Santa Barbara Music Club Free Concerts

On Saturday, April 7 at 3 PM, the SANTA BARBARA MUSIC CLUB will present another program in its popular series of concerts of beautiful Classical music. The concert will be held at First United Methodist Church, 305 East Anapamu Street (at Garden). Admission is free.

One of the highlights of Santa Barbara Music Club’s concerts is the opportunity for audiences to hear great music from a variety of historical periods, with a diversity of musical forms, performed by excellent artists. The April 7 concert features pianist Pascal Salomon playing J.S. Bach’s English Suite #3 in G minor, Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1 and Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61, and Claude Debussy’s L’isle joyeuse.

Pascal Salomon, pianist, was born in Israel, grew up in France, studied at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris, earned the Virtuosity Degree at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève, Switzerland, and earned his DMA Degree from UCSB in 2017. Awarded “Best French Pianist” at the Senigalia International Competition in Italy and winner of the Maria Canals International Competition in Barcelona, he taught piano at the Geneva Conservatory for ten years and has concertized in China, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Romania, Spain and Switzerland. His new CD, Pascal Salomon Plays Schumann, has been released on the Polish label ART Records, and he has also recorded a forthcoming CD with violist Jacob Adams.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was the preeminent composer of the Baroque Era. A renowned keyboard virtuoso, his six English Suites, composed between 1715 and 1720, are the first of his large-scale keyboard works. Thought to have been composed for an English nobleman, they are based on traditional dance forms, with a prelude preceding the movements. The English Suite in G minor consists of six delightfully contrasting sections: a rhythmically piquant Prelude, elegant Allemande, energetic Courante, thoughtful Sarabande, perky Gavottes I & II, and playful Gigue.

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) is best known for his music for solo piano, running the gamut from heartbreaking simplicity to dazzling virtuosity. Together, the works on this concert cover that entire spectrum. The Nocturne in C minor, Op.48, No. 1 delineates the profundity of Chopin’s emotional powers, with the unassumingly innocent opening leading inexorably to the bold octave-laden power that forms the middle section; the opening melodic figuration returns, now enhanced and bolstered with bravura from the previous section, and this beautiful work winds down to form a peaceful and resigned conclusion. Replete with formal intricacy as well as harmonic complexity, the Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61, true to its title, is a composition inspired by both the Polish polonaise dance meter and the fantasy-like expressions of the composer’s musical imagination.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was a French composer whose compositional innovations had a profound influence on generations of composers. L’isle joyeuse (The Joyful Island) was composed in 1904 and was inspired by Watteau’s painting Embarkation for Cythere.

The mission of the Santa Barbara Music Club is to contribute to the musical life of our community through the following:

•Presentation of an annual series of concerts, free to the public, featuring outstanding solo and chamber music performances by Performing Members and invited guests;
•Presentation of community outreach activities, including bringing great music to residents of area retirement homes;
•Aiding and encouraging musical education by the disbursement of scholarships to talented local music students.

For more information on this or other Santa Barbara Music Club programs and performing artists, visit sbmusicclub.org