Organizers Seek Piano-Based Acts for Annual Progressive Performance Paradeat the Pianos on State Painted Pianos

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(SANTA BARBARA, CA, June 10, 2023) – The Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative Outreach Committee announces a call for entries for the third annual Masq(p)arade! performance progressive, to be held at the perennially popular State Street painted pianos on Friday, October 20, 2023, from 5:30 – 8:00PM.

Masq(parade! will showcase a series of dynamic piano-based performances in celebration of Pianos on State, with performances every fifteen minutes. Past performers include Opera Santa Barbara, The Piano Boys, Out of the Box Theatre Company, and Teen Star winner and American Idol contestant Jackson Gillies.

Event organizers Darian Bleecher and Adrienne De Guevara are seeking Santa Barbara-area musicians, performers, and performance groups to delight and entertain in a series of fifteen-minute shows. Acts must be piano-based and incorporate whimsical masks. A small honorarium will be paid to artists selected to perform.

Conceived in 2021 by SBAC Outreach Committee members Bleecher and De Guevara as an interactive complement to Pianos on State, Masq(p)arade! is quickly becoming an eagerly anticipated Santa Barbara tradition. “It is my absolute favorite public art event of the entire year, and is the highlight of the beloved Pianos on State season,” said Nathan Vonk, owner of Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Applications open June 15th. The submission deadline is August 31st.
Details and entry form are online at www.pianosonstate.com/masqparade.
Masq(p)arade! serves as a grand finale of Pianos on State, the annual painted piano project collaboratively organized by the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative, Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture, the City of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Education Foundation, Downtown Santa Barbara, and the Children’s Creative Project. The pianos will be on display October 3-22, 2023, in selected locations throughout Santa Barbara, with the greatest concentration on State Street, the city’s main downtown axis. www.pianosonstate.com/masqparade.