Santa Barbara Symphony to Present Piano Masterpieces

The Santa Barbara Symphony, under the baton of Maestro Nir Kabaretti, will perform two of the world's most cherished piano masterworks with the help of German-born virtuoso Markus Groh at the Granada Theatre on November 19 and 20. Mr. Groh will join Symphony Principal Natasha Kislenko for Mozart's exquisite Concerto for Two Pianos before tackling Tchaikovsky's famed Piano Concerto No 1. Ms. Kislenko will be the featured soloist for Manuel de Falla's lush and arresting Nights in the Gardens of Spain to open both concerts. Performances will take place at 8 pm on Saturday, November 19, and at 3 pm on Sunday, November 20. Tickets are now available.

"This is an especially enticing program for those who love and appreciate great piano music, including two masterpieces that we all adore," said Maestro Kabaretti, now in his 11th season as the Santa Barbara Symphony's music director. "It isn't every day that our audiences have the opportunity to enjoy a double concerto, much less one featuring a world-class soloist teamed with the Symphony's brilliant Natasha Kislenko. These concerts promise an abundance of musical thrills."

Hailed as one of his generation's most versatile pianists, Mr. Groh rapidly rose to prominence upon becoming the first German to win Belgium's prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in 1995. He has performed with the London Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, among many others, and has appeared in recital throughout the world. His numerous chamber music collaborators have included Claudio Bohórquez, Julia Fischer, Maximilian Hornung, Albrecht Mayer, Paul Meyer, Andreas Ottensamer, Boris Pergamenschikow, Heinrich Schiff, Akiko Suwanai, Radovan Vlatkovic, and the legendary Peter Schreier. Mr. Groh's recordings of works by Brahms, Liszt, Debussy, Prokofiev, and Britten have met with effusive critical praise, including Gramophone "Editor's Choice" honors for his all-Liszt CD released by Avie Records. He will be making his Santa Barbara Symphony debut.

A member of the Santa Barbara Symphony since 2010, Ms. Kislenko has concertized extensively to critical acclaim in Russia, Germany, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Paraguay, and across the United States. She is a faculty member at the Music Academy of the West and UC Santa Barbara.

The Santa Barbara Symphony's 2016-17 season will continue with a family concert performance of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf featuring storyteller Michael Katz on November 26. The Symphony's popular New Year's Pops Concert will include an appearance by the spellbinding aerial performance troupe Cirque de la Symphonie. On January 28 and 29, guest conductor David Lockington will lead orchestral accompaniment for screened scenes from Walt Disney's beloved Fantasia films, as well as performances of Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber. The Symphony will next present the West Coast premiere of American composer Jonathan Leshnoff's Clarinet Concerto along with Copland's iconic Symphony No. 3 on February 11 and 12. Additional highlights include a pairing of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and Piazzolla's The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, with guest violinist Philippe Quint (March 18 and 19); Sibelius' Symphony No. 5 and Grieg's Piano Concerto, featuring guest soloist Lilya Zilberstein (April 15 and 16); and a celebration of Paris, including Mozart's Symphony No. 31, Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto (with guest artist Zuill Bailey), Liszt's Les préludes, and Gershwin's An American in Paris (May 13 and 14).

The Granada Theatre is located at 1214 State Street in Santa Barbara. Complete season program information is available online at www.thesymphony.org.

The Santa Barbara Symphony is led by the charismatic Nir Kabaretti, who was named the orchestra's music director in 2006 and its artistic director in 2008. 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 concerts on November 19 and 20 are generously supported by Casa Dorinda, Jo Beth Van Gelderen and Karen Quinn, the Elaine F. Stepanek Foundation, and JoAnne Ando.

Tickets start at $29 and can be purchased at www.granadasb.org or by calling 805-899-2222. Group sales discounts of as much as 20 percent are available. Patrons ages 20-29 can purchase $20 tickets; students with valid ID can purchase $10 tickets. Seating in both cases is confined to selected sections of the Granada Theatre.

The Santa Barbara Symphony was founded in 1953 on the belief that a special city deserves a special orchestra. Consistently lauded for its unique ability to present brilliant concerts, engage the community, and deliver dynamic music education programs, the organization prizes both innovation and artistic excellence, and is widely recognized as one of the region's premier cultural institutions. Its award-winning Music Education Center serves more than 8,000 students throughout Santa Barbara County each year. Charismatic Israeli conductor Nir Kabaretti was appointed music director of the Santa Barbara Symphony in 2006. For additional information, visit www.thesymphony.org.

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