Santa Barbara Symphony

With the NFL football season launching earlier this month, the Santa Barbara Symphony is hosting a kickoff of their own, a free season preview event on Thursday, September 18, at the at the historic Lobero Theatre. The preview will be jamming with  fun, music, and inside info to introduce a season that marks a milestone in the symphony’s 73-year-history: Maestro Nir Kabaretti’s 20th Anniversary as Music and Artistic Director.

The program begins on the theater’s raised promenade at 4:30 pm, where patrons and newbies alike can mix and mingle, try out musical instruments from the Symphony’s much-heralded Music Van program, and speak with staff about everything from ticket purchases to volunteer opportunities and donor relations and other ways to deepen their relationship with The Symphony. Kabaretti comes to the stage at 5 pm inside the stunning theater to share the behind-the-scenes stories and creative vision that inspired The Symphony’s upcoming season 2025-26 October to May season, one that boasts a wide scope of concerts including rarely featured instruments, extraordinary guest artists, and innovative programming that stretches across genres and centuries. 

“This season is deeply personal to me,” said Kabaretti in a press release. “It reflects the evolution of our orchestra, our community, and my journey over the past 20 years in Santa Barbara. We’re offering bold, fresh experiences designated specifically for our 805 community, and I can’t wait to share what’s ahead.” 

What’s directly ahead at the September 18 event is a musical treat for the audience as the ensemble’s Principal Trombonist Dillon MacIntyre, a featured artist at the Mozart Requiem concert in November, joins Maestro Kabaretti onstage alongside internationally acclaimed Harpist Cristina Montes Mateo to perform stirring duos. 

The event is meant as a casual teaser and preview. It will be an opportunity for longtime patrons and possible newcomers to not just read about the coming season’s programming, but to hear it come alive through the impassioned narratives of the 20-year Symphony Maestro who programmed it. 

“The audience will get to know us and hear and feel connected – and maybe as excited – as we are about what’s coming up,” said President & CEO Kathryn R. Martin. “You will feel Nir’s passion as he goes over each of the programs, concert by concert, the highlights, and why he programmed all of the pieces.” 

The new season spotlights an extraordinary lineup of guest artists and bold programming, featuring some of the most promising stars of the future. January’s two-day Beethoven Piano Concerto Marathon showcases five rising piano virtuosos – each an international competition winner– including a laureate from Santa Barbara’s own Music Academy of the West who won the Solo Piano Competition this past summer. Rarely featured instruments are also celebrated as in November, acclaimed trombonist Christian Lindberg joins MacIntyre for a Symphony co-commissioned “Double Trombone Concerto” – leading up to Mozart’s “Requiem” – while accordionist Hanzhi Wang dazzles in Red Ferrari in March. Genre-busting violinist Alexi Kenney brings his artistry to Barber’s “Violín Concerto” in April, while the newly formed, community-based Santa Barbara Symphony Chorus performs in Mozart’s “Requiem” and brings emotional closure to the season finale in Mahler’s “Resurrection”. 

“The prompt I gave Nir was an invitation to share with our audiences why he programmed the various pieces, and what he’s most looking forward to,” Martin said. “I want them to experience how he’s really thinking about Santa Barbara audiences and his musicians in how he programs. He’s excited because he knows that for this time and this community, these musicians are going to be excited to play the music. While some music directors program with their orchestras at home the same piece that they will do around the world out of logistics, Nir really doesn’t think that way. He lives here. He’s part of the community.” 

What is becoming increasingly apparent, Martin said, is the strong foundation cemented during the pandemic. That was when the organization came to a historic milestone with Martin and Kabaretti joining Board Chair Janet Garufis in making a five-year commitment to serve in their leadership roles. That foundation is paying dividends now in the new season, as is the ever-increasing quality of the musicianship demonstrated by the musicians. 

“This orchestra is playing really tightly right now as an ensemble,” Martin said. “We’ve got continuity, we have enthusiasm, we have collaborations and innovations. I think that’s allowed Nir to know he can program more challenging, complicated or out-of-the-box works that he maybe couldn’t years ago. There’s a playfulness and an innovative aspect, which I think comes out of our organizational confidence and curiosity.”

Clearly, it’s working. 

Martin said that the organization now has more subscribers than at any time since COVID, a sign that the Symphony is hitting its marks. 

“More than 1,000 people in this community are telling us I want to spend one weekend a month with my Santa Barbara Symphony. We like what Nir is doing, we like the way we feel when we come to a concert.” 

Additionally, in less than two years, the Symphony has also been hired to perform by other community organizations, paid events beyond collaborations. They’ve performed in rock-oriented shows twice with The Doublewide Kings and with Santa Barbara Records’ tribute to David Crosby at their home in the Granada, and off-site behind several stars at the 2024 One805LIVE! benefit. Two months ago, the Symphony performed patriotic songs and pop favorites in a July 4 concert for the Bellosguardo Foundation at the Clark Estate. 

“We’re not the cheapest option around,” Martin said. “The people that hire us are saying it’s worth the investments, which is a different dynamic than it was years ago. Those events let us be heard by different audiences who now also know what we’re about. We want to do more, everything we can to connect the audience with composers, musicians, conductors.” 

Not to mention the organization’s much-lauded music education program, the only one of its kind tied to a professional symphony orchestra in the region. The program serves more than 2,000 students annually throughout Santa Barbara County. 

“That response from the community and our musicians and our donors lets me know that as an organization we’re really on to something and building momentum,” Martin said. “It feels like we’ve been invited to dream.”

Santa Barbara Symphony’s Kick-Off Celebration, takes place 4:30-6:15 pm on Thursday, September 18. The Celebration is free, but reservations are encouraged. All who do reserve a spot will be entered into a drawing for a pair of complimentary mini-season subscriptions comprising four concerts. Register at www.bit.ly/SymphonySeasonKickoff or visit www.TheSymphony.org