This Week at MA The Life of a Collaborative Pianist

by Steven Libowitz

Take a look at the photo in the online calendar promoting the Duo Competition taking place on July 31. The violinist is brightly lit, his facial features and instrument fully visible, while the pianist is in the background, comparatively dark and blurry with even her hair blending into the background, and no piano keys visible.

The graphics for professional gigs is much the same, with the instrumental “star” soloist in big bold type while the piano player’s name is much smaller, like an afterthought. Such is the life of the collaborative pianist, who used to be called accompanists, as if their contribution to recitals were somehow secondary to the other instruments.

At least at the Music Academy, ever since the Concerto Competition was replaced by the Duo Competition several years ago, the collaborative piano fellows picked for the summer festival now have a spotlight event in which they share the attention, which is as it should be. The keyboard masters could be considered the unsung heroes of the summer, ones who have to perhaps prepare more repertoire than anyone else, given that they each participate in up to half a dozen master classes each week – by comparison, violinists appear just a handful of times all summer – playing everything from sonatas to orchestral transcriptions for every instrument at Miraflores.

But Forrest Howell didn’t come here to become a spotlight-seeking solo piano star.

“I get a lot of satisfaction out of playing solo piano music, but by now I realize that I enjoy the variety you get working with other musicians so much more,” said Howell, 31, a South Korea native who earned a doctorate in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Michigan and is already well-ensconced in a professional career. “Every performance feels fresh, because it’s really never the same depending on the collective energy between you and the other musician. It’s always been more satisfying to me than being the only person on the stage and feeling like I have to do it all on my own.”

Howell has certainly met a bunch of new folks this summer, as the collab cohort spends its morning preparing and practicing (while the other instrumentalists are in orchestra rehearsals) to be ready for the flurry of activity in the afternoons.

“We play for lessons, we have the masterclass performances, and we have rehearsals where we’re collaborating,” he said. “The pace is pretty fast. The mornings are when we get everything organized and keep the music fresh in our fingers. It’s demanding, and we have to have a cheery disposition all the while.”

Indeed, Howell was completely congenial in carving an hour out of his schedule to speak with me barely minutes after performing in the Collaborative Piano showcase. Being adaptable is an essential skill, and one of the secrets to success as an accompanist – er, collaborative pianist.

“The most important thing is to be able to connect, to build a positive rapport with these other musicians right from the first moment, the first interaction, both personally and musically,” he said. “That’s how you create a sustainable working relationship. There are a lot of strong personalities in the music world, and you have to get along with all of them. And every instrument has its own idiosyncrasies. You have to be able to adjust right away, and know what kind of sounds on the piano will complement the sound on a tuba or a violin or clarinet.”

Howell said he understands that it takes a certain level of maturity to be able to work well with everyone.

“It’s like any relationship. It’s not about having the same roles or presence or getting recognition. It’s about a feeling of mutual respect for what each of us is bringing to the table.”

Howell will be in the spotlight at the Duo Competition on July 31 as the pianist is one of five (of the studio’s nine fellows) who survived preliminary rounds – each pianist was paired with at least five instrumental fellows – to vie for the grand prize that includes $5,000 cash and a recital back at Hahn Hall to premiere a commission by Derek Bermel. The composer will be one of the three adjudicators along with pianist Anne Epperson – who taught collaborative piano at both the Academy and UCSB years ago – and the innovative violinist Jennifer Koh.

Howell will be sharing the stage with baritone trombonist Luke Sieve Creating a connection between the two was easy, Howell said.

“We immediately got each other musically, so it’s been really satisfying to work together.”

Howell and Sieve will be performing three rarely heard works including Stjepan Šulek’s “Sonata ‘Vox Gabrieli’, “Fantasia IV” by Kevin Day, and “Extremely Close” by Daniela Candillari. For the latter, the duo received some private coaching by the composer, who was the conductor for this month’s production of La bohème.

“She gave us a lot of great comments and explained her thought process while she was writing the piece,” Howell said. “It was really helpful.”

Mastering modern music is a priority for Howell.

“It helps us to engage with the music because these are composers who are writing for our times rather than an era that we have no context for,” he said. “What we’re doing feels important in a way, because it gives us a chance to share music that we care about and matters. Winning would be awesome, but we mostly just want to make sure that what we’re putting across is effective and clear and that people can have a chance to respond to it.”

Winning would also increase the likelihood that the trombonist and pianist might record the pieces, one of which has not actually been released at all.

“That would be the dream, to put more of this repertoire out there, because it’s not just an unusual instrument pairing but also music that’s very good and really moving.”

Howell said his connection with Sieve is sure to continue whether they win or not, one of several new partnerships he’ll be pursuing having achieved his summer goal of widening his network of musical collaborators.

In the meantime, though, there’s still half a dozen more pieces to prepare, as Howell hunkers down for the final master class performances as well as playing in this weekend’s concert with the Academy Festival Orchestra on Saturday night.

“It’s a busy summer,” Howell said. “It’s great.”

Upcoming @ MA

Thursday, July 27: The Music Academy made something of a left turn when they asked James Darrah to come back to the summer festival to start doing special projects several years back, smartly tapping the cutting-edge director whose reputation has only grown in the interim. Praised for visually arresting work, abstract yet visceral staging and strongly executed original concepts that meet at the intersection of theater, opera, and film, Darrah has brought that ethos to the Academy in his latest project. After creating a Cabaret for MA’s 75th anniversary last year that transported listeners back to the Cabaret era, Darrah and co-producer/music director Craig Terry are putting the finishing touches on Cabaret: 1979 . Fellows from the vocal institute will journey back to Laurel Canyon in the late 1970s to revisit the music of the legendary singer-songwriters of that iconic era, including Joni Mitchell , David Crosby , and Jackson Browne , among others, with Hahn Hall once again transformed into a venue from the era. Tonight’s premiere is sold out, but a few tickets remain for Sunday’s reprise. (7:30 pm tonight, 3:30 pm Sunday; Hahn Hall; $65)

Friday, July 28: To quote Bob Dylan , “It’s not dark yet but it’s getting there.” Meaning, in MA terms we’re nearing the end of the summer, when all the venues will go dark festival-wise for 44 weeks. Sure, there’s still 10 days left, but the studios are

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A heavenly evening...

A Millinery Match at the Polo Fields

A profusion of creative and colorful tony tête toppers packed the stands at the

Santa Barbara Polo Club for the annual Ladies Day.

As usual, I had the difficult job of judging the mélange of magnificent millinery, having learned my “craft” donning my top hat and tails attending the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot races in the U.K. for nearly half a century, a scene made memorable in the glorious Audrey Hepburn-Rex Harrison film My Fair Lady with extraordinary outfits designed by the late society photographer Cecil Beaton.

Prize for largest creation went to Alexandra Jones , who splits her time between Montecito and Florida, with a hat that resembled a giant lotus blossom.

The most creative was almost purrfect featuring a feline plushie designed by Loraine Mullen-Kress

The toy was a gift to her husband Kent after he received a quadruple bypass and she wanted to include it in her creative hat design.

The most colorful, by far, was a head topper by Jenna Jobst Reichental of Santa Barbara featuring polo mallets, the club’s logo and even a miniature trophy that took two days to make.

And, for the first year, the club created a youth section with the winners being brothers Jack, 9, and Kingston, 5, Peterson from Carpinteria.

Playing in the Kitchen Chamber

It wasn’t quite Tin Pan Alley, but the Music Academy’s latest chamber night at Lehmann Hall as the 76th annual Summer Festival winds down was pretty novel when a talented quartet played Bay Area composer Gabriella Smith’s work “Anthozoa.”

Inspired by a diving trip to French Polynesia, Smith, 31, used two baking tins and even a cheese grater in the unusual piece with Ariana O’Connell on violin, Osheen Manukyan on cello, pianist Robert Brooks Carlson, and Paul Matthews, ‘chef de cuisine,’ on percussion.

The four-piece concert also featured works by Franz Schreker and Eric Ewazen , the latter with impressive bass-baritone Robert Frazier, concluding with Shostakovich’s “Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57.”

Finding Hearts Aligned

Judge Mineards with the winner of the “Most Colorful” and original hat Jenna Jobst Reichental; the “Most Creative” Loraine MullenKress; the “Largest” Alexandra Jones; and Santa Barbara Polo Club’s Jessika Pappas (photo by Priscilla)

Prizes were presented after the club’s exciting closely fought main match won by Ben Soleimani’s team 12-10 against Geoff Palmer’s Antelope team, captained by his son Grant.

Hats off to all participants!

One of Santa Barbara’s newest nonprofits, Hearts Aligned, founded in May 2021 to support critically-ill children, hosted a sunset soirée appreciation party at the Goleta home of founder Vivian Solodkin and her husband Peter, whose two-year-old son, Carlos, died during heart surgery in 2007.

The charity provides rental assistance, gas cards, food vouchers, and even car Miscellany Page 384 piece. “He explained to friends that in NYC, his cultural world obliged lavish entertainment,” Falletta says. “If you were of Russian heritage, your home was always open. He always had lots of visitors, late suppers...” Rachmaninoff had promised the piece to Eugene Ormandy, friend and music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. “Rachmaninoff was really rushing on this, and he’d even warned them saying, ‘I don’t know. I’ve had a very heavy performance schedule, but I’ll try and have it for you.’” She pauses for two beats, like an excited friend setting up the reveal. “And he did!” Falletta’s delighted exclamation offers us a glimpse of the almighty conductor as Beatlesque

Sergei fan. “He completed it in Buffalo. He loved the Philadelphia Orchestra, and he wanted to give them this gift on time. So every time I pass the Lenox hotel, I think of Rachmaninoff by himself up in his room, happily and quietly orchestrating the ‘Symphonic Dances.’”

On her appointment as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, JoAnn Falletta became the first female conductor to lead a major American ensemble. She has been festooned with nearly every recognition the former Symphonic Boy’s Club has to offer. Her enthrallment with the classical music world is only deepening. “After so many years of conducting, I feel I can sense an orchestra’s personality and how to give them the best kind of guidance and leadership that I can. But I never really feel like ‘OK, I totally know this and there’s nothing new I can learn.’” Conductor. Is there a more apt noun for someone who spends a lifetime being edified by an art form and conveying that forward? Falletta has been conducting this lyrical charge of electricity called classical music for decades. She likes it. A lot. “When people ask about conducting, I tell them if you’re not excited about spending your entire life studying and getting closer to the score, this is not a profession for you. If you really love reading scores, if you really love the repertoire, this is a great adventure. You’re always discovering something new.”

JoAnn Falletta conducts the Academy Festival Orchestra this Saturday, July 29, at 7:30 pm at the Granada Theatre. Visit https://musicacademy.org for tickets and more information. Come Meet the Conductor before the concert at Sullivan Goss from 6-7 pm ($25)!

Jeff Wing is a journalist, raconteur, autodidact, and polysyllable enthusiast who sees the Village as a dazzling kaleidoscope of stories—some of them a little nutty. Jeff can be reached at Jeff@ montecitojournal.net was so structurally compromised and outdated that the architect, George Washington Smith, was asked to design a new theater in a stripped-down Spanish style. It would provide a home for the Community Arts Association Players, whose 1920 founding had been inspired by La Primavera Masque

The Broadway hit Beggar on Horseback was chosen as the inaugural play for the new Lobero Theatre. A young actor, who had strut his stuff upon the Potter Theatre’s stage for the Community Arts Players in years past, had a part in Beggar on Horseback in New York. He agreed to abandon the role and come to Santa Barbara to take charge of activities for the opening of the theatre. He became executive director of both the Community Arts Association and the Lobero Theatre. His name was Hamilton MacFadden, and he would go on to become a renowned theater and movie producer and director.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: California Heating and Rain Gutters, INC, 4193-3 Carpinteria Avenue, Carpinteria, CA 93013. California Heating and Rain Gutters, INC, 4193-3 Carpinteria Avenue, Carpinteria, CA 93013. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 3, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0001663. Published July 26, August 2, 9, 16, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Memory Garden Memorial Park & Mortuary; Utter McKinley San Fernando Mission Mortuary; Lafayette Development Company, 1525 State Street, Suite 203, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. The Lafayette Corporation, 1525 State Street, Suite 203, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 13, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0001744. Published July 26, August 2, 9, 16, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Mastershine Auto Spa & Mobile Detailing, 502 Casitas Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93103. David I. Tenorio Andrade, 502 Casitas Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93103. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 17, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy

Preparations for Old Spanish Days Fiesta

Planning for a celebration for the opening of the new theater began in earnest in June. MacFadden arranged with the hotels and the Southern Pacific Railroad to give special discounted rates for celebration visitors before inviting the business community to meet at the School of the Arts. Charles Pressley, owner of a women’s clothing store on State Street, became the chairman of the committee to plan a carnival. It would be a life-altering endeavor for Pressley; he became the executive director of Old Spanish Days and served for nearly 25 years.

The committee wanted to highlight all aspects of Santa Barbara life including sports, music, and entertainment with a special emphasis on its historic Spanish past. All clubs and organizations from the Aero Club to the Rotary Club were asked to participate with floats for the parade or dances and other entertainments. All citizens were encouraged to start dressing in Spanish garb immediately, and examples of such attire were displayed in store windows. The public responded enthusiastically. Montecitan Frederick Forrest Peabody and wife, Kathleen Burke Peabody, recruited their French bulldog to participate. Christopher Columbus Cabot began appearing in public, reported the press, “all dolled up in a bright burnt orange surcingle and sash. He evidently knows he has a Spanish name because he conducted himself like a little Don.” of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0001768. Published July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AAER Enterprises, 1060 Colleen Way, Santa Barbara, CA 93111. Adam Rennie INC, 1060 Colleen Way, Santa Barbara, CA 93111. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 20, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0001540.

Published July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Cruz Landscaping, 1028 Cramer Rd Apt A, Carpinteria, CA 93013. Rodrigo Cruz Cortez, 1028 Cramer Rd Apt A, Carpinteria, CA 93013. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 3, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk.

I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0001654.

Published July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Santa Barbara Valet, 115 West De La Guerra, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Santa Barbara Valet INC, 115 West De La Guerra, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 26, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0001591.

Published July 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Flowing River, 649 Tabor Lane, Montecito, CA 93108. Derren G Ohanian 649 Tabor Lane, Montecito, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 3, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0001651.

Published July 12, 19, 26, August 2, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SBIF, INC., 873 S Kellogg Ave, Goleta, CA 93117. SBIF, INC, 873 S Kellogg Ave, Goleta, CA 93117. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 6, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0001430.

Published July 5, July 12, 19, 26, 2023

ORDER FOR PUBLICATION OF SUMMONS OR CITATION:

CASE No. 23CV01669. Notice to Defendant: Joseph S. Foster : You are being sued by Plaintiff: Jordan Schulhof. You and the plaintiff must go to court on the trial date of October 17, 2023 at 9 am. If you do not go to the court, you may lose the case. If you lose, the court can order that your wages, money, or property be taken to pay this claim. Bring witnesses, receipts, and any evidence you need to prove your case. The plaintiff claims the defendant owes $10,000 for unpaid personal loan.

Name and address of the court: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93121-1107. Filed June 20, 2023, by Gabriel Moreno, Deputy Clerk.

Published July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 2023

The press also reported that the City Attorney might set a risqué new style for the event. When asked what he was going to wear during Fiesta, he responded, “Why, I don’t know that I shall wear anything!”

City Manager Herbert Nunn, however, had always wanted to be a bold, bad pirate and sail the bounding main.

“When Don Cabrillo’s caravel comes scudding into Santa Barbara on August 13, look for the toughest, fiercest, longest mustachioed hombre on the afterdeck and you’ll find me.” Clearly Fiesta was going to indulge the fantasies of Anglo Santa Barbarans entranced with the romanticized Spanish past.

As far as costumes, City Assayer W.W. Smith was not to be outdone by the manager. He was determined to become a toreador. “I’ve grown accustomed to wearing ‘shorts’ as scoutmaster of Santa Barbara’s crack Boy Scout troop,” he said, “hence I feel quite at home in the gold-embroidered ‘shorts’ of a redoubtable toreador. And I like the idea of the little tri-cornered hat, too.”

Others got into the Fiesta spirit in another way. In the “Who’s Who in Police Court” column by “Jove,” the reporter writes, “P. Mario, aged 31 was making ready for ‘Old Spanish Days’ to be celebrated and had 75 gallons of wine all put up in two barrels… The police got smell to the liquor last night, raided Mario’s place, seized the booze, arrested Pietro and spoiled his whole celebration.”

Kangaroo Courts

In the hands of vigilantes, kangaroo courts violate all principles of law and justice. In the hands of fundraisers, kangaroo courts Way It Was Page 364