos. Since forming their dynamic musical partnership in 2002 as students at […]

This Is It!: Kenny Loggins Winds up His Final Tour at the Bowl
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 7, 2023

The longtime Santa Barbara-based singer-songwriter/rockstar Kenny Loggins retiring from the road is like the pop music equivalent of final go-rounds of baseball stars like Miguel Cabrera or Albert Pujols, except by a factor of more than two as Loggins’ touring career is more than twice as long as any baseball player. Plus, rather than receiving […]

Camerata Pacifica is Bach
By Richard Mineards   |   October 31, 2023

Old and New Worlds were in the spotlight when Camerata Pacifica continued its 34th season with From Bach to Bolivia, the first of the programs in its Baroque series at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall. Featuring period instruments and curated by acclaimed flutist Emi Ferguson, the repertoire included five seminal Bach chamber works. They were […]

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  • Virtuoso Duo
    By Richard Mineards   |   October 31, 2023

    The launch of CAMA’s Masterseries at the Lobero with two virtuoso musicians, Avi Avital on mandolin and Hanzhi Wang on accordion, was a heady combination. Israeli Avital, who has performed with the Community Arts Music Association twice – with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in 2018 and Les Violins du Roy 2021 – was in […]

    Roe and Anderson Row On
    By Steven Libowitz   |   October 24, 2023

    You can’t fault Elizabeth Roe for expressing unbridled enthusiasm for returning to the Music Academy for her first purely public performance in town since spending the summer of 2001 as a fellow at the institute. Jerry Lowenthal was her mentor and Michael Towbes her compeer during the idyllic eight weeks, and now she’s heading back […]

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    State Street Ballet Dances into a New Era with ‘Giselle’ 
    By Steven Libowitz   |   October 24, 2023

    State Street Ballet (SSB) launches its 2023-24 season, its first under new leadership following the transition from founder Rodney Gustafson to new Artistic Director Megan Philipp and Cecily MacDougall as Executive Director. Philipp, who has been with SSB for a decade, is staging this weekend’s performances of Giselle, one of the most beloved ballets of […]

    Dance Dimensions 
    By Steven Libowitz   |   October 24, 2023

    The project-based Moving Dance Company, whose recent works include View/Chew for the Versatility Dance Festival in Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., made its Santa Barbara debut with HOLOGRAM at last year’s Nebula Dance Festival. MDC returns to Center Stage on October 21 with This is Not Content, a multimedia show that explores the human experience […]

    Symphony’s Joy-filled Journey to Modern Times
    By Steven Libowitz   |   October 17, 2023

    If anybody isn’t clear about the direction the Santa Barbara Symphony has undertaken, let’s dispel any doubts: This is not your grandfather’s symphony. Not anymore. As in recent years, programs have become progressive, as a wide variety of musical genres, unusual instrumentation, and frequent collaborations are pushing up hard against the old-school focus on classical […]

    Classical Corner: More Seasons Commencing 
    By Steven Libowitz   |   October 17, 2023

    CAMA Masterseries’ 40th anniversary season opens with a recital by a somewhat left-of-center duo, at least by instruments, as mandolinist Avi Avital and accordionist Hanzhi Wang team up to perform at the Lobero Theatre. The two are veritable virtuosos – Avital’s skill has been compared to Jascha Heifetz while Wang is the only accordionist ever […]

    SBDTCrosses Borders… and Boundaries 
    By Steven Libowitz   |   October 17, 2023

    José Limón – or at least the dance company founded by the famed dancer and choreographer from Mexico who developed a technique that employs visceral gestures to communicate emotions – runs deeply through the new season from Santa Barbara Dance Theater (SBDT), the professional dance company in residence at UCSB. Which is not surprising, given […]

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