Santa Barbara has long been rich in the number of wonderful classical musicians and ensembles who have made the region their home base. Not only do they live here, but they often perform for us, giving our lives in this demi-paradise a very high-grade soundtrack indeed. It is unlikely that the music lovers among us will ever be surfeit of musicians and unwilling to make room for more.

So, let us now welcome the Pacifica Chamber Ensemble, which will offer its first concert ever at 3 p.m. Sunday in the sanctuary of the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, 1535 Santa Barbara St.

The Pacifica Ensemble was conceived and assembled by Allen Bishop, a professor at Pacifica Graduate Institute, and currently includes, in addition to Bishop on piano, Suzanne Duffy, flute; Claude-Lise LaFranque, violin; and Ervin Klinkon, cello. As the ensemble acquires followers, it will doubtless add musicians — although not, presumably, at the same rate. Regular attendees of the Santa Barbara Music Club’s performances will have dreamed of a group like this for some time now.

The Pacifica Ensemble’s first program is such as to give new luster to the word “classic.” It will play two works by Franz Josef Haydn, his “Flute Trio in D Major, Hob. XV:16” and his “London Trio No. 3 in G Major, Hob IV:2,” and one work each by Wolfgang Mozart (“Piano Trio in G Major, K564”), Johann Sebastian Bach (“Partita in a-minor for Solo Flute, BWV 1013”), Antonin Dvorak (“Three Romantic Pieces for Violin and Piano, Opus 75”) and Camille Saint-Saëns (“Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso for Violin and Piano, Opus 28”).

Apart from the ravishing beauty of the works selected, the presence of Dvorak and Saint-Saëns on this program reassures us that the new ensemble will not be obsessively antiquarian in its repertoire. Indeed, both the Frenchman and the Czech lived into the 20th century, although they are represented here by works written well before the dawn of that dark age. On the other hand, composers who flourished before, say, 1820, seem to have been much more generous to flautists than those who came later, and the prospect of hearing the brilliant Duffy play both Haydn and Bach is one to infuse any sincere local music lover with unqualified joy.

The music of many composers, leads us into melancholy studies and sweet sorrow. All Haydn’s music usually does is make the listener unreasonably happy. Call it “trivial” if you dare.

Tickets to this concert are $15 (general) and $10 (seniors and students), and may be purchased in advance at Santa Barbara Sheet Music, 1036 Santa Barbara St., or at the door.

— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributor. He can be reached at gerald.carpenter@gmail.com.