Music & Meditation Santa Barbara has announced its 2026 season, Music and Mindfulness for Our Times, a four-concert series that unites classical masterworks, intentional silence, and guided meditation in an intimate, one-hour format.

The season opens Tuesday, Feb. 10, and all concerts take place in Weinman Hall at the Music Academy of the West.

Founded by pianist and composer Antonio Artese, in collaboration with meditation guide Jessica Kolbe, the series was created “to offer the Santa Barbara community an accessible space where great classical performance meets mindfulness, encouraging reflection, presence, and deep listening in a fast-paced world,” organizers said.

Meditation guidance is led by Kolbe, inviting audiences into a shared practice of stillness that deepens listening and amplifies the expressive power of the music.

“Our intention is to offer Santa Barbara a place of clarity and beauty,” said Artese, artistic director. “With a quiet mind, every note resonates more fully, and the music reveals its most human and profound side.”

“This series is truly about community,” said Kolbe, co-founder. “People come to pause, breathe and reconnect. Music helps us remember that harmony begins within ourselves.”

The season opens with acclaimed cellist Ani Aznavoorian, joined by Artese in solo and duo repertoire, 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 in Weinman Hall, Music Academy of the West, 1070 Fairway Road, Santa Barbara.

The program features music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Giovanni Sollima, Sergei Rachmaninov, and Dmitri Shostakovich, curated to explore the relationship between virtuosity, inner stillness, and the human voice of the cello.

Tickets, priced from $30, are available at musicandmeditationsb.com.