Ever since Brian Asher Alhadeff became the Lompoc Pops Orchestra’s artistic director, the conductor well versed in classical music and opera has tried to sneak classical repertoire past the board of directors into the orchestra’s season programming. Modeled after the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Lompoc Pops performs exclusively American orchestral music, Alhadeff explained, and any […]
Joe Payne
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Lompoc Youth Theater to perform benefit concert for upcoming production
When you have a group of young people starving for the stage, it’s not that hard to rope them into an extra performance. At least, that’s what Lompoc Youth Theater (LYT) Producer and Director Sarah Raines figured after she auditioned a group of youngsters to join the summer program, which is set to perform a […]
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Carbajal and Fareed to face off in November
A buzzing crowd of supporters of Republican candidate Justin Fareed sipped drinks at the Santa Maria Elks Lodge while awaiting the primary election results on the evening of June 5. By 10 p.m., Fareed’s campaign felt comfortable declaring that he had shut out Republican primary candidate Michael Erin Woody for the GOP ticket, ensuring that […]
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Santa Maria adds odor complaints to website
On the same day that a Santa Barbara grand jury report found that there was “no clear point of contact for odor complaints on the city of Santa Maria website,” the city added just such a page to its site. The new page, available at cityofsantamaria.org/odors, was added on June 1 after the grand jury […]
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Dylan Ortega brings country sound to Santa Maria’s Concerts in the Park
A smooth, deep country voice is something you expect from a bearded, whiskey-drinking, flannel-wearing, guitar-strumming dude singing under the lights at your favorite cowboy bar. But Dylan Ortega, the Santa Ynez Valley native with an album-ready voice isn’t swigging Jim Beam or singing at saloons—he’s only 19 years old. Ortega became known locally after he […]
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Quire of Voyces features sacred music composed by women at St. Mark’s in Los Olivos
The classical music world has been dominated for decades, if not centuries, by the image of a lone, baton-wielding figure. And that figure is almost always white and almost always a man. As so many sectors of American cultural society have diversified, the classical music world has been a little slow on the uptake. But […]
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Two Republican candidates hope to challenge incumbent Salud Carbajal for 24th Congressional District
Local Republicans are hopeful that they can unseat incumbent Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) at the ballot box come November, but first they need to choose the candidate they want to do it in the June 5 primary. Two candidates are duking it out for the Republican nomination—returning candidate for the 24th District and Santa […]
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Former Santa Maria City Councilmember and county Supervisor Tom Urbanske passes at 88 years old
Former Santa Maria City Councilmember and 5th District County Supervisor Thomas “Tom” Urbanske passed away on May 17, leaving those in local government reflecting on the longtime teacher, advocate, and public servant’s legacy in Santa Maria and North County. Urbanske was 88 years old. “He really cared about people and he was a very good […]
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Local singer/songwriter Jineanne Coderre performs originals and covers across the Central Coast
Ever since she was a small child, Jineanne Coderre heard music, and it wasn’t long before she was making her own. Now a dental hygienist and professional singer/songwriter on the side who dazzles audiences across the Central Coast with her voice, Coderre recalled growing up with her parents, both skilled musicians and lovers of music. […]
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Up for grabs: Two Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office lieutenants challenge Sheriff Bill Brown’s bid for re-election
It’s not every year that Santa Barbara County voters to choose a new sheriff. It’s every four, of course, but this year’s election is different from those in the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office’s recent history. That’s because Sheriff Bill Brown—who’s running for re-election for his fourth consecutive term—is facing not one, but two challengers […]
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Robert Randolph & The Family Band brings funky, bluesy pedal steel guitar sound to Presqu’ile Winery
The pedal steel electric slide guitar is an instrument that immediately brings country music to mind, from its warm low end to its clear high range. But for Robert Randolph, his first first experience with the versatile instrument wasn’t in a honky-tonk, but in church. Randolph grew up in New Jersey, attending the House of […]
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The Santa Maria Philharmonic Orchestra closes season with fierce finale
Music is always a journey through time, and some performances can span centuries within an evening. The Santa Maria Philharmonic Orchestra’s last concert of the 2017-18 season was April 28, and though the evening’s music was finished around 9 p.m., sounds from across the generations came to the eager ears there. From the Viennese opera […]