Camerata Pacifica to Debut David Bruce's New Composition in Southern California

Camerata Pacifica's season will continue with a daring musical mix, including the world premiere of Natural Light, a Camerata Pacifica-commissioned work for wind quintet and Thai button gong by David Bruce, who has forged a unique path in contemporary classical music with his colorful imaginative works. Delivering the musical luster are Sébastian Jacot, flute; Nicholas Daniel, oboe; Jose Franch-Ballester, clarinet; Eleni Katz, bassoon; Ben Goldscheider, horn; and Irina Zahharenkova, piano.

The chamber music program is presented at four Southern California locations on Sunday, March 1, 3:00 pm, at Thousand Oaks' Janet and Ray Scherr Forum; Tuesday, March 3, 7:30 pm, at The Huntington's Rothenberg Hall in San Marino; Thursday, March 5, 8:00 pm, Zipper Hall, at Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles; and Friday, March 6, 2026, 7:00 pm, at Santa Barbara's Music Academy of the West.

Natural Light was commissioned for Camerata Pacifica by Sandra Tillisch Svoboda in memory of her husband, Albert C. Svoboda, Jr. Bruce, the composer, describes the genesis of the work, “After hearing a performance of Duruflé's Requiem, where Gregorian chant melodies are bathed in impressionistic harmony, I was struck by how old musical forms could resonate in new ways. This inspired me to try placing medieval materials ‘in a new light.' I wanted to draw on the expressive power of ancient melodies to evoke a sense of spirituality that is not confined to religion. The resulting work, Natural Light, consists of five movements. Each engages with fragments of medieval music, but recontextualizes them in different ways. The odd-numbered movements lean toward the spiritual and reflective, while the even ones are more exuberant or playful.”

He adds, “A solo clarinet acts as the thread running through the piece—capable of both wild exuberance in the energetic even-numbered movements and the hushed delicacy and introspection of the more spiritual odd-numbered ones. Its ability to inhabit such contrasting emotional worlds gives the work a unifying voice, one that can sing, dance, or quietly illuminate, depending on the light it finds itself in.” In 2016,Camerata Pacifica artists performed Bruce's Consolation of Rain, available to view on YouTube.

The repertoire also includes English composer Madeline Dring's exuberant Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano (1968) – written for her husband Roger Lord, a professional oboist who played with the London Symphony Orchestra.

In addition, Zahharenkova is featured on Thème varié, Op. 89, a set of variations for solo piano by French composer Cécile Chaminade, who, in 1913, became the first female to be awarded the Légion d'Honneur, France's most prestigious national award of merit.

The program concludes with David Jolley's adaptation of Antonín Dvořák‘s emotion-filled Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81, for piano and wind quintet.