Written by Mary Dan Eades on February 22, 2020
SB Choral Society Soirée
It was an evening of high note when board member Todd and Allyson Aldrich hosted a sunset soirée for Santa Barbara Choral Society at their Montecito ocean view aerie.
“It’s a nice way of saying a big thank you to our Canto Society members who are the real foundation of all the work we do,” says Karen Williams, president.
More than 35 supporters turned out for the charming musical bash including Dick and Marilyn Mazess, Margo Callis, veteran conductor JoAnne Wasserman, Bob and Mikki Lally, Marylove Thralls, Barbara Burger, Peter and Karen Brill, Val Noronha, Debra Stewart, and Tom and Jody Dolan Holehouse.
The society’s next concert is Choral Tapestry at Trinity Episcopal Church on March 21-22, 2020 featuring songs from the Renaissance to more contemporary works, including spirituals. (Buy Tickets for the event online.)
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.