INTERNATIONAL SERIES
at The Granada Theatre
Season Sponsor: SAGE Publishing
CAMA presents its 2024/2025 International Series at The Granada Theatre, showcasing the brilliance and artistry of world-renowned orchestras and soloists. This season spotlights three of California’s finest orchestras, each celebrated for its distinctive musical excellence.
The series opens with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra led by Jaime Martín, featuring acclaimed baritone Thomas Bauer. Recognized as “one of the world’s great chamber orchestras” (KUSC), LACO sets the standard for chamber orchestras. Avi Avital returns to lead the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra with Grammy® Award-winning soprano Estelí Gomez in a program of Venetian Splendor. Hailed as “America’s leading historically informed ensemble” (The New York Times), their performance is sure to dazzle. CAMA and the Music Academy collaborate once more to welcome the London Symphony Orchestra, now under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano with violinist Janine Jansen. CAMA proudly presents the long-overdue Santa Barbara debut of the Chineke! Orchestra, whose 2020 tour was unfortunately canceled in the wake of the pandemic, just weeks before their scheduled CAMA concert. A champion of diversity in classical music, Chineke! Orchestra’s vibrant ensemble will perform works by Black composers alongside Haydn’s trumpet concerto. The season concludes with a captivating exploration of Debussy and Boulez as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by beloved Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen, engages in a musical dialogue with pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Described by The New York Times as “the most important orchestra in America—period,” the LA Phil promises a breathtaking finale. From timeless masterpieces to contemporary innovation, this CAMA season invites you on a thrilling journey of musical discovery, celebrating the brilliance and diversity of today’s classical music world.
Mark your Calendar!
Important On-Sale Dates:
1. Renewing Subscribers: Deadline to renew is June 21, 2024
2. New Subscribers: Sales begin July 9, 2024 through CAMA Office; (805) 966-4324, camasb.org, tickets@camasb.org, mail-in form
3. Single Tickets: Sales begin September 13, 2024 through Granada and Lobero box offices
• Lobero box office; (805) 963-0761, lobero.org
• Granada box office; (805) 899-2222, granadasb.org
106th Concert Season
JAIME MARTÍN
Photo Courtesy of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
THOMAS BAUER
© Marco Borggreve
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024, 7:30PM
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
Jaime Martín, Music Director
Thomas Bauer, baritone
Founded in 1968 as an artistic outlet for the recording industry’s most gifted musicians, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) has spent the past six decades burnishing its reputation as “one of the world’s great chamber orchestras” (KUSC Classical FM) and as a major cultural force in Los Angeles. Since 2019, the esteemed Spanish conductor Jaime Martín has served as LACO’s Music Director, as well as Chief Conductor of both the Melbourne Symphony and Ireland’s RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. Known for his insightful interpretations, Maestro Martín offers a superb concert program featuring two symphonic masterpieces, the Haydn No. 6 and Brahms No. 2, and Mahler’s exquisite Songs of a Wayfarer, sung by acclaimed German baritone Thomas Bauer, who critics and audiences agree is one of the most fascinating vocal artists of our time.
PROGRAM:
HAYDN: Symphony No.6 in D Major, “Le Matin”
MAHLER arr. SCHOENBERG: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer)
BRAHMS: Symphony No.2 in D Major
Il Canaletto (1697–1768), The Bacino di San Marco on Ascension Day, c.1733-1734, Oil on canvas, from The Royal Collection of the United Kingdom, RCIN 404417
AVI AVITAL
© Zohar Ron
ESTELÍ GOMEZ
© Haley Freedlund
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2024, 7:30PM
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
Avi Avital, mandolin/leader/arranger
Estelí Gomez, soprano
San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, considered the most versatile ensemble of its kind performing on period instruments, returns to Santa Barbara led by superstar mandolin virtuoso and longtime CAMA favorite Avi Avital for a very special program: Venetian Splendor: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons & Gondola Songs—a lively musical celebration of the magical Italian city nicknamed La Serenissima (“The Most Serenely Beautiful One”) on the occasion of the 300th Anniversary of Vivaldi’s enduringly popular Baroque masterpiece. The program also features an array of historic gondolier songs dedicated to Venice’s hallmark form of transport, with acclaimed soprano Estelí Gomez (a two-time Grammy® winner) as soloist with the PBO. Join CAMA for a lively and spirited musical tour to the City of Canals!
PROGRAM:
VENETIAN SPLENDOR: Vivaldi Four Seasons & Gondola Songs
SIR ANTONIO PAPPANO
© Frances Marshall
JANINE JANSEN
© Marco Borggreve
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025, 7:30PM
THE MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST AND CAMA CO-PRESENT
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Antonio Pappano, Music Director
Janine Jansen, violin
Among the greatest of all orchestras today, the legendary London Symphony Orchestra returns to Santa Barbara for a special concert co-presented by CAMA and the Music Academy of the West. Under the esteemed leadership of Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano since 2024, the LSO continues to shine on the globalstage. Sir Antonio, renowned for his profound musical insight and charismatic conducting, was Music Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from 2002 to 2023, and named “Conductor of the Year” at the prestigious International Opera Awards in 2023. Joining the LSO as violin soloist is Dutch violinist Janine Jansen, celebrated internationally for her intense expressivity and impeccable technique. Among the world’s star soloists, she performs regularly with the world’s most eminent orchestras and conductors, playing the Shumsky-Rode Stradivarius from 1715, on generous loan from a European benefactor.
PROGRAM:
BERNSTEIN: Serenade, after Plato’s Symposium
MAHLER: Symphony No.1, “Titan”
CHINEKE! ORCHESTRA
Photo Courtesy of Chineke! Foundation
THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2025, 7:30PM
Chineke! Orchestra
Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE, Founder & Artistic Director, Chineke!
Vimbayi Kaziboni, conductor
Aaron Azunda Akugbo, trumpet
The Chineke! Orchestra, whose motto is “championing change and celebrating diversity in classical music,” is one of Britain’s most exciting new orchestras. It was founded in London in 2015 by double bassist Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE to provide career opportunities at the highest level for Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians in the UK and Europe. They are currently a Resident Orchestra at London’s Southbank Centre, and their 2023 BBC Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall featured musicians from 40 different countries. They have performed to great critical acclaim at leading European festivals such as the Lucerne and Edinburgh Festivals, as well as in the US and Canada. Zimbabwean-born conductor Vimbayi Kaziboni, Assistant Professor of Orchestral Studies and Contemporary Music at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, is widely sought after by top orchestras around the globe for his depth of approach, interpretive imagination, and expressivity. For its Santa Barbara debut, the Chineke! Orchestra presents an evening of compelling works by Black composers, and Franz Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E-flat featuring Aaron Azunda Akugbo, a founding member of Connaught Brass.
PROGRAM:
COLEMAN: 7 o’clock Shout
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: A Sussex Landscape
HAYDN: Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in E-flat Major, Hob.VIIe:1
NABORS: Pulse for Orchestra
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: Symphony in A Minor
ESA-PEKKA SALONEN
© Benjamin Suomela
PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD
© Julia Wesely
FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2025, 7:30PM
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Conductor Laureate
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, under the baton of their esteemed Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen, returns for an evening of profound musical exploration with celebrated pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard. The concert marks Maestro Salonen’s 16th appearance conducting for CAMA over the past 30+ years—twelve with the LA Phil and three with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. The program features an intricate dialogue between solo and orchestral textures, showcasing the innovative works of Pierre Boulez complemented by three of Debussy’s radiant works, including La mer. Known for his deep connection with Boulez’s compositions, Aimard will perform solo pieces from the composer’s “Notations” along with corresponding orchestral versions, as well as Debussy’s “Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra.” Both composers pioneered revolutionary approaches to composition and timbre, making this pairing especially apt, inviting discovery and association.
PROGRAM:
BOULEZ: Notations IV, for solo piano
BOULEZ: Notations IV, for orchestra
DEBUSSY: Images: I. Gigues
BOULEZ: Notations VII, for solo piano
BOULEZ: Notations VII, for orchestra
DEBUSSY: Images: III. Rondes de printemps
BOULEZ: Notations II, for solo piano
BOULEZ: Notations II, for orchestra
DEBUSSY: Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra
DEBUSSY: La mer