UCSB Arts & Lectures kicked off the 2023-2024 season at Monday night’s launch party with an adventurous and impressive world-class lineup of music, theater, dance performances, and speakers.
Launching the season on October 1, with rising young music star Jacob Collier (a five-time Grammy Award winner at the ripe old age of 28), the more than 48 A&L events scheduled (with more to come, promised Miller McCune Executive Director Celesta M. Billeci) include two different performances featuring 2023 Pulitzer Prize winner Rhiannon Giddens, with the Silkroad Ensemble and with her band. Other highlights include recitals by Broadway stars Audra McDonald and Kristin Chenoweth; the return of popular writer and raconteur David Sedaris; great dance performances by Martha Graham Dance Company, Batsheva Dance Company, and Tiler Peck & Friends; best-selling authors Abraham Verghese and Lauren Groff; and jazz titan Herbie Hancock and 2023 Grammy Awards’ Best New Artist Samara Joy, among many others.
The 2023-2024 season also includes the U.S. premiere of a work co-commissioned by A&L for the Danish String Quartet, along with West Coast and California premieres and multiple Santa Barbara debut performances. Additional events, including the Justice for All programming initiative, Thematic Learning Initiative, and more, will be announced throughout the season, said Billeci.