Our 41st season of presenting great artists and performances begins in October!
LINDA STAFFORD BURROWS, SERIES COORDINATOR
ROBERT CASSIDY, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Questions? Clarifications? Email syvconcerts@smitv.org
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Order season or individual tickets online - including free student tickets.
Click the button below...
FOR ALL CONCERTS
STUDENTS ARE FREE, GENERAL ADMISSION IS $20, PATRONS (1ST EIGHT ROWS) IS $35.
STUDENTS ARE FREE, GENERAL ADMISSION IS $20, PATRONS (1ST EIGHT ROWS) IS $35.
Opening Night!
Saturday, October 16, 2021 at 5 pm
Connie Sheu, classical guitar
Voices of Classical Guitar: Music of Barrios, Paulian, Johanson, and more
Connie Sheu presents a concert of classical guitar music by various composers,
including little-known works by women composers and some of her own new arrangements.
Dr. Connie Sheu is a dynamic guitarist, devoted teacher, and ardent advocate of classical guitar. Past performances have brought her to Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, 92nd StY, Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall; venues in Moldova, Italy, Hungary; and across the United States. Connie serves as General Manager for the Guitar Foundation of America and teaches at the Colburn School. She performs with flutist Elise Henry as Duo Arroyo and is part of Street Symphony.
Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 5 pm
Robert Cassidy, piano, Ani Aznavoorian, cello, Adam Barnett-Hart, violin
An Evening of Chamber Music
Works by Haydn, Rachmaninoff and Schubert
Robert Cassidy has received widespread acclaim for his performances and recordings of both solo piano repertoire and chamber music. A sought after soloist, chamber musician as well as teacher and coach Dr. Cassidy relishes collaborations and recently created concert programs with Ani Aznavoorian, Richard O’Neill, and The Almeda Trio. He has an active teaching career at the Music Academy of the West and has served as the Artistic Director of the SYV Concert Series since 2019.
Ani Aznavoorian received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Juiliard and is a world renowned cellist. The Principal Cellist of the Camerata Pacifica, Ms. Aznavoorian performs often in New York and throughout the world as a soloist with great orchestras. A recent highlight was performing Lera Auerbach’s “Dreammusik” for Cello and Chamber Orchestra written and commissioned for her by Camerata Pacifica.
Adam Barnett-Hart has attracted worldwide attention for his sensitive musicianship and inspired artistic decisions. As the founding first violinist of the Escher Quartet, he has performed in many of the most prestigious venues and festivals around the world, including Alice Tully Hall and the 92nd Street Y in New York, The Kennedy Center., and the Ravinia and Caramoor Festivals. As a soloist Mr. Barnett-Hart has performed with the Juilliard Symphony, the Colorado Symphony and other noted American symphonies and regularly tours Korea as concertmaster of the Sejong Soloists. Mr. Barnett-Hart studied with Pinchas Zuckerman and Joel Smirnoff at Juilliard.
Saturday, February 12, 2022 at 5 pm
John Churchwell, piano
with Robert Cassidy and special guest vocal artists
Love Songs and Dances: An Evening of Liebeslieder
John Churchwell began serving as head of music for San Francisco Opera in August 2011. Prior to this appointment, he served as an assistant conductor for both the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera for 14 years. Mr. Churchwell has worked on more than 100 productions with such conductors as James Levine, Nicola Luisotti, Donald Runnicles, Nello Santi and Sir Charles Mackerras. A champion of American music, Mr. Churchwell participated in the world premieres of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby, Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Stewart Wallace/Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Philip Glass’ Appomattox, Christopher Theofanidis' Heart of a Soldier, and Tobias Picker's Dolores Claiborne. Recently he led the preparation for John Adams’ world premiere The Girls of the Golden West.
On the recital stage, Mr. Churchwell has partnered with some of today’s most sought-after vocalists, including appearances at the Hollywood Bowl with Ellie Dehn, San Francisco Symphony with Michael Fabiano, and recitals with Lawrence Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, Joyce DiDonato, James Westman, and Frederica von Stade. He has also appeared frequently in chamber music concerts with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
Mr. Churchwell spends his summers at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA, where he has been a member of the voice and piano faculty since 2000. While there, in addition to chamber music performances and public masterclasses, Mr. Churchwell is instrumental in the training of young singers and apprentice coaches.
On the recital stage, Mr. Churchwell has partnered with some of today’s most sought-after vocalists, including appearances at the Hollywood Bowl with Ellie Dehn, San Francisco Symphony with Michael Fabiano, and recitals with Lawrence Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, Joyce DiDonato, James Westman, and Frederica von Stade. He has also appeared frequently in chamber music concerts with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
Mr. Churchwell spends his summers at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA, where he has been a member of the voice and piano faculty since 2000. While there, in addition to chamber music performances and public masterclasses, Mr. Churchwell is instrumental in the training of young singers and apprentice coaches.
Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 7pm
Johnny Gandelsman, violin
This is America
As we live through a time of disruption and disconnection, with COVID-19, the recent US election, deep polarization, entrenched systemic racism and police brutality, it is clear that the years 2020 and 2021 will be seared in our collective memories for a long time. In response to this turbulent period in history, Grammy-award winning violinist and producer Johnny Gandelsman developed “This Is America”, a new commissioning and recording project featuring over twenty new works for solo violin, written by American and US-based artists.
Commissioned by twenty presenters in eleven states and Washington DC, “This is America” celebrates America's rich cultural tapestry and its myriad perspectives, thoughts and ideas, offering a vivid counterpoint to the idea that this land can be understood through a singular, dominant point of view. Each composition in the anthology reflects on the current state of American society in a personal and intimate way, looking through an unflinching lens at universal topics like separation, loneliness, hope and love.
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Grammy award-winning violinist and producer Johnny Gandelsman's musical voice reflects the artistic collaborations he has been a part of since moving to the United States in 1995. Richard Brody of The New Yorker has called Johnny Gandelsman “revelatory” in concert, placing him in the company of “radically transformative” performers like Maurizio Pollini, Peter Serkin and Christian Zacharias.
As a founding member of Brooklyn Rider and a member of the Silkroad Ensemble, Johnny has closely worked with such luminaries as Bela Fleck, Martin Hayes, Kayhan Kalhor, Yo-Yo Ma, Mark Morris, Anne Sofie von Otter, Alim Qasimov & Fargana Qasimova, Joshua Redman, Suzanne Vega, Abigail Washburn and Damian Woetzel. He has appeared with Bono, David Byrne, Renee Fleming, Rhiannon Giddens, I'm With Her, Christian McBride, and many others. Gandelsman integrates a wide range of creative sensibilities into a unique style amongst today's violinists, one that according to the Boston Globe, possesses "a balletic lightness of touch and a sense of whimsy and imagination". A passionate advocate for new music, Johnny has premiered dozens of new works, including music by Lisa Bielawa, Tyondai Braxton, Daniel Cords, Christina Courtin, Reena Esmail, Bela Fleck, Gabriela Lena Frank, Bill Frisell, Osvaldo Golijov, Gonzalo Grau, Ethan Iverson, Vijay Iyer, Colin Jacobsen, Gabriel Kahane, Rubin Kodheli, Angel Lam, Ljova, Dana Lyn, Nico Muhly, Padma Newsome, Shara Nova, Edward Perez, Matana Roberts, Kyle Sanna, Gregory Saunier, Caroline Shaw, Kojiro Umezaki, Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, Du Yun, Evan Ziporyn and John Zorn Johnny has been producing records since starting his label, In a Circle Records in 2008. Recent credits include Ken Burns & Lynn Novick's PBS documentary film "Hemingway", Silkroad Ensemble's "Falling out of Time", Brooklyn Rider's Grammy-nominated "Healing Modes" & “Spontaneous Symbols” (In a Circle Records); Magos Herrera & Brooklyn Rider's "Dreamers" (Sony); Johnny's own recording of JS Bach's complete Cello Suites & complete Sonatas and Partitas for violin (In a Circle Records) and 2 albums with Silkroad Ensemble and Yo-Yo Ma: “The Vietnam War”, documentary film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick; and Silkroad Ensemble & Yo-Yo Ma's “Sing Me Home”, a Grammy-award winner for Best World Music album (Sony). |
Friday, March 18, 2022 at 7 pm
The Radian String Quartet
Mary Beth Woodruff, violin
Basil Vendryes, viola
Andrew Smith, cello
With guest artist Robert Thies, piano
The Journey from Classicism to Impressionism
The Radian String Quartet returns to the Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series with Guest Artist Robert Thies
with an ambitious program of string masterworks including the Mozart Piano Quartet in E flat major
and the Brahms Piano Quartet in C minor.
Mary Beth Woodruff studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and received her masters at Carnegie- Mellon. Ms. Woodruff formally on faculty at Biola University Conservatory and a soloist and concert master with orchestras around the world, currently is on faculty at Interlochen Center for the Arts and various festivals, Concertmaster for the Santa Maria Philharmonic. Ms.Woodruff is the Founding Artistic Director of Santa Barbara Strings.
Basil Vendryes, is Principal Violist for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and performs extensively as a soloist and chamber musician. He is a renowned teacher at festivals throughout the world and is on faculty at the Lamont School of Music at University of Denver.
Andrew Smith is a member of the Cerberus Trio, Camerata Deia and a founding member of The Adriatic Chamber Music Festival in Italy. He is the Principal Cellist with the Las Vegas Philharmonic and is associate professor of music at the University of Nevada.
Robert Thies is an artist renowned for his consummate musicianship and poetic temperament. He first captured worldwide attention in 1995 when he won the Gold Medal at the Second International Prokofiev Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia. With this victory, Thies became the only American pianist to win a Russian piano competition since Van Cliburn's triumph in Moscow in 1958.
A pianist of “unerring, warm-toned refinement, revealing judicious glimmers of power."
Robert enjoys a diverse career as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and recording artist. He has already performed 40 different concerti with orchestras all over the world, including the Saint Petersburg (RUSSIA) Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia, Louisville Orchestra, and the Mexico City Philharmonic.
As a Steinway Artist and frequent recitalist in the United States and abroad, Robert has developed a reputation as a “genuine” and “sincere” artist, creating delicately balanced programs and performing in a manner to draw focus to the composer rather than to himself. In 2001, under the auspices of Community Concerts, he completed a forty-city tour of the United States. In May 1999, he performed in the Hermitage Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. Two years earlier he worked with the late Henryk Gorecki in the U.S. premiere of his Piano Sonata.
Robert is highly sought after as a recital partner and collaborator in both instrumental and vocal chamber music. Offstage he is in high demand for special recording projects by contemporary composers, and he sometimes appears on soundtracks for film and television.
A pianist of “unerring, warm-toned refinement, revealing judicious glimmers of power."
Robert enjoys a diverse career as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and recording artist. He has already performed 40 different concerti with orchestras all over the world, including the Saint Petersburg (RUSSIA) Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia, Louisville Orchestra, and the Mexico City Philharmonic.
As a Steinway Artist and frequent recitalist in the United States and abroad, Robert has developed a reputation as a “genuine” and “sincere” artist, creating delicately balanced programs and performing in a manner to draw focus to the composer rather than to himself. In 2001, under the auspices of Community Concerts, he completed a forty-city tour of the United States. In May 1999, he performed in the Hermitage Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. Two years earlier he worked with the late Henryk Gorecki in the U.S. premiere of his Piano Sonata.
Robert is highly sought after as a recital partner and collaborator in both instrumental and vocal chamber music. Offstage he is in high demand for special recording projects by contemporary composers, and he sometimes appears on soundtracks for film and television.
Order season or individual tickets online - including free student tickets.
Click the button below...
FOR ALL CONCERTS
STUDENTS ARE FREE, GENERAL ADMISSION IS $20, PATRONS (1ST EIGHT ROWS) IS $35.
STUDENTS ARE FREE, GENERAL ADMISSION IS $20, PATRONS (1ST EIGHT ROWS) IS $35.
COMMON SENSE ABOUT COVID
For the safety of our guests, the California Department of Public Health and Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health guidance for COVID safety protocols will be followed and may change throughout the series. We ask that you be vaccinated and wear face coverings indoors. The performance space will have plenty of fresh air (please dress warmly as it may be cool). Physically distanced seating will be available.
Donations to support the SYV Concert Series are welcome!
As we anticipate the 41st Season in 2022: Are you interested in being a Series Sponsor, an Artist Sponsor,
or a Season Subscriber with reserved seating?
Contact Music Series Coordinator Linda Stafford Burrows at 805-705-0938 or syvconcerts@smitv.org
or a Season Subscriber with reserved seating?
Contact Music Series Coordinator Linda Stafford Burrows at 805-705-0938 or syvconcerts@smitv.org
Transformation
Celebrating the Return of Live Concerts
Enjoy the recording of the June 26, 2021 concert below
Enjoy a recording of the first live performance offered by the Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series since the pandemic began. On Saturday, June 26, 2021 Artistic Director and pianist Robert Cassidy, and cellist extraordinaire Ani Aznavoorian performed three transformative works for cello and piano in the beautiful space of St. Mark's.
Beethoven's Sonata in C Major, Op 102 #1, Debussy's Sonata for Cello and Piano, and Brahms' Sonata in E Minor, Op. 38, were featured on the program, and each is a masterwork to nourish the soul.
Life has changed for all due to Covid-19, but music remains to help us carry on. Listen, and enjoy!
Beethoven's Sonata in C Major, Op 102 #1, Debussy's Sonata for Cello and Piano, and Brahms' Sonata in E Minor, Op. 38, were featured on the program, and each is a masterwork to nourish the soul.
Life has changed for all due to Covid-19, but music remains to help us carry on. Listen, and enjoy!
Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Cello in C Major, Op. 102 #1
Debussy Sonata for Cello and Piano
Brahms Sonata in E Minor, Op. 38
Meet the Artists
Pianist Robert Cassidy has received widespread acclaim for his performances and recordings of both solo piano repertoire and chamber music. The Cleveland Plain Dealer review of his eponymous solo recording noted, “Cassidy demonstrates a keen grasp of varied styles on his new recital disc, which spans three centuries. with delicate and expressive sensitivity, savoring the magical atmospheres.” In March 2016, Dr. Cassidy released his second solo disc “Pathways” which includes works by Chopin, Debussy and Joel Feigin. He received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music; and Doctor of Arts in Piano Chamber Music and Accompanying/Piano Performance from Ball State University. A sought after soloist, chamber musician, as well as teacher and coach, Dr. Cassidy has recently performed with Almeda Trio. Cleveland Orchestra and Mari Sato of the Cavani String Quartet. In addition to his performances, Dr. Cassidy continues his active teaching career based at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. Dr. Cassidy has been Artistic Director of the Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series since 2019.
Cellist Ani Aznavoorian is described by The Strad Magazine as having “Scorchingly committed performances that wring every last drop of emotion out of the music. Her technique is well-nigh immaculate, she has a natural sense of theater, and her tone is astonishingly responsive.” Ms. Aznavoorian received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and continues to perform often in New York and also throughout the world including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Tokyo Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, International Sejong Soloists, Belgrade Philharmonic, Juilliard Orchestra and Edmonton Symphony. Ms Aznavoorian also is a member of the faculty at summer festivals as well as the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. This season marks Ms. Aznavoorian’s 14th year as principal cellist with Camerata Pacifica. A recent highlight was the honor of performing Lera Auerbach’s “Dreammusik” for Cello and Chamber Orchestra which was written and commissioned for her by Camerata Pacifica.
Pianist Robert Cassidy has received widespread acclaim for his performances and recordings of both solo piano repertoire and chamber music. The Cleveland Plain Dealer review of his eponymous solo recording noted, “Cassidy demonstrates a keen grasp of varied styles on his new recital disc, which spans three centuries. with delicate and expressive sensitivity, savoring the magical atmospheres.” In March 2016, Dr. Cassidy released his second solo disc “Pathways” which includes works by Chopin, Debussy and Joel Feigin. He received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music; and Doctor of Arts in Piano Chamber Music and Accompanying/Piano Performance from Ball State University. A sought after soloist, chamber musician, as well as teacher and coach, Dr. Cassidy has recently performed with Almeda Trio. Cleveland Orchestra and Mari Sato of the Cavani String Quartet. In addition to his performances, Dr. Cassidy continues his active teaching career based at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. Dr. Cassidy has been Artistic Director of the Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series since 2019.
Cellist Ani Aznavoorian is described by The Strad Magazine as having “Scorchingly committed performances that wring every last drop of emotion out of the music. Her technique is well-nigh immaculate, she has a natural sense of theater, and her tone is astonishingly responsive.” Ms. Aznavoorian received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and continues to perform often in New York and also throughout the world including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Tokyo Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, International Sejong Soloists, Belgrade Philharmonic, Juilliard Orchestra and Edmonton Symphony. Ms Aznavoorian also is a member of the faculty at summer festivals as well as the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. This season marks Ms. Aznavoorian’s 14th year as principal cellist with Camerata Pacifica. A recent highlight was the honor of performing Lera Auerbach’s “Dreammusik” for Cello and Chamber Orchestra which was written and commissioned for her by Camerata Pacifica.
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Address & Directions
2901 Nojoqui Avenue at Alamo Pintado Avenue Post Office Box 39 Los Olivos, California 93441 |
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