SB Choral Society Announces 70th Season

Since its founding in 1948, SBCS has been singing for Santa Barbara continuously for 70 years, offering area singers the opportunity to study and perform great choral masterworks and, by those performances, contribute to keeping the works alive for the cultural benefit of our community locally, regionally, and even globally through their International Performance Tour series. Take a sentimental journey back to read about their founding and history at sbchoral.org/about-the-chorus/history.

This season marks not only the 70th Anniversary Season for the organization, but also Conductor JoAnne Wasserman’s 25th holding the baton. Ms. Wasserman has planned a repertoire that includes some music not performed in Santa Barbara during her 25-year tenure, such as Joseph Haydn’s Mass in Troubled Times, the Missa in Angustiis, better known as the Lord Nelson Mass. Here’s what’s on tap for the coming season:

• November 11, 2017 – 10 am – Veterans’ Day Tribute sponsored by Pierre Claeyssens’ Veterans’ Foundation at Santa Barbara Cemetery.  A program of moving words and music honoring our nation’s veterans. FREE to all. No ticket required.
• December 9 and 10, 2017 – Hallelujah Project 5 at the Lobero Theatre – the family-friendly holiday musical tradition continues with a program of traditional and classical seasonal favorites, this year, including the Vivaldi Gloria. And the family favorite celebrity narration of the holiday classic ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Who will this year’s celebrity narrator be? Previous narrators have included comedienne Fanny Flagg, tv, screen, and stage actress Stephanie Zimbalist, daytime tv star Allison Sweeney, and the first lady of movie musicals, the iconic Shirley Jones.
• February 17 and 18, 2018 – Tribute to Leonard Bernstein with Santa Barbara Symphony, Nir Kabaretti conductor, on the 100th anniversary of the great composer’s birth, at The Granada.
• April 7 and 8, 2018 – Masterworks: Haydn Missa in Angustiis (Lord Nelson Mass), Vaughn Williams’ Benedicite, and a tribute to SBCS alumni, who will be invited to join the chorus in singing a final number. Performance will be at First Presbyterian Church.
• May 19, 2018 – ‘Sentimental Journey’ Our 70th Anniversary Gala at Rockwood Woman’s Club. Featuring the SBCS chorus in a concert of music from the 1940s, plus cocktails, dinner, and live and silent auctions of fabulous vacation stays and themed items. Channel your inner Frank Sinatra or Ava Gardner and enter the glamor of the post WWII American music scene.
• May 2018 – Memorial Day Tribute to the Armed Services sponsored by Pierre Claeyssens’ Veterans Foundation at the Santa Barbara Cemetery. A moving program of music and words honoring the sacrifices of our men and women in the military. FREE to all, no ticket required.