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SANTA BARBARA SYMPHONY DELIGHTS AUDIENCE WITH PASSIONATE RUSSIAN FAVORITES AT 2026-27 SEASON OPENING

The opening night of the Santa Barbara Symphony season kick-off performance attracted a full house of symphony lovers devoted to the beloved melodies written by passionate Russian composers including Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor and the Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 in D minor, conducted by Maestro Nir Kabaretti with a spectacular performance by Grammy Award-winning pianist Michelle Cann. Guests enjoyed a champaign toast celebrating the 2026-27 kick off.

Michelle Cann, a recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, and lauded as "exquisite" by the Philadelphia Inquirer as well as "a pianist of sterling artistry" by Gramophone, is also a 2023 Grammy Award winner for Price's Piano Concerto in One Movement, and a second Grammy winner in 2025 for Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price. Her performance was astounding in strength and passion, earning a huge standing ovation from the entire audience.

In pairing the two concertos, Music and Artistic Director Kabaretti shared "I find it fascinating to hear these two distinct musical voices side by side and discover not only the contrasts, but the connections between them. In both works, despite their very diferent circumstances and musical languages, there is a profound sense of humanity and an extraordinary ability to communicate emotion directly to the listener."

The program also showcased the extraordinary talent of the orchestra and guest solo pianist Michelle Cann, whose performance overflowed with expressive depth that was highly moving, exciting and greatly appreciated by an enthusiastic audience. Also performing were Daniel Munoz, Violin (UCSB), Lewis Ma, Violin (UCSB), Alexander Wagner, Violin (Westmont), Christian Dos Santos, Viola (UCSB), Mia Paul, Cello (UCSB), and Matthew Tran, Cello (UCSB). The complexity of these concertos created amazing emotional response, making it a deeply human and powerful musical experience for all. Cann's piano performance was astounding in strength and passion, earning a double standing ovation from the entire audience.

A pre-concert talk by on-air personality Jennifer Miller Hammil was offered to pre-concert guests providing pre-concert guests an opportuntiy to delve deeper into the evening performances prior to curtain time.

Five Santa Barbara musicians from Westmont and UCSB performing in the 2026-27 included Daniel Munoz, Violin (UCSB), Lewis Ma, Violin (UCSB), Alexander Wagner, Violin (Westmont), Christian Dos Santos, Viola (UCSB), Mia Paul, Cello (UCSB), and Matthew Tran, Cello (UCSB). They are all part of the Santa Barbara Symphony collaborative opportunity for music majors from Westmont College and UC Santa Barbara to be mentored and perform with the symphony.

Invited guests gathered to celebrate the Season Kick-off in the Founders Lounge to celebrate yet another outstanding symphony performance and toast the the success of the beginning of a new season. For Rachmaninoff lovers this was a beyond outstanding and exciting evening, that opened with the United States National Anthym being sung by the audience to a huge American flag displayed above the Granada Theatre stage. For upcoming season event information visit: TheSymphony.Org or call (805) 899-2222.

The launch of the Lucas Museum, focusing on the power of visual storytelling, has been greatly anticipated and has been a long time in the making for Mellody Hobson, president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, former chair of Starbucks, and her film industry icon husband George Lucas, renowned filmmaker and entrepreneur.

The opening was in phases, welcoming a bevy of publics, including entertainment celebrities; including actors who worked in Lucas films, major media, close friends and associates and industry professionals associated with George Lucas and Melody Hobson.

Actress, author, film maker Leslie Zemeckis, who attended with her renowned film maker husband Robert Zameckis, raved about what an amazing experience her journey through the museum took her on and she was so impressed with the varying styles of art, as well as the authentic Lucas film art inclusions.

Over the past 50 years, George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars amassed a collection of countless works ranging from traditionally evocative paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, Charles White, Frida Kahlo and more to less conventional Japanese Manga and old-school advertising prints, along with the Lucas Archives (Star Wars, Indiana Jones).

As a budding filmmaker studying at USC in the 60s, Lucas began his collection by buying comic art at underground auctions, where he would sometimes spend $30, eventually purchasing multimillion-dollar pieces from some of the world’s great masters.

George Lucas and his wife have described their endeavor as “a temple of the people’s art.” Lucas calls it a tasting menu with a little bit of everything, including everything from paintings, statues, comics, movie props, photography and filmed work displayed in on-site theaters.

The museum has adopted the expression narrative art to describe the countless pieces in the collection, making it the sole unifying force of the collection and exhibits, seeking to elevate work reflecting shared human experience from a diverse range of voices and perspectives.

George Lucas museum aspirations began in the late 1990s when he was bidding to move the Lucas film headquarters to recently decommissioned Crissy Field in the San Francisco Presidio. When granting it the Presidio Board asked if Lucas would create a museum in the Presidio as well.

The museum seemed to develop along with the Hobson-Lucas relationship. Plans for the Lucas Museum began in 2006, the year the couple began dating, and they were married in 2013. When attempts to open the museum in San Francisco did not work out, they then proposed building the museum in Chicago, Hobson’s hometown. However, in 2013 Eric Garcetti, then Mayor of LA, wrote a letter stating that LA would provide a place where its impact could be amplified like no other and a deal was signed in 2017 to build in Exposition Park near the USC campus, where Lucas began his filmmaking career.

The Museum roof is lined with greenery, including trees and native plants, with the center known as the Oculus providing sunlight for guests passing through the interior. Inside visitors will find 100,000 square feet of gallery space, two theaters, a café, and classroom spaces. The lobby on the ground floor features three elevator shafts resembling pneumatic tubes from a sci-fi film. A wood-lined library built to replicate one at Skywalker Ranch stands in stark contrast to the rest of the museum. Architecture is by Ma Yansong (MAD Architects) with surrounding gardens by Studio-MLA.

When they opened on September 22, more than 1,200 objects were on display across more than 30 galleries, all organized around themes of love, family and adventure, showcasing how visual media helps humanity make sense of the world.

countless Star Wars fans are delighted with the spotlight focused on space opera. According to Hobson “Our hope is that millions and millions of people go to the museum and are inspired and get to reflect on our common humanity through illustrations, photography, and moving images, that really is the whole point.”

Adult museum tickets are $25.00, Seniors $21.00. Admission free for children 0-17. For full information visit: www.LucasMuseum.org.