On Monday, Music Academy of the West President Scott Reed, announced a four-year deal to partner with the New York Philharmonic. Above, Reed is pictured at left, alongside New York Philharmonic conductor Alan Gilbert, center, and Matthew VanBesien.
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Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West already exists as a world-class school for the best young classical musicians. But Monday they entered into a deal with the New York Philharmonic, which under the baton on maestro Alan Gilbert, continues to be one of the world’s most prestigious orchestras.
“This is one of the most important endeavors and partnerships that we’ve ever embarked on,” said Music Academy President Scott Reed. “And I think it will be exciting for the Santa Barbara community and the fellows that attend our program.”
When “Metamorphoses” opens this weekend, one of the stars behind the scenes is its composer, John Zalewski. It’s not often that the Ensemble Theatre Company has such an element in their plays — there’s been music in between scenes and in intermissions, and sometimes music has been used very sparingly to accentuate moods and such, but bringing in Mr. Zalewski is something new.
The Los Angeles composer came to the attention of Ensemble Executive Artistic Director Jonathan Fox through set designer Francois-Pierre Couture. After some email exchanges, the two set to work. Read More
Mary Grace Langhorne has the happy face of a 12-year-old girl, the voice of a 30-year-old blues singer, and the resilience and outlook of a 40 year old. She’s one of ten finalists this year in Joe Lambert’s Teen Star talent competition, happening tomorrow night at The Granada. The “American Idol”-style show features ten teens (and two alternatives) from Santa Barbara County, performing together and individually in front of celebrity judges, a packed audience of family, friends and supporters, and an ever-increasing internet audience.
Last year’s competition (its third annual) was a much larger event than previous years. It sold out The Granada and the winner, Allie Nixon was awarded a $1,000 scholarship, a chance to record at Santa Barbara Sound Design, and since then she’s had radio and TV appearances, as well as opportunities to appear at various entertainment events around the country.
It was a long two days at Santa Barbara High School this weekend as judges weighed in on the wealth of young talent auditioning for the Teen Star singing competition. Around 70 students from seventh to 12th grade tried out for the coveted February performance at the Granada.
Add to that the 20 seen on Thursday in the North County auditions, and that’s a lot of singers to experience. But as of 8 p.m. Sunday, the 10 finalists (and two alternates) were announced.
Grant Bower, Santa Barbara High School 10th grader
Zoe Burritt, Cabrillo High School 12th grader
Mary-Grace Langhorne, Goleta Valley Junior High School 7th grader
Brandi Rose Lentini, Santa Barbara High School 9th grader
Karlie Mack, San Marcos High School 12th grader
Sulema Mejia, Pioneer Valley High School 12th grader
Nathaniel Neuman, Dos Pueblos High School 11th grader
Dylan Ortega, Santa Ynez Valley High School 10th grader
Jason Paras, Dos Pueblos High School 12th grader
Luana Psaros, Dos Pueblos High School 11th grader
Olivia Huffman, Solvang School 8th grader
Sydney Shalhoob, La Colina Jr. High School 8th grader
Allie Nixon won the 2013 competition
The winners, in no particular order are: Jason Paras (Dos Pueblos High, 12th grade); Karlie Mack (San Marcos High, 12th grade); Zoe Burritt (Cabrillo High, 10th grade); Nathaniel Neumann (Dos Pueblos High, 11th grade), Grant Bower (Santa Barbara High, 10th grade); Mary-Grace Langhorne (Goleta Valley Junior High, seventh grade); Brandi Rose Lentini (Santa Barbara High, ninth grade); Luana Psaros (Dos Pueblos High, 11th grade); Sulema Mejia (Pioneer Valley High, 12th grade); and Dylan Ortega (Santa Ynez Valley High, 10th grade). Two alternates also were chosen. They are Olivia Huffman (Solvang School, eighth grade) and Sydney Shalhoob (La Colina Junior High, eighth grade).
‘Jason Mraz was very popular,” said Joe Lambert. Teen Star’s executive director, of the song choices made by the contestants. ‘As was Christina Aguilera and Maroon 5. What was surprising was that we got two songs from ‘Frozen’ which only just came out in theaters.”
The panel of judges was the same from Thursday. Doing the honors were singer-songwriter Patti Castillo, KTYD’s Lin Aubuchon and the News-Press’ own Don Katich, director of news operations. To make sure the judges keep their ears fresh and unbiased, Erik Stein, casting director of PCPA at Allan Hancock College, came in after the contestants had been whittled down to 20, and he gave them all a fresh listen.
Contacted by phone, the finalists were relaxing Sunday night.
Jason Paras auditioned with Michael Buble’s ‘I Haven’t Met You Yet” a selection he felt really matched his own personality and the way he feels. ‘It really portrays who I am and also, I just really love singing.” He wasn’t nervous, he says, because this February will mark his return performance at the Granada – he was a finalist last year, too.
‘Don’t sing songs you think other people want to hear you sing,” he advised. ‘Just focus on delivering the best performance you can so you’re happy with what you do.” Mr. Paras has his sights on being a singer-songwriter, but at the moment he’s also the editor-in-chief of Dos Pueblos’ newspaper and plays water polo.
Zoe Burritt got her chance to sing two country songs in her audition, and that’s good because she wants to head in that direction in her career. This Lompoc resident sings every chance she gets at various events, including local fairs, and this is her third time auditioning and her first to earn her a final spot. She chose ‘Blown Away” by Carrie Underwood (who Zoe’s dad says she bears a vocal resemblance to) and ‘Tim McGraw” by Taylor Swift.
‘These songs are a good match for me, and I can sing them really well, she says.” Miss Burritt has recently picked up guitar and piano, and said that she’s not too worried about her stage presence, but ‘I need to work on my vocal strength,” a tip she picked up from her three years auditioning.
‘It was more comfortable this year,” said Nathaniel Neumann, who was also a finalist last year. ‘There was a lot less stress and a lot more fun.”
Mr. Neumann auditioned with Phillip Phillips’ ‘Drive Me,” a singer who won 2012’s American Idol.
‘The panel is very attentive to you being stressed out and nervous,” he said. ‘So they mention before the audition that they’re there for you to succeed and not make you feel pressured, or if I don’t make it I’m not a good singer. They want you to win. If you don’t make it they’ll give you pointers and tell you they’ll see you next year!”
Skyler Elizabeth Addamo, 16, is interviewed by a panel of judges during Teen Star auditions Thursday at Pioneer Valley High School in Santa Maria.
Twenty aspiring teen singers arrived ready to belt it out in the first round of auditions for this year’s Teen Star competition Thursday at Santa Maria’s Pioneer Valley High School.
The popular event drew singers from seventh to 12th grades. The contestants sang a cappella in front of a panel of judges, including singer-songwriter Patti Castillo, KTYD’s Lin Aubuchon, and Don Katich, director of news operations at the News-Press.
Allie Nixon, left, 2013 Teen Star Santa Barbara, and Rachel LaCommare, the 2012 winner, pose together during the Fourth Annual Media Launch event on Tuesday night at Santa Barbara Sound Design Studios.
Five years in, Santa Barbara County’s Teen Star talent competition keeps rising. Joe Lambert’s nonprofit has gone from a small show at Santa Barbara High School to a major event at the Granada Theatre, and the winners have gone on to recording contracts and industry interest.
As thanks to the media and to announce this year’s competition, Teen Star threw a music-filled press conference Tuesday night at Santa Barbara Sound Design on Haley Street, the studio owned by Dom Camardella that has recorded Depeche Mode, Ottmar Liebert and Olivia-Newton John, among others.
It’s kind of hard to say what it is,” says one of Vaud and the Villains’ musicians who goes by the name One String, when asked to describe the group in a video interview a few years old. “It’s vaudeville. It’s just this side of theater; it’s Americana.”
The 19-piece group comes to SOhO this Sunday for their first proper, late-night, Santa Barbara gig after having spent the last five years building notoriety in their native Los Angeles. The creation of married couple Andy Carneau and Dawn Lewis, Vaud and the Villains is a dream of a band that might have existed in the 1920s or 1930s, a mix of races and styles, of Dustbowl and traveling medicine show, all acoustic, but loud and raucous as hell, playing the American version of Joe Strummer’s “Three Chords and the Truth.” But a Vaud and the Villains performance is also a show, with a narrator (Mr. Carneau) and characters with fictional backstories, as well as dance routines. (Mr. Carneau is fond of quoting Oscar Wilde to explain the fictional group: “Every saint has a past while every sinner has a future.”)
Atoms for Peace performs at the Santa Barbara Bowl. Thomas Kelsey/News-Press file photos
My humble vote for pop concert of the year in Santa Barbara goes to the great and insistently hard-to-pigeonhole band outta’ Oklahoma, Flaming Lips. The band, led by charismatic Wayne Coyne in a bloody, witch-ly costume and throne-like perch, brought its grisly funny, rocking and trippy presence to the Santa Barbara Bowl the night after Halloween, ending with its mortality-minded pop anthem “Do You Realize.”
And my vote for the most senses-tickling five minutes in the 2013 pop year goes to the Lips’ opening song, which perversely reversed expectations by being a grand finale-style bombast with their customary epic red balloon release into the audience — but on the first song. Leave it to these Okies to turn rock ‘n’ roll convention on its ear.
From left. Kid Koala, Del tha Funky Homosapien and Dan the Automator Michael Donovan photo
In the film world, science fiction sequels come pretty regularly, and a hit always spawns a follow-up. But in the hip-hop world, sci-fi is still an anomaly, and despite having a cult hit with their self-titled debut album, Deltron 3030 has been promising a follow-up to their futuristic concept album for years. At long last, “Event 2” dropped two months ago and the trio has gone on the road to promote it, touring with two different backing bands, depending on the venue, one a rock combo, the other an orchestral unit. The former comes to the Majestic Ventura Theater this Wednesday.
Individually, the members have their own careers. Lead rapper Del tha Funky Homosapien (Teren Delvon Jones) was a founding member of Oakland’s Hieroglyphics; Dan the Automator (Dan Nakamura) rose to fame producing Kool Keith and soon became know for his odd, humorous use of samples, and being a worthwhile collaborator with Prince Paul, DJ Shadow, and Gorillaz (where Del became the voice on several hit singles); and turntablist Kid Koala (Eric San) who became a fixture of Ninja Tune records for his use of non-traditional samples, and who has also teamed up with Dan as the smooth group Lovage. So these guys are busy. But as early as 2004, Kid Koala mentioned new material was being worked on for Deltron 3030’s follow-up. This continued for so many years it almost became a running joke among hip-hop fans. So, why’d it take so long?
The Flaming Lips played songs from their latest album “The Terror” at the season-closing concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl. NIK BLASKOVICH/NEWS-PRESS
When the Flaming Lips last played Santa Barbara it was in 2002, and they brought their now famous party to the Arlington — dancing bears, balloons, confetti cannons, and more. Their album at the time was “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” which has gone on to be considered one of their best. Though melancholic underneath, the music bopped along, and so did the band.
When lead singer Wayne Coyne and his cohorts returned to Santa Barbara this last Friday, they did so as headliners on the final show of the Bowl season, and with a locally-created Dia de los Muertos theme to celebrate. But they were also bringing an album considered by critics to be the bleakest of their career: “The Terror.” The resulting concert was disconcerting. How to balance their reputation as one of the best live shows around while pushing ahead with their experimental music? The results were mixed.
