The Lobero Theatre is an historic building in
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning " Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West ...
. The theater was originally built as an opera house, in a refurbished adobe school building, by Italian immigrant José Lobero in 1873. Located downtown at the corner of Anacapa and Canon Perdido streets, the Lobero Theatre is registered as a
California Historical Landmark
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Criteria
Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...
.
History
The Lobero was founded in 1873. By the early 1920s, the old opera house was becoming dilapidated and was rebuilt as a theater, to
Spanish Colonial Revival style
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
In the ...
designs by architects
George Washington Smith and
Lutah Maria Riggs
Lutah Maria Riggs (October 31, 1896 – March 8, 1984) was an American architect who worked for several decades in Santa Barbara, California. Born in Toledo, Ohio, she moved with her mother to Santa Barbara after high school, where she returne ...
. The client was the Drama Branch of the Community Arts Association. The Lobero Theater opened in August 1924, during a period in which civic groups in Santa Barbara were beginning to unify the town's architectural look around a
Spanish Colonial style.
[Tompkins, Walker A. ''Santa Barbara, Past and Present''. Tecolote Books, Santa Barbara, 1975. p. 94-5]
Present day
The theatre continues to host arts and cultural events on 250 or more days per year. Because of its live acoustics and relatively small size it is particularly suited to
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small nu ...
. The
Music Academy of the West
The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California.
Overview
The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...
holds many of its summer concerts in the Lobero.
See also
*
History of Santa Barbara, California
*
External links
Lobero Theater Records at the
University of California, Santa Barbara Library
The University of California, Santa Barbara Library is the university library system of the University of California, Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California. The Library includes four facilities: Two libraries (the Main Library (Davidson Lib ...
.
References
{{Authority control
History of Santa Barbara County, California
Buildings and structures in Santa Barbara, California
Landmarks in California
Tourist attractions in Santa Barbara, California
Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California
Theatres in California
Event venues established in 1873