‘Beethoven Dreams’

By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR

The Santa Barbara Symphony is taking a creative approach to one of classical music’s greatest stars: Ludwig van Beethoven. This weekend’s Beethoven concert at The Granada will include a collaboration with the Ensemble Theatre Company’s artistic director, Jonathan Fox. Mr. Fox will direct the West Coast premiere of Ella Milch-Sheriff’s staged monodrama,

“The Eternal Stranger,” based on one of Beethoven’s dreams.

Set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, the “Beethoven Dreams” concert will also feature the symphony playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, featuring piano soloist and Ukrainian native Inna Faliks, and Symphony No. 4.

For “The Eternal Stranger,” the symphony will play Ms. Milch-Sheriff’s music while Ensemble Theatre Company actors John Connolly and Nitya Vidyasagar portray a composer and refugee

Santa Barbara Symphony, Ensemble Theatre Company collaborate on special concert

respectively. They will recite the poem “The Eternal Stranger” as those characters while sharing the stage with the Santa Barbara Symphony.

“They will act and move around the musicians,” Nir Kabaretti, the symphony’s music and artistic director, told the NewsPress. “We also have visual art so there will be a screen (behind the orchestra).

“It’s really a fascinating project,” the symphony’s conductor said. “It’s by an Israeli composer I really like. She (Ms. Milch-Sheriff) was inspired by a letter

Beethoven wrote to a friend where he shared a dream.”

That letter was Beethoven’s letter to his publisher, Tobias Haslinger, in which the composer described a dream he had about a journey to Syria, India, Arabia and finally Jerusalem.

“It’s something that resonates with a lot of people,” Maestro Kabaretti said about Beethoven’s imaginary journey. “It’s finding yourself in a new place with new people.”

Mr. Fox talked to the News-Press about

Calendar

The calendar appears Mondays through Saturdays in the “Life & the Arts” section. Items are welcome. Please email them a full week before the event to Managing Editor Dave Mason at dmason@newspress.com.

TODAY

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Storytelling: Native People Through the Lens of Edward S. Curtis” is on display through April 30 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays. For more information, visit sbnature.org.

10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. “SURREAL

WOMEN: Surrealist Art by American Women” is on display through April 24 at Sullivan Goss: An American Gallery, 11 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. For more information, www.sullivangoss. com.

By appointment on weekdays: “Holly Hungett: Natural Interpretations” is on view through May 20 at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara’s gallery, 229 E. Victoria St., Santa Barbara. The gallery is open 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays and weekdays by appointment. For more information, call the foundation at 805-965-6307 or go to www.afsb.org.

Noon to 5 p.m. “Clarence Mattei: Portrait of a Community” is on view now through May at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, which is located in downtown Santa Barbara at 136 E. De la Guerra St. Admission is free. Hours are currently from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and from noon to 7 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, visit www.sbhistorical. org. to etcsb.org or call 805-9655400.

7:30 p.m. Nic & Joe — the musical duo of Nicole Lvoff and Joe Woodard — will perform at Roy Restaurant, 7 W. Carrillo Street in Santa Barbara. The two-hour concert will feature music by the Beatles and Joni Mitchell, as well as jazz standards.