Nir Kabaretti Leads an All-French Program of Debussy, Poulenc, and Berlioz, Featuring the Santa Barbara Symphony Chorus and GRAMMY-nominated Soprano Devon Guthrie
The Santa Barbara Symphony invites audiences on an extraordinary journey through dream, devotion, obsession, and hallucination when Music & Artistic Director Nir Kabaretti leads Symphonie Fantastique! on Saturday, November 14, 2026 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 3:00 PM at The Granada Theatre.
The second concert of The Symphony’s 2026/27 Season celebrates the breadth of French music, moving from Debussy’s ethereal Syrinx and Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun” to the exuberant spirituality of Poulenc’s Gloria, featuring GRAMMY-nominated soprano Devon Guthrie and the Santa Barbara Symphony Chorus now in its third season. After intermission, Berlioz’s revolutionary Symphonie fantastique immerses audiences in a world of passion, obsession, and hallucination.
“What I find so exciting about this program is the incredible range of emotions, colors, and musical experiences we share throughout the evening,” said Kabaretti. “With Debussy, we enter a world of extraordinary beauty and delicate colors. Poulenc’s Gloria brings us joy and exuberance, but also moments of profound reflection and spiritual depth. Then Berlioz takes us on a thrilling journey, showcasing the full expressive range and brilliance of the orchestra. It’s a program full of contrasts and surprises, moving from moments of great intimacy and tenderness to music that is bold, powerful, and absolutely electrifying.”
The concert opens with two works by Claude Debussy, whose music broke from the dense, highly structured orchestral tradition of the 19th century. Instead, he used silence, individual instrumental colors, and unexpected combinations of sound to create music that feels fluid and atmospheric. In just a few minutes, Syrinx introduces that world through a solitary flute before Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun” expands it across the orchestra, creating the shimmering soundscape that helped shape the course of 20th-century music.
The Santa Barbara Symphony Chorus then joins the orchestra for Francis Poulenc’s Gloria, a six-movement setting of the Catholic Mass text that thrives on contrast. Sacred words are paired with jazz-inflected rhythms, operatic lyricism, and distinctly 20th-century harmonies, while soprano soloist Devon Guthrie brings an expressive thread of spiritual reflection to Poulenc’s unmistakably Parisian musical world.
The second half of the program belongs to Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique.
Written in 1830 when the composer was just 26, the work follows a young artist consumed by obsessive love. His beloved is represented by a recurring melody—the famous idée fixe—which changes as his romantic longing descends into nightmare.
A glittering ballroom gives way to a pastoral countryside, where shepherd calls offer moments of calm before the artist’s doubts return. Convinced his love is unrequited, he poisons himself with opium and falls into a nightmare in which he marches toward the guillotine. In the finale, bells toll, witches gather for a midnight sabbath, and the once-beautiful idée fixe returns grotesquely transformed as Berlioz summons the ancient Dies Irae, the chant associated with death and judgment.
Berlioz used the orchestra with unprecedented theatrical imagination, turning instruments into characters, distant voices, tolling bells, and supernatural apparitions. Nearly two centuries after its composition, the work remains visceral, cinematic, and startling.
Together, Debussy, Poulenc, and Berlioz reveal more than a century of French musical innovation—from atmospheric color and daring blends of sacred and secular influences to vivid psychological theater.
Audiences are invited to come early for “Conversations with Classical California,” an engaging and entertaining way to go behind the music. Hosted by on-air personality and audience favorite Jennifer Miller Hammel, the pre-concert talks take place Saturday from 6:30–7:00 PM and Sunday from 2:00–2:30 PM at The Granada Theatre and include interviews with guest artists and members of The Symphony.
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Tickets for Symphonie Fantastique! are available online, in person, or by calling the Granada Theatre box office at (805) 899-2222. For additional details, visit TheSymphony.org. Create Your Own Subscriptions for the 2026/27 Season are also available. Call (805) 898-9386 or visit The Symphony website for details.
THE ARTISTS
Nir Kabaretti, conductor
Devon Guthrie, soprano
The Santa Barbara Symphony Chorus
THE REPERTOIRE
Debussy | Syrinx & Prelude to
“The Afternoon of a Faun”
Poulenc | Gloria
Berlioz | Symphonie fantastique
EVENT SPONSORS
Principal Concert Sponsor
Todd & Allyson Aldrich
Artist Sponsors
John Bowers
Ann & Eric Capogrosso
Ann Jackson Family Foundation
Stage Sponsor
Wallin Studios
Choral Sponsor
Christine & Michael Holland
Selection Sponsors
Brooks & Kate Firestone
Jean Rogers
ABOUT DEVON GUTHRIE
GRAMMY-nominated soprano Devon Guthrie made her acclaimed debut as Susanna in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro at English National Opera while still a student at The Juilliard School. She is praised for her “honeyed tones and silver-tipped high notes” by BroadwayWorld and for her “opulent but weightless tone” by The New York Times. Guthrie’s international career spans opera, musical theater, contemporary music, and folk music, with appearances at English National Opera, Santa Fe Opera, San Diego Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Saito Kinen Festival. Her performance on Luna Pearl Woolf’s Fire and Flood earned her a GRAMMY nomination in 2020.
Click here for her full biography.
