I’m almost 40, but until last weekend, I was a Ray Bradbury virgin. I’d never heard him speak, though he is at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference every year. When I heard that he was speaking on love, though, I couldn’t resist.
Ernestina Franceschi Fenzi was a proud Santa Barbara native who spoke English without a “Tuscan accent.” World War II ended her dream of making a career out of dancing, even though she already had quite a list of illustrious credits to her name. Around that time, a young man who saw her perform in London, James Grant Forbes Jr., romantically courted Ernestina and followed her back to Italy.
f you live in Santa Barbara County and have never been to the open-air Solvang Festival Theater, you’re missing out on one of the area’s most charming venues, and this charm is nowhere more fitting than in the world of Oscar Wilde.
The number of places in the U.S. with the word “independence” in their names; the most populous is Independence, Missouri, with 113,288 residents.
‘It’s a terrible place to work. It’s just depressing.’
Conductors can generate a lot of excitement around a concert, especially when they are as highly regarded (and as heavily hyped) as David Robertson, who will be at the Lobero Theatre on Saturday, June 30 to conduct the first of the Music Academy’s Festival Orchestra concerts.
With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows coming out in July, magic is in the air and tensions are running high as fans wonder: Is Snape friend or foe? Will Voldemort win in the end? Although these questions can’t be answered until the book’s release on July 21, there’s no reason to wait to get in on the fun, with Borders on State Street as your wizardly lair.
Celebrate your independence by choosing from the host of holiday options this Fourth of July:
Rows of white jackets greeted John Williams as he took the stage at the Santa Barbara Bowl Saturday night and the Music Academy of the West’s new season began. Williams, one of the most prolific composers of music for film, started things off boldly, with a fresh, sparkling performance of Shostakovich’s Festival Overture.
It is one thing to bless a house by moving one’s hands through the air, making the sign of the cross to protect it from disaster. It is another thing to make the sign of the cross visible and permanent, forged in iron and displayed on the rooftop for all to see.
