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The Santa Barbara Chamber Players open their 2026 season on Saturday, October 10, at 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 909 N. La Cumbre Road, Santa Barbara. The concert will be conducted by Dr. Daniel Gee, with acclaimed cellist Jakub Omsky as soloist. Admission is $30, with tickets available at sbchamberplayers.org, and 18 and younger are free.
Gee is deeply connected to the musical life of Santa Barbara. He serves as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Westmont College, where he leads the College Choir and Chamber Singers, and is Music Director of the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony. He previously served as Assistant Conductor of the Long Beach Symphony and Associate Conductor of Choral Arts Initiative. A conductor, composer and educator, Gee earned his Doctor of Musical Arts from the USC Thornton School of Music.
The program begins with Fanny Hensel’s Overture in C major. Written around 1830–32, it is Hensel’s only surviving work for orchestra alone. The overture was performed at the Hensel family’s musical gatherings in Berlin before remaining largely unknown until its eventual publication in the 20th century.
The centerpiece is Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 107, featuring Omsky. Composed in 1959 for Mstislav Rostropovich, the work was premiered in Leningrad that October. Its virtuosic cello writing combines intensity, lyricism, rhythmic drive and dark humor.
The evening concludes with Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550. Completed on July 25, 1788, it was the second of Mozart’s final three symphonies, written within just weeks during the summer of 1788. Its restless energy and dramatic G-minor character have made it one of Mozart’s most celebrated symphonies.
Santa Barbara Chamber Players
Saturday, October 10, 2026 — 7:30 p.m.
Trinity Lutheran Church, 909 N. La Cumbre Road
Admission: $30, 18 and younger are free
Tickets: sbchamberplayers.org
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