Santa Rosa Symphony launches chamber music series at Brannan Center

Fans of the Santa Rosa Symphony and its music director, Francesco Lecce-Chong, will have a chance to see the orchestra’s musicians from a fresh vantage point this weekend as they inaugurate a new chamber music series at the Brannan Center in Calistoga.

The series begins Saturday and Sunday with two ambitious concerts featuring all six of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, performed by 20 musicians, including Lecce-Chong on harpsichord. It will return in February 2026 with a family-friendly performance of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” and again in May 2026 with “The American Sound,” a program marking the nation’s 250th birthday.

“What I’m hoping for this season is to show three different ways that our orchestra could present ourselves in smaller ensembles,” Lecce-Chong said in a phone interview. “This fall is our biggest vision, being able to perform all six Brandenburg concertos … It’s the pinnacle of Baroque music as well as, in some sense, chamber music, because each concerto represents different possibilities and different combinations of instruments.”

Bringing chamber music to new audiences

The new Santa Rosa Symphony at the Brannan Center series is one of several chamber initiatives already underway as the orchestra approaches its centennial season in 2027–28.

For the past two summers, small ensembles have performed at Sonoma County wineries as part of the “Symphony Uncorked” series. And after piloting a library program last year, Lecce-Chong said the orchestra plans to present concerts annually at every Sonoma County library branch.

“It’s really exciting to reach a whole different community in a whole new way – the camaraderie that it builds in the orchestra, the connection with the audience and the outreach,” he said.

A historic church becomes a cultural hub

The Brannan Center, originally built as a Presbyterian church in 1872, has been remade into a community and performing arts center with two halls, three multipurpose rooms, a commercial kitchen and outdoor spaces. Over the past six years, more than $12 million has been raised from roughly 300 donors for its renovation. Calistoga architect Tim Wilkes donated his time to the project, blending the building’s historic charm with modern, state-of-the-art upgrades, including soundproofing and streaming capability.

The center was intentionally designed to meet a wide range of community needs – weddings, quinceañeras, service club meetings – often taking place simultaneously with concerts and classes.

“There was a need identified for a local performing arts center and a desire to expose children to local arts,” said executive director Kyle Clausen, who joined in July. “It was designed for many uses and has different entrances.”

Set in a residential neighborhood just blocks from downtown, the center is also within walking distance of local schools. Educational programs already include French and Spanish conversation classes, exercise programs for older adults, a high school mariachi club and a drama class for young actors ages 7 to 10.

Although the center aims to attract audiences from “Upvalley” – Calistoga, Angwin, St. Helena and Yountville – it is only a 25-minute drive from Santa Rosa.

“We’re not that far away, but it’s a different experience,” Clausen said of Calistoga, known for its unusual juxtaposition of natural hot springs and world-class wineries, charming “Old West” storefronts and luxury resorts.

An opening season with broad appeal

The Brannan Center’s grand opening on Oct. 4 and 5 offered a vibrant mix of food trucks, information booths, self-guided tours and performances by local artists. Violinist Daria Tedeschi Adams, co-artistic director of Music in the Vineyards, performed Haydn and Brahms with a trio from the Napa Valley summer festival she co-founded 32 years ago.

“We were the first group to play in the hall,” said Adams, who returns in December with the Bay Area choir Aeternum for a “Christmas in the Vineyards” program. “It’s very easy to play in and very easy to hear.”

The inaugural season includes a monthly Comedy Night, concerts spanning jazz, folk, Celtic and African music, and an affordable four-concert Listening Room series featuring local musicians, including jazz pianist Larry Vuckovich and the StringCircle quartet led by Santa Rosa Symphony concertmaster Joe Edelberg.

Both the Listening Room and the symphony series are underwritten by Sara and Edward Kozel of Calistoga, two of the center’s major donors. Frederick T. Caven Jr. provided additional support for the symphony series. Sara Kozel serves on the Santa Rosa Symphony board.

“I’m so grateful, and it was a great privilege to work with them to make this a reality,” Lecce-Chong said. “They have been the masterminds.”

“It will be a community center in terms of a meeting place,” Edward Kozel added. “And there’s a deep desire to stay local. We all drive over the hill, but nobody wants to drive it at night. It’s a long, dark road.”

A hall tailored for chamber music

The symphony’s chamber music series will be presented in Kozel Hall, which features a stage replacing the former church sanctuary. It retains the original redwood ceiling — prized for acoustics — and seats 109 guests. Behind it, the Upper Hall, once the church’s social hall, can be opened to provide 40 additional seats.

A Steinway Model B Classic Grand piano is stored backstage for keyboard concerts, such as a recent recital by Russian-American pianist Olga Kern.

“It’s the perfect, intimate recital space, with wonderful acoustics,” Lecce-Chong said. “It always sounds full, no matter how many musicians are playing.”

The Brandenburg Concertos, composed between 1711 and 1720, deploy a wide range of solo instruments – including trumpet, violin, harpsichord and viola – set against a small orchestra.

“It’s such an exciting thing for me,” Lecce-Chong said. “I’ve done three of the concertos, but it’s been a long-time dream of mine to participate and perform all six of them. To be quite frank, I never thought it would happen.”