Prepare your ears for the astounding rock music of the 17th century. The 51st season of the acclaimed Santa Cruz Baroque Festival is upon us, and is already the stuff of legend.
While it would be impossible to adequately honor the Festival’s brilliant founder, Linda Burman-Hall—to whom this season is dedicated—she would definitely be impressed by the current programming.
This season’s Artist-in-Residence is wunderkind Jörg Reddin—organist, Baroque musician, singer and conductor—who currently occupies one of the roles once held by Johann Sebastian Bach.
The choral director/organist at the Bach Church in Arnstadt Germany is making his North American debut at the Festival. A virtuoso singer of Baroque opera and cantatas, Reddin has recorded solo organ works and performed throughout the leading music festivals of Europe. He is, in a word, major.
Joining Redding in the course of the Festival concerts will be illustrious collaborators, including UCSC opera director soprano, Sheila Willey; keyboard virtuoso Vlada Volkova-Moran; oboist Marc Schachman, Erick Anderson, Violoncello, Penny Hanna Viola da Gamba, and the UCSC Chamber Singers conducted by composer/choral director Michael McGushin.
You’ve heard about the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival for as long as you’ve lived in Santa Cruz, and if you’ve never attended one of the concerts, this is the year to make up for that oversight. Burman-Hall, who tragically died last summer, founded the group so that the exquisite music of the late 17th century (and early 18th century) could be performed in as close to authentic style as possible.
A recording artist and rock star on harpsichord, Burman-Hall was devoted to the mesmerizing chamber music—Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Purcell, Scarlatti, and friends—that enlivened countless ballrooms, private salons and royal courts from roughly 1600-1750. Over the years, the SC Baroque Festival expanded its focus to include even more rarely-performed music, as well as works by later maestros such as Beethoven.
Intensely, some might say fanatically, devoted to the music that paved the way for the glory days of classical music, the Baroque Festival revels in the ornate music of the pre-digital golden age. Expect bursts of musical extravagance, dancing counterpoint amidst mathematical inventions and ravishing string and woodwind ornamentation. There is nothing boring about Baroque music, it takes your consciousness to new and unexpected neighborhoods. Can you say Monteverdi?
With Reddin at the organ, giving Baroque-lovers a taste of virtuoso Bach, the remaining concerts of this year’s Festival promise to be unforgettable.
On February 24, Artist-in-Residence Jörg Reddin takes the keyboard of the Peace United Church organ to perform Virtuoso Bach by Candlelight, solo organ works from Bach’s churches in Arnstadt, Weimar and Leipzig. (Tickets).
On Saturday March 9, Bach and his Precursors, also at Peace United Church, Reddin is joined by Sheila Willey, Vlada Volkova-Moran on organ, Penny Hanna’s viola da gamba, and the UCSC Chamber Singers performing sacred songs and organ works by Bach and Dieterich Buxtehude. (Tickets) Listen closely and you can practically hear Bach inventing the algorithm.
The season finale April 6 features Erik Anderson at the UCSC Recital Hall performing J.S. Bach solo cello Suites on Baroque Violoncello. (Tickets).
Powerful and intricate, Baroque Festival concerts are as breathtaking as live music gets. Presented in settings with great acoustics. Prepare your ears to be astonished!
While many artists express serious reservations about the Spotify music streaming platform – and with good reason – North Carolina-based singer-songwriter David Wilcox has taken a different approach: he’s embracing some of the platform’s opportunities for flexibility. His latest album – My Good Friends, something like his 20th studio release – came out last August in CD and download formats. But the streaming version bears the subtitle The Guided Tour, and features interstitial narration from Wilcox.
“I love that Spotify has this ability to share a whole other version of the record,” he explains. “It’s not just the songs one after another; there’s room for me to introduce each song.” The Guided Tour configuration of the album allows Wilcox to set the songs up, providing backstories. He says that the narrative framing provides a metaphorical three-dimensional setting for each of his up-close-and-personal tunes. “That way,” he says, the listener can “discover each song with a certain emotional momentum and focus.” The resulting experience creates an intimate atmosphere akin to a house concert.
Wilcox admits that the process of creating those narrative connective bits was itself a journey of discovery for him as an artist. “When I started to walk myself through the songs, it was like looking through a journal,” he explains. He found himself reflecting on questions: “What have the past couple of years been about for me? What have I learned? What have I struggled with? Where have I found my hope? Why did this song come? What is it trying to tell me?” Wilcox admits that in some cases, he found that his newest songs revealed depth he hadn’t appreciated until that moment.
Not surprisingly for an artist whose reputation is built upon the warm give-and-take that is found in intimate performances, Wilcox says that conceiving the spoken-word introductory pieces for My Good Friends (The Guided Tour) informed the manner in which he presents those songs in concert. Conjuring a reference from the not-wholly-unrelated discipline of stage acting, Wilcox says that he has always appreciated the idea of subtext, “that whole Stanislavski theater thing.”
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And he applies that “art of experiencing” method acting approach to public performance. “You know the line you’re going to say or sing,” he explains. “So you don’t need to think about that. Instead, you think about why you’re saying it.” Connecting with the meaning of a song as he sings takes him back to the thoughts and feelings at its core. “If a song moves me, it moves me because it’s coming from the place I want to go emotionally,” he says.
On occasion, if rarely, Wilcox writes a song that’s somehow too personal to share widely. “There are one or two of my songs that I don’t play,” he admits, “for the sake of the people who are in those songs.” But when it comes to opening up his own inner world, everything is fair game. “I’m happy to share anything about me,” he says. And that openness is a key to the emotional resonance of Wilcox’s music. “Early on, I came to this idea: If you’re willing to share almost everything, you’re vulnerable,” he says. “But if you share everything, then you’re safe.”
Like many touring musicians, Wilcox found himself with time on his hands during the pandemic. Some of that time was inevitably spent reflecting on the pros and cons of a life on the road. And Wilcox arrived at a decisive conclusion. “I love touring more than ever now,” he says. “And I think that’s because I’m doing it for different reasons.”
Some musicians are out there for the return on their investment, “for the get-back,” he says. “They’re investing their time and money, thinking that [touring] will pay off. They’re assuming that the struggle will eventually give them the success that will nurture their self-image and make them feel like this time of questioning, doubt and struggle was worth it.”
But Wilcox says that he never approached touring with that set of assumptions and goals. For him, such an approach would have represented “sort of taking out a loan on my self image against the future,” he says. “And pretty soon I’d be paying interest.” Instead, the David Wilcox brand of touring is built upon a fundamentally different idea. “I always wanted to make it so if I [knew I] was going to die next year, I would still choose to do this. It [would be] worth it just for now.”
In practice, that means that touring is characterized by an easygoing informality. “When I’m setting up a tour, instead of – for example – getting a string of hotels up the west coast, I just call friends and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to be in town on such-and-such,’” he says. “These people will come to the show, and then we’ll come back, sit and sip tea and talk about stuff, and then go for a walk in the morning.”
And that, says David Wilcox, “feels like community.” Because it is.
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David Wilcox with Jean Rohe 7pm Friday Feb. 2 Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz ($35-$45)
ARIESMarch 21-April 19 “Happiness” is an amorphous term with a different meaning for everyone. What makes me feel happy may be unlike what works for you. Besides that, any kind of perfect happiness is impossible to achieve. However we define it, we are always a mix of being happy and unhappy. Nevertheless, I invite you to ruminate about the subject in the coming days. I believe you are primed to arrive at a realistic new understanding of your personal version of happiness—and raise your happiness levels by at least 15%. Maybe more! Now here are helpful clues from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: “Precisely the least thing, the gentlest, lightest thing, the rustling of a lizard, a breath, a whisk, a twinkling of the eye—what’s little makes up the quality of the best happiness. Soft!”
TAURUSApril 20-May 20 I invite you to take an inventory of your taboos, inhibitions and restrictions. Meditate on why you originally adopted them. Evaluate how well they have served you and whether they are still meaningful. If you find any of them have become unnecessary or even injurious, jettison them. And be excited and happy about being free of them. If you decide that some taboos, inhibitions and restrictions are still wise for you to maintain, thank them for their service and honor the self-protection they provide.
GEMINIMay 21-June 20 Gemini novelist Gregory Maguire says there are a “thousand ways people shrink from life, as if chance and change are by their nature toxic and disfiguring.” Your assignment in the coming weeks is to contradict his theory. I’m hoping you will interpret all chance and change as potentially expansive, redemptive and interesting. You will never shrink from life, but will boldly meet challenges and embrace twists of fate as interesting opportunities. I have abundant faith in your ability to carry out this vigorous project!
CANCERJune 21-July 22 You could be a masterful eliminator of toxins and wastes in the coming weeks. Do it both for yourself and for those you care about. Start by purging nonessentials that obstruct the flow of the good life. These might include defunct fantasies, mistaken understandings, apathetic attitudes and unloving approaches. Among the other dross or dreck you could root out is any clutter that’s making familiar environments feel oppressive. By the way, fellow Cancerian, this should be fun. If it’s not, you’re doing it wrong.
LEOJuly 23-Aug. 22 My goals right now are to inspire you in the following three ways: 1. to be full of love for your daily life; 2. to adore yourself exactly as you are; 3. to shed any numbness or boredom you feel and replace them with alert aliveness. To help you in this exalted effort, I offer the inspiration of three quotes. 1. “The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.”–Ralph Waldo Emerson. 2. “The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.”–Eden Phillpotts. 3. “I have the mysterious feeling of seeing for the first time something I have always known.”–Bernardo Bertolucci.
VIRGOAug. 23-Sept. 22 In the coming weeks, I hope you avoid sucking up to egotistical manipulators. Please also refrain from being an unappreciated beast of burden and a half-willing pawn in boring games. If you are interested in paying off karmic debts, make sure they are yours, not anyone else’s. If you plan to work hard to lay the foundation for a future liberation, get a guarantee that YOU will be one of the liberated people. PS: I’m fine with you doing unselfish things as long as they will also have selfish benefits.
LIBRASept. 23-Oct. 22 One of the great maladies affecting modern people is the atrophy of the soul. It’s related to another affliction: the apathy of the soul. A key contributor to these misfortunes is the entertainment industry. Its shallow and artificial stimuli are engineered to overfeed our egos, leaving our poor souls malnourished. Please note that I have no problem with our egos. They are an important part of our make-up and are essential for healthy functioning. But it’s a shame they hog all the glory and sustenance. Now here’s my climactic message for you, Libra: It’s high time to celebrate a holiday I call Nurture the Soul. Make it last at least three weeks. Homework: Identify three actions you will take to excite, cherish and enhance your soul.
SCORPIOOct. 23-Nov. 21 In myth and legend, pregnancies don’t always begin with two humans having sexual communion. The well-known story of the Virgin Mary tells us she was impregnated when the Holy Spirit, disguised as a dove, whispered in her ear. The Roman goddess Juno conceived her son Mars solely with the help of an enchanted lily flower. The Greek hero Attis germinated inside his virgin mother Nana after she placed a pomegranate in her lap. This might sound outlandish, but I foresee you having a metaphorically comparable experience. Do you believe in the possibility of being fertilized by miraculous magic or a divine spirit? Might you be dramatically awakened or inspired by a very subtle influence? I think it will happen even if you don’t believe.
SAGITTARIUSNov. 22-Dec. 21 Sagittarian computer scientist Grace Hopper (1906–1992) wrote, “The most damaging phrase in the language is: ‘It’s always been done that way.’” I will expand on that wisdom. The most obvious meaning is that we risk ignoring our individualized needs and suppressing our creative inspirations if we mindlessly conform to the habits of society. But it’s equally important not to mindlessly repeat our own longstanding ways of doing things. Maybe they were brilliant and appropriate in the past, but there’s no guarantee they will always be so. In conclusion, Sagittarius, I recommend you rebel against your own personal “it’s always been done that way” as well as everyone else’s.
CAPRICORNDec. 22-Jan. 19 Being in love is as desirable for you Capricorns as it is for everyone else. You may be less open and dramatic than the rest of us in expressing your yearnings, but they are still a driving force. Here’s an important point: Even if you are not constantly chattering to others about your urges to give and receive intimate care, it’s crucial that you acknowledge them to yourself. To keep your soul healthy, you must be in close touch with this core fuel. You must love your need for love. Now is an excellent time to deepen your appreciation for these truths.
AQUARIUSJan. 20-Feb. 18 It’s the fifth annual Brag Therapy Holiday—for you Aquarians only. During this celebration, we expect you—indeed we want you—to boast with panache. Tell us all in exquisite detail why you are such a marvelous creation. Explain how you have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to transform yourself into a masterpiece of intuitive intelligence. Regale us with stories of your winsome qualities, your heroic triumphs, and your hilarious and poignant adventures on the edge of reality. Make sure we understand how educational and healing it can be to bask in your influence. Show us why we should regard you as a role model.
PISCESFeb. 19-March 20 I invite you to resolve old business, draw unrewarding projects to a close, and finish your lessons at the School of Tough Love. You don’t have to carry out my next proposal, but if you do, I will be glad: Politely and quietly scream, “Get out of my life” at anyone who doesn’t give you the respect and kindness you deserve. I also recommend that you do a Wrap-It-Up Ritual. Start by making an altar that pleases you with its beauty. Take scraps of paper and write on each one a description of an influence or experience you want to purge from your life. As you rip each scrap into bits, say this: “I’m grateful for what I have learned from you, but now I am leaving you behind.”
This spring, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies will finalize transportation pollution rules for light- and heavy-duty vehicles which will impact generations to come and help pave the way for a zero-emission vehicle future.
The Biden Administration must keep the country on track to sell 100 percent new electric vehicles by 2035 by implementing the strongest possible vehicle standards today.
Paula Barsamian
THE COUNCIL SHOULD SPEAK OUT
In answer to your Street Talk question (1/24/24): Yes, a statement from the city council is appropriate when the issue is extremely urgent. In the case of Israel’s clearly disproportionate slaughter of women, children, elders, et al.–in Gaza–citizens of Santa Cruz really have nowhere else to go. Rep. Panetta seems to be a militant Zionist, whose bias toward the right-wing government of Israel seems obvious. He also appears to favor war rather diplomacy, even when innocent civilians continue to be murdered–more than 25,000, including minors and seniors. I urge folks to read the South African accusation of genocide filed with the International Court of Justice.
Robert deFreitas
DEMS ASK FOR CEASEFIRE
The Santa Cruz County Democratic Central Committee (SCCDCC) has approved a resolution calling on the President and the area’s congressional delegation to work for a permanent, sustainable, bilateral Gaza cease-fire, the return of hostages, and the resumption of humanitarian aid to civilians.
The Wednesday night vote was 24-3 following a lengthy and civil discussion, during which several amendments were also approved.
(1) urges the Biden administration and our congressional delegation to immediately call for and facilitate de-escalation, release of all hostages and a permanent, sustainable, bilateral cease-fire to urgently end the current violence; and
(2) calls upon the Biden administration and our congressional delegation to promptly send and facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza.
The pandemickilled the performing arts for a long while, so much so we wondered if they would ever come back. The margins are thin in the arts at the community level. Unless you are Taylor Swift or the Rolling Stones or on Broadway, the economics can be tough all over.
And yet, when you see so many local performances in Santa Cruz, there is often just a razor thin difference between what you can see affordably and what you would pay the big bucks for.
I’ve spent fortunes in big cities for symphonies and plays recently and was just as satisfied with what I saw here in Santa Cruz. The price tag really doesn’t reflect the skill, passion and quality of great local art and more often than not, the intimacy we have here adds more to the show than a fancy, too-crowded Broadway theater.
Critic Christina Waters took on a big challenge talking to our local arts aficionados about the state of live performance and what we can do to keep theaters filled. Sometimes it seems like our relatively small town (the County is only 280,000 people, 24th of 50 in the state) has more things going on than cities four times bigger.
One could go out every night of the week and be exposed to a wealth of entertainment and a renaissance of intelligence. That’s a big reason why we live here, right?
What would you suggest we do to keep people going out?
While I’m asking for suggestions, let me pose this question. We’ve tried to squeeze more arts coverage into the printed edition by cutting some stories in half and running the other half online. That way we can fit more of what’s going on, but does it work for you? Are you willing to start a story in the paper and follow up on the web?
Or should we just have some whole stories on the web and other whole stories in the printed pages? Every print publication is wrestling with questions like this and I really need to hear what works for you, our loyal readers. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Our news pages this week have some really important information. First, how should you vote on Measure M, the Santa Cruz city proposition to limit building height and require developers to include 25 percent of low-income housing with their projects? Reporter Josué Monroy talked to the people for and against the proposal to get you the scoop.
And reporter Todd Guild looked into an issue that’s driving parents of school kids crazy: why aren’t the buses running when we need them so we can do our jobs and make sure our kids get home safely? Like so many things, economics and income inequality play a big role. What can we do?
Thanks for reading and peace out!
Brad Kava Editor
Photo Contest
HAPPY LANDINGS A pelican in the Santa Cruz Harbor last fall. Photo: Susan J
Good Idea
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will distribute $3,752,847 in federal funding to two health centers in Salinas and Watsonville as part of the Health Center Program, according to Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
$2,214,146 goes to Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas and $1,538,701 to Watsonville’s Salud Para La Gente.
“I’m proud to announce this federal funding that will help ensure underserved residents have access to quality and affordable health care services,” said Rep. Lofgren.
Good Work
The upcoming Harvey West Studios will provide 120 Permanent Supportive Housing apartments to vulnerable members of our community experiencing homelessness, including those who are medically vulnerable, living with disabilities, and veterans. This project will be the largest permanent supportive housing project in Santa Cruz County. Rep. Jimmy Panetta secured a $3 million federal investment for this project.
“By working together to significantly increase available affordable housing, we can ensure all those who contribute greatly to our community can live here too,” said Panetta.
It’s been a few decades since the heyday of the guitar hero, but Milwaukee-based axeman Greg Koch has the instrumental chops to stand out from the crowd and become a twenty-first-century guitar hero. Koch tends to favor Telecaster guitars, often echoing the sounds of the late great Telecaster master, Albert Collins. Koch has released 15 instrumental albums as a bandleader, attracted tens of millions of views for his YouTube videos, and, in 2012, Fender Guitars included him in their list of “Top Ten Unsung Guitarists.” The trio also features organ player Toby Lee Marshall, and Koch’s son, Dylan, who holds down the drum chair. DAN EMERSON
Sisters with Transistors is an all-archival documentary on the history of women in electronic music—a record of what women were up to during the development and composition of that music. Electronic music had its early pioneers, and, as it tends to happen all too frequently, the women who were members of that pioneering group have been . . . underreported. Avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson narrates this true story of how women have shaped and defined what electronic music is today. Anderson is a reliable source for this information; she lived it and helped define what the genre is today. JESSICA IRISH
INFO: 8:30pm, Indexical, 1050 River St. #119, Santa Cruz. $10. 627-9491.
FRIDAY
PSYCH ROCK
DAN HORNE & SEAN THOMPSON’S WEIRDEARS
In a collaboration of sorts, Dan Horne will merge his Grateful Dead-inspired jams with Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears surfy-psych rock. It’s a bill tailor-made for Dr. Dog, Woods and Mac DeMarco fans, with two bands that know how to sustain a jam session. Before forming Weird Ears, Thompson was a staple in the Nashville scene, known primarily for his fretwork. Horne, on the other hand, is all about vintage boogies. They’ll each perform solo and then fuse into a supergroup. One thing is certain about this rock ‘n’ roll evening: it’ll be a groovy time. JI
This month’s First Friday festivities bring a special record release show: Smoke Chaser’s 2023 debut album, Alazapul, is out on vinyl. The band has built a following over the past several years, winning folks over with their adept musicianship and psych-pop sensibilities. Their first single, “Highway One,” provided fans with a dreamy, sultry soundtrack to Summer ’22, celebrating Big Sur and Henry Miller (and his carnal pleasures). Guitarist Jon Spivak and singer-songwriter Ryan Masters bring similar literary leanings and hedonistic vibes to the band’s first full-length offering, an album that NPR describes as “a 10-song fever dream of wildly catchy California indie rock.” ADDIE MAHMASSANI
It’s hard to imagine a duo crackling with more electricity than the Kills—Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince’s ongoing rock collaboration. With blues and punk influences running deep, Mosshart and Hince have churned out song after song in that sacred (to this writer) realm of art so emotionally dark it’s somehow bright as lightning bolts. They’ve also kept evolving, pushing past the lo-fi garage rock of their early-aughts records to explore fuller, more layered sounds. After a seven-year hiatus, they are back with God Games. It’s got a bit more polish but no less raw power. AM
Get ready for the roots sound of one of reggae’s strongest voices as Mykal Rose returns to Moe’s Alley this week. After gaining stardom as the lead singer of the legendary Jamaican reggae group Black Uhuru (from 1977 to 1984), Rose became an international sensation as a solo artist. With over 30 albums already in his repertoire to draw from, Rose released Judge Not last year, an album of 12 new tracks, including the title song, previously only found as a seven-inch single. Bay Area reggae rockers Pacific Vibrations and DJ Moi will open the show for those prepared to get their dance on. MAT WEIR
Veteran California-based blues harpist and vocalist Mark Hummel has been taking his Harmonica Blowouts on the road since 1990, featuring a lengthy list of great blues players, most of whom are no longer around. The real star of this event will be Danish-born harmonica virtuoso Lee Oskar, whose instantly recognizable sound helped make the band War one of the biggest-selling rock groups of the ’70s. Others on the bill include Grammy-nominated Louisiana bluesman Kenny Neal, B.B. King-style blues rocker Chris Cain and former Fabulous Thunderbird Bob Welsh. Andrew Alli, a harp phenom attracting international attention, will open the show. DE
For the first week of Black History Month, Bookshop Santa Cruz offers an exclusive reading of Leta Miller’s new book, Union Divided: Black Musicians’ Fight for Labor Equality. A Professor of Music Emerita at UC Santa Cruz, Miller provides an in-depth look into the unionization of Black musicians in the early Twentieth Century. She also looks at racist tactics used by workers and unions to keep out individuals of color and the work put into making the American Federation of Musicians desegregated. The event is free, but attendees can preorder hardcover copies for the author to sign on Bookshop Santa Cruz’s website. MW
INFO: 7pm, Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. 423-0900.
WEDNESDAY
JAZZ
BLUE NOTE RECORDS
In international jazz, nobody does it better than Blue Note Records. For over three-quarters of a century—85 years to be exact—the label founded by German-Jewish immigrants has been known as THE place for premier jazz recordings, producing albums by many of the genre’s pillars, like Hank Mobley, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard and, well, the list keeps on going. This Wednesday, Blue Note Records’ own Blue Note Quintet (led by six-time Grammy nominee Gerald Clayton) will perform on an exceptional evening to celebrate the label’s rich history as it makes way for another century of America’s most innovative music. MW
INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Center St., Santa Cruz. $57.75/adv, $63/door. 427-2227.
The sheer magic of the moment vs. the time and money to make it happen—live performance is a delicate balance, and never more so than after the down-time of Covid, rising cost of productions, and erosion of reliable, passionate audiences.
As our community mourns benefactor Rowland Rebele, many arts groups look ahead and see more challenges than solutions. Rebele, who with his wife Patricia, gave unstintingly to support so many Santa Cruz arts groups, defined agenda-blind philanthropy. He loved the arts and gave with a heart as open as his wallet. It’s no exaggeration to say that the high level of artistic offering in this county thus far would not exist without him.
And now that he’s gone, performance in this town is busy rethinking game plans, strategies, production costs, and the size and shape of upcoming production schedules.
“Many people just simply got out of the habit of attending performing arts events,” actor Julie James told me last year after the quarantine was lifted. And many younger potential theater-goers turned to social media and online entertainment. Live performance, with its skyrocketing costs, has a huge challenge going forward.
How will we move forward beyond 2024? How will new audiences be convinced to spend money to sit for several hours watching new plays or listening to unfamiliar music. How can live theater compete with inexpensive, immediate gratification?
“An estimated 25% to 30% of audiences have not returned since the shutdown enforced by the coronavirus pandemic between March 2020 and late 2021,” David Smith wrote in The Guardian last summer.
“Older people have apparently lost the theater-going habit. . . Younger people are commuting less and working from home, where Netflix and other streaming temptations are just a click away. . . .At the same time mounting productions, running buildings and wages are getting more expensive. Federal government aid that kept many theaters alive during the pandemic is mostly exhausted. Donor patience and pockets are wearing thin. As a result, some regional theaters have been forced to curtail their season or close entirely.”
There are countless such commentaries. “It is without question the hardest time to be producing theater in my lifetime,” says Christopher Moses, artistic director of the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. “All of the theater leaders that I’ve talked to have not quite seen a situation like this. It’s a really precarious time.”
Santa Cruz’ performing arts organizations have been more active than ever in addressing the realities of smaller audiences, higher operating and production costs, and the need to invigorate new audiences in culture beyond streaming.
We asked reps from the Jewel Theatre, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Mountain Community Theater, Actor’s Theatre, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and the Santa Cruz Symphony to weigh in on the future of their organizations.
A GEM Julie James and Mike Ryan dive into a Kate Hawley
play at the Jewel photo: Steve diBartolomeo
Julie James, Jewel Theatre Artistic Director
GT: Given that prospective patrons are overwhelmed with an abundance of entertainment choices, how would you defend the irreplaceability of the live theatrical experience?
JJ:The energy and synergy that exists between the actors and the audience in a live theatrical performance is impossible to achieve through other media. We are creating characters in specific, intimate situations (the “world of the play”) and simultaneously completely sharing that with the audience who bring all of their own experiences and interpretations of what is happening before them into the room. The audience feels each actor differently, and the actors feel each audience differently. That makes for an entirely unique and substantive experience (be it comedy or drama) for both actor and audience, each and every night. Who wouldn’t want to create and experience that in some way?
GT: With the lessening of older audiences, how do theaters build a future for live performance?
JJ: Even with lower (or free) tickets and promos, younger people aren’t going to come unless you do something that appeals to them (and expand targeted advertising on appropriate platforms) and even then it’s never a guarantee they’ll show up. People’s time for theater is varied — teenagers have many interests, young adults (20s/30s) are studying and/or working several jobs, or they’ve started a family. I think this age-old issue has always relied on a combination of efforts across the arts field and the community to cultivate a love of live theater in the younger generations which inspires them to become theater-goers in adulthood (and/or become creators in the field): Families bringing their children/youth to see (age appropriate) theater performances, vibrant theatre programs in and out of school (grammar through high school and college), performing arts companies including programming (w/ expanded advertising and affordability) with different themes that can be of interest to a variety of ages across their seasons. And let’s not forget all of that takes reliable, robust public and private funding for the performing arts (something else going extinct after Covid) on top of ticket sales and individual donors to keep all those elements alive and thriving.
M.L. Roberts and company, 2023 Santa Cruz Shakespeare
stages the highly dramatic “Taming of the Shrew”. Photo: rr jones
Lorne Dechtenberg, incoming Managing Director of Santa Cruz Shakespeare
GT: How can you grow your audience?
LD: During the pandemic, I researched over a thousand American performing arts organizations (theaters, orchestras, operas, and ballets) to see how they were approaching this challenge. Most companies fell into one of two categories: either they were focused on endowment and planned giving by older patrons as a way to keep the doors open, or they were beating the bushes to build a new, younger audience (in some cases this effort required reinventing the organization in a more hip, tech-savvy way).
My goal for SCS is to encourage both legacy giving and new audience development, but to make sure that each task is done with the other in mind. That is, when we ask someone to include us in their estate planning, I want them to understand how transformative their gift will be. It won’t just pay the electric bill; it will enable us to bring Shakespeare to generations of new audience members – and not only his plays, but also his incredible legacy of literacy, cultural awareness, and social justice – things that make every society better. And conversely, when we reach out to prospective new audience members (through community partnerships, multilingual marketing, etc.), I want them to understand that, when they join the SCS family, they won’t just see a single production; they’ll have the opportunity to begin their own traditions – of picnics and plays, of friendships and family gatherings, and of celebrating our shared humanity.
GT: How do you convince consumers that live theater is not a luxury, but rather a necessity for life? LD: We live in a world full of labels that categorize us and separate us from one another, but when we sit in those seats and experience the emotional arc of a show together, we stop being those labels and go back to just being people. I once heard a director say to a cast on opening night, “You’re going to change the world tonight. People don’t walk out of a theater and commit a crime. Theatre makes the world better. You are about to make the world better.”
Politics in terms of things like pronouns, diversity casting and land acknowledgements should not be the way we aim to capture audience members. I believe that any arts organization that tries to live by its politics will die by its politics. We have a gender parity policy in our casting because we believe it’s the right thing to do. But SCS is not about tokenism or fads; we believe in the great work that we do (both onstage and off) and the human connections that we build.
Riley Nicholson, incoming Executive Director of the Cabrillo Music Festival
GT: How will you grow audiences in a post-Covid era of online entertainment, and changing taste in what constitutes musical performances?
RN: Built into the very nature of our mission, we are constantly presenting the foremost voices of today and their vision of what orchestral music is today. If we do our job right, we can remain flexible enough to stay at the forefront of what it means to present orchestral music today by giving artists the agency and power to renew what is possible in writing music for orchestra. One great example is our upcoming Creative Lab commission curated, composed and produced by Bora Yoon and her collaborators, Sozo Artists, which will utilize technology, musician placement in the hall, production effects, and more for a concert like no other that the festival has seen.
GT:Do you envision new outreach strategies?
RN: We are still very much in planning mode for the season, but some things we are considering include: potential cross-organizational partnerships to collaborate with local and regional peer organizations and cross-pollinate audiences; implementing additional press strategies to attract national press; and additional marketing strategies to help get the word out to targeted segments of our local and regional communities.
GT: What is one of the central challenges you face at this moment in the festival’s history?
RN: The biggest challenge right now is a major shift in foundational support for the arts, which is affecting us and other peer organizations. We are hard at work to stabilize fund development, as several important institutional funders have changed their giving strategies. The festival has a strong foundation to tackle this challenge, but the funding models in the sector are shifting quickly, so my job is to lead and facilitate as our board and team adapt and plan for the future.
Suzanne Schrag , Santa Cruz County Actors’ Theatre Board President
GT: Why is live theater important in an era of streaming and online entertainment?
SS: I don’t have an easy answer, but I know there is something about coming together in the dark, or even in broad daylight, to witness and share in the telling of a story about this human journey we’re all on—whether it involves laughing at absurdity, grieving with empathy, learning about an experience different from our own, or seeing our own experiences validated—that is happening right now, in the moment, unfolding with the collective breath, whether the words were written centuries before, or last year, or are being made up on the spot. Live performance creates that energetic exchange in real time, an increasingly rare and special thing in our world today.
GT: How do you address rising production costs?
SS: I do worry that theater is becoming unaffordable to any but the financially privileged. Because our country does not fund the arts as a matter of course, finding a balance between staying afloat financially amid increasing production costs for both materials and personnel, and keeping tickets at a price point that keeps them accessible is tricky. We’ve tried to solve that a bit by offering a two-for-one ticket deal for all Thursday performances going forward, but I think there are other things we need to explore as well.
We are moving more and more toward keeping production values simple—just enough to tell the story—relying on the directors and actors rather than elaborate sets and costumes to make the pieces compelling. And we still very much have our roots in community theater, where the joke is that the couch from your house spends more time on stage than in your living room, so everyone chips in to find props and set pieces. That’s part of what makes it fun for me–how can you do as much as possible with limited resources? I do think that simple aesthetics is a sweet spot for us–keeping the focus on good acting and good direction to tell the story well and in a way that makes it matter to the people who come to see/hear it.
Gary Reece, Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Symphony
GT: How can live orchestral music appeal to young people?
GR: A big part of the enjoyment is being immersed in the audience and having a multi-sensory experience. You hear the music from all around, you can watch the musicians’ emotions and technique as they perform, and the musicians benefit from having live reactions from the audience.
For each concert, we have been offering a limited number of $10 tickets to people who may not have attended the symphony before. Our pops concert in June begins with a popular street party and food trucks. Then the concert features familiar music, such as the John Williams movie themes we will present this year.
GT: Are there plans to scale down productions for cost-cutting? GR: We already program performances that require fewer instruments and musicians, as well as those with a full orchestra. This helps us economize while still offering a variety of presentations.
Presenting more productions but on a smaller scale would still require renting the Civic and the Mello each time, along with the same number of facility staff. We are not charged less for a smaller production because the entire facility is rented each time.
We also offer four or five recitals each season, which feature a two-hour performance by a single featured musician in a more intimate Cabrillo College recital hall. This gives the musician the opportunity to engage directly with the audience. Piano virtuoso Gwendolyn Mok, our most recent musician, gave terrific insights into the music of Ravel, which she featured in her recital.
GT: How do you balance the desires of musicians for new music challenges with audiences’ comfort with old classics? GR: Our challenge is to present a balance of traditional music with newer music. So, Maestro Danny Stewart offers a newer piece in each concert while also presenting the more familiar classics. Admittedly, some people prefer the traditional music because it’s something they already know. But the new pieces are appreciated and valued, as well.
WELL-STAGED COMMUNITY Mountain Community Theater Finale troupe. Photo: Lyle Troxell
Peter Gelblum and Susan McKay, past and present Directors of Mountain Community Theater
GT: Characterize the role of MCT in the 21st century overload of online entertainment. MCT: MCT has multiple roles to play that cannot be filled by anything other than live theater. Every kind of live theater, indeed, any kind of live performance with an audience, creates a space filled with an energy that is unique to that place and that particular performance. That unique energy is generated by the performers, the audience, and the interaction of the two groups—every performance is different and every audience is different. That energy exists only with live performances.
MCT also takes seriously its role as a training ground for community members—from children to seniors—to learn how to put on a theatrical production; how to act, direct, produce, design and hang lights, design and build sets and costumes, run a box office, and the other myriad tasks involved in mounting a production.
None of these things can be done online or by a streaming service.
GT: How do you keep costs down?
MCT: We haven’t yet done a one-person show, but have done many with small casts. There is also a financial downside to a small cast, because there are fewer cast members to bring in their friends and family members. We have been using projections to great effect for at least a decade, not so much to save money as to create more opportunities for visual settings, particularly in productions that are done on the floor of the theater and in the round, where a physical set would get in the way.
We always do our best to hold costs down, primarily to enable us to keep ticket prices low.
GT: How to balance the new and untried vs. old favorites when selecting what to produce?
MCT: Based on attendance for the last two seasons, we made a decision to go for more well-known, popular, upbeat shows in 2024. However, we also chose to do one lesser known show that is, nevertheless, ultimately upbeat.
Finally, I reached out to the renowned 90-year-old Oregon Shakespeare Festival at Ashland, recently experiencing severe challenges as far as programming and funding. Artistic Director Tim Bond.
“Live theater, and in particular the specific experience that the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is known for, has to be seen and heard firsthand. For generations, OSF has been a unique place that is not only a destination for school field trips but has also sent teaching artists out to schools on the West Coast and beyond, to engage with students and spark the interest of theater early in their lives.”
An internet marketing entrepreneur turned donut mogul, Scott Kirkpatrick had a realization during the pandemic that he didn’t want an office job any longer.
Instead, he wanted to create something that brought happiness, and that was physical and real.
Then he had an epiphany in a donut shop: “One cannot be unhappy when buying a donut.”
He and his wife, Steliyana, opened Rock N Roll Donut Bar on Cannery Row in May 2022 and a Santa Cruz location on Pacific Avenue last month. Currently offering take-out only with on-site seating coming soon, hours are Mon-Thurs 11am-4pm, Fri-Sun 11am-7pm (or until sold out).
With the slogan “big, bold and beautiful donuts,” the menu is headlined by the Strawberry Shortcake and the Coffee Cake Mocha, Kirkpatrick’s personal fave for the way the chocolate, cinnamon and coffee notes harmonize perfectly. Other hits include Death by Chocolate, the not-so-sweet Blackberry Cream Cheese and one that’s banana-filled and topped with toasted coconut.
Tell me your business’s origin story?
SCOTT KIRKPATRICK: It was during the dead center of the pandemic and the world really felt like a terrible place. I had family visiting and we went to a donut shop and were trying to find humor in the moment, in spite of the world being shut down. I told my family, “When this is over, I want to create something with my hands instead of my brain and literally sell happiness and bring joy.” Then we ordered our donuts, and that was my aha moment and I knew that this was exactly how I wanted to give people a 6-7 minute break from the world and bring that happiness.
What differentiates you?
SK: It’s not just donuts, it’s about building a brand experience. That experience is about maximizing those few minutes of happiness when you’re with us. It starts with the donut playing guitar outside, continues with the décor inside, and when the customers see the donuts, they really go crazy and are in awe. They sarcastically ask, “What’s wrong with you people?” And then we have a laugh, chat for a minute and they leave happy as a pig in mud.
There aren’t many bands who naturally ooze coolness quite like The Kills, the minimalist indie sleaze duo made up of Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince.
Two rockers steeped in art and poetry, dripping in bohemian chic fashion behind dark sunglasses. Rebels with hearts of gold that thrive in the shadows of smokey dive bars. True to this reputation, Mosshart burned through three cigarettes in the 30 minutes we spoke without a care.
And this Saturday, February 3, they return to the Catalyst after seven years for the second date on their God Games tour.
After 23 years, 21 singles on the charts of 10 countries, six studio albums, and countless world tours as headliners–in addition to opening for artists like Guns ‘n Roses, Jack White and the Foo Fighters–one would expect a band like The Kills to write on the industry’s best and most expensive equipment available. Right?
“This is what it looks like,” explains Mosshart holding up a small, MIDI keyboard controller to the screen.
“It’s a $100 MPK Mini, about the size of my head and essentially a toy.”
Yet it’s on this unassuming keyboard that she wrote most of her songs from the band’s latest album, 2023’s God Games.
“It’s a real 50-50 record,” she says. “Half the songs I wrote and half the songs he wrote.”
It’s the first time she followed her process down the keyboard route but she’s confident it won’t be the last.
“There’s like a thousand, million things I get to do on it and I feel like I can explore that for a long time,” she pauses then adds with a laugh. “And hopefully get better at it!”
The last time we caught up with The Kills in 2017 they just released their fifth studio album, Ash & Ice, their most ambitious to date at the time. Now they’re armed with a dozen new songs that find the band coming into their own with a bolder, more dynamic sound.
“I think we’ve gotten better at frequencies,” Mosshart states. “The drums–the rhythm tracks–are much more involved so there’s a lot more sonic layers to them.”
The evidence is built throughout the entire record from opening track “New York” with its marching band horns, to the crescendoing finale of Hince’s gritty guitar riffs and drums on “103” to the haunting choir-like vocals on “Bullet Sound.”
The final track, “Better Days” is a perfect example of what The Kills do best: creating a stripped down sound giving the song room to breathe while still building bold layers with lonesome chords. Its Spanish feel ties into the album artwork of a matador and a bull eye-to-eye in a tense dance in the ring.
Along with Hince and Mosshart, a third person had a not-so-invisible hand in reaching the acoustics required for God Games, producer Paul Epworth. In addition to his six Grammys, one Academy Award and catalog of A-listers he’s worked with like Adele, Rihanna, Florence & the Machine, Epworth was the first sound guy The Kills took on tour in 2002.
“It was like, ‘How can we make this really sick?’ Not even frequencies you can hear but that you can feel,” Mosshart says of working with Epworth.
“[Epworth]’s incredible at that. It’s what he does all the time: make big records. I don’t know how the fuck people do that shit” she laughs.
Afterall, a record named God Games demands a big sound. In other interviews Hince described it as a collection of “atheist gospels,” which falls so perfectly in the paradox that is The Kills. A duo with a concentrated, louder-than-life sound juxtaposed with tongue-in-cheek enigmatic lyrics like “I picked a bad time to feel this good” on the track, “My Girls My Girls”. Untouchable coolness and swagger but very down to earth, personable personalities. Seasoned, celebrity musicians who write on $100 keyboards.
They often refer to one another as “soulmates” in the press, their platonic relationship confusing onlookers. Which, of course, they could care less about.
“We’re so lucky to have found each other,” she says. “I always tell people, ‘If you can have one relationship like that in your life, you’re the luckiest person.’ But to have it in a creative relationship is so powerful. It’s freeing.” INFO: 9pm, The Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $47. 713-5492
The 120-foot colossal coastal redwood tree next to Santa Cruz High is slated to be cut down after the Santa Cruz City Council on Jan. 23 rejected an appeal by local resident Keelan Franzen.
The decision came after Franzen was given a 90-day appeal period last September to make the case for saving the tree. The twin-trunked redwood’s roots have damaged the adjacent sidewalk and may in the future compromise the foundation of the Lynwall apartment complex on Walnut Ave.
According to the city’s heritage tree ordinance, if a listed tree “is to have an adverse effect upon a building,” it may be removed.
Two professional arborists and a structural engineer agreed that the tree’s roots penetrated the building’s foundation, and that “there is no way to mitigate this property damage,” according to the city’s report.
Urban Forester Leslie Keedy approved Santa Cruz Property Management’s tree removal request on behalf of the owners of the property, Barfield LLC, in May 2023. Franzen brought his appeal in September in hopes of saving the ill-fated tree.
City council members at the Jan. 23 meeting expressed disappointment that they could not save the tree.
“The issue with my heart is I want to see it there, but with my head, given the current ordinance I don’t see how we can do anything but deny the appeal,” said Mayor Fred Keeley.
Keeley pointed to his substantial environmental record as president of the Sempervirens Fund and his support for $500 million in the legislature for redwood forest.
“I don’t see a feasible path forward. I don’t think we are responding blindly. We’ve done our due diligence, and unfortunately I don’t see a way of maintaining the building and moving forward” said council member Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson.
In the lone dissenting vote, council member Sandy Brown said the council had taken too narrow a view of their powers, limiting themselves to the question of whether the tree was a potential financial liability. She did not believe that city staff actually considered the possibility of saving the tree.
“I challenge anyone here to find a building built around this time that doesn’t have cracks in its foundation,” said Brown.
Brown was also disappointed that the property owners had not allowed Franzen’s structural engineer to inspect the property for the benefit of a fair assessment.
After the tree is cut down, six replacement trees will be planted, according to council member Scott Newsome who represents the tree’s district.
Leslie Keedy said during the meeting that while it may seem that the city council often votes to cut down heritage trees, there are many cases where she denies the applicant’s request ministerially before it reaches council. However in 2016, Keedy said she approved 85-90% of heritage tree removals.
“Everyone loves trees,” said Keeley at the end of the meeting. But to some in town, the majestic sequoia sempervirens became a cause célèbre after being profiled in the Sentinel.
Andrea Ruiz, a self-proclaimed tree-talker, told the city council that the tree’s name is “Thom.” He was born 254 years ago. Cutting him down will cause “a sickness to take hold in the other trees and they will choose to perish,” she said after consulting Thom.
However, the city presented photographic evidence that the Lynwal complex predates the redwood. In a Santa Cruz High yearbook photo from 1959 the Lynwall is clearly visible. The tree is absent.
Days after the council voted to remove the tree, Ruiz hosted a rally for Thom on Jan, 25, with about a dozen people gathered in support for the immense lifeform. High schoolers, environmentalists, and residents of the Lynwall huddled around Ruiz as she explained how Thom is “grief stricken.”
As she finished her remarks she told everyone: “He wants to thank you for coming out.”
ARIES March 21-April 19“Happiness” is an amorphous term with a different meaning for everyone. What makes me feel happy may be unlike what works for you. Besides that, any kind of perfect happiness is impossible to achieve. However we define it, we are always a mix of being happy and unhappy. Nevertheless, I invite you to ruminate about the...
The sheer magic of the moment vs. the time and money to make it happen—live performance is a delicate balance, and never more so than after the down-time of Covid, rising cost of productions, and erosion of reliable, passionate audiences.
As our community mourns benefactor Rowland Rebele, many arts groups look ahead and see more challenges than solutions. Rebele, who...
With the slogan “big, bold and beautiful donuts,” the menu is headlined by the Strawberry Shortcake and the Coffee Cake Mocha, Kirkpatrick’s personal fave
