Muristek
Musicians and dancers come together at The Granada to help the Grace Fisher Foundation COURTESY PHOTOS“It’s a show that I love putting together for the community,” said Grace Fisher, seen inside The Granada, where the Grace Fisher Foundation’s Winter Music Showcase will take place Friday night.
Grace Fisher promises lively music and more when the Grace Fisher Foundation’s Winter Music Showcase begins Friday on the Granada stage.
The concert, which starts at 7 p.m. at the Santa Barbara venue at 1214 State St., will feature music composed by Ms. Fisher as well as performances by vocalists Jackson Gillies and Will Breman, the Westmont Chamber Singers, the Bar-back Boys and the State Street Ballet Professional Track Dancers.
All proceeds will benefit the foundation, which has offered free art, music and dance programs since 2016 for children and young adults with disabilities.
“We’ve done a variety of things, from large arts workshops to adaptive dance programs, drum circles and community picnics where families are invited to meet together and build relationships,” Ms. Fisher, a 2015 Santa Barbara High School graduate, told the News-Press.
“American Idol” contestant Jackson Gillies will perform as part of the Winter Music Showcase.“In early 2023, we are opening a space in La Cumbre Plaza (in Santa Barbara) to host our programs — a home base for everything we do,” she said.
The foundation has one fundraiser a year — the Winter Music Showcase.
“Last year, we raised over $120,000,” Ms. Fisher said, expressing her appreciation for sponsors and those attending the concerts.
“It’s a show that I love putting together for the community,” Ms. Fisher said.
As part of Friday’s Winter Music Showcase, the Santa Barbara Folk Orchestra will perform “Tapping Suite,” Ms. Fisher’s composition, which was inspired by a 2014 video she found of herself playing the guitar. The performance will feature guitar soloist Chris Fossek and cello soloist Jackie Greenshields, and Ms. Fisher said her lively composition features elements inspired by Bach and Beethoven.
“All of my past musical experiences are encapsulated into this one piece,” Ms. Fisher said.
The concert will include Will Breman, who was a semi-finalist on “The Voice.”Another of Ms. Fisher’s compositions, “Grace’s Lament,” will be performed by an eight-piece string ensemble — the Santa Barbara String Quartet with additional players. As the group plays, six State Street Ballet Professional Track Dancers will perform a dance choreographed by Cecily Stewart MacDougall.
“Cecily choreographed a dance to the same piece with students at the State Street Ballet school,” Ms. Fisher said. “After I saw that, I thought it would be great to see this again on the Granada stage.”
Ms. Fisher said she’s also excited that the Westmont Chamber Singers will perform a set of all-Spanish music at Friday’s concerts.
Also performing Friday is Mr. Gillies, the Santa Barbara vocalist and guitarist who competed on ABC’s “American Idol.”
“He just keeps getting better and better,” Ms. Fisher said. “He’s such a great guitarist!”
She said Mr. Gillies performs blues, jazz and rock and shows a great maturity in his music.
The program also includes Mr. Breman, a Santa Barbara singer who was a semi-finalist on NBC’s “The Voice.”
The Westmont Chamber Singers will perform an all-Spanish set of music during the Winter Music Showcase.“His voice is so great,” Ms. Fisher said. “And I like how full his band is. They all work well together and play well together.
“Their music is popular with a soul flair,” she said.
The concert will also feature the Bar-back Boys — a six-piece barbershop ensemble that includes Ms. Fisher’s former classmates at Santa Barbara High School. “They’re singing ‘The Longest Time’ and a Christmas song that was arranged by one of the members.”
Friday’s concert will raise money to help people, who have disabilities, to explore their ability to express themselves through the arts. It’s a cause close to Ms. Fisher’s heart.
Ms. Fisher was a 17-year-old Santa Barbara High School senior and an accomplished pianist, cellist and guitarist when she was diagnosed in 2014 with acute flaccid myelitis. The rare spinal condition left Ms. Fisher, who had just been accepted into the prestigious Berklee School of Music, paralyzed from the neck down.
Despite that challenge, Ms. Fisher adapted. She learned to compose music with special technology, which includes an adaptive mouse for her computer. She controls the mouse by blowing into a tube and using what she calls “sip and puff technology.”
Ms. Fisher has adapted — and succeeded. In June, she graduated with her bachelor’s in music composition at UCSB.
And she is helping others to succeed. Ms. Fisher said her foundation has helped more than a hundred people with disabilities to create music and art, and she praised the community for its generosity in supporting her foundation’s efforts.
She noted inspiration is a two-way street.
“I love being an inspiration if that’s what people get from my story,” Ms. Fisher said. “And I think definitely seeing the families and kids I have affected — that gives me inspiration.”
email: dmason@newspress.com
FYIThe Grace Fisher Foundation’s Winter Music Showcase will present music and dance performances at 7 p.m. Friday at The Granada, 1214 State St., Santa Barbara.Tickets cost $18 to $60. To purchase, go to gramadasb.org. Sponsorships are available for the Winter Music Showcase.To make a donation, go to sbfoundation.org/give-now/give-to-grace-fisher-foundation.
The post An inspirational showcase of talent appeared first on Santa Barbara News-Press.