Tag archives: Santa Barbara Choral Society

It might seem strange, but sometimes serendipity shows up in classical music. Such was the case a couple of years ago when much heralded Composer Christopher Tin noticed someone leafing through some of his scores at a nearby table in a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles. That turned out to be JoAnne Wasserman, the 33-year […]

The Santa Barbara Choral Society’s “Hallelujah Project” hunkered down at the Lobero Theatre every December for the last decade with a program that also included a guest star reading “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” amid a selection of choral favorites from around the world. But this year, in a nod to the USA’s 250th birthday, […]

Santa Barbara Choral Society marked the conclusion of its 77th season with The Many Shades of Choral under veteran director JoAnne Wasserman with accompaniment by Kevin Su Fukagawa at Trinity Lutheran Church. The entertaining concert featured a wide range of composers beginning with selections from Mozart, including his final work for his hometown Salzburg Cathedral […]

Fans of Handel’s Messiah were prepared for a fun dual language perspective of the beloved oratorio when Santa Barbara Choral Society performed at Trinity Lutheran Church with a full 21-piece orchestra in both English and Spanish. The new dual language version of Handel’s classic included a new arrangement from the Bach Collegium San Diego conducted […]

Santa Barbara Choral Society had an annual gala with a difference with Shamrock at the Rockwood over St. Patrick’s Day weekend. The sold-out bash welcomed more than 130 guests to the women’s club which had been transformed into a giant Irish-themed bar, and where they were welcomed by emcees Larry Schecter and Kathleen Stinnett before […]

April Amante hasn’t had a whole lot of opportunities to sing in Santa Barbara since earning her Doctor of Musical Arts at UCSB in June 2023. There was the concert in May 2024, where the soprano returned to campus for the UCSB Opera Gala, directed by her mentor Isabel Bayrakdarian, the soprano who heads the […]

Santa Barbara Choral Society under veteran conductor JoAnne Wasserman was in top form for its 10th annual Hallelujah Project at the historic Lobero, which also included young Sing! project choral students from the Music Academy of the West, and Emmy-winning actress Meredith Baxter in a rocking chair reciting ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Accompanied by […]

If you want to take in all of the choral programs happening this weekend, you’d better figure out how to clone yourself quickly. By some quirk of fate, or quirky communication between them, seven different mostly choral concerts are taking place this week, including an astonishing five between Saturday and Sunday, four of them from […]

Two new members have joined the board of the Santa Barbara Choral Society – Dr. Lawrence M. Schecter and singer Susan Renehan. Schecter, a teacher, mentor, innovator and humanist, has added coaching and consulting to his impressive career in the healthcare industry. He was chief medical officer in hospitals in Santa Monica and an associate […]

The Santa Barbara Choral Society’s season finale at the Trinity Lutheran Church was a sellout, the 70-voice chorus accompanied by a 28-piece orchestra with guest soloists soprano Elissa Johnston, Michal Dawson Connor, Jimmer Bolden, and choral society alto section leader Becca Clarke in a “Visionaries, Then & Now” concert. The entertaining program began with a […]

Supporters of Santa Barbara Choral Society were clearly in the right aria when the popular 76-year-old choir hosted Toi, Toi, Toi, an evening of operatic enchantment at the Rockwood Woman’s Club with 110 guests, many in Tosca attire, raising around $70,000 during the sunset soirée. After cocktails on the terrace, followed by a musical toast […]

Santa Barbara Choral Society showed its true colors when it staged a Red, White, and Blues concert under veteran conductor JoAnne Wasserman at Trinity Episcopal Church. In a nod to America’s rich multi-cultured heritage of musical traditions featuring works by Leonard Bernstein, Randall Thompson, Shawn Kirchner, and Eric Whitacre, the entertaining show was a musical […]

Choir lovers rejoice: It’s the most wonderful time of year as several of the city’s classical vocal groups perform holiday concerts this week. Sing! – the Music Academy’s free community youth choral program – gets things going at 6 pm December 7 with a free one-hour concert featuring Christmas carols and holiday songs from across […]

Santa Barbara Choral Society wrapped its 75th anniversary season with a “Mozart to Modern” concert at First Presbyterian Church under veteran conductor JoAnn Wasserman, herself celebrating her 30th anniversary. The performance featured soprano soloist Tamara Bevard and tenor Jimmer Bolden with Mozart’s Requiem and works by Palestrina, Durufle, Gjeilo, Lauridsen, Aaron Copland and Christopher Tin. […]

It was a double anniversary celebration when the Santa Barbara Choral Society hosted a 75th anniversary gala at the Music Academy’s Lehmann Hall, which also marked the 30th season of its veteran conductor JoAnne Wasserman. Before repairing to the Duo Catering dinner, guests were at Hahn Hall, just a tiara’s toss away, for a highly […]

Santa Barbara Choral Society, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary, put on a heavenly concert at Trinity Episcopal Church under veteran conductor JoAnne Wasserman, herself celebrating 30 years at the helm. The performance, For the Love of Music, with Music Academy graduate David Potter on piano, featured works by Pachelbel, Byrd, Bradbury, and Morten Lauridsen’s […]

President Todd Aldrich and his wife, Allyson, opened the doors of their Montecito aerie for Santa Barbara Choral Society’s annual Canto Society bash for more than 30 top donors. The fun fête was catered by Italian eatery Via Maestra 42 with music from the dynamic duo of Kim Collins on double bass and Debbie Denke […]

Santa Barbara Choral Society, under veteran conductor Jo Anne Wasserman, was in fine form with its eighth annual Hallelujah Project at the Lobero, which also included Sing! program choral students from the Music Academy and pajama-clad president Scott Reed in a rocking chair reciting ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Accompanied by an orchestra, the enthusiastic […]

Even the cavernous stage of the venerable Granada Theatre was filled to capacity when 170 performers helped launch the Santa Barbara Symphony’s 70th season with Carl Orff’s magnificent Carmina Burana featuring Rodney Gustafson’s State Street Ballet, Santa Barbara Choral Society under Jo Anne Wasserman, the Quire of Voyces under director Nathan Kreitzer, and the Music […]

The Santa Barbara Symphony last presented Carmina Burana just seven years ago, but, says music and artistic director Nir Kabaretti, the time is ripe to launch its new season with an even bigger community cultural collaborative effort in presenting the Carl Orff classic cantata composed in the mid-1930s based on 24 poems drawn from a […]