CAMA Brings Dudamel, Bell

The Community Arts Music Association (CAMA) fires the imagination of the city for the 92nd time with a season that begins on Tuesday, October 19, at the Lobero with guitarist John Williams and comes to an extravagant conclusion on Saturday, May 7, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by media event and musical phenomenon Gustavo Dudamel. In between there are eight more concerts in what are actually two fully scheduled seasons, the International Series of great orchestras (and one hugely popular recitalist) at the Granada and the Masterseries of recitals and chamber music at the Lobero.

Of course, the right way to do CAMA, and often the most popular way, is by purchasing a season subscription, an option that not only ensures that you won’t miss a thing all year long but also reflects a significant value, especially when compared with the price of hearing any of these same concerts in New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. Add the comfort and acoustics of either the Granada or the Lobero, and you’re in symphony heaven. Here are just three of the many good reasons to give yourself or someone you love CAMA’s first-class treatment this season. For tickets, call 966-4324 or visit camasb.org.

1] Gustavo Dudamel: He’s electrifying even when he’s giving an interview on television. Imagine what kind of heat he will generate in the Granada on the world-premiere weekend of the new Osvaldo Golijov violin concerto in May. This night could easily be music history in the making.

2] The Masterseries at the Lobero: This may be the most consistently magical music series programmed in Santa Barbara. There’s nothing else like it for sheer audience absorption in the sometimes delicate, sometimes dynamic fabric of its sound. Listeners who enjoyed Brad Mehldau’s concert at the Lobero earlier this year should check out Christopher O’Riley, the pianist who will be performing an all-Schumann program on Thursday, November 11. He’s the classical world’s foremost interpreter of some more contemporary composers, including Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, and Radiohead.

3] The violins: Joshua Bell is back, in recital at the Granada on Tuesday, February 8. This intelligent, passionate, and self-aware prodigy is now an eminent figure, and he brings all the energy and wisdom of the ages to every performance he gives. Also back is the amazing Christian Tetzlaff, the wizard of Bach’s violin partitas. This time he’s bringing his sister Tanja, the cellist, and the other players—Elisabeth Kufferath, violin, and Hanna Weinmeister, viola—who together form the Tetzlaff Quartet.