Opera not 'sacred' enough for S.B. Mission

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A free opera concert scheduled for next Saturday at Old Mission Santa Barbara was canceled yesterday as a result of a longstanding policy at the church which forbids any music that is not “sacred.”
The concert has been held in conjunction with the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival for the past five years. But this year, local church officials decided to enforce a set of performance guidelines, which in part states, “Only music of sacred nature is allowed.”

“It’s disappointing because we’ve been doing it for many years. It’s a tradition and it fills up. We almost always have a full house,” said Opera Santa Barbara Managing Director Steven Sharpe. “It does seem a little limiting to me in terms of the use of the sanctuary, but they’re free to make their own choices.”
In a statement sent to the press yesterday, Sharpe said I Madonnari organizers had recently been informed of a new rule that bans any performances that aren’t sacred.
But a spokesman for the Saint Barbara Parish, who asked to remain anonymous, said the policy has been in place for years. Church officials simply haven’t forced I Madonnari organizers to enforce it until this year, the spokesman said.
“Franciscan Friars asked I Madonnari to please inform the performers that they were to sing sacred music in the church. It is a place of worship everyday,” the spokesman said. “That was not handled correctly by I Madonnari. It just so happened this year it was enforced.”
The rule in question is the first on a list of seven stipulations that visiting music ensembles must adhere to.
One of the rules says performing groups must show reverence at all times, while another says the church sounds system is not available for use.
A message left for Father Richard McManus, who the spokesman said was responsible for asking that the policy be adhered to, was not immediately returned to the Daily Sound.
Though the statement sent out by Opera Santa Barbara said the Parish was responsible for canceling the concert, the church spokesman said it was the Franciscan Friars. The spokesman explained that the Friars own the historic mission, and are therefore responsible for leasing it to I Madonnari. As a result, it is the Friars' responsibility to ensure the mission’s policies are enforced.
The spokesman said the Parish is responsible for conducting weekend worship.
Sharpe said he was told the concert would be canceled by I Madonnari Executive Director Kathy Koury. Attempts to reach Koury for comment were unsuccessful.
Sharpe said he considered attempting an opera to be sacred, but it can’t be done.
“My dilemma is that opera doesn’t fit into that category,” he said. “Whatever they call sacred, that’s just not what opera’s about.”
Sharpe said he would consider doing a free performance in future years out on the lawn, but said he doesn’t have enough time to reformat the concert, which was scheduled for Saturday, May 24.
“I’m just taking this as a sign that I need to reinvent the concert somewhere else because I’d like to do at least one big, free annual concert,” he said. “We’re just looking at how we’re going to replace this.”