Santa Barbara Master Chorale presents On Wings of Song

On Sunday, June 9, at 3:00, Santa Barbara Master Chorale will present On Wings of Song: A Musical Celebration of Birds with guest conductor, Erin Bonski-Evans, and special guests, the American Riviera Children’s Chorus,

Across hundreds of years, our feathered friends have been the topic of interest for many composers and musicians, from Handel and Mozart to Hoagy Carmichael and Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Highlights of this concert include Eric Whittacre’s Little Birds, Handel’s Nightingale Chorus, Mendelssohn’s Die Nachtigall, The Silver Swan by Orlando Gibbons, the delightful old partsong Owls by Edward Elgar, and the breathtaking Bluebird by Charles Stanford. Also included are selections from “Music Man” and the “Sound of Music,” plus the Beatles’ Bye Bye Blackbird and Hoagy Carmichael’s Skylark. There will also be guest musicians to delight the audience with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Max Bruch, Camille Saint-Saens, and Robert Schumann.

As a special treat, Eyes in the Sky, Santa Barbara Audubon’s wildlife education program, will provide a live presentation of their rescued birds of prey.

The performance will be at First Presbyterian Church, 21 East Constance Ave., corner of State Street, Santa Barbara. Tickets are $22 general admission, $20 seniors and disabled, $12 college students with ID, and free for children in K-12. They can be purchased at Chaucer’s Bookstore, Eventbrite.com, www.sbmasterchorale.org, and at the door.

Guest Conductor, Erin Bonski-Evans, has been teaching choral music for more than 15 years, and has directed choruses at Toledo Opera Association, University of California Santa Barbara Opera Program, Opera Santa Barbara, and Santa Barbara Children’s Chorus. She holds a Master of Music from Bowling Green State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts (ABD) from UC Santa Barbara.