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Camerata Pacifica, noted for its adventurous musical offerings, continues its season with an intriguing program of remarkable works for percussion and piano that features two sets of musical spouses, April 1-6, 2025, at four Southern California locations.

The musical athleticism of acclaimed piano duo Ran Dank and Soyeon Kate Lee, spouses who “produce an entirely unified sound… (and) fool our ears into believing all the notes are coming from a single musician” (The Berkshire Edge) is showcased on Stravinsky’s electrifying The Rite of Spring for Piano Four Hands. They also perform Poulenc’s Elegie for Two Pianos, a tender and beautiful memorial to a friend, and J.S. Bach’s Three Chorale Preludes, arranged for piano duo by Hungarian composer György Kurtág.

Camerata Pacifica Principal Percussionist Ji Hye Jung and percussionist W. Lee Vinson, spouses as well and both lauded for their extraordinary talent and enthralling performances, join Dank and Lee to let their mallets fly on Bartók’s landmark Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion.

The performance is Sunday, April 6, 3:00 pm, at Thousand Oaks’ Janet and Ray Scherr Forum.

For tickets $91, including fees, at Janet and Ray Scherr Forum) and information, visit www.cameratapacifica.org.

Armed with a warm, soulful sound, the Grammy-winning and Emmy-nominated artist Gaby Moreno creates music that offers an intoxicating invitation into her musical world for English and Spanish speakers alike.

Since moving to Los Angeles from her native Guatemala, singer-songwriter-producer Gaby Moreno has released 9 albums, received her first Grammy award in 2024 for her project X Mí (Vol. 1) (Best Latin Pop Album, 2024), earned additional Grammy nominations for her albums Alegoría (Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album, 2023) and Illusion (Best Latin Pop Album, 2017), and has won two Latin Grammy Awards (Best New Artist, 2013 and Best Traditional Tropical Album, 2023). Moreno has shared the international stage with pop music luminaries such as Bono, Andrea Boccelli, Tracy Chapman, Ani DiFranco, Punch Brothers, Hugh Laurie, Buena Vista Social Club, Calexico, David Gray, and many more.

Through her various projects, Moreno has redefined Americana as the only prominent Latina in the genre today, opening the doors for other marginalized voices and transforming the landscape overall.

FOUR FREE PUBLIC PERFORMANCES
Thursday, November 6 | 7 PM | Carpinteria Vets Memorial Building
Friday, November 7 | 7 PM Isla Vista Elementary
Saturday, November 8 | 7 PM | Guadalupe City Hall
Sunday, November 9 | 6 PM | Marjorie Luke Theatre

For more information please visit:
https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/learn/viva-el-arte-de-santa-barbara/

Armed with a warm, soulful sound, the Grammy-winning and Emmy-nominated artist Gaby Moreno creates music that offers an intoxicating invitation into her musical world for English and Spanish speakers alike.

Since moving to Los Angeles from her native Guatemala, singer-songwriter-producer Gaby Moreno has released 9 albums, received her first Grammy award in 2024 for her project X Mí (Vol. 1) (Best Latin Pop Album, 2024), earned additional Grammy nominations for her albums Alegoría (Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album, 2023) and Illusion (Best Latin Pop Album, 2017), and has won two Latin Grammy Awards (Best New Artist, 2013 and Best Traditional Tropical Album, 2023). Moreno has shared the international stage with pop music luminaries such as Bono, Andrea Boccelli, Tracy Chapman, Ani DiFranco, Punch Brothers, Hugh Laurie, Buena Vista Social Club, Calexico, David Gray, and many more.

Through her various projects, Moreno has redefined Americana as the only prominent Latina in the genre today, opening the doors for other marginalized voices and transforming the landscape overall.

FOUR FREE PUBLIC PERFORMANCES
Thursday, November 6 | 7 PM | Carpinteria Vets Memorial Building
Friday, November 7 | 7 PM Isla Vista Elementary
Saturday, November 8 | 7 PM | Guadalupe City Hall
Sunday, November 9 | 6 PM | Marjorie Luke Theatre

For more information please visit:
https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/learn/viva-el-arte-de-santa-barbara/

“Kiki Yeung is a comedy pioneer!” - NBCLA

Kiki Yeung is a Hong Kong and LA based comedian, actress, and producer, whose shows always sell out fast! Kiki blends her American upbringing and Cantonese sharp wit into a hilarious combination of sassy humor and animated act outs. Kiki is the founder of Crazy Woke Asians, the award winning, nationally touring comedy show featuring the funniest Asian American comedians. Creator of “Kiki Funny Mama's Night Out” docu-series featuring the funniest Asian American female comedians.

Kiki and Santa Monica Playhouse Artistic Directors Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie curated the first Asian-American Solo Festival in Los Angeles, an event that continues annually.

Ms. Yeung has been featured in Elizabeth Bank's Whohaha's Comedy Callout, LA Times, The Seattle Times, Time-out New York, NBC LA, CBS and more. Watch Kiki on ABC's The Parent Test. She performed at The Netflix is a Joke Fest, and headlined to sold out crowds at the New York Comedy Festival, Carolines on Broadway, The Comedy Store, The Ice House, Laugh Factory, Hollywood Improv, Cobbs Comedy Club, Kenan Presents and more.

Her new touring show, “Kiki Yeung Cantonese Mom” premiered at Rodney's Comedy Club for the Knockouts Women's Comedy Festival. Catch her one-hour special “Don't Get Sick and Die” filmed in her hometown Seattle. Kiki is touring nationwide and will be headlining at the Hong Kong International Comedy Festival in September. Rated; 16 and up

Longtime friends Armen Guzelimian and Gilles Apap are performing together for the first time ever at Studio Channel Islands.

Armen Guzelimian is celebrated for his versatility as a top-notch collaborative artist, a brilliant soloist and first-rate chamber musician not only in Southern California, but all over the world. He has received national and international critical acclaim for his appearances in many of the major concert halls in the U.S.A and Europe.

He has appeared as soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, California Chamber Symphony, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, American Youth Symphony, the Pasadena Symphony/Pops Orchestra among others, with such conductors as Neville Marriner, Stuart Challenger, Mehli Mehta, Bruce Ferden and Michael Feinstein.

As a chamber musician, Mr. Guzelimian's has appeared with the Rossetti String Quartet, the Los Angeles String Quartet, Camerata Pacifica, the Dilijan Chamber Music Series, Chamber Music in Historic Sites, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the Aspen Festival. He made his Disney Hall debut in March of 2014 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber Music Society and returned to the delight of audiences in November 2016.
Gilles Apap

Described by Yehudi Menuhin as ’’A true violinist of the 21st century’’, Gilles is known for his virtuosity, unique approach to music and the skill to bring joy to every concert hall. He delivers distinctive performances of the standard classical repertoire combined with genres such as jazz and folk from around the world and the result is unique programming merging the borderlines between musical styles.

As a soloist Gilles has performed with orchestras such as Leipzig Gewandhaus, San Francisco and Vancouver Symphony, Hamburg Philharmonic, Boston Philharmonic, Berliner Symphoniker, Russian National Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, often play directing as well as performing an extensive list of violin concertos.

With his quartet ‘The Colors of Invention’ (violin, accordion, double bass and cimbalom), Gilles presents chamber music with fusion of classical pieces from Vivaldi, Ravel and Bartok with traditional folk tunes. The Ethno Jazz band ‘Meduoteran’ (violin, accordion and saz) is one of the most recent projects in which Gilles is involved, performing in various Jazz and folk festivals around Europe. ‘The Transylvanian Mountain Boys’ is another highly successful crossover band formed by Gilles, together they perform across the globe and have released 3 CDs for Sony Classical. Gilles was taking the artistic leadership position at the Nordic Chamber Orchestra until the 2017/2018 season.

Heather Pierson is a pianist, singer/songwriter, and performer whose inspiring live performances and growing catalog of releases delve into Americana, blues, New Orleans jazz, vocal chants, instrumental piano, and folk. Best known for her ease at the piano and her bell-tone vocals, Heather’s songs and musicianship embody joy, honesty, playfulness, and a desire to share from the heart.
In over twenty years on her own record label, Vessel Recordings, she has released fourteen albums and several singles of original music. Her trio’s debut EP, Still She Will Fly, was released in May 2015, and its title track was the #2 single on the Folk radio charts for the year in 2015, and three other songs were also in the Top 100 singles on Folk radio in 2015. The trio’s full-length debut, Singin’, was released in June 2017, and debuted at #1 on the Folk radio charts.
During the 2020-21 pandemic, Heather had a viral hit in March with her “Toilet Paper Song,” and released both a moving single, “Beside The Firelight,” about the death of George Floyd, and a collection of original meditation chants, Be Here Now.
Defying genre and classification and yet fully embracing all musical styles, Heather is an artist who speaks the language of music in as many dialects as her abilities will allow. Her life’s work, she says, is to share her love of music and her gratitude for life with others – one song, one heart, and one mind at a time.
For her show here, Heather will be accompanied by music partner Shawn Nadeau, a self-taught phenom who brings an unassuming rock-solid foundation and a keen awareness to every moment of every song, informed by over two decades of wildly varying musical performances, from punk rock to reggae to jazz. www.heatherpierson.com

The suggested donation for this special evening is just $20 per person, payable in cash at the door. All the money goes to the performer. We will also have our usual "potluck" style coffee and dessert buffet. The show is called for 8:00 P.M. Doors open at 7:30 P.M. RSVP today to Russ & Julie at: rsvp@houseconcerts.us
COVID SAFETY: We are transitioning to “masks-optional” for this show.
We look forward to seeing you here!
Russ & Julie
Russ & Julie's House Concerts
www.houseconcerts.us
RSVP: rsvp@houseconcerts.us

It’s the 8th Annual BFF Binge Fringe Festival of FREE Theatre, Oct 15 - Nov 19, the only FREE Fringe Festival in the nation, offering 38 in-person plays, workshops and family-oriented events, presenting:

Inherit the Smut - 7:00 PM, The Other Space, 18+

An uproarious testament to writer/performer Roy Sekoff’s unwavering commitment to overshare, as he plumbs his past -- particularly his overstimulated teen years -- for laughs and insights into his relationship with his larger-than-life parents. Sekoff’s frank and fearless tales about navigating the minefield of male adolescence (including the discovery of his father’s sizeable collection of X-rated movies) and his equally combustible adulthood (including having to dispose of that collection after his father dies) allow him to explore the ridiculous nature of young lust, Oedipal anxieties, and raising his own kids in the age of one-click-away Internet porn. If David Sedaris, Chelsea Handler, Larry David, and Whoopi Goldberg had the unlikeliest orgy in history, the resulting love child might one day create a show like Inherit the Smut. Roy was the founding editor of the Huffington Post, and President and co-creator of HuffPost Live. He created and hosted The HuffPost Show, an hour-long comedy and interview program. His book of humorous stories, Lacks Self-Control: True Stories I Waited Until My Parents Died to Tell, was featured in The New York Times Book Review and People Magazine as a “Top Pick,” and won multiple writing awards. Before helping found HuffPost, Roy was a writer and on-air correspondent for Michael Moore’s Emmy-winning TV Nation. Written & performed by Roy Sekoff. Directed & developed by Jessica Lynn Johnson

Special thanks to generous grants from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission and Playhouse PALS. The BFF celebrates the range and depth of the human condition and the idea that theatre arts experiences are vital, transformative, and must be available for all.

Camerata Pacifica’s 2023-24 season wraps with the highly anticipated world premiere of “Petite Suite” by GRAMMY-nominated Brazilian-American composer Clarice Assad written for a unique mix of instruments, including accordion, clarinet, cello, and marimba. Commissioned by Camerata Pacifica, it was composed for and features Julien Labro, one of the world’s foremost accordion players in both jazz and classical genres. The program is presented at four Southland venues: Friday, May 17, 7:30 pm, at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West; Sunday, May 19, 3 pm, at Thousand Oaks’ Janet and Ray Scherr Forum; Tuesday, May 21, 2024, 7:30 pm, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino; and Thursday, May 23, 8 pm, Zipper Hall in downtown Los Angeles.

Assad, renowned for her significant artistic voice in the classical, world music, pop, and jazz genres, says, “’Petite Suite’ brings together elements of French chanson and Latin-American music, combining classical and jazz notation with room for improvisation by the accordion player, the amazing Julien Labro. It's a playful, and nostalgic work that draws on my memories of childhood and adolescence spent visiting and living in France. This first part explores a simple idea: all players in unison before they all get into different roles.”

Additionally, Camerata Pacifica presents the U.S. premiere of British composer Martin Butler’s scintillating Remember This Fire for oboe and percussion, which was inspired by Ezra Pound’s poem The Alchemist.

The season finale also features New Zealand-Greek composer John Psathas’ One Study, a virtuosic work for marimba, with junk percussion and digital audio, and Listen, Quiet for cello and electronics by Paola Prestini, named one of the Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music (Washington Post) and known for her “otherwordly…outright gorgeous music” (The New York Times).

In addition to Labro, featured artists include Camerata Pacifica Principal Cello Ani Aznavoorian; Principal Oboe Nicholas Daniel; Principal Clarinet Jose Franch-Ballester; and Principal Percussion Ji Hye Jung.

Camerata Pacifica is renowned for bold programming that demonstrates the limitless scope of the chamber music repertoire.

Tickets ($75 at The Huntington, Music Academy of the West, and Zipper Hall; $80 at Janet and Ray Scherr Forum) are available at www.cameratapacifica.org or 805-884-8410.

Camerata Pacifica’s 2023-24 season wraps with the highly anticipated world premiere of “Petite Suite” by GRAMMY-nominated Brazilian-American composer Clarice Assad written for a unique mix of instruments, including accordion, clarinet, cello, and marimba. Commissioned by Camerata Pacifica, it was composed for and features Julien Labro, one of the world’s foremost accordion players in both jazz and classical genres. The program is presented at four Southland venues: Friday, May 17, 7:30 pm, at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West; Sunday, May 19, 3 pm, at Thousand Oaks’ Janet and Ray Scherr Forum; Tuesday, May 21, 2024, 7:30 pm, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino; and Thursday, May 23, 8 pm, Zipper Hall in downtown Los Angeles.

Assad, renowned for her significant artistic voice in the classical, world music, pop, and jazz genres, says, “’Petite Suite’ brings together elements of French chanson and Latin-American music, combining classical and jazz notation with room for improvisation by the accordion player, the amazing Julien Labro. It's a playful, and nostalgic work that draws on my memories of childhood and adolescence spent visiting and living in France. This first part explores a simple idea: all players in unison before they all get into different roles.”

Additionally, Camerata Pacifica presents the U.S. premiere of British composer Martin Butler’s scintillating Remember This Fire for oboe and percussion, which was inspired by Ezra Pound’s poem The Alchemist.

The season finale also features New Zealand-Greek composer John Psathas’ One Study, a virtuosic work for marimba, with junk percussion and digital audio, and Listen, Quiet for cello and electronics by Paola Prestini, named one of the Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music (Washington Post) and known for her “otherwordly…outright gorgeous music” (The New York Times).

In addition to Labro, featured artists include Camerata Pacifica Principal Cello Ani Aznavoorian; Principal Oboe Nicholas Daniel; Principal Clarinet Jose Franch-Ballester; and Principal Percussion Ji Hye Jung.

Camerata Pacifica is renowned for bold programming that demonstrates the limitless scope of the chamber music repertoire.

Tickets ($75 at The Huntington, Music Academy of the West, and Zipper Hall; $80 at Janet and Ray Scherr Forum) are available at www.cameratapacifica.org or 805-884-8410.

Frankie Graziano joined CPBN in October of 2011 as a sports producer. In addition to reporting for WNPR, Graziano produces feature profiles for CPTV and the web.