Community Calendar

American music stirs the soul in a way like none other. Performance Today® 2022 Classical Woman of the Year, pianist Lara Downes explores the depths of that profound connection to land, sea and spirit. Dvořák’s New World Symphony blends Bohemian fantasy with Midwestern and Southern melodies and charm.

Michael Christie, conductor
Lara Downes, piano

ALDOPHUS HAILSTORK 3 Spirituals for Orchestra – “Every Time I Feel the Spirit, Kum Ba Yah, Oh Freedom”
PRICE Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in One Movement
JOPLIN/BUCK Four Rags for Piano and Orchestra
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”

“Brilliant performances!” The Tolucan Times. “Brilliant portrayals…you will be just as captivated as I was!” broadwayworld.com. “Just plain brilliant!” playwright/performer Wendy Michaels.

This joyous and poignant musical, back for a limited engagement after a three-year sell-out run, follows the life of the beloved Yiddish story-teller as he spins tales of his loves and losses, his fame and failures, his travels, travails and the tremendous optimism that kept him going against all odds. Based on his letters and tales, the controversy surrounding his stories and plays, and his passionate quest to honor the universality of the human spirit and celebrate our common humanity, he reminds us always that we have more in common than in conflict.

“I will never forget my evening with Sholom Aleichem and I thank you for bringing my cousin so beautifully back 'To Life'.” Lillian Aderman Moller

Playing to sold-out houses until the day before the lockdown, the delightful musical, back by audience request for a limited run, is written by the internationally acclaimed team of Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie, with lilting songs by Emery Bernauer, E. Rudie and Sholom Aleichem himself. Audiences are treated to an in-depth look at the joyous and poignant events that inspired the foolish philosophers, philosophical fools, comical shtetl folk and not-so-comical scoundrels that populated Sholom Aleichem's world.

“Chris DeCarlo has become the reincarnation of Sholom Aleichem” LASplash

The musical stars veteran performer Chris DeCarlo, who again assays the role of the beloved author, a characterization which has been enjoyed by more than a quarter of a million audience members, and Evelyn Rudie, who has created and portrayed more than three dozen Sholom Aleichem characters in over 2,000 performances to date.

“Evelyn Rudie is an all-around theatrical wizard!” Casting Call

Aleichem Sholom is presented by the Santa Monica Playhouse Jewish Heritage Project, supporting productions that keep the unique richness of Jewish theatre alive, honor the historical and cultural importance of Jewish heritage, and insure that new generations of theatre-goers appreciate and celebrate the life experience of Jewish ancestry, literature and tradition.

“ ‘Sholom Aleichem’ means ‘Hello, peace be with you.’ For Santa Monica Playhouse it means ‘richness in Jewish theatre for the community to enjoy.’ ” The Messenger

Santa Monica Playhouse is supported in part by grants from the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, We Are Santa Monica, the Ahmanson Foundation, the Rotary Club Foundation and Playhouse PALS.

A Deeper Love offers an artistic examination into some of the ocean’s most vibrant, ecologically productive, and fragile landscapes, worldwide. “While it may be easy for most people to walk outside and appreciate nature in the hills, forests, or meadows where they live, it is much harder to visit a coral reef fifty feet below the surface of the ocean at the edge of civilization,” state Nansi and David. “By sharing what we’ve seen, what we’ve learned, and what has inspired us, we hope to make the world’s coral reefs a little more present in the hearts and minds of our community. We humans protect what we love. We hope this show will help us all fall in love a little more with the beauty of our coral reefs.”

In addition to the intrinsic beauty of coral reefs and the equally breathtaking underwater communities that they support, it is important to note that coral reefs also have a powerful impact on human existence as well. In fact, it is estimated that up to one billion people currently rely on tropical coral reefs as their primary or sole source of food and income. Many of these reef-reliant peoples are among the world’s poorest, and suffer disproportionately from the effects of climate degradation primarily inflicted by industrialized nations. Already, rising sea levels and intensified hurricanes have dramatically reduced or even eliminated the inhabitable land of some island nations. For the sake of all life on our blue planet, it is clear that we must better know, love, and steward coral reefs and other seascapes.

Artists Nansi Bielanski Gallup and David Gallup are motivated by these challenges, working collaboratively and individually as artists to highlight the beauty and importance of coral reefs and their need for protection.

About the Artists:

Nansi Bielanski Gallup holds a Masters of Fine Arts Degree from Loyola Marymount University. Before becoming a professional artist, she was a television director and producer of many award-winning television commercials. She lived in Budapest, Hungary for three years, producing over one hundred commercials and several documentaries. In 2003, she left television to dedicate herself full-time to sculpting and painting. Nansi was selected to be Artist in Residence at the Carnegie Art Museum in 2016 and held a solo exhibition there in 2017.

David Gallup is a graduate of the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design. In his early career, he was the Chief Studio Assistant for pop art legend Hiro Yamagata, supervising a staff of 30 artists on the "Earthly Paradise" project. Gallup then spent 15 years as Vice President of the California Art Club, and has had three solo museum exhibitions; "California's Channel Islands" at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum in Malibu, "Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary" at the Aquarium of the Pacific, and "Beneath the Surface" at the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard. In 2018 he realized his dream of marrying Nansi.

Deepening the shared vision, both artists find their greatest inspiration in scuba diving. The coral reefs of our planet sustain us all, and they are as imperiled as they are beautiful. Bielanski and Gallup continue to travel the globe to observe life beneath the surface and have recently purchased a small island in the Coral Sea which they use as a second studio. Their personal observations of the reef system have demonstrated the validity of the concerned voices of ecologists and marine biologists. We (humans) save what we love, and love what we understand. For this reason, the couple have chosen to dedicate their art to furthering the public's love and understanding of our oceans and coral reef systems.

A Deeper Love offers an artistic examination into some of the ocean’s most vibrant, ecologically productive, and fragile landscapes, worldwide. “While it may be easy for most people to walk outside and appreciate nature in the hills, forests, or meadows where they live, it is much harder to visit a coral reef fifty feet below the surface of the ocean at the edge of civilization,” state Nansi and David. “By sharing what we’ve seen, what we’ve learned, and what has inspired us, we hope to make the world’s coral reefs a little more present in the hearts and minds of our community. We humans protect what we love. We hope this show will help us all fall in love a little more with the beauty of our coral reefs.”

In addition to the intrinsic beauty of coral reefs and the equally breathtaking underwater communities that they support, it is important to note that coral reefs also have a powerful impact on human existence as well. In fact, it is estimated that up to one billion people currently rely on tropical coral reefs as their primary or sole source of food and income. Many of these reef-reliant peoples are among the world’s poorest, and suffer disproportionately from the effects of climate degradation primarily inflicted by industrialized nations. Already, rising sea levels and intensified hurricanes have dramatically reduced or even eliminated the inhabitable land of some island nations. For the sake of all life on our blue planet, it is clear that we must better know, love, and steward coral reefs and other seascapes.

Artists Nansi Bielanski Gallup and David Gallup are motivated by these challenges, working collaboratively and individually as artists to highlight the beauty and importance of coral reefs and their need for protection.

About the Artists:

Nansi Bielanski Gallup holds a Masters of Fine Arts Degree from Loyola Marymount University. Before becoming a professional artist, she was a television director and producer of many award-winning television commercials. She lived in Budapest, Hungary for three years, producing over one hundred commercials and several documentaries. In 2003, she left television to dedicate herself full-time to sculpting and painting. Nansi was selected to be Artist in Residence at the Carnegie Art Museum in 2016 and held a solo exhibition there in 2017.

David Gallup is a graduate of the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design. In his early career, he was the Chief Studio Assistant for pop art legend Hiro Yamagata, supervising a staff of 30 artists on the "Earthly Paradise" project. Gallup then spent 15 years as Vice President of the California Art Club, and has had three solo museum exhibitions; "California's Channel Islands" at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum in Malibu, "Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary" at the Aquarium of the Pacific, and "Beneath the Surface" at the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard. In 2018 he realized his dream of marrying Nansi.

Deepening the shared vision, both artists find their greatest inspiration in scuba diving. The coral reefs of our planet sustain us all, and they are as imperiled as they are beautiful. Bielanski and Gallup continue to travel the globe to observe life beneath the surface and have recently purchased a small island in the Coral Sea which they use as a second studio. Their personal observations of the reef system have demonstrated the validity of the concerned voices of ecologists and marine biologists. We (humans) save what we love, and love what we understand. For this reason, the couple have chosen to dedicate their art to furthering the public's love and understanding of our oceans and coral reef systems.

A Deeper Love offers an artistic examination into some of the ocean’s most vibrant, ecologically productive, and fragile landscapes, worldwide. “While it may be easy for most people to walk outside and appreciate nature in the hills, forests, or meadows where they live, it is much harder to visit a coral reef fifty feet below the surface of the ocean at the edge of civilization,” state Nansi and David. “By sharing what we’ve seen, what we’ve learned, and what has inspired us, we hope to make the world’s coral reefs a little more present in the hearts and minds of our community. We humans protect what we love. We hope this show will help us all fall in love a little more with the beauty of our coral reefs.”

In addition to the intrinsic beauty of coral reefs and the equally breathtaking underwater communities that they support, it is important to note that coral reefs also have a powerful impact on human existence as well. In fact, it is estimated that up to one billion people currently rely on tropical coral reefs as their primary or sole source of food and income. Many of these reef-reliant peoples are among the world’s poorest, and suffer disproportionately from the effects of climate degradation primarily inflicted by industrialized nations. Already, rising sea levels and intensified hurricanes have dramatically reduced or even eliminated the inhabitable land of some island nations. For the sake of all life on our blue planet, it is clear that we must better know, love, and steward coral reefs and other seascapes.

Artists Nansi Bielanski Gallup and David Gallup are motivated by these challenges, working collaboratively and individually as artists to highlight the beauty and importance of coral reefs and their need for protection.

About the Artists:

Nansi Bielanski Gallup holds a Masters of Fine Arts Degree from Loyola Marymount University. Before becoming a professional artist, she was a television director and producer of many award-winning television commercials. She lived in Budapest, Hungary for three years, producing over one hundred commercials and several documentaries. In 2003, she left television to dedicate herself full-time to sculpting and painting. Nansi was selected to be Artist in Residence at the Carnegie Art Museum in 2016 and held a solo exhibition there in 2017.

David Gallup is a graduate of the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design. In his early career, he was the Chief Studio Assistant for pop art legend Hiro Yamagata, supervising a staff of 30 artists on the "Earthly Paradise" project. Gallup then spent 15 years as Vice President of the California Art Club, and has had three solo museum exhibitions; "California's Channel Islands" at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum in Malibu, "Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary" at the Aquarium of the Pacific, and "Beneath the Surface" at the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard. In 2018 he realized his dream of marrying Nansi.

Deepening the shared vision, both artists find their greatest inspiration in scuba diving. The coral reefs of our planet sustain us all, and they are as imperiled as they are beautiful. Bielanski and Gallup continue to travel the globe to observe life beneath the surface and have recently purchased a small island in the Coral Sea which they use as a second studio. Their personal observations of the reef system have demonstrated the validity of the concerned voices of ecologists and marine biologists. We (humans) save what we love, and love what we understand. For this reason, the couple have chosen to dedicate their art to furthering the public's love and understanding of our oceans and coral reef systems.

A Deeper Love offers an artistic examination into some of the ocean’s most vibrant, ecologically productive, and fragile landscapes, worldwide. “While it may be easy for most people to walk outside and appreciate nature in the hills, forests, or meadows where they live, it is much harder to visit a coral reef fifty feet below the surface of the ocean at the edge of civilization,” state Nansi and David. “By sharing what we’ve seen, what we’ve learned, and what has inspired us, we hope to make the world’s coral reefs a little more present in the hearts and minds of our community. We humans protect what we love. We hope this show will help us all fall in love a little more with the beauty of our coral reefs.”

In addition to the intrinsic beauty of coral reefs and the equally breathtaking underwater communities that they support, it is important to note that coral reefs also have a powerful impact on human existence as well. In fact, it is estimated that up to one billion people currently rely on tropical coral reefs as their primary or sole source of food and income. Many of these reef-reliant peoples are among the world’s poorest, and suffer disproportionately from the effects of climate degradation primarily inflicted by industrialized nations. Already, rising sea levels and intensified hurricanes have dramatically reduced or even eliminated the inhabitable land of some island nations. For the sake of all life on our blue planet, it is clear that we must better know, love, and steward coral reefs and other seascapes.

Artists Nansi Bielanski Gallup and David Gallup are motivated by these challenges, working collaboratively and individually as artists to highlight the beauty and importance of coral reefs and their need for protection.

About the Artists:

Nansi Bielanski Gallup holds a Masters of Fine Arts Degree from Loyola Marymount University. Before becoming a professional artist, she was a television director and producer of many award-winning television commercials. She lived in Budapest, Hungary for three years, producing over one hundred commercials and several documentaries. In 2003, she left television to dedicate herself full-time to sculpting and painting. Nansi was selected to be Artist in Residence at the Carnegie Art Museum in 2016 and held a solo exhibition there in 2017.

David Gallup is a graduate of the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design. In his early career, he was the Chief Studio Assistant for pop art legend Hiro Yamagata, supervising a staff of 30 artists on the "Earthly Paradise" project. Gallup then spent 15 years as Vice President of the California Art Club, and has had three solo museum exhibitions; "California's Channel Islands" at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum in Malibu, "Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary" at the Aquarium of the Pacific, and "Beneath the Surface" at the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard. In 2018 he realized his dream of marrying Nansi.

Deepening the shared vision, both artists find their greatest inspiration in scuba diving. The coral reefs of our planet sustain us all, and they are as imperiled as they are beautiful. Bielanski and Gallup continue to travel the globe to observe life beneath the surface and have recently purchased a small island in the Coral Sea which they use as a second studio. Their personal observations of the reef system have demonstrated the validity of the concerned voices of ecologists and marine biologists. We (humans) save what we love, and love what we understand. For this reason, the couple have chosen to dedicate their art to furthering the public's love and understanding of our oceans and coral reef systems.

Cancer Support Community Valley/Ventura/Santa Barbara invites family members and friends of those who have passed away from cancer to attend an "Evening of Remembrance" on November 7, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm, at 4195 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., #107 Westlake Village, CA 91362. This event will feature music, poetry, and the sharing of personal remembrances and is an opportunity to honor and celebrate the lives of those no longer here but never forgotten. Refreshments will be served.

A reigning virtuoso of the violin returns to Santa Barbara with a distinguished group of collaborators: internationally celebrated pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Emanuel Ax and the Juilliard String Quartet. Hear what only Itzhak Perlman can do in the company of six such sensational players.

The California Central Coast Chapter of The Wildlife Society will be hosting an annual wildlife symposium. This symposium is intended to bring local professionals and students together to share ideas, professional knowledge, and information on projects and ongoing research around the Central Coast.

The election is finally over (or is it?). In this online session we explore what happened and what it means. We will review the results of the Presidential election through the electoral college votes and discuss both what is known and what is not yet known. We will look at the control of the US House and Senate and explore both the likely actions of the winning and losing Presidential candidate. This election has profound impacts for the future of our democracy and the American people are divided over which party best represents their interests. No matter who wins the election, our nation is at a crossroads.

Tim Allison, J.D. is an Adjunct Faculty member at Cal State University Channel Islands. He teaches courses ranging from Constitutional Law to Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Campaigns and Elections, Intro to American Government, Judicial Process and a seminar course on Empowering First-Generation Students. He is the Executive Director of a High School Teachers union where he has been the lead negotiator on four contract negotiations in the past two years. He is a past "Faculty of the Year" Award recipient and was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in Denver in 2008 and Chicago in 2024 and a delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. He is a regular local media commentator on politics and public affairs.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people 50 years of age and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

This lecture can be attended on Zoom and will be recorded.