A double helping of Robert Schumann will bring the season to a memorable close. We welcome back dazzling Italian pianist Alessio Bax for Schumann’s intensely expressive Piano Concerto in A minor, followed by a stirring orchestral performance of the remarkably triumphant Symphony No. 2 in C.

Praised for his lyrical playing, insightful interpretations, and extraordinary technique, Mr. Bax has appeared as a soloist with more than 100 orchestras, including the London and Royal philharmonic orchestras, the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle. Last season he embarked on successful tours of South America and Asia, and returned to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for engagements in New York and on tour, among other highlights. According to Gramophone magazine, “His playing quivers with an almost hypnotic intensity.”

Program:

Schumann       Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54

Schumann       Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61

A sumptuous feast for discerning woodwind aficionados, this program combines three modernist delicacies – Poulenc’s charming, dance-based Suite française (d’après Claude Gervaise), Stravinsky’s Russian-folk-infused Symphonies of Wind Instruments (dedicated to the memory of Claude Debussy), and Kurt Weill’s famed “Kleine Dreigroschenmusik” Suite from The Threepenny Opera – with an agreeably congruous work by contemporary composer Jeff Scott.

A French horn player of great accomplishment, Mr. Scott is perhaps best known as a founding member of the adventurous, Grammy-nominated quintet Imani Winds, whose dynamic performances The Washington Post has described as “exuding a sultry sophistication.” His numerous arranging and composing credits include theatrical production scores as well as original works for solo winds, wind and brass quintet, horn quartet, and jazz ensembles.

Program:

Poulenc           Suite française (d’après Claude Gevaise)

Scott               Sacred Women

Stravinsky       Symphonies of Wind Instruments, 1947 Revision

Weill                 Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, Suite from The Threepenny Opera                     

Hailed by The New York Times as a “rising artist” and lauded by The Strad magazine for his “stylish and polished playing,” Paul Huang will showcase his immense talent in a performance of Beethoven’s expansive and groundbreaking Violin Concerto in D. Also featured: Franz Schubert’s much-loved and majestic “Great” Symphony.

Recipient of the prestigious 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Mr. Huang is widely recognized for his intensely eloquent music-making, distinctive sound, and effortless virtuosity. Following his Kennedy Center debut, The Washington Post proclaimed him “an artist with the goods for a significant career.” In 2013, The New York Times applauded his “masterly account of Barber’s Violin Concerto” with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall. Mr. Huang’s appearances with locally based Camerata Pacifica have met with similar critical effusions, at one point prompting the Santa Barbara Independent to note his “commanding tone and confident diction.”

Program:

Beethoven       Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61

Schubert         Symphony in C major, D. 944, “The Great”

The Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra’s new season roars to life with one of the most popular symphonic works of all time, Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s richly emotional “New World” Symphony, followed by George Gershwin’s genre-defying yet charmingly spirited Concerto in F, featuring acclaimed pianist Wendy Chen.

Ms. Chen, who at age 15 debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under conductor André Previn, became the youngest winner ever of the National Chopin Competition in 1990. That same year she was an inaugural recipient of the Gilmore Young Artist Award, and was named a Presidential Scholar by the National YoungArts Foundation. Ms. Chen has since performed throughout the world, garnering a steady stream of critical plaudits. The Boston Globe has lauded her “stamina, chops, brilliance, and sensitivity.”

Program:

Dvořák – Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 “From the New World”

Gershwin – Concerto in F