Written by Mary Dan Eades on July 24, 2014
The upcoming season promises to be an exciting one! Conductor JoAnne Wasserman and the Board announced the new season’s offerings, which include:
November 9, 2014 at 3 pm. A Veteran’s Day Tribute
This moving and patriotic afternoon of music and words at First Presbyterian Church (State and Constance Streets) will honor our nation’s women veterans. The event is presented by the Pierre Claeyssen’s Veterans Foundation and produced by Foundation Chairperson (and SBCS Advisory Council member) Marilyn Gilbert. Seating will be open and no tickets or reservations are required to attend. Come join us in honoring our nation’s heroes. (No tickets required.)
December 13 and 14, 2014 – Hallelujah Project 2014
Kick off the holidays on Saturday at 8 pm or Sunday at 3 pm at the Lobero Theatre with the chorus, orchestra, and special guests, the SB Children’s Chorus. This season’s presentation of the annual family-friendly Hallelujah Project will feature the JS Bach Gloria and John Rutter Gloria, along with a selection of traditional carols and seasonal favorites. Once again, there will be a celebrity narration of the orchestrated ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas that so delighted audiences young and old last year. There is likely to be another visit from Santa, so kids, keep a sharp eye out!
March 28 and 29, 2015 – Then and Now Composer Series at Lobero
This series of concerts explores the music of modern composers and the classical masters who have influenced them. Special guest for 2015 is Dr. Rollo Dilworth, who will bring to Santa Barbara choral fans a new work for a World Premiere performance. The first half of the concert Conductor JoAnne Wasserman will conduct works of classical masters important to Dr. Dilworth and from whom he has drawn inspiration, including WA Mozart. The second half will concentrate on the music of living composers, including Norwegian born Ola Gjeilo and, of course, Dr. Dilworth himself. Finally, Dr. Dilworth will take the stage to speak about these influences and to conduct the chorus in the World Premiere of his new work.
April 11, 2015 – Choral Exchange Project II – Camina Burana in Berkeley, CA
The chorus will travel north to Berkeley to join with the UC Alumni Chorus in Berkeley, under the direction of Mark Sumner, in a combined-chorus production of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana as part II of our Choral Exchange Project with UCAC Berkeley. (No information on availability of tickets yet.)
May 16 and 17, 2015 – Porgy and Bess with Santa Barbara Symphony, Nir Kabaretti, Conductor
In our annual collaboration with the Symphony, Maestro Kabaretti will conduct the chorus, orchestra, and soloists in this bittersweet triumph of an opera. Filled with memorable songs (Summertime, It Ain’t Necessarily So, I Got Plenty of Nothin’) and toe-tapping rhythms, it’s ear candy that’s easy to love! Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 3 pm at the Granada.
American baritone, Ralph Cato has travelled the world extensively, telling stories in song with his warm, clarion baritone voice.
Tenor, Benjamin Brecher has performed over fifty operatic roles with many of the world’s most prestigious opera companies, specializing in the high lying lyric tenor repertoire. He has performed 16 roles with New York City Opera alone. Career highlights include performances with Opera Orchestra of New York, L’Opera de Nice, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, L’Opera de Montreal, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, among many others. His orchestral solo repertoire includes Mozart, Handel, Orff, Bach, Haydn, as well as many performances of Britten. In 2000 he began performing the great Irish Tenor songs in a concert produced for him entitled A Celtic Celebration, Twenty years later, the show has become a North American hit with performances with 45 Symphonies in North America. Ben continues his discography having added his twelfth recording in 2016 Forgotten Liszt, with pianist Robert Koenig, and will record a new release in 2022 entitled “Three Centuries of Thomas Moore” including the music of Britten, Berlioz, and Sarah Gibson on MSR Classics. He is a Professor of Voice at University of California Santa Barbara, where he has served as the Head of Voice.
Tracy Van Fleet is pleased to return to the Santa Barbara Choral Society. As a soloist, she has performed with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Lüneburg Symphony in Germany, Orquesta Filarmónica de Boca del Río in Mexico, Pasadena Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Los Angeles Bach Festival, San Diego Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Philharmonic, USC Symphony and Chorus, and others. She has had many appearances with the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Opera Pacific, San Diego Opera and Opera Colorado.
Born and raised in Southern California, April Amante is a versatile soprano with expertise and facility in repertoire spanning from early music to contemporary musical theater.