Name: Elmer Gantry
Start: 2026-05-03T19:30:00
Location: Lobero Theatre

Christina Pezzarossi

Evan Bravos

Opera Santa Barbara

Lobero Theatre

Greed, lust, and old-time religion burst into flames in Aldridge and Garfein’s gospel-infused opera, based on Sinclair Lewis’ satirical novel and the movie that won Burt Lancaster his first Oscar.

Elmer Gantry

Pat Metheny continues the evolution of Side-Eye with a new tour featuring new music. Side-Eye III+ features Chris Fishman on piano/keyboards, Joe Dyson on drums, and Jermaine Paul on bass. With 20 GRAMMY® wins, Metheny has the second-most GRAMMY® wins out of all jazz artists to date, revered for expanding the palette of the guitar and reshaping the genre for the modern era.

Created to elevate young musicians and offer the mentorship he once received, his Side-Eye project features a handpicked rotating cast of today’s most exciting players. This is contemporary jazz at its finest — innovative, accessible and absolutely unmissable for both longtime fans and newcomers to Metheny’s musical world.

Pat Metheny

Chaplin is a groundbreaking dance-theatre production that takes audiences on an unforgettable journey into the mind of the twentieth-century icon. Choreographed by William Soleau, Kevin Jenkins, and Edgar Zendejas, this captivating production follows a young girl through Chaplin’s world, beautifully illustrating his humor, heart, and creative genius. A stunning, must-see performance.

Chaplin

The show highlights Messina’s musical career over the decades, including Buffalo Springfield, Poco, and Loggins & Messina. Jim performed with and was the producer/audio engineer for Buffalo Springfield, as well as a founding member of the group Poco. Then he and Kenny Loggins became the duo that sold more than 20 million albums and released hits like “Danny’s Song,” “Your Mama Don’t Dance,” “House on Pooh Corner” and “Angry Eyes.”

After a series of celebrated solo acoustic tours, Jim formed a band made of acclaimed musicians who have played with him at various points in his career. With his new band, The Road Runners, Jim released his latest live album Here, There & Everywhere. Touring the country and playing sold-out shows, Jim says that he’s enjoying discovering who he is, where he’s been and, most significantly, where he’s going.

Jim Messina

Through an inimitable voice that The New York Times touts as, “a smooth, dark alto possessed of qualities you might associate with barrel-aged bourbon or butter-soft leather,” acclaimed vocalist and songwriter Lizz Wright sings with a soaring reflection of the cultural fabric of America. Wright is one of the great modern American singers, with an illustrious 20-year career transcending social divides with her offer of love and deep sense of humanity.

Rooted in her Southern upbringing and shaped by more than two decades on the world’s stages, Wright’s sound is both grounded and expansive — anchored by acoustic textures, rich harmonies, and emotional honesty. Audiences can expect an evening of profound musical storytelling that honors tradition while embracing reflection, healing, and connection.

Lizz Wright

Celebrate the next generation of musical talent at this inspiring Season Finale Concert, featuring the Santa Barbara Symphony’s Camerata Ensemble (beginner), Philharmonia Orchestra (intermediate), and Santa Barbara Youth Symphony (advanced) performing together. Led by the distinguished conductors Marisa McLeod and Dr. Daniel Gee, these extraordinary young musicians will perform works by Bruch, Copland, and much more, with 2025 Santa Barbara Symphony Youth Concerto Competition winner Jeffrey Hough Pattison featured as violin soloist.

Santa Barbara Symphony Youth Ensembles

Six-time GRAMMY®-nominated pianist, composer, and band leader Gerald Clayton earned recent Recording Academy recognition for Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard, his debut release on Blue Note Records. Collaborating over the years with such distinctive artists as Diana Krall, Roy Hargrove, Dianne Reeves, Terence Blanchard, John Scofield, Terri Lyne Carrington, Peter Bernstein, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gretchen Parlato, Ben Wendel, the Clayton Brothers Quintet and legendary band leader Charles Lloyd, Clayton currently serves as Director of Next Generation Jazz Orchestra following service as Musical Director for Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour. Clayton’s creative spirit honors the legacy of his father, bassist-composer John Clayton.

Gerald Clayton Trio

Relive the Solid Gold Hits of the Swingin’ 60’s!

Get ready for a night that explodes with the sound, style, and spirit of the most revolutionary decade in music history. The British Beat Show brings the iconic soundtrack of the 1960s roaring back to life in a high‑energy concert celebration packed with the songs and groups that changed the world.

British Beat: The Legends of 60s British Rock

Sam Grisman is a bass player, music appreciator, and bandleader who grew up in Mill Valley, California in a home where some of the great acoustic music of our time was being recorded on a regular basis. His father, legendary mandolinist, composer, and producer, David Grisman, was constantly having friends come over to his home studio for recording sessions and rehearsals. These friends, such as Doc Watson, Jerry Garcia, John Hartford, Mike Seeger, and Tony Rice all left an impression on the younger Grisman and inspired him to pursue a life making music with his many talented friends.

Sam Grisman Project was created to shed light on the music that Sam grew up around, and highlight that music’s influence on the members of the collective and in the greater music community. The band’s shows create a safe space where the band and audience can bask in the shared love and reverence for the great music and musicians who continue to inspire us all.

Sam Grisman Project

Christopher Cross burst onto the music scene with his 1980 self-titled debut album, winning five GRAMMY® Awards, including – for the first time in GRAMMY® history – the “Big Four” most prestigious awards: Record of the Year (for the single “Sailing”), Album of the Year, Song of the Year (also “Sailing”), and Best New Artist.

His latest project is aptly titled The Complete Works. Released in 2020, it celebrates his 40th anniversary as a recording artist and is a collection of all 12 previously released CDs, one CD of singles and bonus tracks, and a pink vinyl containing one track from each album chosen by Christopher.

In a career spanning more than four decades, Cross has sold over 10 million albums, garnered five GRAMMYS, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, an Emmy nomination and five Top 10 singles.

Christopher Cross

Internationally recognized by Graceland and the Elvis Presley Estate, the show’s star, Matt Stone, performs the CLOSEST THING to the King in history! Matt brings an unseen level of authenticity and attention to detail to his craft, CAPTIVATING audiences with flawless recreation of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll in his prime!

He’s not an “Elvis impersonator,” but an actor portraying the GREATEST ENTERTAINER OF ALL TIME in a theatrical production— and after seeing this ELECTRIFYING SPECTACLE, you’ll remember ELVIS THE ICON, and forget the punchline.

ELVIS: In Person Starring Matt Stone

Branford Marsalis Quartet: Saxophonist Branford Marsalis is one of the most influential and revered figures in contemporary music. The NEA Jazz Master, GRAMMY® Award winner, and Tony and EMMY Award nominee is equally at home performing concertos with symphony orchestras and sitting in with members of the Grateful Dead, but the core of his musical universe remains the Branford Marsalis Quartet. After more than three decades of existence with minimal personnel changes, this celebrated ensemble is revered for its uncompromising interpretation of a kaleidoscopic range of both original compositions and jazz and popular classics.

After receiving GRAMMY® nominations on its last two albums, Upward Spiral and The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, the Quartet made its Blue Note Records debut with the release of Belonging, a full album interpretation of Keith Jarrett’s 1974 ECM album of the same name. The New York Times commented “Marsalis has tackled imposing jazz masterworks before…but at its best, his ‘Belonging’ goes deeper…its a performance that both honors and amplifies.” John Zeugner captured the impact of the Quartet in a review of a live performance, calling it “casually confident, professional, cerebral, and supercharged with energy. The Branford Marsalis Quartet… was all of those adjectives and more.”