ON the Beat | Orchestral Convergence Week

This Week’s Musical Menu Includes Two Concerts Featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Next Santa Barbara Symphony Program

Janine Jansen | Credit: Kaupo Kikkas

There was a time several years ago when a visit from the august London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) was a major coup in the realm of Santa Barbara orchestral culture. By now, the ensemble has appeared in the 805 often enough that the LSO seems like an honorary part of the cultural landscape, but the repeat chance to catch this stellar orchestra live should never be taken for granted.

Early next week, we get two encounters with the Londoners. The official concert appearance takes place at The Granada Theatre on Tuesday, February 18th, as part of the CAMA international series. On that night, current music director Sir Antonio Pappano leads a program of Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade, after Plato’s Symposium — with Dutch violin soloist Janine Jansen — and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 “Titan.” From a more intimate angle, members of the LSO will show up at Hahn Hall on the night before, joined by Music Academy alums, as part of the Music Academy of the West’s off-season “Mariposa series.” The program focuses on music of Mozart and Ravel.

Call it “LSO in S.B.” week. The welcome mat is always out for this major institution.

Meanwhile, this weekend’s orchestral feature comes courtesy of the Santa Barbara Symphony’s next stop of its season. Last month, the subject was all about Mozart. On Saturday and Sunday at the Granada, it’s all about Charlie Chaplin, as the orchestra, led by guest conductor Lucas Richman, plays the score for Chaplin’s masterpiece The Gold Rush, in its centennial year. The timing is ripe, straddling the tail end of the 40th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

A Veteran Visionary’s Return to Ojai

Wadada Leo Smith | Photo: Michael Jackson

To describe the art, mind, and spirit of Wadada Leo Smith, multiple hyphens are in order. The much-laureled, jazz-new music trumpeter-composer-conceptualist, is a MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient whose output of albums and new work has been prolific in recent years. His latest album in a vast discography is Central Park’s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens (link), and as of this Saturday in Ojai, his “classical” oeuvre expands, with the world premiere of his String Quartet No. 19, featuring the trumpeter and the RedKoral quartet.

Smith has spent time in the 805, living for a time in Piru during his long stint on the faculty of Cal Arts. He returned to the area to perform in a memorable duet with pianist Vijay Iyer at the Ojai Music Festival in 2017, right at home in a festival crossing over from jazz leanings, contemporary music, and Indian traditions. The Ojai Festival, along with Ventura College, is hosting the premiere performance, in the performance space “Red Canteen at Matilija,” in the former Matilija Middle School.

For fans of jazz, new music, and musical adventurism, generally, it’s a calendar-marker and a compelling excuse to venture to Ojai. Info here.

To-Doings:

In one of the few so-called “world music” concerts of note this season is the power trio of Kayhan Kalhor (kamancheh), Wu Man (pipa), and Sandeep Das (tabla) — a k a DoosTrio — showing up at Campbell Hall on Wednesday, February 19. These worldly and world class musicians are no strangers to Santa Barbara. They are also no strangers to the prospects of blending and finding commonality between different musical cultures. We can expect both surprising and eternally logical results in this meeting of Persian, Chinese, and Indian traditions.

Among the Valentine’s Day music options is a special and fitting showcase of local couples, connected in music and marital/partnering senses: Irene Fredricey and Jim Thomas, Donna Greene and Greg Loeb, Hans Betzholtz and Lisa Starr, Jan Ingram and Henry Garrett, Michael Andrews and Jessica Bortman, and Misha Osborne and Scott Branch. The “Valentine’s Day Sweethearts Concert” settles into SOhO on February 14 at 5 p.m., with proceeds benefitting the Santa Barbara Education Foundation’s “Keep the Beat” program.