Asian American Films at Alhecama 
By Steven Libowitz   |   July 9, 2024

It’s also time for the 15th Asian American Film Series, whose films speak to the Asian American experience as an exploration of the history and cultures of the Asian communities that once thrived in and around the Santa Barbara Presidio area. Held at 6 pm on Fridays in July at the Alhecama Theatre, the 2024 […]

Cellist Returns to Perform at MAW
By Scott Craig   |   July 2, 2024

Westmont alumnus and local resident Tim Beccue (’18) is back on campus, this time as a fellow of the Music Academy of the West. Since 2016, Westmont houses 140 exceptional young classical musicians each summer for the academy, which provides live events through Aug. 3. Visit musicacademy.org for a full calendar of concerts.  “I have […]

 

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Flying High at the Lobero
By Steven Libowitz   |   July 2, 2024

Jazz at the Ballroom’s latest show, “Flying High: Big Band Canaries Who Soared,” is committed to keeping the Great American Songbook and swinging, classic jazz thriving. The producing organization is a California-based nonprofit that is as much about education as entertainment, and “Flying High,” which celebrates female jazz vocalists Billie Holiday, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald […]

It’s Good to Be Kings
By Steven Libowitz   |   July 2, 2024

Montecito-based music makers Doublewide Kings have had a pretty busy summer. But their attention is also focused on the fall, as the country/classic rock band is once again headed to the grand stage at the Granada Theatre. One year after The Kings and the Santa Barbara Symphony rocked our world with the Van Morrison tribute […]

Denk’s Foray into Fauré
By Steven Libowitz   |   July 2, 2024

The Music Academy audience has already seen a lot of Jeremy Denk. The piano great is in his 10th season as a faculty teaching artist on campus, which assignment began less than two years after Denk was awarded a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, and the summer after he served as the Ojai Festival’s music director. In […]

Santa Barbara’s Spirit of Giving Takes Center Court
By Jamie Knee   |   July 2, 2024

Santa Barbara’s spirit of giving back permeates every corner, a truth I constantly witness as a writer chronicling the vibrant lifestyles of our community. This truth shines brightly in Ajay Mitchell, a local sports hero who isn’t just electrifying audiences with his performance for the UCSB Gauchos, but also leaving a lasting impression through his […]

Getting Close with the Tearaways
By Steven Libowitz   |   June 25, 2024

Concerts in the Park is a long-cherished Santa Barbara institution, a summertime frolic featuring free live music on the Great Meadow in Chase Palm Park along Santa Barbara’s waterfront on Cabrillo Blvd. The gently-sloping hill facing the permanent concrete stage (often the setting for weddings and other private functions) provides sensational sightlines and surroundings with […]

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  • MAW’s Directing Fellow: Turning the Paige on Opera
    By Steven Libowitz   |   June 25, 2024

    When Paige Cameron enrolled at Northwestern in her home state of Illinois to study vocal performance, the plan was to sing her way to stardom.  “I really thought I was going to be an opera singer,” said Cameron, who goes by either she or they and has recently decided to lop off her hyphenated last […]

    Playing with Percussion
    By Steven Libowitz   |   June 18, 2024

    Maybe the Music Academy of the West had some unanticipated smarts in scheduling the annual Percussion Fest for the first Saturday of the season, just four days into the 2024 Summer Festival. With the fellows flying in from San Francisco, Cleveland, Houston, and New York and driving up from L.A. they’d all have to arrive […]

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    Sizzling Season 60 in Solvang
    By Steven Libowitz   |   June 18, 2024

    I’ve been singing the Solvang Festival Theater’s praises for decades, and the little amphitheater downtown in the Danish-themed village – call it the Santa Ynez Valley’s scaled-down version of the Santa Barbara Bowl – has only burnished that bountiful reputation with the recent renovations. While concerts and other events now also take place on the […]

    The Return of the SB Writers Conference
    By Steven Libowitz   |   June 11, 2024

    A writer’s conference might seem like an esoteric enterprise, considering that the actual act of writing is as solitary as such things go, save for maybe collaborating in a writer’s room for a TV sitcom, which is a lot less literary. The once-daunting barriers to entry to “seeing one’s work in print” have been obliterated […]

    Summer Reads
    By Leslie Zemeckis   |   June 11, 2024

    ‘When Women Ran Fifth Avenue’ When Women Ran Fifth Avenue is a fascinating look at the rise of the department store in America. It will make local readers long for the days when we had department stores in Santa Barbara. Julie Satow takes a deep dive into the culture and rise of the female executive […]

    New Heights for Hakobyan
    By Steven Libowitz   |   June 11, 2024

    You might say Navasard Hakobyan had a pretty good summer in Santa Barbara last year. The Armenian baritone not only made his debut as Marcello, one of the principal roles in La Boheme at the Granada, he also secured the most coveted and longstanding prize of the festival in the Music Academy’s 2023 Marilyn Horne […]

    Magical Music in the Er-a
    By Richard Mineards   |   June 11, 2024

    Just days before the kickoff of its 77th summer festival, the Miraflores campus of the Music Academy of the West was packed with 225 supporters for the “Magic of the Music Academy: A New Era” gala with a special solo performance by top cellist Joshua Roman in Hahn Hall. Roman, 40, attended the academy in […]

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