Grand Finale at Forty: The Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra Takes Its Final Bow

For forty years, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra has captivated Santa Barbara audiences with musical performances. On October 9 the Orchestra will celebrate its legacy with a final concert of Mozart, Mendelssohn and more. Music Director Heiichiro Ohyama, who has successfully led the Orchestra since 1983, will conduct the finale performance at the historic Lobero Theater, the Orchestra’s favored concert venue. To commemorate the Orchestra’s forty years in the community, the concert ticket price is $40. 

 

The evening’s program features guest soloist Jennifer Frautschi in Mozart’s Violin Concerto #3, K.216. The program also includes Mendelssohn’s Symphony #3, “Scottish,” and Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll.” The first two exemplify the classical repertoire so well performed by the Orchestra over the last four decades, and the “Idyll” bookends the Orchestra’s history as it was also included in its first concert in 1978.

 

“With this final farewell concert, the Chamber Orchestra offers the community a last signature experience,” says SBCO Board Chair Joe Campanelli. “The Board voted and our devoted subscribers agreed that we needed one last crescendo – a final tribute event to show Maestro Ohyama and our musicians how much we appreciate them, and all the supporters of this Chamber Orchestra. It is also the Orchestra’s moment to thank the community, and to share that unique sound they have perfected over these 40 years. “

 

Founded in the late 1970s by Jeffrey Evans, a UCSB conducting student, the Chamber Orchestra had humble beginnings as a community orchestra performing in coffee houses and libraries, working its way to the Natural History Museum where they also later held their Chamber Players Series. After five years, Mr. Evans left the area to get his Ph.D. At that time the current Music Director, Heiichiro Ohyama – who was teaching at UCSB ¬– took over and the direction of the Orchestra changed dramatically. Under Maestro Ohyama, the Chamber Orchestra became an orchestra of professional musicians. His conducting and programming gifts led the Chamber Orchestra to be known among many as the best artistic organization in Santa Barbara, and well respected in the classical music world at large.

 

The level of musicianship held by SBCO musicians and the conductor is apparent in the number of world-renowned soloists the Chamber Orchestra has hosted over the years, many of whom returned again and again due to the great artistic experience they had with the Chamber Orchestra. Critically acclaimed pianists such as Alessio Bax, Tong Il Han, Wu Han, Jerome Lowenthal, David Golub, Yefim Bronfman and André Michel Schub, violinists Cho-Liang Lin, Mark Kaplan, and Kyoko Takezawa, and cellists Lyn Harrell, Gary Hoffman, and Carter Brey have graced the Lobero stage as guest soloists with the Chamber Orchestra. 

 

Many of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra musicians have gone on to other exciting musical endeavors. Sheryl Staples, Principal Associate Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, is a former SBCO Concertmaster. Michelle Kim, who replaced Sheryl Staples’ position as SBCO Concertmaster, is now the Assistant Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. Current and past SBCO musicians also perform with the LA Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, and Pacific Symphony. Local resident Nina Bodinar soloed for SBCO as a “rising star” at 18 years of age, then became the Orchestra’s Concertmaster, eventually becoming concertmaster under Leonard Slatkin for the St. Louis Symphony.

 

The Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra is particularly proud of these unique community programs that they created and funded:

Free Concert Seats for Families began in 2007 and provided students – ages 8 to 18 from any financial background – with an opportunity to attend SBCO concerts at the Lobero Theater for FREE. This innovative education initiative offered young people the experience of attending a live classical performance with their family in a real concert- going atmosphere. Where some programs hold separate concerts for youth audiences, the SBCO program educated students about music, as well as audience protocol, in a professional performance setting. 

 

Classical Connections provided therapeutic musical performances at retirement homes and conducted a study that looked at the cognitive impact of live music performance vs. recordings on elderly dementia patients.  Researchers determined that live music provides these patients with far more than just entertainment; it can also improve mobility, human connection and mood.

 

The Grand Finale at Forty concert on Oct 9 is underwritten by a challenge grant from the Hollis Norris Adobe Fund, and sponsored by the Walter J. & Holly O. Thomson Foundation, the Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation, the Poomer Fund for Anne Smith Towbes, The Santa Barbara Foundation, The Mosher Foundation, Richard Kennelly, Chaucer’s Books, Eric Oltmann & Susan Van Able, and Union Bank.  Additional contributions can be made to the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra at www.youcaring.com

 

The SBCO’s Supper Club has been a popular pre-concert activity at the Lobero Theater for many years.  Concert -goers are invited to the (Last) Supper Club on Oct 9.  Cost is $50 per person, and includes wine, dinner and dessert.  Guests will enjoy a scrumptious buffet from local favorite Via Maestra 42 and wine from a top local vineyard. (Note that dinner capacity is limited.)

 

Concert and Supper Club tickets are available at Lobero.org. For more information on the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, visit sbco.org.