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Santa Barbara, CA — Community Arts Music Association (CAMA) of Santa Barbara has announced the availability of $10 tickets for the highly anticipated West Coast debut performance by the acclaimed Chineke! Orchestra on Thursday, April 3, at The Granada Theatre. Concertgoers ages 7–17 accompanying a ticketed adult will be admitted free of charge. The performance will begin at 7:30 pm.
“Given the cultural significance of this concert and this ensemble, we are determined to maximize audience accessibility. We are immensely proud to present the Chineke! Orchestra for the enjoyment of the Santa Barbara Community,” said CAMA President Mark Trueblood.
The London-based Chineke! Orchestra has blazed a singular artistic trail since its founding a decade ago. The flagship ensemble of the Chineke! Foundation – established in 2015 to provide Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians in the United Kingdom and Europe with performance opportunities and visibility – it performs a wide-ranging repertoire that encompasses both standard orchestral works and often-overlooked compositions by underrepresented composers.
The April 3 program will open with Seven O’Clock Shout, a vibrant work by contemporary composer Valerie Coleman intended as an homage to the indefatigable spirit of frontline workers during the Covid pandemic. This will be followed by Avril Coleridge-Taylor’s evocative Sussex Landscape, a tribute to the English countryside that showcases the composer’s lyrical and expressive style. Next, charismatic Nigerian-Scottish trumpeter Aaron Azunda Akugbo will take center stage for Haydn’s dazzling Trumpet Concerto in E-flat. The concert’s second half will begin with Brian Nabors’ spirited Pulse for Orchestra before concluding with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s powerful Symphony No. 1 in A Minor, a richly orchestrated work that blends Romantic grandeur with influences from the composer’s African heritage.
At the podium will be Zimbabwean-born conductor Vimbayi Kaziboni, who has met with praise for his interpretive imagination and engaging stage presence. Mr. Kaziboni, who serves as assistant professor of orchestral studies and contemporary music at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, has led critically lauded performances with orchestras across the globe.
The April 3 performance will take place nearly five years to the day after the Chineke! Orchestra was originally scheduled to make its Santa Barbara debut (on April 14, 2020), also under the aegis of CAMA. That concert was canceled on account of the Covid pandemic.
Tickets for the April 3 performance can be purchased at The Granada Theatre Box Office, (805) 899-2222 orhttps://ticketing.granadasb.org/19373/19381.
Immediately prior to the April 3 concert, the CAMA Women’s Board will host a free panel discussion about the Chineke! Orchestra and further efforts to diversify classical music from 6 to 7 pm at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club in Santa Barbara. The panel will be moderated by musicologist Dr. David Malvinni, creator of CAMA’s “Music Matters” docent program in local schools, and will feature three young musicians from diverse backgrounds discussing the challenges they have faced breaking into the industry.
The April 3 concert is generously sponsored by Edward S. DeLoreto, Mahri Kerley, and the Shanbrom Family Foundation. Event co-sponsors are Deborah and Peter Bertling, Elizabeth and Andrew Butcher, and Stephen Cloud. Sage Publishing is CAMA’s International Series season sponsor.
For additional information, visit http://www.camasb.org or call (805) 966-4324.
CAMA is Santa Barbara’s oldest arts organization. Its mission is to enrich the city’s cultural life by bringing live performances by world-renowned classical artists and orchestras of the highest artistic excellence to our community, and by providing creative, focused music education programs for individuals of all ages.
