Camerata Pacifica is far and away the most programmatically original chamber outfit I know. In addition, the quality of the players is stunning (see my review of Venezuelan-born male Sopranista Samuel Mariño’s U.S. debut). Based in Santa Barbara, CP performs a monthly series of concerts in Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Marino (at the Huntington), and DTLA’s Zipper Hall (at Colburn School). Founded by Adrian Spence in 1990, the group is composed of the finest performers of chamber music from around the world. The ensemble is distinctive for artistic excellence, an innovative approach to classical music and a repertoire that ranges from baroque to brand new, from familiar masterworks to works that have yet to become favorites.
Paul Huang, Camerata Pacifica’s Bob Christensen Chair in Violin
(Courtesy of Artist)Camerata Pacifica launches its 2024-25 season with an all-French chamber program bursting with aural texture and musical bravura September 15-20, 2024, at four Southern California venues. Debussy’s brilliant and painterly Images, Book II, is bookended by Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello, a spare but captivating work with memorable melodies dedicated to Debussy, and Ravel’s poetic Piano Trio in A Minor, a masterpiece that shimmers with harmonic originality.
Santiago Cañón-Valencia, cello (Jesus Cornejo)
Showcasing their virtuosity in the technically demanding repertoire are violinist Paul Huang, recipient of the 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists; Columbian cellist Santiago Cañón- Valencia, named a 2022 BBC New Generation Artist, and Silver Medalist and “Audience Favorite” at the 2019 XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition; and Principal Piano Gilles Vonsattel. Camerata Pacifica is a chamber music collective renowned for its musical versatility and bold programming that illuminates the limitless scope of the chamber music repertoire.
Gilles Vonsattel, principal piano (Courtesy of Artist)
“France has been a center of music and culture for centuries with Ravel and Debussy, among the country’s most well know composers,” says Camerata Pacifica Artistic Director Adrian Spence. “They were acquaintances for more than a decade beginning in the 1890s. While they shared a mutual admiration for one another, they also found themselves as rivals on occasion.”
Camerata Pacifica’s next program, October 25-30, 2024, traverses groundbreaking music from the 20th century and the dawn of the era with works by Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Mei Fukushima.
Three Virtuosic Artists on Works by Ravel and Debussy
Camerata Pacifica
Paul Huang, violin
Santiago Cañón-Valencia, cello
Gilles Vonsattel, piano
PROGRAM:
RAVEL Sonata for Violin and Cello
DEBUSSY Images, Book II
RAVEL Piano Trio in A Minor
Sunday, September 15 at 3 (tickets here)
Janet and Ray Scherr Forum, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
Tuesday, September 17 at 7:30 (tickets here)
The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall, 1151 Oxford Rd, San Marino, CA 91108
Thursday, September 19 at 8 (tickets here)
Zipper Hall, The Colburn School, 200 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Friday, September 20 at 7 (tickets here)
Music Academy of the West, 1070 Fairway Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93108
for more info tickets to other programs, call 805.884.8410 or visit Camerata Pacifica
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