In the realm of local “serious” music culture — classical, jazz, and related non-pop music — the long winter’s nap is over. That traditional null zone between mid-December and mid-January, where non-Christmas-related music generally leaves the building, officially gives way to a dense concert week ahead, with a rich winter schedule following on its heels. A winter’s cultural overview is in order.
Kicking off the busy week of enticements is the venerable Camerata Pacifica , at Hahn Hall on Friday, January 17. Baroque music specialist and flutist Emi Ferguson leads the still-formative baroque arm of the chamber group’s operation, with healthy doses of Bach (both traditional and “reinvented”) on the docket. The program boasts a special appearance by keyboardist Dan Tepfer (also a very fine jazz pianist and composer).
Mozart-mania takes over at The Granada Theatre on Saturday and Sunday, January 18-19, as maestro Nir Kabaretti leads the Santa Barbara Symphony in a more-than-mostly Mozart program. But you may want to leave Sunday afternoon or catch the stellar Miró string quartet, part of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s inviting chamber music program.