Quadruple the Fun and Laughs
By Richard Mineards   |   July 4, 2023

The second week of the Music Academy’s Summer Festival lineup goes from strength to strength. Hahn Hall on the 10-acre Miraflores campus was the venue for the String Quartet showcase featuring the Vela Quartet – violinists Aaron You-Xin Li and Harin Kang, violist Vincenzo Keawe Calcagno, and cellist Hamzah Zaidi – kicking off the highly […]

A Moving Show
By Richard Mineards   |   June 27, 2023

After nearly a decade, Santa Barbara’s Momentum Dance Company celebrated with an energized, colorful show at the historic Lobero Theatre. The company marked the occasion with a Glow Gala, lighting up the stage with more than 100 dancers, premiering two hours of dance fun. The entertaining ninth anniversary performance combined tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop, […]

 

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Ranchera at La Patera
By Richard Mineards   |   June 27, 2023

More than 600 guests turned out for the 15th anniversary of Fiesta Ranchera at the 151-year-old Rancho La Patera gardens in Goleta raising in excess of $30,000 split equally between Old Spanish Days and the Goleta Valley Historical Society. The fun fête, chaired by the tony triumvirate of Janice Howell, Paula Bottiani, and Jenna Verbryke, […]

And the Grant Goes to…
By Richard Mineards   |   June 27, 2023

The Fund for Santa Barbara hosted its spring grand awards celebration handing out checks totaling a record $330,000 at the Lobero Theatre Courtyard, including $230,000 in racial equity funds. “The money has come in fast,” says Patricia Solorio, associate director. “The recession has been a bit of a wet blanket, but I think the future […]

Summer of the Artist Starts Strong
By Richard Mineards   |   June 27, 2023

The Music Academy’s 76th annual festival Summer of the Artist got off to a glorious start with two major sold-out concerts at Hahn Hall on the Miraflores campus. Kicking off the eight-week event, which ends on August 5, was the ever-popular Takacs Quartet with violinists Edward Dusinberre and Harumi Rhodes, cellist András Fejér, and violist […]

Sinatra and the Symphony
By Richard Mineards   |   June 27, 2023

Santa Barbara Symphony, under dashingly attired veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti, concluded its 70th anniversary season at the Granada with An Evening with Sinatra with Tony DeSare singing not only the music of Ol’ Blue Eyes, but a medley of favorites by Cole Porter, and wrapping up the highly entertaining show with the 1957 hit, “Great […]

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, […]

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  • Attorneys’ Fees Continue
    By Richard Mineards   |   June 27, 2023

    Kevin Costner’s divorce from estranged wife Christine Baumgartner would appear to be getting more acrimonious by the day with claims the Oscar winner is now “homeless,” she splurged $95,000 on his credit card, and has a restraining order against him. The Carpinteria-based actor’s attorneys claim they have made “multiple offers” to get his wife to […]

    All-Grads-by-the-Sea
    By Richard Mineards   |   June 20, 2023

    It was all kids play when 18 children, aged four to five from the preschool at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Parish School, enjoyed a “graduation” ceremony at the Summerland estate of hotel magnate Pat Nesbitt and his wife, Ursula. Students in the Bear class were all handed little diplomas by Jennifer Tucker, school director, while the […]

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    LifeChronicles on the Ranch
    By Richard Mineards   |   June 20, 2023

    Susan Strick opened the gates of her charming Hope Ranch oceanside estate for a LifeChronicles sunset soirée for 100 guests honoring the late Nancy Koppelman, who died all too soon in 2017 at the age of 63, on what would have been her 69th birthday. The festive fête, emceed by the ubiquitous KLITE radio host […]

    An Order of Theater, Well ‘Seared’
    By Richard Mineards   |   June 20, 2023

    Jonathan Fox, who is departing as artistic director of the Ensemble Theatre Company after 17 years, has come up with a culinary cracker with his last production Seared, a fast-paced kitchen comedy, which is also the last show of the current season at the New Vic. Andrew Elvis Miller does an excellent job as the […]

    Polo Helping People Helping People
    By Richard Mineards   |   June 20, 2023

    A sold-out crowd of 420, many of them in magnificent millinery, descended on the Piocho Ranch home of the Happy Canyon Vineyard owned by Santa Barbara Polo Club billionaire patron Tom Barrack for the 11th anniversary Santa Ynez Valley Polo Classic that raised around $200,000 for People Helping People, a Solvang-based organization providing human and […]

    In the Business of Scholarships
    By Richard Mineards   |   June 20, 2023

    A record $310,400 was raised for the Scholarship Foundation when 500 guests attended the South Coast Business & Technology Awards celebrating leadership and ingenuity at the Hilton. Initiated in 1995 by local business and industry executives, the awards laud companies and industries that demonstrate extreme commitment to the economic vitality in Santa Barbara County. “Since […]

    A Pillow Polo Pop Up
    By Richard Mineards   |   June 20, 2023

    Homer Montecito owner Terry Pillow popped up with a one-day store at the Santa Barbara Polo Club using his vintage ‘60s Land Rover as part of the impressive props. Terry, former head of Tommy Bahama and Ralph Lauren, displayed his English bridle leather wares next to the club’s boutique. “It couldn’t have been a better […]

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