Launch your holiday season with our perrennial favorite “The Hallelujah Project”at the Lobero Theatre, Dec. 10 and 11 with its seasonal classics and traditional holiday music, performed by chorus, orchestra and the angelic voices of children, who are drawn this year from The Music Academy’s SING! program.
The crowd-pleasing repertoire, chosen by artistic director Jo Anne Wasserman, includes Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata 191 (Gloria in Excelsis Deo), and a selection of seasonal favorites including music by Irving Berlin, Mack Wilberg, Randall Bass and John Williams’ holiday songs from the film “Home Alone,” along with “Light the Legend, a Song for Chanukah.”
Audience members of all ages can look forward to the orchestrated version of Clement Moore’s beloved classic ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, which in past years has been performed by comedienne Fannie Flagg and actresses Stephanie Zimbalist, Alison Sweeney and Shirley Jones, among others. The buzz each year centers on who the celebrity will be, and this year’s guest of honor is none other than President & Chief Executive Officer of The Music Academy, Scott Reed, accompanied by his young daughter, Ruby and friends.
Audiences can also anticipate an appearance by that Jolly Old Elf himself, who will stick around for photo ops after the concert.
Venue
Lobero Theatre
Date
Saturday, Dec. 10, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 11, 3:00 p.m.
Tickets
$50 – VIP (Includes premium seating and post-show reception with the artists)
$30 – Reserved
$20 – Senior 65+
$10 – Student w/ID
(Ticket prices include a per ticket Lobero Facility Fee; other fees may also apply.)
American baritone, Ralph Cato has travelled the world extensively, telling stories in song with his warm, clarion baritone voice.
Tenor, Benjamin Brecher has performed over fifty operatic roles with many of the world’s most prestigious opera companies, specializing in the high lying lyric tenor repertoire. He has performed 16 roles with New York City Opera alone. Career highlights include performances with Opera Orchestra of New York, L’Opera de Nice, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, L’Opera de Montreal, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, among many others. His orchestral solo repertoire includes Mozart, Handel, Orff, Bach, Haydn, as well as many performances of Britten. In 2000 he began performing the great Irish Tenor songs in a concert produced for him entitled A Celtic Celebration, Twenty years later, the show has become a North American hit with performances with 45 Symphonies in North America. Ben continues his discography having added his twelfth recording in 2016 Forgotten Liszt, with pianist Robert Koenig, and will record a new release in 2022 entitled “Three Centuries of Thomas Moore” including the music of Britten, Berlioz, and Sarah Gibson on MSR Classics. He is a Professor of Voice at University of California Santa Barbara, where he has served as the Head of Voice.
Born and raised in Southern California, April Amante is a versatile soprano with expertise and facility in repertoire spanning from early music to contemporary musical theater.
Tracy Van Fleet is pleased to return to the Santa Barbara Choral Society. As a soloist, she has performed with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Lüneburg Symphony in Germany, Orquesta Filarmónica de Boca del Río in Mexico, Pasadena Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Los Angeles Bach Festival, San Diego Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Philharmonic, USC Symphony and Chorus, and others. She has had many appearances with the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Opera Pacific, San Diego Opera and Opera Colorado.