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In this interview, Noozhawk spoke with Elizabeth Alvarez, Director of Development at CAMA (Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara, Inc.), to learn more about how the nonprofit is dedicated to bringing world-renowned classical artists and orchestras to Santa Barbara.
CAMA
Question: What is the name & mission of your nonprofit?
Answer: Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara, Inc. (CAMA). Founded in 1919, CAMA’s mission is to enrich Santa Barbara’s cultural life by bringing live performances by world-renowned classical artists and orchestras of the highest artistic excellence to our community and by providing creative, focused music education programs for individuals of all ages.
Q: How long has your nonprofit been in service and whom was it started by?
A: Founded in 1919, CAMA evolved from Community Arts Association (CAA), and, along with the Pearl Chase Society, is one of the only two surviving branches of CAA.
CAMA is Santa Barbara’s oldest arts nonprofit and has brought the finest classical musicians from around the globe to Santa Barbara for 105 Seasons.
Since the 1920s, CAMA has presented such legendary artists as Pablo Casals, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Vladimir Horowitz, Jascha Heifetz, Igor Stravinsky, Artur Schnabel, Paul Robeson, Isaac Stern and Marian Anderson, with yearly performances from the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Q: What was the inspiration behind your nonprofit?
A: In the fall of 1919, a group of community-minded people came together in the optimistic years following World War I to create the Civic Music Committee, a branch of the Community Arts Association (CAA). Their intention was to present the finest in musical performances, including the newly formed Los Angeles Philharmonic, also founded 1919 by philanthropist William Andrews Clark, Jr.
The group’s work was taken over by the Community Arts Association’s Music Branch in 1926, which in time evolved into today’s Community Arts Music Association (CAMA).
Q: How is your nonprofit primarily funded and what are your greatest needs?
A: Ticket sales provide approximately 30% of revenue for the season.
The remainder of income comes from foundation, grants and from the dedication and generosity of individuals devoted to CAMA’s mission of bring the pinnacle of classical music excellence to Santa Barbara.
Our greatest needs are two-fold: first, to continue to fund bringing the world’s greatest classical artists to Santa Barbara, and next to fill our beautiful concert halls with the widest possible representation of our community.
Artist fees for traveling orchestras have risen steeply, and ticket sales only meet approximately 30% of the cost of CAMA’s full season.
Q: What types of fundraisers and/or programs does your nonprofit run?
A: CAMA’s programs include presenting between eight and ten classical music performances of the highest caliber to Santa Barbara and our surrounding communities each year.
In this season, our 105th concert season, CAMA’s schedule includes four major orchestras at The Granada Theatre, and four recitals at the Lobero Theatre, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, also founded in 1919. The LA Phil will be led by Conductor Emeritus Zubin Mehta, in his fifty-first concert with CAMA, on December 12, 2023 at The Granada Theatre.
Q: What makes your nonprofit different from others?
A: CAMA is Santa Barbara’s oldest arts nonprofit, and has presented the Los Angeles Philharmonic yearly in Santa Barbara since its first season, with two notable exceptions: there were no performances in 1942 due to WWII, and none in 2021, due to the world-wide pandemic.
CAMA’s international roster of luminaries and stars throughout its 105-year history is unparalleled for a town of our size west of the Mississippi.
Q: What is one best kept secret or fun fact about your nonprofit that not everyone knows?
A: In the early years of the organization, Mabel Profant served on the CAMA Board for an astonishing 50 years, as well as contributing her time and talents to the CAMA Women’s Board.
Today Mabel Profant’s four grand-daughters – Musette, Michele, Mignon and Marie – are philanthropists who contribute their talents and who are active in Santa Barbara, benefiting young artists as well as CAMA’s current Women’s Board.
The CAMA Women’s Board hosts pre-concert lectures before each Granada performance, and supports CAMA through concert sponsorships annually.
Q: How does the work of your nonprofit get communicated to the public?
A: CAMA’s subscribers are loyal, and hundreds of our subscribers have attended CAMA concerts for decades!
For over 20 years CAMA staff has cultivated key relationships to distribute free tickets to community members who might not otherwise be able to attend a performance. These tickets are provided through a generous endowment gift by the Esperia Fund for each Masterseries recital at the Lobero.
After the pandemic, CAMA’s Community Outreach Program was developed even further, as concert halls were not sold to capacity. CAMA quickly expanded its outreach program, focusing on offering tickets to health and service workers; educators; and volunteer and service groups. This program continues to develop, and we are pleased and proud to offer access to experience the world’s highest quality classical music to an even greater number of community members.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to share about your nonprofit that has not been mentioned above?
A: CAMA’s Masterseries season at the Lobero Theatre concludes on March 15, 2024 with CAMA’s presentation of Sphinx Virtuosi in its debut performance in Santa Barbara. Sphinx Virtuosi is a dynamic and inspiring professional self-conducted chamber orchestra and serves as the flagship performing entity of the Sphinx Organization, the leading social justice non-profit dedicated to transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts.
Composed primarily of Black and Latinx artists, a critical aim of the Sphinx Virtuosi is to evolve and transform the face of classical music through artistic excellence, pioneering programming, and impassioned community engagement. Its members serve as cultural and diversity ambassadors for audiences and communities around the United States during national tours, and perform annually at Carnegie Hall. Described by The New York Times as “…top-notch…more essential at this moment than ever…” and by The New Yorker as “…quite simply, marvelous.”
CAMA is honored to present Sphinx Virtuosi from Detroit as part of their 25th Anniversary Tour.
Click here to support CAMA’s mission to enrich Santa Barbara’s cultural life by bringing live performances by world‑renowned classical artists and orchestras of the highest artistic excellence to our community and by providing creative, focused music education programs for individuals of all ages.
Check out Noozhawk’s Guide to Giving for a full list of nonprofits to donate to this giving season.