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SEASON AT A GLANCE

2008 - 2009 CLASSICAL CONCERTS
Saturday night concerts begin at 8:00 pm
Sunday matinee concerts begin at 3:00 pm

Special Presentation: The Santa Barbara Symphony hosts the 2nd International Guitar Festival
in venues throughout Santa Barbara!  March 21st through March 29th

 
 

Festa Italiana!
January 17 & 18, 2009 - The Granada 
Nir Kabaretti, Conductor

(Programming changed Dec. 2008)

BERLIOZ: Roman Carnival
MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90, "Italian"
ROSSINI: L'Italiana in Algeri Overture
VERDI: La Forza del Destino Overture
PUCCINI: Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut
TCHAIKOVSKY: Capriccio Italien, Op. 45

 
From the gondoliers of Venice to the farmers of Tuscany, Italians are renowned for their love of food, family and fine art—including great music. Maestro Nir Kabaretti salutes his adopted homeland in this colorful program, which includes works by two Italian masters and three travelers who were inspired by the land and its people: Berlioz, Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn.
  
 
 

Valentine's Concert
February 14 & 15, 2009 - The Granada 
Nir Kabaretti, Conductor
Jennifer Koh, violin

(Programming changed Dec. 2008)

MENDELSSOHN: Athalia Overture, Op. 74
MOZART: Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K.550
MENDELSSOHN: Concerto for Violin in E Minor, Op. 64

  Felix Mendelssohn has been called “the happy face of Romanticism.” His music gracefully combines the structural elegance of Bach and Handel, the heartfelt humanity of Mozart and a delicate lyricism all its own. To celebrate his 200th birthday, Maestro Kabaretti and the orchestra will perform his rarely heard “Athalia” Overture. Jennifer Koh, the virtuosic violinist who performed during Kabaretti’s 2006 Santa Barbara debut, will return as soloist in the composer’s beloved Violin Concerto.  
 
 

GRANDE FINALE TO THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL
Return of the Guitars!
March 28 & 29, 2009 - The Granada 
International Guitar Festival Grand Finale
Guest Conductor: Rossen Milanov
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
featuring (from left) William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant,
Matt Greif, and John Dearman

BIZET: L’Arlesienne, Suite No. 1
SÉRGIO ASSAD: Four Level Interchange
RAVEL: Mother Goose Suite
GINASTERA: Variaciones Concertantes
 
  The centerpiece concert of the Symphony’s second International Guitar Festival will feature the West Coast premiere of the dazzling Concerto for Four Guitars and Orchestra, written by the brilliant Brazilian guitarist Sergio Assad and performed by the charismatic Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. The program, which also features rich and lively music by Ravel, Bizet and Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera, will be led by guest conductor Rossen Milanov, the critically acclaimed Associate Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.  
   
 
 

Mozart and Puccini
April 18 & 19, 2009 - The Granada 
Nir Kabaretti, Conductor
Santa Barbara Choral Society
JoAnne Wasserman, Music Director
Håkan Rosengren, clarinet

MOZART: Impresario Overture, K. 486
MOZART: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622
PUCCINI: Messa di Gloria

  One of Mozart’s final masterpieces is paired with a brash and brilliant choral work by the 20-year-old Puccini in this exciting program. “Messa di Gloria,” a work of astonishing maturity, is both an homage to the intensely dramatic music of Verdi and a preview of Puccini’s own great operas. Mozart’s warm and graceful Clarinet Concerto will be performed by Hakan Rosengren, who was praised by The New York Times for his “immediately memorable musical personality.”  
 
 

Great Granada Finale
May 9 & 10, 2009 - The Granada 
Nir Kabaretti, Conductor
Sergio Tiempo, piano

BARTÓK: Concerto for Orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concert No. 1 in B flat Minor, Op. 23

  The season concludes with the local debut of exciting young keyboard virtuoso Sergio Tiempo, performing Tchaikovsky’s grand and gorgeous First Piano Concerto. A protégé of the great Martha Argerich, Tiempo has wowed audiences at the Hollywood Bowl and the Kennedy Center demonstrating what the Chicago Tribune called “an uncommon poetic sensibility allied to a powerhouse technique.” The program also includes Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, a true 20th-century masterpiece hailed for its biting humor and visceral excitement.  
 
 
(Concert dates, program and guest artists subject to change)