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Join us for Emergence Film in the Gallery, celebrating young and emerging filmmakers.

Featuring 2024 Student Academy Awards winners:
Rishabh Raj Jain, NYU: A Dream Called Khushi (Happiness)

Against all odds, a Rohingya refugee fights for education in Bangladesh's camps. When she meets AP journalist Rishabh Jain, her story ignites public outrage, revealing her resilience and the plight of Rohingya refugees denied basic rights. Dreaming of a life in Canada, where she can study, will she be the one in a million to break free?

Robin Wang, USC: Neither Donkey Nor Horse

Winner of the 2024 Student Academy Award and DGA Student Film Award Grand Prize, Neither Donkey Nor Horse is a 28-minute historical biopic thriller set against the Great Manchurian Plague of 1910. The film dramatizes the true-life story of the first Nobel Prize-nominated Chinese scientist, Dr. Wu Lien-teh, and his perilous quest leading the combat against the world’s most deadly epidemic at the time. As a young Chinese doctor educated in the U.K., he must defy prejudices of both the East and the West to champion his groundbreaking theory of the disease - and seek the truth that will heal it

Aaron Johnson, Chapman University: The 17 Percent

Winner of the 2024 Silver Award at the 51st Student Academy Awards in London is short film, The 17 Percent. This documentary film tells the uplifting story of Colette Divitto who was born with down syndrome and despite graduating college couldn't find employment. Colette was determined to not let rejection stop her from earning a living and doing meaningful work. Thus, she took her passion for baking and turned it into a living, founding “Collettey’s Cookies”. Since then, her company has seen major success having sold over 400,000 cookies to date and having been featured across the country on national news such as CNN, Good Morning America, MSNBC, BBC, and more.

And selected local student filmmakers:

Perla Gutierrez, Oxnard College: Glimpse of Happiness

Marlee De Anda, California Lutheran University: Bloom

Join us at the EE Makerspace above Art From Scrap on Wednesday, February 26th, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm for a fun and creative Paper Beads Workshop! Learn how to transform colorful paper into unique beads perfect for jewelry, decorations, and more. This hands-on class is open to all skill levels and materials are provided. Tickets are just $15—reserve your spot today and get ready to roll, craft, and create!

Grant Geissman is a celebrated guitarist and composer known for his contributions to contemporary jazz and TV music. With 16 solo albums, including the latest BLOOZ, he has been a significant figure in jazz, with five releases reaching the top 10 on national airplay charts, two hitting #1. His trilogy of albums on his label Futurism Records (Say That!, Cool Man Cool, BOP! BANG! BOOM!) features collaborations with jazz legends like Chick Corea and Tom Scott. Notably, his guitar solo on Chuck Mangione’s 1978 hit “Feels So Good” is considered iconic.

Geissman co-composed music for CBS series like Two and a Half Men and Mike & Molly, contributed to The Big Bang Theory, and worked on scores for films like Minions and Austin Powers. As a studio musician, he’s collaborated with artists such as Quincy Jones, Ringo Starr, and Burt Bacharach. Beyond music, he’s a prominent collector and author of books on MAD Magazine and EC Comics, including the Eisner-nominated The History of EC Comics.

Join us for a hands-on, eco-friendly journey into sewing and mending! In collaboration with the Santa Barbara Public Library and made possible through their generous grant, this free, limited-time workshop series offers community members the chance to learn valuable skills in sewing, repairing, and upcycling clothing and textiles. From beginners to seasoned sewists, all are welcome!

Our knowledgeable staff and volunteers will be on hand to offer guidance, tips, and tricks to help you bring your vision to reality.

Join us for an evening of creativity, camaraderie, and crafting excellence. Your next sewing adventure awaits at the EE Makerspace. See you there!

Space is limited, registration is required to participate. Registration for workshops is limited to two dates per guest.

Virtual event

Is it Sespe Creek or Sespe River? Most of the time the Sespe is only a small trickle, but once and a while it is a torrent destroying the natural surrounding, structures and taking lives. Learn the history of the Sespe.

The town, the myth, the legend. If you’ve ever wondered if Carpinteria really is The World’s Safest Beach, which legend of Chismahoo is the real one, or if, indeed, Trader Joe’s is coming to town, you won’t want to miss Carpinteria Myths and Misinformation, the first in the 2025 Talk & Talkback Speaker Series hosted by the Carpinteria Valley Museum of History on Feb. 3 from 5 to 6 p.m. at the museum, 956 Maple Ave. in downtown Carpinteria.

Facilitated by Amy Orozco, Carpinteria Myths and Misinformation will take a look at some of the myths Carpinterians hold about themselves and their community. “The focus will be on the ‘Talkback’ part of the series. This isn’t going to be a Carpinteria-according-to-me lecture,” said Orozco, a museum board of trustee and local journalist. “We’re looking forward to conversation and learning about what others think. Attendees don’t have to join in the conversation, but they certainly will be encouraged to.”

Carpinteria Myths and Misinformation is free for Carpinteria Valley Museum members and $10 for nonmembers. The next talk in the series is Rincon Point and the California Dream with Stephen Bates and Vince Burns scheduled for 5 p.m. on March 20 at the museum.

For more information on the Talk & Talkback Speaker Series, volunteering at the museum, or other questions, call (805) 684-3112, email info@carpinteriahistoricalmuseum.org, or visit carpinteriahistoricalmuseum.org.

A 30th Anniversary Season of marvelous journeys—A Symphonic Odyssey—begins! Tchaikovsky’s stunning Fourth Symphony features all the trademarks of great Tchaikovsky—brilliant score, emotional melodies and recognizable folk songs. Resonating Lands, a world premiere written for multi-instrumentalist Hong Wang by Guggenheim Fellow Kui Dong, celebrates the Lunar New Year. Ligeti’s rustic, folk-infused Concert Românesc dances through the countryside, while music from Apollo 13 and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial reflects the enormity of outer space. Buckle up for an inspiring journey with your New West Symphony!

THE PROGRAM
Michael Christie, conductor
Hong Wang, liquanqin (a new type of erhu, a Chinese two-stringed instrument)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4

Ligeti: Concert Românesc

Kui Dong: Resonating Lands (World Premiere in honor of the Lunar New Year)

Horner: Music from Apollo 13

John Williams: Adventures on Earth from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

The year 2025 marks many significant musical milestones (including our 30th anniversary.) Bizet’s Carmen is one of the most popular operas ever written. This spurred our Music Director to search out other notable anniversaries, and they’re fun! J.S. Bach was flourishing during his illustrious tenure in Leipzig (1725), Smetana led us through the picturesque Czech countryside with his Moldau (1875), and some of the most popular rock songs of all time were released in 1975!

Michael Christie, conductor
Angels Vocal Art, Kristof Van Grysperre, artistic director
Pepperdine Chamber Choir, Dr. Ryan Board, director
Los Robles Children’s Choir, Emma Roche, director

Bizet: Selections from Carmen (1875)
Smetana: “Moldau” from Ma Vlast (1875)
J.S. Bach: Selections from Cantatas – “Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern,” “Jesum lass ich nicht von mir” and “Preis und Dank” (1725)
Bohemian Rhapsody, Rhinestone Cowboy, Mamma Mia (1975)

Tickets start at $40; students/children $15

Up next, LORDY MERCY, an original comedy, written and performed by OPAT’s Emmy-winning Artistic Director, Richard Camp. Only three performances!

The show is an irreverent, laugh out loud comedy about people who have been dealt the bottom card from the deck but lived, thrived, and survived. “Up until the time I was about five years old,” Richard said, “I thought everyone in the world was deformed in some way, because everyone in my immediate family WAS… a stepdaddy with a crossed eye so you couldn’t tell who he was yellin’ at, a sweet Baptist church piano player with missing fingers who could almost get the chords right, a cousin with a backward club foot who could kick your butt comin’ or goin’ … but nobody pitied them, they were accepted as they were.”

The show’s stepping off point is a five-year old’s first funeral, where he interacts with these characters who “scare the bejesus out of him.” He starts to wrap his young mind around the concept of God at the graveyard ceremony where the pallbearers drop the casket. This is a don't- miss, original piece of work from our esteemed Artistic Director. Only in Ojai do you find this quality of off-Broadway theater.

O Fortuna! Thus begins Carmina Burana’s thundering choruses and vivid medieval poems lauding love and indulgence. The Vieness Piano Duo are featured throughout the concert, alongside an array of exceptional guest artists and New West Symphony musicians.

Michael Christie, conductor
Vieness Piano Duo (Vijay Venkatesh & Eva Schaumkell, pianos)
Celena Shafer, soprano
Arnold Livingston Geis, tenor
José Adán Pérez, baritone
Jim Meskimen, narrator
New West Symphony Chorus, Wyant Morton, director
Los Robles Children’s Choir, Emma Roche, director
State Street Ballet, Cecily MacDougall, director

Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals
Orff/Killmayer: Carmina Burana

Tickets start at $40; students/children $15