Camerata Pacifica launches its 2025-26 season with an all-string program including new and legacy chamber works anchored by Brahms’ String Sextet in G Major, Op. 36, an innovative work noted for its exotic opening strains. Presented at four Southern California locations, the performances are Tuesday, September 23, 7:30 pm, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino; Thursday, September 25, 8:00 pm, at Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles; Friday, September 26, 7:00 pm, at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West; and Sunday, September 28, 2025, 3:00 pm, at Thousand Oaks’ Janet and Ray Scherr Forum. This marks the beginning of the acclaimed Santa Barbara-based chamber collective’s 36th season.
The repertoire also features Anton Arensky’s String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 35, which he dedicated to the memory of Tchaikovsky, his close musical colleague. Its solemn aesthetic is heightened by its unusual scoring for violin, viola, and two cellos.
Latvian composer Peteris Vasks’ Castillo Interior for Violin & Cello, written in 2013 in remembrance of the great mystic St. Teresa of Avila, adds crisp contemporary flair to the program with bursts of emotion that weave together contemplative passages.
Showcasing their virtuosity in the technically demanding repertoire are violinists Paul Huang, The Bob Christensen Chair in Violin who is “a compelling podium presence” (Culture OC), and recipient of the 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, and Alena Hove, applauded for her “rich, smooth tone” (CityArts). They are joined by violists Che-Yen Chen who plays “with silken finesse” (Dallas Morning News), and Meredith Crawford, a “superlative violist” (Crescenta Valley Weekly). Completing the string sextet are Principal Cello Ani Aznavoorian, whose “scorchingly committed performances…wring every last drop of emotion out of the music” (The Strad), and Santiago Cañón-Valencia, a “technically flawless” cellist (The Strad).
For tickets ($75 at The Huntington, Music Academy of the West, and Zipper Hall; $94.40, including fees, at Janet and Ray Scherr Forum) and information, visit www.cameratapacifica.org.
