Santa Barbara Music Club April 15, 2023

“MUSIC FOR BRASS FROM UCSB”

The Santa Barbara Music Club continues its 2022-2023 season of beautiful classical music on Saturday, April 15 3 PM, at First United Methodist Church, 305 E. Anapamu.  Admission is free.

Steven Gross, French horn, Pascal Salomon, piano, plus the Maurice Faulkner Brass Trio, Horn Ensemble, trumpet, and trombone, will present a concert featuring delightful works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Reinhold Glière, James Naigus, Václav Nelhybel, Francis Poulenc, Camille Saint-Saëns, Robert Schumann, and Lowell Shaw.

This splendid variety of music will include the following:

Nelhybel: Scherzo Concertante – a short add lively piece with rhythmic juxtapositions, syncopated accents, and a smooth melodic line.

Poulenc: Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone – light-hearted, elegant, and upbeat, with occasional flashes of humor.

Schumann: Konzertstück for Four Horns, Op. 86 – Inspired by the composer’s hearing an excellent horn quartet in Dresden, Germany.  The work is arranged by Max Dei Rossi, a member of the Horn Ensemble.

Beethoven: The Heavens are Telling, Op. 48, No. 4 – Based on Psalm 19, Die Ehre Gottes aus der Natur (God’s Honor of Nature), which expresses the joy of creation, the horn version is evocative of the natural horn, which is a horn without valves.

Shaw: Tango – From Fripperies, a collection highlighting enjoyable, accessible, and popular music.

Saint-Saëns: Adagio from Symphony No. 3 – This beautiful and evocative slow movement from the Organ Symphony has been arranged by hornist Wendell Rider.

Glière: Concerto for Horn, Op. 91 – A major staple for the horn, it exemplifies the expressive, ultra-romantic style characteristic of Russian compositional tradition.

Saint-Saëns: Marche Royale du Lion – From the ever-popular Carnival of the Animals, the lion is featured in recognizable roars in several places.

Naigus: Polaris – A beautiful, inspiring, and calming work for four horns and piano.

UCSB student performers are hornists Madison Babovec, Max Dei Rossi, Annie Hargis, Connor Hahn, Pablo Juan Hernandez (also trumpeter), Robin Kolankarai, trumpeter Landon Parcel, and trombonist Allison Rigler.

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Steven Gross, French horn, is a UCSB Professor of Horn and Head of the Wind, Brass, and Percussion Area.  His renowned concert and teaching career around the world has included positions with the Atlanta Symphony, National Symphony, and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and 24 years as Principal Horn of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.  His New York debut in Carnegie Hall was described as “offering some of the cleanest articulation and purest musicality.”  He earned his B.M. Degree from the University of Michigan, his M.M. Degree from Indiana University, and his D.M.A Degree from the University of Cincinnati.

At the age of 21, he won the First International Heldenleben Horn Competition. Currently, Executive Director and Juror of the International Horn Competition and Principal Horn of the Oregon Coast Music Festival of America, his solo appearances have included the Orchester der Stadt Vöcklabruck (Austria), Beijing Central Conservatory (China), Nairobi Symphony (Kenya), Camerata Filarmonica Bohemia (Prague), Moscow Conservatory (Russia), WindWorx (South Africa), L’Abri International Arts Festival (Switzerland), and NTUA Wind Ensemble (Taiwan).

He has released 6 solo CDs, and tributes from leading media include: Gramophone Magazine praised his playing for its “subtle flair and vibrant character” as well as its “suave and poetic conversation,” the American Record Guide described it as “outstanding, striking the right balance between thoughtfulness and verve, planning and spontaneity … an excellent tone and the ability and temperament to play heroically,” and Horn Call Magazine remarked that he “plays technically flawlessly and highly expressively throughout … Highly recommend.”

Please view StevenGrossHorn.com.

Pascal Salomon, piano, was born in Israel, grew up in France, and has concertized as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber music pianist to great acclaim in China, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Moldova, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.S.  The renowned pianist Murray Perahia praised his “Beautiful sound!” and Le Bien Public-France cited his “Real presence … the wonderful Lisztian sonority was long, smooth and without superfluous effects.”  He studied at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris, earning the Virtuosity Degree at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève, Switzerland, and his DMA Degree from UCSB under the mentorship of Paul Berkowitz and Lee Rothfarb; his research lecture was an in-depth study of music phenomenology from a performer’s standpoint.

He has been a featured soloist with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Sinfonietta of Lausanne, La Sinfonietta de Genève, Orchestre du Capital-Toulouse, and National Chamber Orchestra of Moldova, and has served as Collaborative Piano faculty member at Westmont College.  A dedicated teacher, Dr. Salomon taught piano for nine years at the Music Conservatory of Geneva and gave master classes in Romania (the Iasi University of Art and College of Music), Hungary (Crescendo Summer Institute), and China (Yunnan Institute of Arts).  His CD recordings include Pascal Salomon Plays Schumann – ART Records, Czech Portraits, with violist Jacob Adams – Centaur Records, and a live concert recording, Chopin, Ravel, Schubert – National Radio in Iasi, Romania.

UCSB student performers are hornists Madison Babovec, Max Dei Rossi, Annie Hargis, Connor Hahn, Pablo Juan Hernandez, Robin Kolankarai, trombonist Allison Rigler, and trumpeter Landon Parcel.

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Santa Barbara Music Club concerts display a wonderful diversity of historical musical periods and compositional styles, including beloved masterworks and exciting new and seldom-heard repertoire.

Of the series, the Santa Barbara Independent exclaimed:  “A beautiful day, a beautiful room, beautiful music … who could ask for more?” and Gerald Carpenter in Noozhawk.com declared, “Every Santa Barbara Music Club concert that I have ever attended has been a sensory joy as well as a consciousness expansion.”

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A valued cultural resource in the community since 1969, the Music Club’s mission is threefold:

(1) Presentation of an annual series of concerts, free to the public.

(2) Aiding and encouraging musical education by the disbursement of scholarships to talented local music students.

(3) Presentation of community outreach activities, including bringing great music to residents of area retirement homes.

For information on this or other Santa Barbara Music Club programs and performing artists, visit SBMusicClub.org.

For the health and safety of our audience and performers:

Masks are required and must cover both the nose and mouth.  Social distancing is required.

For information on this and other Santa Barbara Music Club programs and performing artists, visit SBMusicClub.org.