Tag: UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L)

UCSB Arts & Lectures announces its 2023-2024 season featuring more than 48 events

UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L), the Central Coast’s premier arts presenting organization, announces its 2023-2024 season of live events. Series subscriptions go on sale Tuesday, June 13 at 10 a.m. Single tickets go on sale Friday, August 4 at 10 a.m. UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) offers a wide range of phenomenal cultural and artistic experiences in 2023-2024 – from fascinating talks by today’s thought leaders to command performances by some of the world’s premier dance companies, actors and musicians – at venues from UCSB to downtown Santa Barbara and beyond. The 2023-2024 season includes the U.S. premiere of a work co-commissioned by Arts & Lectures for the Danish String Quartet, along with West Coast and California premieres and multiple Santa Barbara debut performances. Additional events, including the Justice for All programming initiative, Thematic Learning Initiative and more, will be announced throughout the season.

March 8 — UCSB Arts & Lectures and the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara present Siddhartha Mukherjee at the Granada Theatre

UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) and the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara present Siddhartha Mukherjee, Wednesday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m. at The Granada Theatre. From cancer physician and researcher Siddhartha Mukherjee comes The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human, which examines medicine’s radical new ability to manipulate cells. Author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Emperor of All Maladies and the No. 1 New York Times bestseller The Gene, Mukherjee continues his exploration of what it means to be human in this story of how scientists discovered cells, began to understand them and are now using that knowledge to create new humans.

May 22 — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents a conversation with Jonathan Greenblatt at Campbell Hall

UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) presents a conversation with Jonathan Greenblatt on Monday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Campbell Hall. As the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, the world’s leading anti-hate organization, Jonathan Greenblatt has created innovative approaches to carry out what has been ADL’s mission since its founding in 1913: to fight the defamation of the Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment to all. His recent book, It Could Happen Here, warns that hate and systemic violence are gathering momentum in the U.S. Drawing on ADL’s decades of experience in fighting hate through investigative research, education programs and legislative victories, as well as his own personal story and his background in business and government, Greenblatt offers a bracing primer on how we can strike back against hate.

May 16 — UCSB Arts & Lectures welcomes new Senior Writer / Publicist Charles Donelan

UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) is pleased to welcome new Senior Writer/Publicist Charles Donelan to its team effective May 16, 2022. A&L is the premier arts presenting organization between Los Angeles and San Francisco, producing more than 100 public events annually with world-renowned artists and speakers, and an equally robust array of complementary community outreach and arts education activities. In this role, Donelan will apply his extensive experience with arts and entertainment writing and media relations to continue to elevate A&L’s profile locally and nationally.

“We are thrilled to welcome Charles Donelan to the Arts & Lectures team. As a journalist, Charles has been one of our strongest allies. His familiarity with our program and the local arts scene is unparalleled, and we look forward to working with him more closely than ever to shine a light on our events and impact in the community,” said Celesta M. Billeci, Miller McCune Executive Director.

Oct. 8 — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents SW!NG OUT, a Joyce Theater Production

UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) presents SW!NG OUT, the spectacular new Lindy Hop revue and jam session from New York’s Joyce Theater. Acclaimed choreographer Caleb Teicher brings the best of the swing dance world to the Santa Barbara stage. Accompanied by live music from Eyal Vilner’s 10-piece Big Band, 12 dance champions prove that there’s no better time to celebrate the joy, fire and fight of the Lindy Hop, America’s competitive and partnered dance form. SW!NG OUT pairs choreographic magic with stunning improvisations and ends with an on-stage jam session for performers and audience members. Don’t miss The New York Times Best of 2021 Critic’s Pick, “the contemporary swing-dance show that… gave me the most joy of any dance production in 2021.”

Oct 16 — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents An Evening with big wave surf pioneer Laird Hamilton

UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) is thrilled to announce an evening with big wave surfer Laird Hamilton moderated by documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy on October 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre. A big-wave surfer and pioneer in the world of action water sports, Laird Hamilton is a hard-charging athlete, renowned innovator and guiding genius of crossover board sports including tow-in surfing, stand-up paddle boarding and hydrofoil boarding. He is the subject of the documentary Take Every Wave, and his bestselling book Liferider tackles human resilience, relationships, business, technology, risk-taking and the importance of respecting the natural world. Explore the courage, ambition and talent that push a person to greatness in an evening with the American icon who changed the sport of big-wave surfing forever.

Just Added – Free screening of Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton on Thursday, September 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre. This screening is part of the Arts & Lectures Thematic Learning Initiative and is presented in association with the Arlington Theatre.

Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Presidential Candidate Julián Castro speaks before UCSB A&L audience in Campbell Hall on “Waking Up From My American Dream’

CSB Arts & Lectures (A&L), the Central and South Coasts’ premier cultural arts presenting organization, proudly presented Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Presidential Candidate Julián Castro, who spoke Sunday, October 10th at 7:30 p.m. on Waking Up From My American Dream. Castro shared insights from his political journey and actionable ways we can effect change.

A former Democratic candidate for president, Julián Castro served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Obama from 2014 to 2017, and as mayor of San Antonio from 2009 to 2014. He made history in 2001 as San Antonio’s youngest city councilman at that time, and again in 2012 as the first Latino to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. 

His memoir, An Unlikely Journey: Waking Up From My American Dream, published in 2018, is a candid account of race and poverty in America. Born to unmarried parents in a poverty-stricken neighborhood of a struggling city, Castro details his unlikely journey to becoming an emerging national icon.

March 4 — UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) to present Race to Justice Winter 2021 virtual events

UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) announces Race to Justice Winter 2021 virtual events, part of A&L’s season-long, in-depth look at systemic racism. This effort engages leading activists, creatives and thinkers to expand our understanding of racism and how race impacts society and to inspire an expansive approach to advancing racial equality. 

March 14; Feb. 4 — UCSB Arts & Lectures announces House Calls Winter 2021, a newly added suite of virtual events through March featuring intimate, interactive online concerts, conversations and Q&As

Events include: Grammy-winning mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile; and chef, restaurateur and humanitarian José Andrés.