Camerata Coming to Santa Barbara This January

Camerata Pacifica, a nationally recognized chamber ensemble based in Santa Barbara, is hitting the road for a four-stop performance series, ending in Santa Barbara on January 19. 

YuEun Gemma Kim will be on violin, Ani Aznavoorian on cello, Jose Franch-Ballester on clarinet, Gilles Vonsattel on piano, and Ji Hye Jung on percussion — together creating an indescribable symphony of music. 

The program opens with Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 49, which spotlights Kim along with Principal Piano Vonsattel, “a pianist well worth watching” (The New York Times), and Principal Cello Aznavoorian, whose “scorchingly committed performances … wring every last drop of emotion out of the music” (The Strad). Principal Clarinet Franch-Ballester interprets Brahms’s lyrical and timeless Clarinet Sonata in E-Flat Major, Op. 120, considered a touchstone of the clarinet repertoire.

Then the performance will showcase Principal Percussion Jung, an audience favorite, playing French-Slovenian composer Vinko Globokar’s ?Corporel — an avant-garde piece where both the body and the voice are used as instruments. 

“YuEun, Ani, Ji Hye, Jose, and Gilles are all extraordinary artists celebrated for their enthralling performances,” says Camerata Pacifica’s Artistic Director Adrian Spence. “The scope of their considerable artistic range will be on full display on this wildly eclectic program. It’s one you definitely won’t want to miss.”

The entire program is as follows:

MENDELSSOHN  Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 49
BRAHMS  Clarinet Sonata in E-Flat Major, Op. 120
VINKO GLOBOKAR  ?Corporel
CHRISTOS HATZIS  Fertility Rites 

The performance in Santa Barbara will take place on Friday, January 19, at 7:30 p.m. in Hahn Hall of the Music Academy, 1070 Fairway Road. Additional performances take place on Sunday, January 14, at the Janet and Ray Scherr Forum in Thousand Oaks; Tuesday, January 16, at The Huntington in San Marino; and Thursday, January 18, at Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles.

Tickets are available for purchase at cameratapacifica.org.