Edhat Staff
By edhat staff
In a virtual presentation, UCSB Arts & Lectures announced their lineup of virtual and in-person events from the 2020-2021 season.
Even in a pandemic, Arts & Lectures is able to offer a wide range of cultural and artistic experiences with talks by today’s thought leaders to command performances by the some of the world’s premier dance companies, musicians, and performers.
“At Arts & Lectures, we entertain, educate and inspire,” says Celesta M. Billeci, Miller McCune Executive Director of Arts & Lectures. “Each of those elements has its own urgency in this moment, and I am confident that what we provide to our community is even more meaningful right now.
A series titled “House Calls” will begin in September through January and will feature online-only events. Among the artists and authors participating are ukelele master Jake Shimabukuro; Pink Martini’s China Forbes and Thomas Lauderdale; comedian Mike Birbiglia; singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens; singer-songwriter Jason Isbell; Americana rocker Nathaniel Rateliff; and in conversation with Pico Iyer author and podcaster Cheryl Strayed and novelist Barbara Kingsolver.
A “fanless” concert with the Danish String Quartet will also take place on November 12 from a location in Santa Barbara. The Danes will livestream a concert with interactive features to local audiences.
The season’s live events begin on Feb. 1, 2021, kicking off with pianist Yuja Wang alongside French cellist Gautier Capuçon, followed by a night of America’s music with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis on February 3. Additional season highlights include John Leguizamo (Feb 23), 30th anniversary of Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour in Santa Barbara (Feb. 24 & 25), 2018 Olivier Award-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato (Feb. 27), a conversation with award-winning chef, restaurateur and founder of World Central Kitchen José Andrés (March 14), conversation and music with Yo-Yo Ma and Austin Mann (April 27), and an evening with entrepreneur and former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang (May 2).
Arts & Lectures addressed their plan if the COVID-19 pandemic continues to prevent in-person events. Their first option would be to live-stream the event followed by rescheduling or postponing, with the final option to be an event cancellation.
New this season is Race to Justice, a season-long in-depth look at systemic racism. In collaboration with multiple UC Santa Barbara departments and community partners, this effort engages leading activists, creatives and thinkers to expand our understanding of racism and how race impacts society and to inspire an expansive approach to advancing racial equality.
“This is a moment of reckoning. As a nation, we are confronting evidence of inequality that reaches every corner of society, from education, to the criminal justice system, to everyday life. Arts & Lectures has a history of bringing complex issues to the forefront. Now, we are spearheading an in-depth look at systemic racism from every angle, including abolition, underlying conditions, reparations, criminal justice and more. We hope to inspire an expansive approach to advancing racial equality,” says Billeci.
The Race to Justice series, a mix of virtual events and live events, includes presentations by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of the bestseller How to Be an Antiracist; activist Sister Helen Prejean; social justice advocate and author of Just Mercy Bryan Stevenson; and attorney and criminal justice reform advocate Brittany Barnett; and Ta-Nihisi Coates, author of Between the World and Me; with more events to be announced soon.
Series subscriptions are now on sale and the digital series House Calls and the Danish String Quartet’s “fanless” concert will go on sale September 1. Series subscriptions can be purchased by phone at (805) 893-3535 or online. For this season’s digital brochure, visit www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu. Single tickets go on sale Sat., Oct. 10 at 10 a.m.
