Tag archives: Nir Kabaretti
The Santa Barbara Symphony took a deep dive across the pond to immerse in Italian classical music for last month’s pair of concerts at the Granada. Music from the continental country was also the focus of three concerts spearheading the indoor part of the La Piazza festival around the corner at the Library Plaza last […]
by Lisa Duncan If Montecito society has a guilty pleasure, it’s clearly the “Red Hot Ferrari” – no, not the car, though there were plenty of those – but the Red Ferrari accordion, gleaming like a cherry-red speed machine. In the bustling Granada Theatre foyer Saturday, tables were dotted with accordions, daring guests to squeeze, […]
Santa Barbara Symphony Music and Artistic Director Nir Kabaretti channels his Italian heritage in this weekend’s pair of concerts at the Granada entitled Bella Italia. The program boasts a four-century journey through Italian masterworks, bookended by the “Winter” movement from one of the defining Baroque concertos in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons opening the concert, and […]
As a sold-out crowd – many dressed in colorful ‘60s and ‘70s garb – tooled down the aisles, the band exhorted them to “Come-on Baby, Light My Fire.” Thus began another amazing evening of rocking music brought to us by the collaboration of the Doublewide Kings and Nir Kabaretti and the Santa Barbara Symphony. The […]
It’s doubtful anybody will be dropping LSD or getting silly on psilocybin, at least not on stage, at the third annual concert collaboration between Santa Barbara–based classic rock band Doublewide Kings and the Santa Barbara Symphony. But it might be easy to imagine you’re at the Fillmore in San Francisco circa 1969 during Psychedelic Symphony, […]
The Granada Theatre was filled with 2,650 eager fans this weekend as the Santa Barbara Symphony and State Street Ballet launched their 2025/26 seasons with a dazzling joint production. Santa Barbara Symphony President & CEO, Kathryn R. Martin, and State Street Ballet Executive Director, Cecily MacDougall, welcomed guests and outlined each of their exciting upcoming […]
For the first time in their long histories, State Street Ballet and Santa Barbara Symphony are opening their season with a collaborative production, one that includes – and closes with – a full-length production of Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet. The concert opens with Maestro Nir Kabaretti and the orchestra performing two short works – Shostakovich’s […]
The venerable Granada Theatre was socially gridlocked when it held its 9th annual Legends gala with 100 people recognizing the John C. Mithun Foundation, the Lobero Theatre, and esteemed Santa Barbara Symphony maestro Nir Kabaretti. The tony event, which raised around $400,000, was emceed by the ubiquitous Andrew Firestone and co-chaired by Susan Jackson and […]
With the NFL football season launching earlier this month, the Santa Barbara Symphony is hosting a kickoff of their own, a free season preview event on Thursday, September 18, at the at the historic Lobero Theatre. The preview will be jamming with fun, music, and inside info to introduce a season that marks a milestone […]
The Santa Barbara Symphony marks a major milestone with its 2025-26 season as Music & Artistic Director Nir Kabaretti notches his 20th year at the helm – which translates to his SBS tenure accounting for more than a quarter of its 72-year history. The typically diverse series of seven concerts begins with a joint season-opening […]
Bellosguardo – magnificent estate of the late reclusive tycoon Huguette Clark – and the Santa Barbara Symphony staged a landmark cultural event on July 4; the first ever outdoor Independence Day concert at the East Beach aerie. The sold-out event attracted more than 700 guests to the 90-minute performance on the estate’s seaside lawn overlooking […]
Forced by COVID to find ways to bring the music to a house-bound audience, the Granada Theatre teamed up with the Santa Barbara Symphony to create intimate podcasts that both illuminated and entertained. Out of this collaboration grew the idea of presenting cross-genre performances, the first one being Moondance which featured the music of Van […]
Gil Shaham, former concertmaster of the Santa Barbara Symphony, wrapped the current season at the Granada this weekend with works by Brahms, Dvořák’s “Symphony No. 8” and Tchaikovsky’s “Violin Concerto.” The Sunday concert had Shaham duetting with his wife Adele Anthony and the West Coast premiere of Avner Dorman’s “A Time to Mourn and a […]
Santa Barbara Symphony under veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti debuted its new eponymous chorus at the Granada with Brahms’ “German Requiem” which took the composer nearly three decades to complete. Joining the voices was the Westmont College Choir in Brahms’ poetic work from the Bible and the Psalms along with Gustaf Mahler’s haunting Rückert-Lieder. Soloists were […]
After years of periodic collaborations with Santa Barbara choirs alone or in various combinations, the Santa Barbara Symphony Chorus makes its debut with the orchestra’s April 25-26 pair of concerts. The ensemble was assembled as something akin to an all-star choir, comprised of community choral singers from many other organizations, including Adelfos Ensemble, Santa Barbara […]
Sultry lounge singer Storm Large lived up to her billing when she sang at the Granada with the Santa Barbara Symphony, under veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti in Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins with additional vocals by the Hudson Shad Quartet. Other sensual works in the concert included Jacques Ibert’s “Divertissement,” William Grant Still’s “Seven Little […]
Howard Jay Smith has just published his latest musical work Viva Violetta & Verdi following two years of diligent research and 18 months of writing. Howard’s research also included many interviews with the late local Metropolitan Opera tenor Eduardo Villa, who shared a lifetime of working in opera and performed 18 of Verdi’s operas in […]
Wolfgang Amadeus reigned supreme when the Santa Barbara Symphony staged its first concert of the New Year at the Granada under veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti. It was one weekend, two different concerts and eight masterworks, including the glorious “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” during the Mozart Marathon. The highly entertaining two-part show, spanning Saturday and Sunday, included […]
The Santa Barbara Symphony launches into 2025 with yet another first for the increasingly adventurous 72-year-old ensemble: a pair of weekend performances January 18-19 where the program is entirely different on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. The prolific classical composer Mozart is the focus of affection for the weekend of wonder, which highlights four concertos […]
State Street Ballet kicked off its 30th anniversary season in grand style with an impressive colorful double bill, Scheherazade and The Firebird performed with the Santa Barbara Symphony under maestro Nir Kabaretti at the venerable Granada. Scheherazade, with choreography by Autumn Eckman and music by Rimsky-Korsakov, was first envisioned by State Street’s managing director Tim […]
