Online Concert: Violins Around the World

The Santa Barbara Symphony’s innovative and historic season of presenting live music together safely on stage continues on Saturday, March 20 at 7pm (with an encore matinee on Sunday, March 21 at 3pm) with “Violins Around the World: From Classical to Bluegrass,” recorded live from the stage of the Granada Theatre, with no audience. This season’s Spotlight on Santa Barbara shines once again with this dynamic program, featuring the renowned violinist Gilles Apap, who returns “home” to Santa Barbara to play with the Symphony, where he served as concertmaster for a decade. Apap joins Maestro Nir Kabaretti for a globetrotting program that travels genres from classical to jazz, to bluegrass, and more. The orchestra musicians will get a chance to flex their musical muscles as they accompany Apap through a series of musical innovations and improvisations, featuring French, Irish, Balkan, Bluegrass, popular music. Home audiences will also discover the music and fascinating untold story of Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a prolific 18th-century Black composer, violin virtuoso (and master fencer) whose name has long been neglected in Western classical music tradition. Guests are once again invited to tune in Saturday at 6:30 pm (2:30 pm on Sunday) to enjoy the pre-show featuring behind-the-scenes interviews and more.