Community Calendar

With a career in Irish music for over for 40 years, Altan has achieved legendary status in a genre that has been shaped by the band’s influence and genius. From Ireland to Japan and Australia to Europe, audiences have embraced their heartwarming, dynamic live performances.

The harp has a reputation for behaving politely. Máire Ní Chathasaigh has spent a career putting fire back into it. Máire joins guitarist Chris Newman at Namba Performing Arts Space for an evening of breathtaking acoustic music rooted in Irish tradition but far too curious to stay there. 47 South Oak Street, Historic Downtown Ventura, CA. Tickets are $20 online at NambaArts.com; $25 at the door.
Their performances travel through driving dance tunes, hot jazz, bluegrass, baroque music and striking original compositions, with the occasional sharp turn into Chris’s Breaking Bach and his famously dry, subversive wit.
Máire is one of the defining figures in modern Irish harping. Raised in a musical family in West Cork, she pioneered techniques that brought authentically ornamented Irish dance music onto the harp and helped return the instrument to the center of the living tradition. Her influence earned her Gradam Ceoil TG4’s Musician of the Year, Irish traditional music’s most prestigious honor.
Chris is a dazzling flatpick guitarist, improviser, composer and producer whose musical path has crossed folk, swing jazz, bluegrass and classical repertoire. His collaborators have included Stéphane Grappelli and Boys of the Lough, and his playing can move from a clean Irish reel to Django-flavored swing before most guitarists have decided where to put the capo.
Máire and Chris first appeared together at the 1987 Cambridge Folk Festival, becoming the first established harp-and-guitar duo. Since then, they have carried their singular sound through twenty-four countries on five continents, from village halls and historic churches to major concert halls and palaces in Kyoto and Istanbul. “In a class of their own.” — The Guardian
At NAMBA, all that precision and invention happens only a few feet away. You will see the hands move, hear the strings breathe and catch the grin before the next seemingly impossible run. For listeners who love Irish traditional music without the museum glass, world-class acoustic playing and musicians who cross genres without losing the thread, this is a rare night worth the drive up the 101. October 17. Reserve your seat and come hear what two remarkable musicians can do with twelve strings and a room ready to listen.

On Saturday, October 17, at 7 pm Máire joins guitarist Chris Newman at NAMBA for an evening of breathtaking acoustic music rooted in Irish tradition but far too curious to stay there. Their performances travel through driving dance tunes, hot jazz, bluegrass, baroque music and striking original compositions, with the occasional sharp turn into Chris’s Breaking Bach and his famously dry, subversive wit. Tickets are $20 online at NambaArts.com or $25 at the door at 47 So Oak Street in Historic Downtown Ventura.

The harp has a reputation for behaving politely. Máire Ní Chathasaigh has spent a career putting fire back into it. Máire is one of the defining figures in modern Irish harping. Raised in a musical family in West Cork, she pioneered techniques that brought authentically ornamented Irish dance music onto the harp and helped return the instrument to the center of the living tradition. Her influence earned her Gradam Ceoil TG4’s Musician of the Year, Irish traditional music’s most prestigious honor.

Chris is a dazzling flatpick guitarist, improviser, composer and producer whose musical path has crossed folk, swing jazz, bluegrass and classical repertoire. His collaborators have included Stéphane Grappelli and Boys of the Lough, and his playing can move from a clean Irish reel to Django-flavored swing before most guitarists have decided where to put the capo.

On Saturday, October 24 at 3 pm, the Master Chorale concert Purcell-Palooza will be performed at Trinity Lutheran Church, 909 N. La Cumbre Road, Santa Barbara.

This concert features the music of Henry Purcell. An extremely prolific composer of the Baroque era, Purcell was considered the greatest of the English composers of that era. Purcell’s opera “Dido and Aeneas” (based on Virgil’s epic Aeneid) was an important landmark in the history of dramatic music for its originality and mastery of theatrical devices. The composer’s “Come ye Sons of Art” is his most delightful and well known birthday ode to Queen Mary who was Purcell’s primary patron and fan. Two lesser known instrumental works will also be featured on our Purcell Palooza as well as his gorgeous Rondeau from Abdelazer which took on a contemporary life of its own when it was used in the 2005 film “Pride and Prejudice.”

Soprano soloists are Nichole Dechaine, Nikki Martina Seppala Kurnik, Sharlae Jenkins, and Cari Voth; Mezzo Soprano Julie Davis; and Baritone Matthew Peterson. Choreography will be provided by Carrie Diamond, Artistic Director, The Dance Hub. Dancers will be Summer Fowler, Evelyn Mills, and Maya Singer.

The concert will be led by Master Chorale’s new Artistic Director and Conductor, Dr. William Cutter. For three decades, the long-time Bostonian was director of Choral Programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Professor of Core Studies at the Boston Conservatory. Rehearsal conductor and chorus master for the Boston Symphony and the Boston Pops, Cutter also served as assistant to John Oliver, director of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, for more than two decades. A composer and arranger, Cutter also sang with the area’s premier vocal ensembles, including the Handel and Haydn Society, Cantata Singers, Boston Baroque, Emmanuel Music, and the Harvard Glee Club. As the new director of the Master Chorale, Cutter is eager to collaborate with other area performing arts groups to present a wide range of musical experiences, from classical to gospel, mariachi to musical theater.

For tickets and more information, visit sbmasterchorale.org

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CAMA opens its 2026/2027 International Series with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason. Known for performing without a conductor, Orpheus brings its collaborative approach to an evening of Handel, Mozart, Haydn, and a new Orpheus commission by Katie Jenkins.

Program:
Handel: Water Music, HWV 348–350 (selections)
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major, K. 595
Katie Jenkins: Elixir of Life (Orpheus Commission)
Haydn: Symphony No. 91 in E-flat Major, Hob. I:91

CAMA 2026/2027 — 108th Concert Season: Virtuosi.
International Series. Season Sponsor: Sage Publishing.

Single tickets start at $20. Other single-ticket tiers: D section $32; C section $42; B section $72; A section $92.

Single tickets are available through the Granada Theatre Box Office. For current prices and availability, visit the ticketing link or call (805) 899-2222.

Programs, artists, and dates are subject to change.

Isata Kanneh-Mason. Photo: John Davis.

CAMA presents the Juilliard String Quartet with pianist Simone Dinnerstein in its 2026/2027 Masterseries at the Lobero Theatre. The quartet performs Ravel and Bartók, then joins Dinnerstein for Schumann’s Piano Quintet in an evening of chamber music.

Program:
Ravel: String Quartet in F Major
Bartók: String Quartet No. 4, Sz. 91 (BB 95)
Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44

CAMA 2026/2027 — 108th Concert Season: Virtuosi.
Masterseries. Season Sponsor: Esperia Foundation.

Single tickets start at $20. Other single-ticket tiers: B section $68; A section $78.

Single tickets are available through the Lobero Theatre Box Office. For current prices and availability, visit the ticketing link or call (805) 963-0761.

Programs, artists, and dates are subject to change.

Juilliard String Quartet. Photo: Rachel Papo.

COME SEE HOW THE WORLD COULD BE.

Welcome to HADESTOWN, where a song can change your fate. Winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album, this acclaimed new show from celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and original director Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) is a love story for today... and always.

Intertwining two mythic tales — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — HADESTOWN is a haunting and hopeful theatrical experience that grabs you and never lets go.

Performance Schedule:
Friday, Dec. 11, 2026 - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 12, 2026 - 2:00 & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 13, 2026 - 1:00 & 6:30 p.m.

Latin Grammy-winning Spanish guitarist Diego García, aka Twanguero, brings his Christmas album "Christmas with el Twanguero" to life with his full band and special guests for one night only in Ventura. Christmas classics reimagined with Spanish guitar, Latin rhythms and American roots — not flamenco.

Saturday, December 12, 2026. Doors at 6:15 PM. Concert 7:00–8:30 PM PST. All ages.

Tickets: Early Release $39 · Advance $45 · General Admission $49 · Door $55 · Supporter Pack $100
Get tickets: https://tickets.mudita.agency/events/muditaagency/2454092/r/kclu

Venue: Namba Arts, 47 S Oak St, Ventura, CA 93001
Presented by Mudita Agency. Contact: Helene Kieffer, helene@mudita.agency, (929) 385-6109

COME SEE HOW THE WORLD COULD BE.

Welcome to HADESTOWN, where a song can change your fate. Winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album, this acclaimed new show from celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and original director Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) is a love story for today... and always.

Intertwining two mythic tales — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — HADESTOWN is a haunting and hopeful theatrical experience that grabs you and never lets go.

Performance Schedule:
Friday, Dec. 11, 2026 - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 12, 2026 - 2:00 & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 13, 2026 - 1:00 & 6:30 p.m.