Variety

Dec. 11-17

By DANIEL OKAMURA

South Coast Beacon

Metropolitan Opera broadcasts begin

The Metropolitan Opera begins its radio broadcasts at 10 a.m. Saturday with a live performance of Fromental Halévy’s “La Juive,” directly from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York. This is the opera’s first broadcast over the ChevronTexaco Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network, heard locally on KFAC 88.7 FM and KDB 93.7 FM.

KFAC-FM will also carry a live web-stream for computer users with an Internet connection and either Windows Media Player, Real Player or Winamp — all of which are available as free downloads.

More than 360 stations throughout North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and East Asia will also carry the broadcasts. “La Juive” is performed with two intermissions with Alan Wagner discussing the context of the opera during the first and ChevronTexaco’s Opera Quiz during the second. Expected off-air time is approximately 1:59 p.m. For information, please visit www.operainfo.org and www.metopera.org.

Growing a tree of giving

During the Holiday Season, Pacific Pride Foundation and Macy’s Department Store of Santa Barbara are hosting the “Giving Tree,” a project that benefits children through AIDS Project Central Coast.

Shoppers at Macy’s in Paseo Nuevo Mall can take a paper ornament off the “Giving Tree,” on the second floor near the escalator, and purchase the item listed on the ornament for a child affected by HIV/AIDS.

Purchased gifts should be taken with their respective ornaments to Macy’s gift-wrap department on the second floor. Pacific Pride Foundation Volunteers will wrap and deliver them to the appropriate families.

Macy’s “Giving Tree” has been a Santa Barbara tradition for six years and helps out more than 100 children each year in Santa Barbara County.

For information, please call J.B. at Pacific Pride Foundation, 963.3636 ext. 101.

The “Giving Tree” will run through Monday.