In 1938 the Nazis annexed Austria and its Jewish population found itself in immediate peril. While countless Austrian Jews joined the 6 million murdered between 1939 and 1945, Lisa Jura, an aspiring concert pianist of 14, survived the Holocaust. Though the invasion dashed her ambition to perform at the storied Vienna Musikverein concert hall, [...]
The Philharmonic Society of Orange County this year selected a sprawling Tuscan-style villa in Coto de Caza where local interior designers could showcase their talents and help support the society’s youth music education programs, which serve 150,000 students a year. Five bedrooms, a wine cellar, the entry, a lounge, living and dining areas, a library [...]
“I’m a complete moron when it comes to doing hair but I have to look as if I know what I am doing,” confessed Stephanie Zimbalist rehearsing for “Steel Magnolias,” currently at the Laguna Playhouse. Zimbalist, adding to her skill sets, embodies Truvy, the irrepressible owner of a beauty salon located in Chinquapin Parish, La. [...]
With the end of the term just weeks away, Laguna College of Art and Design seniors didn’t need all that much prodding to show up on a weekend to work on unfinished year-end projects in newly finished studios and workspaces. Though student animators, painters, designers, gamers and illustrators settled in with light tables, easels [...]
Maggie Carter’s boss was “in the oil business.” He relentlessly harassed her, a situation she could not tolerate for long. Perhaps it was her own naiveté as a 20-year-old, or her own sense of self-worth. But she did what was unheard of in 1972 and reported him to his superiors. For her courage, Carter, now [...]
Cycling enthusiasts lobbied Laguna Beach’s Arts Commission to consider adding an artist designed bike rack competition to its portfolio of publicly funded projects during a meeting on Monday, April 22. Under state mandates to create streets accessible to bicyclists, pedestrians and autos, Laguna is moving towards designating bike routes through town and have added painted [...]
Ed Peterson knows now how he expects to spend his summer. A concept by the Laguna Concert Band’s music director-conductor to collaborate on an animated film received the green-light last week. The proposal earned Peterson the $5,000 Seven-Degrees Inspiration Grant at this year’s Art Stars Awards gala. The work will be produced this summer with [...]
The city’s Arts Commission selected six Laguna Beach artists as finalists in a public art competition to create a mural for Main Beach, the town’s most popular focal point. Because of a lack of clarity, a second art work planned for the lifeguard headquarters under construction was postponed for a second time. Despite that the [...]
Visiting bands, duos and soloists fill stages across Laguna Beach, joining established local performers in what is becoming more of a year ‘round scene. The latest attraction is Jammin’, a smooth jazz series that is a collaboration between Laguna Playhouse and Mozambique restaurant, whose owner Ivan Spiers keeps the music turned up. Hiroshima, a jazz [...]
Laguna Concert Band Director Ed Peterson won this year’s Seven-Degrees of Inspiration Grant, a $5,000 prize for his proposal to produce an original score for an animated student film, while Heisler Park sculpture garden creators Scott and Naomi Schoenherr were declared artists of the year during Laguna Beach’s annual Art Stars awards on Sunday. More [...]
Laguna Concert Band Director Ed Peterson won a $5,000 Inspiration grant for his proposal to produce an original score for an animated student film while Heisler Park sculpture garden creators Scott and Naomi Schoenherr were declared artists of the year during Laguna Beach’s annual Art Stars awards ceremony Sunday, April 7. More than 230 guests [...]
Larry Hagman and Linda Gray, Lynn Redgrave and John Clark, Elizabeth Montgomery and Robert Foxworth comprise some of the actors who have taken on “Love Letters,” a two character play written by A. R. Gurney that is centered on a poignant 50-year correspondence between the fictional characters Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III. On [...]
The city’s Arts Commission extended the deadline until April 1 for artists to submit their qualifications to compete for a public art installation outside the city’s lifeguard headquarters, under construction on Main Beach. Commissioners determined that none of the 26 applicants, artists based in Laguna Beach and elsewhere in Southern California, fully met the project [...]
It’s hard to imagine Sergei Prokofiev’s beloved “Peter and the Wolf” without the flute impersonating a bird. Those twittering sounds coaxed from a slender tubular instrument have been known to turn young children into future flutists. Concert goers world-wide take for granted that a symphony orchestra features at least one or two flutes, and [...]
Last Saturday, Laguna Beach resident Nancy Lawrence pitched in readying this year’s Color it Orange show, filling two galleries at the Laguna College of Art and Design. It’s a sure sign of spring, when Orange County students from K-12 get to show off their best works, selected by their teachers for the art competition founded [...]
Police Use Taser to Subdue Assault Suspect
An assault involving three men escalated into a struggle with Laguna Beach police, who ultimately deployed a taser twice to subdue the younger combative suspect in the 300 block of Cozumel around 1:15 a.m. Friday, May 10, police said. Police ultimately arrested Laguna Beach resident Sergio Gabriel Borgognone, 51, for allegedly resisting arrest and his [...]
