Tag archives: SB Symphony
The Golden Days of Hollywood were remembered when the Santa Barbara Symphony under guest conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos, general director of the New York Grand Opera, performed an Oscar-themed concert at the Granada hosted by the vivacious Leslie Zemeckis. Leslie, a bestselling author and award-winning documentarian, as well as being a near Montecito neighbor and fellow […]
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 […]
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 […]
Andrew Lipke makes his Santa Barbara Symphony debut Sunday night as guest conductor for the annual New Year’s Eve concert, but he’ll be doing much more than waving the baton around to close out 2023. The composer, arranger, conductor, guitarist, and vocalist will actually display all of those talents at the Granada in a program […]
Dynamic duo Rick Oshay and Teresa Kuskey, in collaboration with the Santa Barbara Symphony, hosted Joy, a private concert with the Grammy Award and Emmy-winning trio Time for Three in the historic Presidio Chapel, after dinner for more than 100 guests in the tented front courtyard. The talented triumvirate – violinists Nicolas Kendall and Charles […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Santa Barbara Symphony concluded its seven-event Concert Aperitif series with a quintessential performance. Todd and Allyson Aldrich opened the doors of their stunning Montecito aerie for a recital by Russian violinist Philippe Quint, 49, who played in the orchestra’s Platinum Sounds: The Symphony Turns 70 concert at the Granada two days later. Playing a 1708 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Santa Barbara Symphony, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary, hosted its fifth Concert Apéritif soirée, The Art of Brass: From Baroque to Hollywood, at Seaside Gardens, a four-acre botanical wonderland in Carpinteria owned by Fred and Linda Wudl. For the occasion five members of the symphony – trumpeters Jon Lewis and Dustin McKinney, trombonist Dillon […]
Back in 2020, the Santa Barbara Symphony canceled its annual New Year’s Eve pop concert due to the pandemic in its pre-vaccine stage. But everyone got to return to the Granada last December 31 to hear the orchestra play movie themes, pop songs, celebratory symphonic favorites and, of course, join in on the sing-along of […]
Italian pianist Alessio Bax, a frequent visitor to our Eden by the Beach, who performed with the Santa Barbara Symphony at the Granada playing Schumann’s “Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54,” gave a private concert 48 hours earlier for VIP supporters in the second of its Concert Aperitif series at the historic APS aerie […]
The threat of imminent development of the western parcel of the San Marcos Foothills Preserve 18 months ago not only triggered an astonishingly speedy and successful campaign to purchase the land as a nature preserve in perpetuity, it also synchronistically spawned a sensational new piece of music from a Santa Barbara native: Cody Westheimer’s Wisdom […]
High school choirs from across the Southern California region join the Westmont College Choir and Choral Union to share an off-campus concert of vocal music from an array of different musical traditions. The high school choirs, who have received coaching from Westmont’s music faculty, get a chance to shine individually as well as part of […]
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 […]
Santa Barbara Symphony’s Crescendo Society hosted its second annual brunch at the Santa Barbara Club as the talented musicians, under maestro Nir Kabaretti, celebrate their 70th anniversary. As the 100 guests, major donors to the Granada Theatre-based organization, tucked into fresh fruit and quiche, while quaffing coffee and orange juice, the Gatsby Trio with symphony […]
Every year in recent times, the Santa Barbara Symphony announces a new season that’s about expanding its audience while keeping core fans as well as strengthening community connections. But this year feels different. Maybe it’s residue of having had to pivot to persevere during the pandemic or the impact of a recent five-year commitment from […]
