A Classical Tradition

Considering the caliber of classical music concerts they attract every year to the Granada Theatre and Lobero Theatre, you might expect the brains behind Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara (CAMA) to be a deep roster of booking agents and programming managers. But in fact CAMA is a close-knit family guided by the wisdom of a powerful and dedicated Board of Directors. Under the direction of the Board, a full-time staff of just four organizes and produces one of the world’s finest calendars of classical performances. Not bad for a small nonprofit with a history dating back to 1919, the same year as the founding of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. 

“We are an organization that also is a community – some of our subscribers have been attending CAMA concerts for decades,” says Elizabeth Alvarez, CAMA’s director of development. “With our illustrious history and our fantastic programming, which continues year after year, CAMA has demonstrated a focus on presenting the pinnacle of classical music artistry in the world to Santa Barbara.”

A secret to CAMA’s endurance is its small and seasoned team of professionals, beginning with President Mark Trueblood, who has been with CAMA for 25 years and whom Alvarez praises as “the rock” of the organization. Equally important, twenty years ago the Board had the wisdom to start an endowment fund that kept CAMA viable through the difficult 18 months of the pandemic, the longest ‘dark’ period in CAMA’s history.

“Between the endowment fund and our enthusiastic, loyal supporters, we are holding our own in these challenging times. The people who go to CAMA concerts are a part of a community,” Alvarez says. “We look forward to seeing each other and we follow up on each other’s lives.”

Another secret is CAMA’s deliberately small calendar of just nine or ten concerts a year. A city as culturally rich as Santa Barbara could attract more, but CAMA focuses its resources on booking the pinnacle talent among orchestras, chamber musicians, and soloists, even if it means they travel from the other side of the world. 

Mark your calendar, for example, for January 25, 2023, when the illustrious Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Music Director Riccardo Muti, returns to perform at the Granada Theatre as part of a rare West Coast tour.

“Live performances are a conversation between the performers and the audience,” Alvarez says. “As the great past conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Esa-Pekka Salonen said, ‘We need each other to perform to you and for you to hear us.’”