Category Archives: Music

Music Academy of the West Reaches $17.5 Million FINALE Campaign Goal

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A standing ovation for Music Academy of the West! The organization recently achieved a $17.5 million campaign goal, thanks in part to a $4.4 million leadership gift from the Hind Foundation.

Rendering of the Hind Hall Teaching Studio Building, courtesy Music Academy of the West.

Rendering of the Hind Hall Teaching Studio Building, courtesy Music Academy of the West.

The 15-month fundraising effort will provide monies to renovate the historic Marilyn Horne Main House, construct a new Teaching Studio Building, purchase 11 Steinway pianos, endow a long-range instrument fund propelling the institution to All-Steinway piano status in perpetuity and increase the Academy’s recently established maintenance endowment.

The new Teaching Studio Building will be named Hind Hall, commemorating a generous $4.4 million gift from the Hind Foundation that completed the $17.5 million campaign goal. The Hind Foundation’s mission is to fund community-based projects and programs that encourage people to work together to build an enduring legacy for future generations.

“Our philanthropic community has truly embraced our vision to create an extraordinary institution devoted to the next generation of great classically trained musicians. This project enhances our campus to provide our fellows, audiences, faculty, and community partners with world-class facilities for education and performance. We appreciate the Hind Foundation’s generous gift to the Music Academy’s future. They join a dedicated group of contributors who have all helped to make this project possible,” says Scott Reed, Music Academy of the West President and CEO.

Margaret Cafarelli, Academy Board Chair, adds, “We are grateful to our matching gift leaders, Shirley and Seymour Lehrer, who generously contributed a $3 million gift to name the Main House for Marilyn Horne. I would like to thank our Board of Directors, who all participated in the FINALE campaign. The commitment our donors have to our vision has been remarkable, successfully meeting our campaign goal.”

The Marilyn Horne Main House will officially be unveiled at an elegant Opening Night Gala on Saturday, June 4, celebrating the opening of the 2016 Summer School and Festival and honoring Horne, the legendary singer and Director of the Academy’s Voice Program.

The Hind Hall Teaching Studio Building will begin construction immediately following the Academy’s 2016 Summer Festival and will open in June 2017, as a part of the Music Academy of the West’s 70th anniversary celebration.

FINALE Campaign Contributors include: Leslie and Philip Bernstein, Linda and Peter Beuret, John C. Bowen and Shelby C. Bowen Foundation, Sharon and David Bradford, Michele and Arnold Brustin, Margaret Cafarelli and Jan Hill, Jo Ann and Howard Chase, Lynn and Andy Chou, Patricia and Larry Durham, Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation, Margo and Robert Feinberg, Julia and David Geber, Judy and Ernie Getto, Bernie Gondos, Paul Guido and Stephen Blain, Hind Foundation, Jackie Inskeep, Ann Jackson Family Foundation, Michelle Joanou, Irma and Morrie Jurkowitz, Linda and Michael Keston, Shirley and Seymour Lehrer, Lucifer Lighting, Leatrice Luria, Kandy Luria-Budgor and Beno Budgor, Mercedes Millington and Jack Mithun, Margaret Morez, Ronnie Morris and Tim Cardy, Dot and Rick Nelson, Ellen Lehrer Orlando and Tom Orlando, Gamble Parks and Gary Douville, Ellen and John Pillsbury, Scott Reed, Dorothy Roberts, Joan and Jerry Rocco, Regina and Rick Roney, Santa Barbara Foundation, Maryan Schall, Lila Scher, Robin Schutte, Linda Seltzer Yawitz, Anitra and Jack Sheen, Eileen Sheridan and Roger Wilde, Maurice Singer, Stephen Singleton and Christopher Teasley, Mary Lynn and Warren Staley, Glenn Jordan and Michael Stubbs, Perrin Pellegrin and Tim Taylor, Elaine and Bob Toledo, Christopher Toomey, Patricia Toppel, Anne and Michael Towbes, Pam and Terry Valeski, Susie and Hugh Vos, Wade Fund, Patty and Nick Weber, Carolyn and Carl Williams, Pat and Joe Yzurdiaga and Cheryl and Peter Ziegler.

Music Academy of the West’s Summer School and Festival takes place from June 13 to August 6 at the Academy’s scenic Miraflores campus and in venues throughout Santa Barbara. For more information, visit musicacademy.org.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on April 22, 2016.

Editor’s Pick: Kids Helping Kids

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kids helping kids

Photo courtesy Kids Helping Kids

There are a lot of ways to learn about philanthropy and economics, but the San Marcos High School Kids Helping Kids program has to be one of the most interesting and unique. Over the course of 11 years, students have volunteered more than 10,000 hours of work, resulting in $700,000 being raised for charitable purposes—to improve the lives of disadvantaged children both globally and locally. This year’s completely student-run annual gala benefit concert features Needtobreathe as headliner, with an opening set by Johnnyswim. | Jan. 8-9. The Granada Theatre, 1214 State St. 805/899-2222, granadasb.org, kidshelpingkidssb.org.

(Editor’s Note: A second concert, on Jan. 8, has been added and is not yet sold out.)

–Leslie Dinaberg

This story originally appeared in the winter 2015/16 issue of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine.

Sings Like Hell: Stone Cupid With Julie Christensen, Natalie D-Napoleon

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Julie Christensen, courtesy photo

Julie Christensen, courtesy photo

Friday night’s Sings Like Hell! Series at Lobero Theatre features Stone Cupid with Julie Christensen, with opener Natalie D-Napoleon.

Songwriter Christensen co-fronted Los Angeles punk-roots pioneers Divine Horsemen, and sang with Leonard Cohen for several years, among other notable artists.

After five independent solo albums, she formed the Nashville band Stone Cupid and is releasing the debut album from her new band, “The Cardinal,” on Jan. 22.

Christensen’s original songs are as varied as her evolution and career. Over the years she has sung with Todd Rundgren, Iggy Pop, John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Steve Wynn, Lou Reed and Van Dyke Parks. On “The Cardinal” Christensen penned her own songs and gathered great co-writers. She garnered strong songs from her friends, including Chuck Prophet, Amelia White, Kevin Gordon, Dan Navarro, David Olney and Leonard Cohen.

“This current lineup fell together almost fatefully, and the songs seemed to play themselves,” says Christensen. “It was so natural, so simpatico, like some concurrent extra-spiritual thing.”

Opening the show will be Natalie D-Napoleon. Now a Santa Barbara resident, D-Napoleon was raised on Croatian folk songs and American standards like “Blue Bayou” upon a farm clinging to a working class town near Perth, the singer-songwriter (family legend has it that she’s related to THE Bonaparte) makes her mark on the roots music scene with original lyrics, impassioned delivery and her lamenting reflection on the human condition.

The show takes place Friday, Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. at Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. For more information or to purchase tickets click here.

 

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on December 1, 2015.

Editor’s Pick: Melissa Etheridge

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Melissa Etheridge, courtesy of UCSB Arts & Lectures.

Melissa Etheridge, courtesy of UCSB Arts & Lectures.

Award-winning musician Melissa Etheridge brings her singular song stylings and stage presence to UCSB’s Campbell Hall (Nov. 15) to celebrate the release of her new album and the inspiration behind some of her most beloved songs. artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu.

Originally published in the Fall 2015 issue of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Guitar Shorty

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Guitar Shorty, courtesy photo

Guitar Shorty, courtesy photo

The Santa Barbara Blues Society, the oldest existing U.S. blues society, founded in March 1977, presents award winning Guitar Shorty and his band at the Carrillo Recreation Center (100 E. Carrillo St.) on Saturday, November 14.

David Kearney, a.ka. Guitar Shorty, was born in Texas and raised in Florida.  His early influences included B.B. King, John Lee Hooker and Guitar Slim.   A valued musician since his teens, known since then as Guitar Shorty, he was lead guitarist in the bands of musical giants Sam Cooke and Ray Charles. Shorty has lived in Los Angeles for more than 40 years and led his own band for more than 30.  Nominated for multiple Blues Music Awards by the Blues Foundation, he has won two for Best Blues Album of the Year.  The Chicago Reader called him “among the highest-energy blues entertainers on the scene.”

Doors will open at 7 p.m. and music starts at 8 p.m.  There will be free BBQ snacks, an outdoor patio, and a large, spring-loaded dance floor. For further information, go to  www.SBBlues.org, or call 805/ 722-8155.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on November 6, 2015.

Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

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Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, courtesy of UCSB Arts & Lectures.

Arturo O’Farrill and the
Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, courtesy of UCSB Arts & Lectures.

Grammy Award-winning Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra bring together the drama of big band jazz, the culture of Latin music and the virtuosity of 18 of the world’s most accomplished solo musicians, on Thu., Nov. 5, at 8 p.m. at UCSB Campbell Hall, presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures.

Pianist and composer  O’Farrill, billed by the New York Times as leader of the “first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz,” earned a reputation as a soloist in groups led by Dizzy Gillespie, Steve Turre, Freddy Cole, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis and Harry Belafonte.

Son of the late, great composer Chico O’Farrill, he established the Grammy Award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra to bring the vital musical traditions of Afro Latin jazz to a wider audience. Fusing Latin rhythms, African-based percussion, modern jazz and swing, this 18-piece orchestra roars through new commissions and compositions by the best in Latin music: Tito Puente, Astor Piazzola, Hermeto Pascoal and Chico O’Farrill.

For tickets or more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at 805/893-3535 or purchase online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on October 30, 2015.

Editor’s Pick: Michael McDonald

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Michael McDonald, courtesy of Lobero Theatre.

Michael McDonald, courtesy of Lobero Theatre.

Iconic singer and five-time Grammy-winner Michael McDonald (Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers and loads of solo hits) teams with Ambrosia for a special Concert to Benefit Youth Interactive at the Lobero Theatre (Oct. 11). All proceeds support Youth Interactive’s after-school programs for local underserved youths.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in the Fall 2015 issue of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine.

Editor’s Pick: New York Philharmonic

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Alan Gilbert, courtesy of Music Academy of the West.

Alan Gilbert, courtesy of Music Academy of the West.

Music Academy of the West’s annual summer classical music festival is always fabulous and will be even better this year with free tickets for young people ages 7 to 17 (with paid adults) and special $10 Community Access tickets for all events, including New York Philharmonic’s debut concert at Santa Barbara Bowl. The all-American program features music from Leonard Bernstein’s beloved West Side Story and Aaron Copland’s epic masterpiece Appalachian Spring. Santa Barbara Bowl, 1122 N. Milpas St. Aug. 3, 7 p.m. 805/962-7411, sbbowl.com.

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine, Summer 2015.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Bach, Broadway & Beyond Features Wicked’s Tiffany Haas

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Screen Shot 2015-05-19 at 12.06.22 PM

The Music and Arts Conservatory of Santa Barbara presents Bach, Broadway & Beyond, featuring soprano Tiffany Haas, star of Broadway’s Wicked, and MAC’s Virtuoso Strings conducted by Ernest Richardson, on Sunday, June 14 at 7 p.m. at Marjorie Luke Theatre, 721 E. Cota St.

“When Tiffany sang for us I just put a star by her name, put down my pen and listened,” Richardson recalls about his first encounter with Haas’ incredible voice. “From that point on, she has been such an important artist in my life. I write music for Tiffany and her ability to bring life to the notes I write is incredible. She is classically trained and can go from Bach to Broadway effortlessly which she will demonstrate beautifully while she literally enchants Santa Barbara.”

Haas’ program will include Bach’s Cantata No. 51 Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen; L’Amero saro costante from Mozart’s Il Re Pastore; Glitter and Be Gay from Bernstein’s Candide; and Jeanine Tesori’s The Girl in 14G. Also on the program, which may be subject to change, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins in B minor and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com or www.sbmac.org.

In addition,  Haas will offer a musical theater master class and concert preview on Saturday, June 13 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the UCSB Music Department‘s Geiringer Hall. Tickets are $15, $5 for students, at the door. For more information, visit www.sbmac.org.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on June 9, 2015.

Editor’s Pick: An Evening with BESO!

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Courtesy Sings Like Hell

Gypsy rock band BESO is a hybrid that crosses traditional Romani music with rock music. The group’s all-star lineup of internationally renowned musicians has brought drive and passion to the genre. Their love for tradition collides with modern sensibility, transforming Gypsy rock into a vibrant new beast: darker, faster, more danceable, more blues, more Gypsy. BESO’s indelible fingerprint brings jazz manouche to a new generation and the 21st century. This April 25, Sings Like Hell show is a real treat for music lovers. Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. 8 p.m. 805/963-0761, lobero.com.

–Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine, Spring 2015.