Southern California’s premiere chamber music ensemble, Camerata Pacifica, celebrates its 25th season of concerts in Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Marino, Pasadena & Los Angeles. The season is dedicated to the memory of founding Board member and friend Bill Stewart, whose leadership and generosity were critical to the ensemble’s early years.

The season opens with a reprise of two audience favorites: the most well known of Mozart’s flute quartets (D Major, K. 285) and Schubert’s sublime E-Flat Major Piano Trio featuring Principal Pianist Warren Jones. Also on the program is the long awaited world premiere of John Harbison’s String Trio, commissioned for the ensemble’s Silver Anniversary by a consortium of Camerata audience members.

Harpist Bridget Kibbey dazzled our audiences two seasons ago and returns this October as a Camerata Principal Artist. Her program will illuminate Kibbey’s reputation for redefining her instrument. Amongst a program of solo works, Bridget will collaborate with colleagues Richard O’Neill & Adrian Spence in Britten, Bach, Bruce and a premiere of a trio, Three Songs of Home, an anniversary gift from the Northern Irish composer Ian Wilson.
In November, Camerata Principal Cellist Ani Aznavoorian welcomes two newer colleagues: violinist Paul Huang, who debuted with the Camerata last season and, keeping with the Northern Irish connection, our first collaboration with Belfast pianist Michael McHale.

Last season’s premiere of Huang Ruo’s In Other Words has audiences still talking, not least for Richard O’Neill’s absolutely stunning performance. Another Chinese composer, Bright Sheng, was commissioned to write Hot Pepper for the Camerata — we’ll hear both works again in the first program of the New Year. Bridget Kibbey will join Nicholas Daniel in Elliott Carter’s 1992 Trilogy, and Paul Huang for Saint-Saëns brilliant Fantasie. The virtuosic program will come to a rousing close when the effervescent Ji Hye Jung and the irrepressible Jose Franch Ballester join Paul for Kevin Puts’ And Legions Will Rise.

The February program is a program of favorites; music and musicians — Camerata’s wonderful principal artists, Nick Daniel, Richard O’Neill, Ani Aznavoorian & Warren Jones welcome violinist Arnaud Sussmann for his first appearance with the Camerata. The music making between these Camerata artists has become legendary and will be fully explored in this program, including a reprise performance of the Loeffler Rhapsodies, which will be absolutely magical.

In March the ensemble is pleased to introduce violinist Kristin Lee and pianist Gloria Chien in a program traversing the boundaries of romanticism; from Beethoven’s proto-romantic ”Moonlight” sonata, through the gentle tones of Foote & Field, Debussy’s evocative Suite bergamasque, to the dramatic, opulently chromatic intensity of Schoenberg’s “Transfigured Night”.

Intensity opens April’s concert with James MacMillan’s Kiss on Wood described by his publisher as “a short, static and serene meditation for violin and piano”, performed here with Warren Jones and violinist Priya Mitchell. Warren’s performance of the Lizst/Wagner Liebestod was one of his most celebrated Camerata performances and will be reprised in this program. The program will conclude with Brahms’ Horn Trio, and the amazing artistry of French hornist Martin Owen.

In May, Camerata Pacifica will return to The Huntington Library to take residence in their brand new auditorium, with a reprise of the ensemble’s first program:

At 7.30 p.m. on December 3rd, 1990, Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre filled with the exuberant tones of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti as The Bach Camerata launched its inaugural season. As the scholar Christoff Wolf noted, Bach used the “widest spectrum of orchestral instruments … in daring combinations. Every one of the six concertos set a precedent in scoring, and every one was to remain without parallel.” And so we conclude our 25th season as we began our 1st — in celebration, this time of 25 years of performances of music without parallel.

2014/2015 Silver Anniversary Season of Concerts – The William A. Stewart Season

September 2014
Thursday, September 11, 8pm, Los Angeles
Friday, September 12, 1pm and 7.30 pm, Santa Barbara
Sunday, September 14, 3pm, Ventura
Tuesday, September 16, 8pm, Pasadena

Mozart, W. A. – Quartet for Flute & Strings in D Major, K. 285
Harbison, John – String Trio (World Premiere)
Schubert, Franz – Piano Trio No. 2 in E-Flat Major, D. 929*

Movses Pogossian, Richard O’Neill, Ani Aznavoorian, Raman Ramakrishnan, Warren Jones

October 2014
Friday, October 10, 1pm and 7:30pm, Santa Barbara
Sunday, October 12, 3pm, Ventura
Tuesday, October 14, 8pm, Pasadena
Thursday, October 16, 8pm, Los Angeles

Bach, J.S. – Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565
Britten, Benjamin – Lachrymae, Op. 48*
Agócs, Katie – Northern Lights*
Wilson, Ian – Three Songs of Home (World Premiere)
A gift from the composer to celebrate the 25th season

Bach, J.S. – Trio Sonata in G Major, BWV 525*
D’Rivera, Paquito – Bandoneon*
Bruce, David – Caja de Musica
Bruce, David – The Eye of Night*
Barros, Jose Benito – El Pescador

Adrian Spence, Richard O’Neill, Bridget Kibbey

November 2014
Sunday, November 9, 3pm, Ventura –
Tuesday, November 11, 8pm, Pasadena
Thursday, November 13, 8pm, Los Angeles
Friday, November 14, 1pm and 7:30pm, Santa Barbara

Schubert, Franz – Four Impromptus, D. 899
Grieg, Edvard – Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 45
Dvořák, Antonin – Piano Trio in F Minor, Op. 65*

Paul Huang, Ani Aznavoorian, Michael McHale

January 2015
Sunday, January 11, 3pm, Ventura –
Thursday, January 15, 8pm, Los Angeles
Tuesday, January 13, 8pm, Pasadena
Friday, January 16, 1pm and 7:30pm, Santa Barbara

Carter, Elliott – Trilogy
Huang Ruo – In Other Words for Vocalized Violist and Chamber Ensemble
Commissioned by Frank & Ann Everts, Premiered September 20th, 2012
Saint-Saëns, Camille – Fantasie for Violin & Harp, Op. 124*
Sheng, Bright – Hot Pepper*
Commissioned by Bob Peirce & Sharon Harroun Peirce, Premiered September
10th, 2010
Puts, Kevin – And Legions Will Rise*

Adrian Spence, Nicholas Daniel, Jose Franch Ballester, Paul Huang, Agnes Gottschewski, Richard O’Neill, Ani Aznavoorian, Tim Eckert, Bridget Kibbey, Ji Hye Jung

February 2015
Tuesday, February 3, 8pm, Pasadena
Thursday, February 5, 8pm, Los Angeles
Friday, February 6, 1pm and 7:30pm, Santa Barbara
Sunday, February 8, 3pm, Ventura

Britten, Benjamin – Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, Op. 49
Hindemith, Paul – Viola Sonata in F Major, Op. 11, No. 4
Loeffler, Charles – Two Rhapsodies for Viola, Oboe, and Piano*
Schumann, Robert – Piano Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 47*

Nicholas Daniel, Arnaud Sussmann, Richard O’Neill, Ani Aznavoorian, Warren Jones

March 2015
Sunday, March 15, 3pm, Ventura
Tuesday, March 17, 8pm, Pasadena
Thursday, March 19, 8pm, Los Angeles
Friday, March 20, 1pm and 7:30pm, Santa Barbara

Foote, Arthur – Nocturne & Scherzo
Field, John – Quintet for Piano & Strings in A-Flat Major
Beethoven, Ludwig van – Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, “Quasi una fantasia,” Op. 27, No. 2*
Debussy, Claude – Suite bergamasque
Schoenberg, Arnold – Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4*

Adrian Spence, Kristin Lee, Richard O’Neill, Ani Aznavoorian, Gloria Chien

April 2015
Sunday, April 12, 3pm, Ventura
Tuesday, April 14, 8pm, Pasadena
Thursday, April 16, 8pm, Los Angeles
Friday, April 17, 1pm and 7:30pm, Santa Barbara

MacMillan, James – Kiss on Wood
Brahms, Johannes – Violin Sonata in A Major, Op. 100
Wagner Richard/Liszt, Franz – Liebestod*
Brahms, Johannes – Horn Trio*

Priya Mitchell, Martin Owen, Warren Jones

May 2015
Sunday, May 10, 3pm, Ventura
Tuesday, May 12, 8pm, San Marino
Thursday, May 14, 8pm, Los Angeles
Saturday, May 16 2pm, Santa Barbara & Gala Dinner

The Complete Brandenburg Concerti of Johann Sebastian Bach

Adrian Spence, Melanie Lançon, Nicholas Daniel, John Steinmetz, Steve Becknell, Martin Owen, Catherine Leonard, Agnes Gottschewski, Richard O’Neill, Jonathan Moerschel, Ani Aznavoorian, Raman Ramakrishnan, Tim Eckert, Paolo Bordignon

*denotes Santa Barbara Lunchtime Concert repertoire.

Programs and Artists subject to change without notice.

For more information, contact Camerata Pacifica at (805)-884-8410, (800) 557-BACH (2224), or visit www.cameratapacifica.org.

Venue and Ticket Information:

Santa Barbara: Hahn Hall, Music Academy of the West, 1070 Fairway Road

7:30pm concert $47 single tickets, $12 Student Rush
1:00 pm Lunchtime* concert $24 single tickets, $12 Student Rush

Los Angeles: Zipper Hall, Colburn School, 200 South Grand Avenue
8:00pm concert $45, $10 Student Rush

Ventura: Temple Beth Torah, 7620 Foothill Road
3:00pm concert $40 single tickets, $10 Student Rush

Pasadena: Civic Auditorium Gold Room, 300 East Green Street
8:00pm concert $48 single tickets, $13 Student Rush

San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1151 Oxford Road
May 12, 2015 8:00pm concert $48, $13 Student Rush

Subscription information and group rate details available upon request