The Santa Barbara Chamber Players invite music lovers to an evening of Romantic-era orchestral music on Saturday, January 31 at 7:30 PM at Hahn Hall, 1070 Fairway Road. Under the baton of Zig Reichwald, the orchestra will perform two beloved masterpieces: Symphony No. 3 in A minor “Scottish” by Felix Mendelssohn and the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 by Robert Schumann, featuring acclaimed pianist Pascal Salomon as soloist.
Adding a special community dimension to the performance, the orchestra will be joined by select local high school students, performing side-by-side with the orchestral musicians in a unique educational collaboration.
Purchase tickets here. Use Code SBCP_K-12 for students 18 and younger or SBCP_STUDENT_ID for college students with ID.
Program Highlights
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 “Scottish”
Inspired by a visit to Scotland in 1829, Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony reflects the rugged landscapes, misty highlands, and historical romance he encountered there. Although the ideas came to him early, the work took over a decade to complete and was premiered in 1842.
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
One of the most poetic piano concertos in the repertoire, Schumann’s Piano Concerto began life as a single-movement fantasy for piano and orchestra in 1841, written for his wife Clara, one of the great pianists of the 19th century. Expanded into a full three-movement concerto by 1845, the work is celebrated for its intimate dialogue between soloist and orchestra, expressive lyricism, and passionate Romantic spirit. Pianist Pascal Salomon brings both virtuosity and sensitivity to this deeply personal masterpiece.
Pascal Salomon
Pascal Salomon has captivated audiences with his musical artistry, performing across Europe, Asia, and North America. From the historic Ernest Ansermet Studio and the iconic Stravinsky Auditorium in Switzerland to China’s Forbidden City Concert Hall and numerous stages in various European countries, Israel, and the United States, Mr. Salomon’s performances serve as a testament to the profound emotional connection he establishes with his audiences. Prior to his relocation to the United States, Mr. Salomon received numerous accolades, including the prize for the best French pianist at the Senigallia International Competition in Italy, the Honor Diploma in the Maria Canals International Competition in Barcelona, a scholarship from the Société de Musique d’Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, etc.
As a passionate educator and advocate for the arts, Pascal Salomon founded the Santa Barbara Conservatory of Music Foundation to expand access to high-quality music education and mentorship for young musicians. SBCMF’s inauguration will take place this semester, furthering its mission to nurture artistic excellence in the community. Please visit www.sbconservatory.org
In the past, Mr. Salomon’s academic contributions have enriched institutions such as the Geneva Conservatory of Music (Switzerland) and Westmont College in Santa Barbara, where he has held faculty positions. He studied Music Phenomenology and is especially passionate about the human capacity to connect with musical sound and to integrate the multiplicity of stimuli into a unified experience.
He is an active contributor to the Santa Barbara musical life. He has been Music Director at First Congregational Church since 2013. He has been teaching at his piano studio since 2017 and presents his students to local and regional competitions. He is also Vice-President of the local branch of the Music Teachers Association of California. He performs regularly for the SBMC.
Pascal Salomon’s educational background includes studies at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris under the tutelage of Gabriel Tacchino, and further advanced studies at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève with Edson Elias and Nelson Goerner. He obtained a doctoral degree at UC Santa Barbara in California, where he studied with Paul Berkowitz and researched for his thesis on music phenomenology under the guidance of Lee Rothfarb. He has also refined his artistry by attending master classes with world-class pianists and pedagogues such as Yo-Yo Ma, András Schiff, Murray Perahia, Jeremy Denk, Vera Gornostaeva, György Sebök and Paul Badura-Skoda.
The Santa Barbara players aim to provide low-cost tickets for all concerts and complementary tickets for K-12 students. Ticket sales only cover about 30% of our costs, so please support our mission by donating. We are a 501(c)(3) organization, and your donation may be tax deductible.
Purchase tickets here. Use Code SBCP_K-12 for students 18 and younger or SBCP_STUDENT_ID for college students with ID.
Subscribe to our newsletter to get more news about our next season. You can read our current newsletter here.
If you have a vehicle to dispose of, you can donate it to benefit the Santa Barbara Chamber Players here using CARS
Our Mission
The Santa Barbara Chamber Players (“SBCP”) was created during the pandemic when local musicians joined together to play for each other as live performances were cancelled throughout the region. Our aim is to grow audiences for chamber and orchestral music by bringing affordable, professional-quality musical performances of listener-accessible music to Santa Barbara County, especially for those under-served by other higher-cost options, such as students, seniors, and families. We offer free tickets to K-12 students and invite experienced high-school musicians to play with our orchestra. All concerts will be presented with local musicians taking advantage of the deep pool of talent in the Santa Barbara area.
Our Conductors
Siegwart “Zig” Reichwald holds the Adams Chair of Music and Worship at Westmont College. Previously, he was the Charles E. Daniels Distinguished Professor of Music at Converse College, where he served as the conductor of the Converse Symphony for 18 years. Dr. Reichwald is the author of The Genesis of Felix Mendelssohn’s Paulus (Scarecrow Press 2001) and Mendelssohn and the Genesis of the Protestant A Cappella Movement (Cambridge University Press, 2023). He also edited Mendelssohn in Performance (Indiana University Press, 2008), a collection of essays that, according to Choice, “does a superb job explaining the 19th-century sound environment of Felix Mendelssohn and his audiences,” and Nineteenth-Century Music Review suggests that it “should be on the shelf of every performer, scholar, and devotee of Mendelssohn’s music.” Dr. Reichwald is known as a pedagogue who has helped numerous students enter some of the finest graduate programs.
Conductor and composer Emmanuel Fratianni is a Santa Barbara resident who has led major ensembles worldwide such as the San Francisco Symphony, Boston Pops, National Symphony, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore Symphonies, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Spanish and Czech National Symphony Orchestras. An award-winning composer and arranger his music for interactive media has been performed by some of the finest orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
Emmanuel Fratianni is an Italian and US citizen, fluent in English, French and Italian. He is also an active guest lecturer in both American and European music institutions in the subjects of music composition for film and visual media as well as multimedia symphonic music direction.
Mary Beth Rhodes-Woodruff grew up in Southern California and attended the New England Conservatory of Music and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, majoring in both chemistry and music. She then studied with Andres Cardenes, concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony at Carnegie Mellon University. Upon receiving her master’s degree, she began teaching at Biola University Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles and was Head of Chamber Music Studies, leading students on a chamber music concert tour of mainland China and soloed with the Biola Symphony Orchestra on a concert tour of Italy, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
Since moving to Santa Barbara County, Ms. Woodruff founded Santa Barbara Strings where she is currently artistic director and conductor. She has performed with the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Pacific Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, was concertmaster of the Santa Maria Philharmonic.
The Santa Barbara players aim to provide low-cost tickets for all concerts and complementary tickets for K-12 students. Please support our mission by donating. We are a 501(c)(3) organization, and your donation may be tax deductible.
Please subscribe to our newsletter to keep up-to-date with the SBCP and hear about future concerts
SBCP acknowledges the generous support of The Towbes Fund for the Performing Arts, a field of interest fund of the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation, the City of Santa Barbara, the George H. and Olive J. Griffiths Charitable Foundation, the Music Academy, and CARS (Charitable Adult Rides & Services).
