INTERNATIONAL SERIES
at The Granada Theatre
Season Sponsor: SAGE Publishing
Single Tickets: ON SALE NOW
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 three-time Grammy® Award-winning bass-baritone Dashon Burton. 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 the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by beloved Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen, joined by 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.
Vimbayi Kaziboni (Photo Courtesy of Ensemble Intercontemporain)
Aaron Azunda Akugbo (Photo © Olivia Da Costa)
CLICK TO READ THE PROGRAM BOOK
“Chineke! is not only an exciting idea but a profoundly necessary one. The kind of idea which is so obvious that you
wonder why it is not already in place. The kind of idea which could deepen and enrich classical music in the UK for
generations. What a thrilling prospect!”
–Sir Simon Rattle
THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2025, 7:30PM
Chineke! Orchestra
Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE,
Founder and Artistic Director
Vimbayi Kaziboni, conductor
Samuel Aguirre, assistant conductor
Aaron Azunda Akugbo, trumpet
PROGRAM:
COLEMAN: 7 o’clock Shout
A. COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: A Sussex Landscape
HAYDN: Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in E-flat Major, Hob.VIIe:1
NABORS: Pulse for Orchestra
S. COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: Symphony in A Minor
Sponsors:
Edward S. DeLoreto
Mahri Kerley
The Shanbrom Family Foundation
Co-Sponsors:
Deborah & Peter Bertling
Elizabeth & Andrew Butcher
Stephen Cloud
LONDON’S GROUNDBREAKING CHINEKE! ORCHESTRA TO MAKE ITS U.S. WEST COAST DEBUT APRIL 3, 2025, AT THE GRANADA THEATRE!
Join CAMA for a memorable evening celebrating diversity and the transformative power of music across eras and cultures.
Community Arts Music Association (CAMA) of Santa Barbara continues its 106th concert season at The Granada Theatre on Thursday, April 3, 2025, with the highly anticipated U.S. West Coast debut of the pioneering, CHINEKE! ORCHESTRA, a Resident Orchestra at London's Southbank Centre. This groundbreaking symphony orchestra is dedicated to championing diversity and expanding professional opportunities for Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians and composers in the UK and Europe.
The Chineke! Orchestra has blazed a singular artistic trail since its founding. It serves as the flagship ensemble of the Chineke! Foundation, which was established in 2015 by Chi-chi Nwanoku, CBE, to provide underrepresented Black and ethnically diverse musicians in the UK and Europe with performance opportunities and visibility at the highest professional level. Chineke! performs a wide-ranging repertoire, from standard orchestral masterworks to often-overlooked compositions by historically marginalized composers.
The orchestra’s journey began with a landmark debut concert at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in September 2015. Since then, Chineke! has garnered international acclaim, performing at prestigious venues and festivals, including the BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall, the Lucerne Festival, and the Edinburgh International Festival. Its commitment to expanding the classical music canon is further reflected in an impressive discography, which includes critically acclaimed recordings of works by composers such as Florence B. Price, the trailblazing African American composer whose symphonies and concertos were largely neglected during her lifetime.
The organization takes its name from the Igbo exclamation “Chineke!”, which evokes the name of the creator to express wonder, awe, or surprise. This reflects the orchestra's mission to celebrate and inspire new possibilities in classical music.
Santa Barbara Debut Program
For its Santa Barbara debut, Chineke! presents an evening featuring compelling works by noted Black composers, including historic pieces by father-daughter composers SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR and AVRIL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR, contemporary compositions by VALERIE COLEMAN and BRIAN RAPHAEL NABORS—as well as FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN’s grand Trumpet Concerto in E‑flat Major, performed by Nigerian-Scottish trumpeter AARON AZUNDA AKUGBO—all under the baton of Zimbabwean-born conductor VIMBAYI KAZIBONI.
Valerie Coleman: Seven O’Clock Shout
The concert opens with Coleman’s vibrant tribute to frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Composed in 2020, the work was inspired by the global ritual of nightly applause for healthcare professionals.
Avril Coleridge-Taylor: A Sussex Landscape
A Sussex Landscape, a picturesque orchestral tone poem inspired by the English countryside where the composer spent much of her life.
Franz Joseph Haydn: Trumpet Concerto in E‑flat Major
The first half concludes with Haydn’s beloved Trumpet Concerto, showcasing Aaron Azunda Akugbo, a founding member of Connaught Brass.
Brian Raphael Nabors: Pulse for Orchestra
Following intermission, Nabors’ Pulse takes the audience on an exhilarating rhythmic journey.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Symphony in A Minor
The evening culminates with Coleridge-Taylor’s monumental work of late-Romantic grandeur.
Join CAMA for this historic occasion as Chineke! Orchestra brings its trailblazing artistry and commitment to diversity to Santa Barbara for the first time. •
(Upper right) Valerie Coleman, © Kia Caldwell.
(Lower left) Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1905), United States Library of Congress, Public Domain.
(Lower right) Brian Raphael Nabors, © Brian Raphael Nabors.
ESA-PEKKA SALONEN
© Benjamin Suomela
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, return for an evening of grand musical exploration with celebrated pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard. The concert marks Maestro Salonen’s sixteenth appearance conducting for CAMA over the past three decades—twelve with the LA Phil and three with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra.
NEW PROGRAM:
CLAUDE DEBUSSY:
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun)
BÉLA BARTÓK:
Piano Concerto No. 3, Sz. 119, BB 127 (1945)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN:
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55, “Eroica”
Principal Sponsor:
Bitsy & Denny Bacon and The Becton Family Foundation
Mosher Foundation
Sponsors:
Towbes Fund for the Performing Arts, a field of interest fund of the Santa Barbara Foundation
Co-Sponsors:
Rosalind Amorteguy-Fendon & Ronald Fendon
Beth Gates Warren & Bob Boghosian
Christine & Robert Emmons
Sally & George Messerlian
John & Ellen Pillsbury
Beth & George Wood
Nancy & Byron K. Wood