On Entertainment Excellent chamber music with the Elite Eight

by Steven Libowitz

Three long years after the original plan, the Lobero Theatre Chamber Music Project is finally getting the chance to perform its first series of concerts in a full-fledged festival format, launching what is sure to be one of the classical music highlights of the year. The project grew out of the ashes of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra and its Chamber Players adjunct. It represents a grand collaboration between former SBCO maestro Heiichiro Ohyama – a past Principal Violist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor who later served as a professor at UCSB – and Benjamin Beilman , the internationally celebrated violinist who had been slated to make his debut with the SBCO before its demise in late 2017.

The pandemic put a big pause on the LTCMP’s plans, allowing only for a brief preview concert in early 2020 and a one-shot soft relaunch last

October. Now, Ohyama and Beilman are back, along with six stellar fellow classical music luminaries from around the world – namely pianist Lucille Chung , violinists Mayuko Ishigami and Erin Keefe , violist Masumi Per Rostad , and cellists Robert deMaine and Christine J. Lee . These virtuosic artists will perform three separate programs – at the Lobero on Friday and Saturday (May 5-6), and at the Museum of Natural History’s Fleischmann Auditorium (the Chamber Players’ old stomping grounds) on Sunday afternoon, May 7.

“It’s very exciting to finally be able to play multiple concerts with different configurations and more than just four musicians, which is what we always had in mind,” expressed Beilman, who said he felt an immediate affinity with Ohyama when they first worked together at a music festival in Tokyo in 2012.

“We both really care about maintaining and handing down the legacy of great chamber music from 1840 to the 1920s, preserving the music by performing it.”

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To that end, the players will perform many of the best-regarded chamber works for strings and piano by Dvořák, Bruckner, Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, Mozart, and Mendelssohn.

“It’s very challenging to bring worldclass musicians together like this, but that’s also how you get the most interesting spark in playing these masterpieces,” said the 33-year-old Beilman, whom Ohyama (age 87) pointedly tapped for his position partially due to the violinist’s connection to other young superstars. “Heiichiro has decades of experience and it’s thrilling to mix in others who have fresh eyes and fresh ears. What I enjoy most is when top notch musicians with very different life experiences, backgrounds – and even schools of thought – come together. The difference of opinion brings up battles in rehearsal but also yields something fantastic in the concerts.”

Me Down Easy,” “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right,” and “People Are Crazy”; the latter of which earned Grammy nominations for Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song. Eli’s coming too –that is, the Eli Young Band , which opens the show.

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The fireworks get ignited on Friday. Visit www.lobero.org/events/loberotheatre-chamber-music-project-2023 for details and tickets.

Sounds Around Town: Bowlful of Music

The Black Keys saunter onto the Santa Barbara Bowl stage on the heels of their latest album, 2022’s Dropout Boogie . The garage rock/ raw blues duo, with singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney , was founded in Akron, Ohio, more than two decades ago. They saw their commercial breakthrough with the studio album and hit single “Lonely Boy” in 2011. Automatic opens the May 4 show… Continuing the Bowl’s early season focus on country music, Billy Currington hits town to deliver the dozen No. 1 country hits he’s enjoyed in the two decades since releasing his self-titled debut album in 2003. Currington’s hits include “It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To,” “Let

Brooklyn native jazz singer Janis Mann comes by the versatility of her vocals via a well-traveled career that has seen her study classical piano, learn folk guitar, sing in the cafés of Paris and Amsterdam and busk in the London Underground, and front a popular R&B band – all before pursuing jazz in Los Angeles. After playing in venues throughout the Southland, Mann moved to Seattle, where she became a renowned vocalist revered as both a striking song stylist and a fearless improviser. Back in L.A., Mann has made eight CDs and has sung with some of the greats. Mann returns this Sunday to SOhO for the Santa Barbara Jazz Society series –fronting a trio featuring Jeff Colella on piano, Ken Wild on bass, and Dick Weller on drums – to deliver two sets of soul-stirring ballads, hard swinging modern jazz, spirited blues, and more with her own deft improvisational twist.

Just 30 hours later on May 9, SOhO hosts another evening of jazz, this one featuring the M.O.B. Quintet, the ensemble featuring all local luminaries including Sam McKinney on bass, Eje Lynn-Jacobs on vocals, Nicole McKenzie on violin, Shaun Oster on drums, and Bruce Bigenho on piano. The group performs an eclectic blend of Euro-Brazil progressive jazz, and material from the 1970s ECM/Fusion era, drawing upon such celebrated composers as Egberto Gismonti ,

Montecito Planning Commission hearing last month was modified and the agenda item regarding the Music Academy was moved to the afternoon session, which prevented those wanting to voice concerns from participating in the hearing in a timely manner.

The appeals will be heard by the Board of Supervisors at a later date. The Music Academy is located at 1070 Fairway Road.

Land Use Committee Meets

The Montecito Association’s Land Use & Transportation Committee met on Tuesday to discuss a number of items, including the permitting process currently in progress for four automated license plate readers in Montecito.

The 13-ft readers are to be located at 129 Sheffield Drive, 104 San Ysidro Road, 385 San Ysidro Road, and 191 La Vereda Lane; the cameras would be in position for one year at no cost to the County or Sheriff’s Department.

The new technology provided by the readers will be utilized to help local law enforcement solve significant crimes, and will not be used for traffic enforcement. In addition, there will be no facial recognition, and the data gleaned is not tied to personal identifying information. If a vehicle is identified as being part of a crime, the license plate will be entered into the system and if the vehicle drives by one of the plate readers, sheriffs’ deputies will be notified. The technology has been implemented in other areas of the country and has helped to recover stolen property, kidnapping victims, and helped to find at-risk people. Footage from the plate readers will be owned by the Sheriff’s Department and never sold or shared; it is deleted after 30 days if it is not being used to solve a significant crime, and there will be strict usage controls.

For more information, contact Undersheriff Craig Bonner at Cmb2474@sbsheriff.org.

The Land Use Committee also discussed recent neighborhood concerns over the purchase of the Old Fire Station in the upper village by Restoration Hardware. There has been chatter and rumors that the furniture store may offer an in-store eatery, which has neighbors and residents concerned with traffic and parking problems.

The recent announcement of the closure of long-time retailer Montecito Natural Foods in Montecito Country Mart in the Coast Village area has also sparked conversation around the Montecito Community Plan – and whether it should be updated to help protect the area from chain or “big box” stores, similar to what the Carpinteria City Council is trying to accomplish, in order to keep its “small town feel.”

The Montecito Association Board of Directors meets next week. For more information visit www. montecitoassociation.org.

Meet & Greet at George Pet Shop

This Saturday, May 6, two dogs – both two-years-old – are available for adoption and will be available to meet and greet at George Pet Shop in Montecito Country Mart.

Toot and Puddles are bonded sisters who are dog-and-people-friendly, and are searching for their new owners, according