The Santa Barbara Symphony will open its 2024-25 season with a brace of concerts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, both in the Granada Theater, 1330 State St.

The program for these concerts, which the symphony calls “Tchaikovsky Immersion,” conducted by Maestro Nir Kabaretti, and featuring the virtuoso guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas in the concerted work, will include:

Emma Lou Diemer‘s “Homage to Tchaikovsky (2000-01);” Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar & Orchestra” (1940); and Peter Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 4 in f-minor, Opus 36” (1877–78).

The Diemer piece is no doubt included as a double homage: to Tchaikovsky, obviously, and also to the beloved composer herself, who left us last June 2, after a full, productive life of 96 years.

The Rodrigo concerto is certainly familiar to this audience, being one of the most popular pieces composed in the twentieth century, and the most popular piece ever composed by a Spaniard.

It came to the attention of American audiences largely through the work of the jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, who recorded his beautiful take on the slow movement for his album “Sketches of Spain,” (1960) and through the 1964 RCA recording of the concerto by the English lutenist and guitarist Julian Bream.

As music and artistic director Nir Kabaretti will tell us in his introductory remarks, there is a good deal more behind Tchaikovsky’s “Fourth Symphony” than we might have supposed heretofore:

“Tchaikovsky poured his soul into his symphonies,” the Maestro said. “Symphonies that would express his inner anguish and romantic passions as no music had dared to.”

Tickets to these concerts are $45-$195, and can be purchased in person at the Granada box office, 1330 State St., Ste. 102, by phone, 805-898-9386, or online at https://ticketing.granadasb.org/19055.