Santa Barbara Symphony & Ensemble Theatre Company to Pay Tribute to Shakespeare

The Santa Barbara Symphony, in collaboration with the acclaimed Ensemble Theatre Company (ETC), will present a musical and theatrical tribute to William Shakespeare at the historic Granada Theatre on November 14 and 15. Featuring the full Symphony, under the baton of Maestro Nir Kabaretti, "Shakespeare Set to Music" will include the Suite from William Walton's lush film score for As You Like It, Prokofiev's unforgettable Romeo and Juliet Suite, and Mendelssohn's vivid incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, with its instantly recognizable Wedding March. The latter work will accompany scenes from the play featuring ETC artists. Performances will take place at 8 pm on Saturday, November 15, and at 3 pm on Sunday, November 15. Tickets are now available.

"Shakespeare is the most inspiring author for classical composers ever, as this program readily attests," said Maestro Kabaretti, now entering his 10th season as the Santa Barbara Symphony's music and artistic director. "We are especially pleased to collaborate with Ensemble Theatre Company, whose artists will add a theatrical dimension to the beauty of Mendelssohn's music."

"Ensemble Theatre Company is thrilled to join Santa Barbara Symphony for A Midsummer Night's Dream, our third collaboration," said ETC Executive Artistic Director Jonathan Fox. "Working jointly with other art forms allows us to expand our conception of theatrical performance. For the audience, hearing Shakespeare's poetry in combination with Mendelssohn's beautiful music offers the opportunity to discover each in a new light."

Brimming with soaring romantic lines, As You Like It was Walton's second film score, whose charms were immediately apparent upon the motion picture's release in 1936. Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet Suite is a magnificent feat of musical pictorialism that evokes the full fury and tenderness of Shakespeare's beloved tragedy. Completed in 1842, A Midsummer Night's Dream exemplifies Mendelssohn's gift for extraordinarily imaginative and atmospheric music.

Named music and artistic director of the Santa Barbara Symphony in 2006, Nir Kabaretti has established an outstanding international career as a dynamic and innovative conductor with vast experience in both the symphonic and operatic repertoire. He continues to collaborate with many of the world's most renowned musicians, orchestras, and opera houses. Maestro Kabaretti has conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, to name just a few. His extensive operatic experience includes productions at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Teatro Real in Madrid, Switzerland's Opéra de Lausanne, and Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Winner of the 1993 Forum Junger Kunstler Conducting Competition in Vienna, he was named the music director of the Southwest Florida Symphony in 2014.

The Santa Barbara Symphony's 2015-16 season will continue with a New Year's Eve pops concert, followed by the U.S. premiere of Italian composer Cristian Carrara's Machpelah featuring guest artists Francesca Dego (violin) and Robert deMaine (principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic) on January 16 and 17. That program will also include Gabrieli's Sacrae symphoniae (for antiphonal brass), Handel's Water Music, and Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra. Additional upcoming highlights include a program of Rachmaninoff featuring guest artists James Rudd (conductor) and Ian Parker (piano) on February 13 and 14, Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto featuring guest soloist Timothy Chooi on April 9 and 10, and guest artist Pablo Sainz-Villegas performing Elmer Bernstein's Guitar Concerto in the season's final concerts on May 14 and 15. All performances will take place at the Granada Theatre, located at 1214 State Street in Santa Barbara. Complete season information is available at www.thesymphony.org/performances/season_2015-16.

The concerts on November 14 and 15 are generously supported by Casa Dorinda, Chris and David Chernof, Westmont College, and Chris Lancashire and Catherine Gee.

Single tickets can be purchased at www.granadasb.org or by calling 805-899-2222.