ON Culture | Musing on My Morning Jacket, the Music Academy, and More

My Morning Jacket | Photo: Silvia Grav

This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on November 21, 2025. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

ON the Stage

Getting to talk to people who are passionate about sharing the things they care about is one of the reasons why I became a journalist in the first place, and my interview with Jim James last week was a particularly engaging one. The lead singer from My Morning Jacket was thoughtful, intelligent, and full of surprises — kind of like their music, as a matter of fact! They’re coming to the Santa Barbara Bowl on Wednesday, August 20. Read all about it, and check out my interview here.

The delightful Music Academy of the West summer season came to a close last week, going out with bang and an impressive symphonic performance by Academy Festival Orchestra performing Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 in D Minor. Conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya and featuring mezzo-soprano Julia Holoman, along with the Sing! Children’s Choir and the Music Academy Women’s Chorus, The Granada Theatre was filled with enthusiastic supporters, none prouder than the dozens of volunteer compeers, a program matching the visiting academy fellows with local families and individuals who serve as cheerleaders, tour guides, and a ready-made support system. (Read Andrea Estrada’s 2023 story on the program here).

Music Academy of the West final performance of the summer season featuring Julia Holoman. | Photo: Phil Channing

Stella FitzGerald in the zarzuela-inspired Lucrezia at Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall, August 5, 2025 | Photo: Zach Mendez

I had the opportunity to spend several evenings at Hahn Hall this summer, and LVI Love & Laughter was a particularly memorable program, featuring two opera gems, set in 1950s and 1970s New York and reimagined by director Kristine McIntyre over two generations. Ned Rorem’s Four Dialogues tracked a relationship in four vignettes from meeting to separation, while William Bolcom’s zarzuela-inspired Lucrezia was a very entertaining comedic reflection of human nature.

The beautiful grounds of the Music Academy are so peaceful and timeless, summer picnicking before Hahn Hall performances definitely adds to an enjoyable experience. While the summer festival is now over, the Mariposa Concert Series kicks off on October 17 with the Academy’s new Emerging Artist String Quartet winners, Prometheus Quartet, who were united at Julliard and named their group after the myth of Prometheus, striving to bring the gift of music to others. For more information and tickets to the Mariposa series, click here.

Music Academy of the West Fellows play movements from Andy Akiho’s Sculptures, on the “Untitled Head.” Granada Theatre, July 3, 2025. | Photo: Andrew Yew

For a video peek at some of the summer musical festival highlights — including a close-up shot of Andy Akiho’s hard-to-describe but oh-so-cool “Untitled Head” instrument sculpture from Percussionfest (read my story here) — click here for the video.

Drummer Robert Rachelli | Photo: Courtesy

While we’re on the subject of percussion, Robert Rachelli, the drummer for Spencer the Gardener and other local bands, had a nice interview with Ella Bailey in this week’s paper. You can check it out here.

ON the Masthead

Mike Suding (left) guided Devon Sowa, Alexa Silberstein, and Madeline Slogoff on a bike tour of Santa Barbara. | Photo: Madeline Slogoff

Getting to talk to and work with creative and interesting people has always been one of my favorite aspects of my job. Plus, as tempting as it is, I can’t do ALL the stories — which is why it’s so nice to have a really good cohort of young contributors to rely on with our team of interns. Madeline Slogoff has been writing for us since October of 2024, putting out an impressive body of work along with being a full time student at UCSB. (Read her TOC spotlight here.) Now she’s off to Italy to study abroad and I’ll miss her dearly. Some of my favorite stories she’s written are her interview with folk singer-songwriter Alexandra Riorden, her visit to the Vintage Fox antique store, her interview with Pat Frank and Pat Costello about their new home staging business, her visit to Kin Bakeshop, her interview with new indie radio station owner Jeremiah Higgins, and her interview with our very own senior arts writer Joe Woodard about his band Lucinda Lane and their new album. I’m hoping to entice her back when she returns to Santa Barbara, but meanwhile, grazie mille to you Maddy! You’ve done an awesome job.

ON the To Do List

Individual seats for the UCSB Arts & Lectures new season go on sale on Tuesday, August 19, at 10 a.m. and (if you’re not already set as a subscriber) you don’t want to miss out on this fabulous line-up of events.

There are so many highlights for this 66th season, including performances by: Samara Joy; Tiler Peck, and international stars of ballet in a two night tribute to Jerome Robbins; Yo-Yo Ma solo playing new works commissioned by A&L; Boz Scaggs; Lila Downs celebrating Día de Muertos; Itzhak Perlman performing klezmer; Molly Tuttle; Terence Blanchard and Ravi Coltrane in a centennial tribute to Miles Davis and John Coltrane; an evening-length original work from Ballet Preljocaj; and much more.

Lectures include: Fareed Zakaria giving the inaugural Roman Baratiak Endowed Lecture; Ira Glass; Elizabeth Gilbert with a free book giveaway of her latest memoir; Ezra Klein; Miranda July; Colm Tóibín; David Sedaris; and more to be announced soon.

You can still get big discounts (up to 25 percent) on a create your own subscription package too. See details at artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.

ON the Calendar

Poets Unite for 805 UndocuFund on August 25 | Photos: Courtesy

Art meets advocacy and words become action when “Poets Unite for 805 UndocuFund” on Monday, August 25, at 7:00 p.m. at the Community Arts Workshop. This evening of powerful verse and community solidarity brings together six Santa Barbara Poet Laureates alongside gifted established and emerging voices.

All proceeds from the night will benefit 805 UndocuFund, an organization providing vital assistance to undocumented individuals and families across the region as this special event celebrates the resilience of our immigrant community and channels the transformative power of poetry into direct support for those in need.

Using the SomaGlyph Creative Prompt Deck — an inventive tool created by artist Adrienne De Guevara — the poets will craft and perform original works that capture the pulse of our times, weaving together themes of struggle, hope, and unity.

Participating Poets are: Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Emily Lord-Kambitsch, Perie Longo, Joshua Minjarez, Monica Mody, Marsha de la O, Jesse Pantoja, Crystal AC Salas, David Starkey, Phil Taggart, Vecino, George Yatchisin, and Chryss Yost. Click here for more details.

For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events/.