Camerata Pacifica will present an evening of romantic and contemporary chamber music on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. The concert, held in Rothenberg Hall at 1151 Oxford Road, features pianist Irina Zahharenkova alongside cellists Alena Hove and Ani Aznavoorian.
The program spans more than a century of composition, opening with Rachmaninoff’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Op. 19. Completed in November 1901 and published the following year, the work was dedicated to cellist Anatoliy Brandukov, who gave the premiere in Moscow on December 2, 1901, with Rachmaninoff at the piano. The composer conceived the piano not merely as accompaniment but as equal partner, with most themes introduced by the keyboard and embellished by the cello. The four-movement work—Lento – Allegro moderato, Allegro scherzando, Andante, and Allegro mosso—takes approximately 35 minutes to perform.
The evening also features “Aequora” by Icelandic composer and violinist María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir. Born in 1980, Sigfúsdóttir graduated as a violinist from the Reykjavik College of Music in 2000 and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in composition from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2007. She was a founding member of the band amiina in 1999 and has been a long-time collaborator with Sigur Rós since 2000. The piece “Aequora” originates from an earlier work for piano and electronics premiered at the Reykjavík Arts Festival in 2015. Its title derives from “Nox,” a book of poems by Canadian poet Anne Carson, and the Latin word “aequora,” meaning “a smooth surface” or “waters.”
The program concludes with Arno Babadjanian’s Piano Trio in F-sharp minor. The Soviet and Armenian composer, who lived from January 22, 1921, to November 11, 1983, showed extraordinary musical talent by age five, when composer Aram Khachaturian suggested he receive formal training. At seven, Babadjanian entered the Yerevan State Musical Conservatory (now Gomidas Conservatory), later continuing his studies in Moscow with composer Vissarion Shebalin from 1938 onward. He composed the Piano Trio during his tenure teaching at the Yerevan Conservatory from 1950 to 1956, specifically completing it in 1952. The work’s three movements—Largo, Andante, and Allegro vivace—showcase the composer’s distinctive voice. In 1971, Babadjanian was named a People’s Artist of the Soviet Union, the highest artistic honor of the Soviet era.
Pianist Irina Zahharenkova is recognized as one of the most outstanding keyboard performers of her generation to emerge from Estonia. She maintains teaching positions at both the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn, Estonia.
Founded by Adrian Spence at age 25 as “The Bach Camerata,” the ensemble gave its inaugural performance of Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos on December 3, 1990, at Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre. The organization changed its name to Camerata Pacifica in 1994 and expanded its focus to explore chamber music across multiple centuries. Now in its 36th season, Camerata Pacifica presents resident series at four Southern California venues: Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West, Thousand Oaks’ Janet and Ray Scherr Forum, San Marino’s The Huntington, and Downtown Los Angeles’s Zipper Hall.
Camerata Pacifica in Concert will run on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. For more information, call (805) 884-8410 or visit https://cameratapacifica.org/concerts-25-26/. Ticket prices: $35-$75
