Arts & Lectures Donors Dine with Renée Fleming

After soprano Renée Fleming dazzled the audience with her UCSB Arts & Lectures recital at the Arlington Theatre on February 1 and captivated guests at her Music and Mind panel discussion the next morning, she delighted donors with her presence at a lovely luncheon at Timothy and Audrey Fisher’s magnificent Montecito estate.

During the brief luncheon program, Miller McCune Executive Director Celesta Billeci thanked Fleming, hosts, sponsors, and the whole Arts & Lectures team, the latter of whom helped quickly transition the recital for 1,300 guests from the Granada to the Arlington because of water damage to the Granada stage. The 30 guests enjoyed a gourmet buffet lunch with seating throughout the elegant rooms and ocean view patios.

The guest of honor, Fleming, has won five Grammys, and her high-profile performances include singing at the Super Bowl, Buckingham Palace, a presidential inauguration, and a Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

In an interview, Timothy Fisher discussed his support for Arts & Lectures, which he terms an act of love. In 2013, he became a founding member of the Arts & Lectures Council, which serves as its governing body. 

There is a misperception, according to Fisher, that because Arts & Lectures is part of UCSB, it is fully funded by them, which is not the case at all. To address funding challenges back in 2013, a capital campaign was undertaken and this raised $25 million for an endowment, which helps. However, even with university and endowment support, A&L continues to rely on the community for ongoing support.

UCSB Arts & Lectures is widely recognized, according to Fisher, as one of the best arts and lectures programs in the country. He lauds Celesta Billeci for her expertise and skill set in identifying the best talent and getting them here. Other universities try to lure her away, Fisher shared, but we are fortunate that she has stayed in Santa Barbara, as her leadership is critical to the program’s success.

The Fishers spend part of the year in Pittsburg, a city blessed with old money, according to Fisher, that helps provide the Pittsburg Charitable Trust with a hefty $65 million budget for the five theaters it operates. In Fisher’s opinion, however, the talent that Billeci is able to recruit to little Santa Barbara with a “much, much smaller budget,” is actually better.

Fleming was pricey though, Fisher confided, so he, Audrey and others made a special donation to enable her performance. About four times per year, donors step up in this regard for the particularly pricey talent.

Other Arts & Lectures highlights for Fisher include Joe Biden’s lecture in 2017, where Biden gave an excellent talk that went on 30 minutes longer than his obligation, to the delight of the full house at the Arlington Theatre; and Yo-Yo Ma, whom Billeci manages to recruit nearly every year.

Santa Barbara is very fortunate to not only have the level of talent that Arts & Lectures offers, Fisher related, but also to have The Granada Theatre as the venue for many of its events. A few years ago, the Granada invested $700,000 in a sound system, which gave this world-class theater a sound system as good as any in the entire country, according to Fisher, a former Granada boardmember.

Earlier in the day, Arts & Lectures co-hosted a Renée Fleming Music and Mind presentation. In these presentations, Fleming invites local scientists, physicians, and practitioners to discuss with her the power of music as it relates to health and the brain. The event featured Medical Director of Neurosurgical Oncology at Cottage Health’s Santa Barbara Neuroscience Institute Dr. Nicole Moayeri; neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist, musician, and author Daniel Levitin; and Director of UCSB’s Center for Mindfulness and Human Potential Jonathan Schooler. This free event was part of Arts & Lectures’ Thematic Learning Initiative.