‘Avatar’ musician becomes principal utist of Santa Barbara Symphony

By KATHERINE ZEHNDRE NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Amy Tatum found her voice in the flute. It’s an instrument she’s played for 31 years, since she was 11 years old. Now she has her dream job.

In January, the Santa Barbara Symphony announced Ms. Tatum, who played the flute on the soundtrack of “Avatar: The Way of the Water,” was appointed to the position for principal flutist.

“It is a dream realized,” Ms. Tatum told the News-Press.

“I have been going to hear the symphony for years. My husband has been playing as a guest musician on trumpet for 10 years. We have been going to concerts for 10 years.

“To be part of this world-class ensemble, which I already consider family, is a beautiful situation for me,” said Ms. Tatum. She discussed her career prior to her new position.

“I have been freelancing in Los Angeles for 20 years. I have been doing studio work and played as guest principal with the Los Angeles Opera and other orchestras,” she said. “Being a musician can be a patchwork quilt experience. I go from Orange

County to Santa Barbara and everywhere in between.

“I have taught at Los Angeles City College and Mount Saint Mary’s University. Out of grad school, I started working for the Harmony Project, a nonprofit that serves communities that wouldn’t otherwise have access to high quality music and classical music education,” Ms. Tatum said. “It is a partner with the L.A. Philharmonic educational program. I also taught at El Sistema based out of Venezuela. That is where I found my love of teaching.”

“The benefit of a freelance musician is that you are exposed to every kind of musical situation possible,” she noted. “There is so much diversity in what we do. A lot of times we are thrown into situations at the last minute.

“With the opera I have had so many opportunities to be in an orchestral setting. I did a semiprofessional training program in grad school, the American Youth Symphony, which is a combination of college-aged orchestral musicians along with recent grads.

“We had the chance to explore repertoire and play in different positions of the orchestra. It was a really great training ground for getting familiar with the repertoire

COURTESY PHOTO

Pianist Jerome Lowenthal, who served as a Music Academy of the West teaching artist for half a century, will perform a concert, “Lowenthal’s Legend,” March 9 at the academy’s Hahn Hall in Montecito.

The calendar appears Mondays through Saturdays in the “Life & the Arts” section. Items are welcome. Please email them a full week before the event to Managing Editor Dave Mason at dmason@ newspress.com.

TODAY

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Entangled:

Responding to Environmental Crisis,” runs through March 25 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. The museum is open from 10 a.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. It’s closed on Sundays and college holidays. For more information, call 805-565-6162 or visit westmont.edu/museum.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Interlopings: Colors in the Warp and Weft of Ecological Entanglements” is an exhibit that runs through March 12 at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The exhibit features weavings dyed with pigments from non-native plants on Santa Cruz Island. The weavings were created by artists Helen Svensson and Lisa Jevbratt. For more information, see sbbotanicgarden.org.

10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. “The Search for the Modern West,” an exhibit, continues through Feb. 20 at Sullivan Goss: An American Gallery, 11 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. For more information, see sullivangoss.com or call the gallery at 805-730-1460.

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit “Parliament of Owls” runs through Feb. 5 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays. For more information, go to www. sbnature.org.

6 p.m. Nick Hornby will discuss his book, “Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius,” with fellow writer Jessica Anya Blau at Chaucer’s Books, 3321 State St. in Loreto Plaza, Santa Barbara. Mr. Hornby will also sign copies of his book. For more information, call Chaucer’s at 805-682-6787 or go to www.chaucersbooks.com.

FEB. 1 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Coast artist and London native Annie Hoffman’s exhibit “Seeing Ourselves in Colour” will be displayed through Feb. 28 at Gallery Los Olivos, 2920 Grand Ave., Los Olivos. For more information, visit anniehoffmann.com.

FEB. 2 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Santa Ynez Tribal Health Clinic will provide free dental care for local children during its third annual Give Kids A Smile event on Feb. 2. The free day of exams, cleanings and more will take place at the clinic, located on the Chumash Reservation at 90 Via Juana Lane,l Santa Ynez.

FEB. 5

Free admission will be available on this day at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Ventura County, the Museum of Ventura County’s Agriculture Museum and the Santa Paula Museum. For more information, visit socalmuseums. org.

FEB. 8

8 p.m. Transform Through Arts will present 10 dance companies in “Colors of Love” at the Center Stage Theater, upstairs at Paseo Nuevo in Santa Barbara. General admission costs $30 in advance and $35 at the door. Tickets are $25 for students. To purchase, go to www.centerstagetheater.org.

FEB. 12 Noon. Participants in Ted Nash’s workshop will go on stage at the Mary Craig Auditorium, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State St. The free program is called “Transformation: