The Santa Barbara Symphony’s next concerts, called Symphonic Spectacular — featuring the innovative string (and vocal) ensemble Time for Three (Nicolas Kendall, violin and vocals; Charles Yang, violin and vocals; Ranaan Meyer, double bass and vocals) — will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19 at the Granada Theater.
The Sunday concert will be the concluding event of The California Festival: A Celebration of New Music.
The program will consist of “Contact” (2022: commissioned by Time for Three from the Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Kevin Puts); the “Polovtsian Dances” from Alexander Borodin‘s opera “Prince Igor” (1887); the Suite No. 2 from Georges Bizet‘s incidental music to Alphonse Daudet‘s play, “L’Arlésienne” (1872); and Maurice Ravel‘s dark tone poem, “La Valse” (1919-20).
According to their literature: “Time For Three stands at the busy intersection of classical music, Americana, and singer-songwriter. To experience Time For Three (TF3) live is to hear the various eras, styles, and traditions of Western music fold in on themselves and emerge anew. Bonded by an uncommon blend of their instruments fused together with their voices, [Time for Three] have found a unique voice of expression to share with the world.”
Three of the four works on this program are doubtless familiar to symphony audiences. (Listen for “Strange in Paradise” in the Borodin, and the exquisite minuet in the Bizet.)
As for the Kevin Puts’ piece, I am mindful that it is impossible to describe music in words that give the reader any sense of it. Sometimes analogy helps, but I am at a loss to bring up a suitable comparison.
Puts simply doesn’t sound like anybody else.
If an objective standard for beauty in music were possible, I feel confident that “Contact” would easily qualify. It is not uniformly smooth and lyrical, though it certainly starts that way, but even the fast and/or spiky passages will please for their very appropriateness. That’s all.
Tickets to these concerts are $35-$175; they can be purchased online at https://ticketing.granadasb.org/17843.
For season subscriptions and additional ticket information visit www.TheSymphony.org, or call 805-898-9386.