Written by Mary Dan Eades on June 20, 2016

Our 69th Season Takes Shape

Artistic Director JoAnne Wasserman has programmed an exciting season of great choral music sure to delight lovers of the choral arts.  Here’s this season’s line up:

Beethoven: Ode To Joy

October 15, 2016 at 8 pm
October 16, 2016 at 3 pm

Granada Theater 

Tickets: $29 to $134 sold through Granada box office.

Celebrate the grandeur of music with Beethoven’s 9th, his final and most famous symphony, featuring the combined voices of Santa Barbara Choral Society, Quire of Voyces, and the choruses of Westmont College, UCSB, and San Marcos High School, as well as a quartet of outstanding soloists. Come experience the poetic thrill as Maestro Kabaretti conducts what is often described as the most inspiring and influential work ever composed. This program will be performed with no intermission. 

Nir Kabaretti, Conductor

Jeanine De Bique, Soprano
Nina Yoshida Nelson, Mezzo
Benjamin Brecher, Tenor
DeAndre Simmons, Bass

Tickets $29 to $134, available through Granada Box Office after September 15 — Click to purchase Saturday performance or Sunday performance.

Veteran’s Day Ceremony

November 11, 2016
10 am to 11 am
Santa Barbara Cemetery
Pierre Claeyssen’s Veterans Foundation

FREE admission, no ticket required

Honor our nation’s veterans in a morning of patriotic music and moving tributes by Santa Barbara Choral Society, sponsored by the Pierre Claeyssen’s Veterans’ Foundation. Come honor the men and women who have served and sacrificed in our armed forces to keep us free. JoAnne Wasserman, Conductor

Hallelujah Project 4

December 10, 2016 at 8 pm
December 11, 2016 at 3 pm
The Lobero Theatre

Tickets $46.50, $36.50, $26.50 and $7 kids 7-17 with adult (available at Lobero Box Office)

Back for the fourth year, Hallelujah Project returns to the Lobero stage with the family-friendly mix of holiday classics and seasonal favorites designed to delight audiences of all ages.

The popular Hallelujah Project returns to the Lobero stage with its trademark blend of holiday classics and seasonal favorites designed to delight audiences young and old and kick off the season in magical, musical style. Artistic Director JoAnne Wasserman carefully choses repertoire to ensure it will be approachable for young audience members and yet retain the musical integrity to be fully enjoyed by those of more sophisticated musical tastes. This year’s program will include the JS Bach Cantata 191 (Gloria in Excelsis Deo), the Gloria of Randol Bass, interesting arrangements of many familiar carols, and more. Ms. Wasserman will lead the Santa Barbara Choral Society and Orchestra in this program of holiday merriment, featuring local Children’s’ Chorus and narration of the charmingly orchestrated version of Clement Moore’s beloved holiday classic ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas by a celebrity narrator yet to be revealed. Stay tuned to find out who it will be this year! Previous narrators include comedienne Fanny Flagg, actress Stephanie Zimbalist, and day-time star Allison Sweeney. Youngsters (and those young at heart) should keep a sharp eye out for a cameo appearance by that Jolly Old Elf, himself!

Tickets $46.50, $36.50, and $7 kids 7-17 with adult through lobero.com.
(Includes $4 Lobero box office facilitating/handling fee)  

Brahms’ Ein Deutsches (German) Requiem
with SB Chamber Orchestra

April 1 and 2, 2017
First Presbyterian Church
State and Constance Streets

Tickets: $45, $35, and $7 kids 7-17 with adult
(available through Lobero Box Office)

This landmark choral masterpiece has not been performed in Santa Barbara in 10 years and this performance is sure to be one you won’t want to miss!  Conductor JoAnne Wasserman will lead the Santa Barbara Choral Society and Orchestra, LA Soprano Tamara Bevard, and internationally-acclaimed, NY-based Baritone Lester Lynch in this thrilling work.  Sacred, but not liturgical, Brahms composed this, his largest composition, between 1865 and 1868.  Though the creative spark for it is uncertain, Brahms’s mother had died in February 1865, a loss that caused him much grief and may well have inspired Ein Deutsches Requiem. Brahms’s lingering feelings over Robert Schumann’s death in July 1856 may also have been a motivation. Brahms assembled the libretto himself. In contrast to the traditional Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, which employs a standardized text in Latin, the text is derived from the German Lutheran Bible. Although the Requiem Mass in the Roman Catholic liturgy begins with prayers for the dead (“Grant them eternal rest, O Lord”), A German Requiem focuses on the living, beginning with the text “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” from the Beatitudes. This theme—transition from anxiety to comfort—recurs in all the following movements except movements 4 and 7, the central one and the final one. Although the idea of the Lord is the source of the comfort, the sympathetic humanism persists through the work.  It’s an evening you won’t want to miss!

Tickets $45 and $35* ($7 kids 7- 17 with adult*) available online at lobero.com or call(805) 963-0761
(*A $4 facilitating and handling fee will be added to the ticket price by the Lobero Box Office.)

Rockwood Abbey – Our SPRING GALA

May 20, 2017
5:30 to 9 pm
Rockwood Woman’s Club

Tickets $125
(available through Lobero Box Office)

Be transported to a posh evening reminiscent of Downton Abbey, where white-gloved footmen attended the creme de la creme of English society as they dined and danced.  (Period dress encouraged-choose your epoch from Edwardian grandeur to the flappers of the 20s!)

Enjoy cocktails and appetizers on the terrace and browse the SILENT auction items, then move inside to be entertained by the full Santa Barbara Choral Society chorus in our spring gala concert, followed by elegant dinner and LIVE auction of exciting vacation stays and more.  Plan now to join us for this festive and fun annual event to support the choral arts! Seating is limited, so don’t delay!

Tickets: $125  per person — including cocktails, dinner, and concert available online at lobero.com  or call(805) 963-0761.
(Reserved Patron Tables for 8 available at $1800, contact us at 805-965-6577.) 

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SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES

BUY ALL SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES AT LOBERO.COM or call(805) 963-0761

PLATINUM SEASON SUBSCRIPTION TICKETS – $465

Never miss a concert and be assured of VIP seating and invitation to the Patron Reception following performances. Each Premier Season Subscription supports our season with a $250 tax-deductible donation to our general operating fund. Be a part of bringing top-quality choral music to our community by becoming a Premier Season Subscriber. Includes VIP seating and patron’s reception for Hallelujah Project 4, Brahms’ Requiem, and our Spring Gala. (Does not include Beethoven Ode to Joy, which can be purchased separately through the Granada Theater box office.)

GOLD SEASON SUBSCRIPTION  ($190 for a $215 value)

Enjoy both of our SBCS season concerts from A-level seating and secure one of the limited number of seats available to hear our Spring Gala concert at Rockwood Woman’s Club in May as well. Last year’s event was sold out with a waiting list!  Here’s what you’ll get with the Gold Season Subscription:Hallelujah Project 4 (A level seating Sat or Sun – value $45)Brahms’ Req (A level seating – value $45)Rockwood Abbey Gala  (value $125)Just want a concert package?  No problem!

SILVER CONCERT PACKAGE  ($80 for a $90 value)

Hallelujah Project 4 (A level seating Sat or Sun – value $45)Brahms’ Req (A level seating – value $45)

BRONZE CONCERT PACKAGE ($65 for a $70 value)

Hallelujah Project 4 (B level seating Sat or Sun – value $35)Brahms’ Req (B level seating – value $35)BUY EARLY AND SAVE!