Tag archives: Nir Kabaretti

Tchaikovsky Triumvirate
By Richard Mineards   |   October 29, 2024

A triple tribute celebration launched Santa Barbara Symphony’s new season at the Granada with Tchaikovsky Immersion featuring the Russian composer’s majestic Fourth Symphony. The event marked the return of renowned classical guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas performing the greatest of all guitar concertos – Rodrigo’s haunting “Concierto de Aranjuez” as part of his weeklong artist residency […]

Adam to the ‘Foooore’-front
By Richard Mineards   |   October 29, 2024

Santa Barbara Symphony conductor Nir Kabaretti and his wife Gaia are beaming over their 14-year-old son Adam’s golfing prowess, as well they should. Adam, a freshman at San Marcos High School, was selected among 60 applicants to compete in the Tiger Woods – TGR Jr. Invitational golf tournament last weekend. The 30 girls and 30 […]

State Street Ballet’s 30th Anniversary Season Opens October 26!
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 29, 2024

Cecily MacDougall, Executive Director of the State Street Ballet, has formally announced its 30th Anniversary Year, commencing with the season opening performance on October 26 and 27, at the Granada Theatre.  This year proves to be its finest and the one for which you should purchase your season pas de deux tix early. The SSB […]

Bubbles and Bass
By Richard Mineards   |   October 8, 2024

Santa Barbara Symphony, under maestro Nir Kabaretti, previewed its latest season with a champagne reception at the Lobero Theatre. One of the highlights is a two-day Mozart Marathon with eight masterworks, a two-concert performance by the legendary violinist Gil Shaham with Pink Martini singer Storm Large, and Brahms’ “Requiem.” “It’s a rich and culturally empowering […]

Cruising Tunes
By Richard Mineards   |   June 25, 2024

Supporters of the Santa Barbara Symphony have been making a splash with a Cruise for a Cause on the River Danube from Vienna to Budapest. Montecito Bank & Trust, which has sponsored the trip, is donating a portion of the proceeds to the symphony. More than 64 MClub and symphony Crescendo members were onboard the […]

Crackerjack Klezmer from Krakauer
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 30, 2024

The musician was shredding on his solos, fingers flying all over the instrument as the notes emerged with spectacularly blazing speed. The player’s face contorted and his body bent and swayed as he soared up to high notes that seem to defy the instrument’s capabilities. A rock guitarist raging at a local club? No. It […]

Sippin’ on Jazz & Juice
By Richard Mineards   |   April 9, 2024

Santa Barbara Symphony maestro Nir Kabaretti hosted a Jazz & Juice party at the Montecito aerie of Chuck and Merryl Zegar. The sunset soirée featured New York-based singer Kristen Lee Sergeant, a certified sommelier working in Manhattan’s top eateries who founded a wine label with Grammy Award winning saxophonist Ted Nash, called Two Notes, now […]

A Romantic Serenade
By Richard Mineards   |   February 27, 2024

It was the musical version of pouring a gallon into a pint pot when Santa Barbara Symphony under maestro Nir Kabaretti performed “Serenade for Romance” at the 604-seat Lobero, having moved the show from the 1,553-seat Granada after a sprinkler mishap soaked the capacious stage. The decidedly cozy concert featured violinist Sirena Huang, artist-in-residence for […]

Santa Barbara Symphony
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 13, 2024

For the Santa Barbara Symphony, the 2023-24 season expresses a number of the outreach efforts in its mission: to enrich residents’ lives by producing and presenting the highest quality musical experiences, performed with artistic excellence and accessible to the entire community – as well as inspire a passion for symphonic music in the next generation […]

Symphonic Triplets
By Richard Mineards   |   January 30, 2024

Magnificent classical music reigned supreme with three impressive concerts in our Eden by the Beach, two at the venerable Granada and one at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall. Kicking off the week was the Community Arts Music Association’s first concert of the new year with London’s 79-year-old Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko, […]

Kings and Strings Meditate on Morrison
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 14, 2023

When the home-grown classic rock band Doublewide Kings plays the Granada Theatre on November 11, it will mark a lot of firsts for the group. It will be the debut at Santa Barbara’s grandest venue for the band founded by Montecito’s Palmer Jackson, Jr., who also happens to be the Executive Chairman and Chairman of […]

An Ode to SBS
By Richard Mineards   |   October 24, 2023

More than 250 musicians and singers packed the sprawling stage of the venerable Granada when the Santa Barbara Symphony, under veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti, kicked off its 71st season with An Ode to Joy, Hope and Community. It was the symphony’s first performance of Beethoven’s 9th – marking the 200th anniversary of the German composer’s […]

Symphony’s Joy-filled Journey to Modern Times
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 17, 2023

If anybody isn’t clear about the direction the Santa Barbara Symphony has undertaken, let’s dispel any doubts: This is not your grandfather’s symphony. Not anymore. As in recent years, programs have become progressive, as a wide variety of musical genres, unusual instrumentation, and frequent collaborations are pushing up hard against the old-school focus on classical […]

Symphony’s Season Kick Off
By Richard Mineards   |   September 19, 2023

Veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti, who has conducted the Santa Barbara Symphony for 18 years, took center stage at the Lobero when promoting the orchestra’s 71st season for more than 600 guests, who quaffed champagne and noshed on canapés on the Lovelace Esplanade outside the theater beforehand. The new season, which kicks off at the Granada […]

Sinatra and the Symphony
By Richard Mineards   |   June 27, 2023

Santa Barbara Symphony, under dashingly attired veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti, concluded its 70th anniversary season at the Granada with An Evening with Sinatra with Tony DeSare singing not only the music of Ol’ Blue Eyes, but a medley of favorites by Cole Porter, and wrapping up the highly entertaining show with the 1957 hit, “Great […]

An Apap Apéritif
By Richard Mineards   |   May 16, 2023

Former Santa Barbara Symphony concertmaster Gilles Apap was back in our tony town when the orchestra hosted its penultimate Concert Apéritif event to celebrate its 70th anniversary. The world-famous Algerian violinist, a good friend of the late Yehudi Menuhin, was joined by Chris Judge on guitar and Brendon Staton on bass at the Carpinteria aerie […]

Santa Barbara Symphony
By Steven Libowitz   |   May 3, 2023

The programming for the Santa Barbara Symphony’s milestone 70th anniversary has resulted in a sensational and supremely successful season, a nine-month musical journey that has weaved together a variety of collaborative explored genres and cultural traditions. Concerts have cut a wide swath across and beyond what is traditionally considered classical music, including such uniquely Santa […]

SBS Sneak Peak
By Richard Mineards   |   April 25, 2023

Santa Barbara Symphony’s 2023-24 season promises to be an absolute cracker! Veteran maestro Nir Kabaretti has enlisted a record-breaking 23 guest artists, including eight vocal soloists, four choral groups, two trios, and a guest conductor to perform at the venerable Granada. “They cost a lot, but enrich the community,” he told VIP donors at a […]

An Evening of Transformation
By Richard Mineards   |   February 28, 2023

Ted Nash, a regular figure of Jazz at Lincoln Center led by Wynton Marsalis, made his debut with the Santa Barbara Symphony, under conductor Nir Kabaretti, premiering a new orchestral expansion of his work Transformation at the Granada. Nash also performed with a trio led by Los Angeles-based pianist Josh Nelson. A short film also […]

Playing with Planes and Trains
By Richard Mineards   |   January 31, 2023

Santa Barbara Symphony was clearly on the right track with its first 70th anniversary concert of the New Year! Plains, Trains, & Violins at the Granada under maestro Nir Kabaretti was a celebration of the influence of music of the Americas with local ties to our Eden by the Beach. The entertaining performance included Uruguayan-born […]