Celesta M. Billeci Announces Retirement from UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures at the End of 2024-2025 Season

With 25 Seasons at A&L, She Is the Longest Serving Director in the Organization’s History

Wynton Marsalis and Celesta Billeci in 2006. | Photo: Isaac Hernandez

After 25 years of leading UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) to exceptional success, Celesta M. Billeci will take her final bow at the end of the 2024-2025 season. A pivotal leader in the arts community, both in Santa Barbara and far beyond, Billeci announced her retirement as the Miller McCune Executive Director of UCSB Arts & Lectures through a statement from the organization.

Recently recognized by the County of Santa Barbara for her years of arts leadership (see story here), Billeci is the longest serving director in A&L’s history. She arrived at UCSB following more than a decade of leadership at the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts (now called the UCLA Center for the Art of Performance). Over the course of her time at UC Santa Barbara, she brought Arts & Lectures to downtown Santa Barbara venues and to national prominence. Embracing the program’s unusually broad scope, Billeci grew the organization’s budget from less than a million dollars to its current level of more than $10 million annually.

Celesta Billeci with Conan O’Brien in 2016. | Photo: Courtesy

She is a passionate advocate for dance, and under her leadership, UC Santa Barbara has become a stop on world tours for international dance companies such as Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan, Ballet Preljocaj, Lyon Opera Ballet and Batsheva Dance Company. All of the major American dance companies such as Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, Alonzo King LINES, New York City Ballet Moves, Dorrance Dance, as well as individual stars like Lil Buck and Tiler Peck now perform in Santa Barbara on a regular basis as a result of Billeci’s sustained curation, of both the programming and her invaluable group of dance sponsors in the Santa Barbara community and beyond.

“Celesta Billeci has been a transformative A&L Executive Director, collaborating with faculty, staff, students, and community members to enhance the educational and cultural mission of UC Santa Barbara. We thank her for her many contributions and look forward to A&L’s 65th anniversary season,” wrote Executive Vice Chancellor David Marshall in a statement addressed to the UCSB Campus Community.

Many of Billeci’s longtime friends will return to Santa Barbara for the 65th season, including Wynton Marsalis (who is performing with his 13-piece jazz ensemble on May 17, 2025, at the Arlington) who said: “Man, I’ve known Celesta since she was a baby, just starting out. We kind of came up in the same time period. I knew her from the very beginning of her career. I always loved her because she has consistently been so intense and for real. She’s like a force of nature. Now we’ve been out here doing this for, I don’t know, 30 years or whatever it is, and when I look at her now I have to smile, because it reminds me of, in those early days, how much of a believer she was in the arts and in bringing people deep experiences. She is so absolutely for real. Her name is always the first one that comes out of my mouth whenever people talk about presenting arts organizations or arts programs on college campuses or arts management. She is the absolute gold standard for this type of work, and even when she was a kid, she had that kind of dedication.”

In recognizing Billeci’s leadership, the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture stated: “Her determination and passion is to present the best in the performing arts, public lectures, educational outreach programs, and special events to audiences throughout Santa Barbara County. A&L presented 75 public events (many of them free of charge) in 2023-24 and more than 100 educational outreach programs. All of these are the result of Celesta’s personal commitment to serve the UCSB campus and the Santa Barbara community.”

Celesta M. Billeci and her husband, John Hajda, with Yo-Yo Ma in 2006. | Photo: Courtesy

“I am devoted to my loyal staff,” said Billeci. ”Without them and the wonderful student workers who do everything from staff the box office to usher the events, none of this would be possible.”

Billeci thanked the many generous donors and patrons who have contributed to the organization over the past 25 years, saying that “the support Arts & Lectures has received from the community is exemplary in every way. Their help and guidance has made all the difference, and the prestige that Arts & Lectures enjoys today is founded on those efforts.”

The University will conduct a national search for Billeci’s successor. Meanwhile, Billeci looks forward to presenting a stellar 65th anniversary season and ensuring the organization’s stability as it continues to entertain, educate, and inspire for another 65 years and more.