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The Santa Barbara Chamber Players will open their 2026 concert season on Saturday, October 10, at 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 909 N. La Cumbre Road, Santa Barbara. The program will be conducted by Daniel Gee and will feature acclaimed cellist Jakub Omsky as soloist.
The season opener will present music by Fanny Hensel, Dmitri Shostakovich and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, offering audiences an evening ranging from brilliant Romantic-era orchestral writing to the dramatic intensity of 20th-century Russia and the timeless elegance of the Classical period.
The concert begins with Hensel’s Overture in C major. The gifted composer and pianist, sister of Felix Mendelssohn, wrote music that is now receiving renewed recognition for its craftsmanship and expressive energy.
The centerpiece is Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 107, performed by Jakub Omsky. Composed in 1959 for legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, the concerto combines powerful rhythmic energy, lyricism, humor and emotional intensity.
Omsky was born in Warsaw, Poland, and began his studies as a prodigy, becoming the youngest student in the history of the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy. He later studied at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the USC Thornton School of Music. His career has included performances throughout the United States and Europe and appearances at the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival and Music Academy of the West. He was named Music Maker of the Year in 2000, won the 2000 International D’Angelo Competition in Strings, and was recognized as a Local Hero by the Santa Barbara Independent in 2001.
The program concludes with Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550, one of the composer’s most celebrated and emotionally compelling symphonies.
Event Information: Sunday, October 10th at 7:30pm at Trinity Lutheran Church, 909 N. La Cumbre Road in Santa Barbara. Admission is $30, 18 and younger are free. Go to sbchamberplayers.orgfor tickets and more information.
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