Michael Shasberger will lead the Westmont College Orchestra when it resumes its in-person concerts this weekend.
MONTECITO — The Westmont College Orchestra is back on stage with in-person concerts.
The Montecito college ensemble will perform at 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday in Hahn Hall the Music Academy of the West, 1070 Fairview Road, Montecito.
Michael Shasberger, conductor and Adams professor of music and worship, looks forward to the live concert, the orchestra’s first in-person program since February 2020.
“We’re very excited to offer this to the community,” he said in a news release. “Video presentations were important to do during the last year, but nothing compares to making live music to a live audience!”
This school year’s concerts will follow the theme of “A Season of Seasons.” The orchestra will play music of “The Four Seasons” by Antonio Vivaldi or Astro Piazzolla at each of its concerts.
Violin soloists Sophia Chan, Daniel Macy, Anasara Lysaker and Elizabeth Callahan and viola soloist Issac Siebelink will each perform one or two movements from “Autumn” or “Winter.”
The orchestra will also perform Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony,” Copland’s “Suite from The Tender Land” and the “English Folk Song Suite” by Vaughan Williams.
Tickets are $10 for general admission but are free for students. To purchase, go to westmont.edu/music.
The Music Academy of the West requires everyone attending to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 72 hours before the concert. Santa Barbara County also requires everyone to wear masks at the indoor event.
For more information, contact the music department at 805-565-6040 or music@westmont.edu.
— Dave Mason
