Events

Please join your fellow Rotarians for happy hour at Mulligan's this Friday!

The Santa Barbara Rotary Club is excited to welcome Nir Karbetti, the Music Director of the Santa Barbara Symphony.

Mr. Kabaretti is a passionate advocate for the universal power of music and believes it can unite, inspire, and enrich lives. Praised by Maestro Zubin Mehta for being “a conductor with immense musicality and warm personality,” Kabaretti is a versatile conductor who expertly leads orchestras, opera houses, and ballet companies around the world. With a profound understanding of music and a commanding stage presence, he engages both performers and audiences, continually striving to create experiences that go beyond traditional boundaries.

Born in Israel, Kabaretti began his musical journey at the age of six with piano lessons. What started as a childhood hobby quickly evolved into a lifelong passion. Upon his graduation from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna he dove straight into the heart of the musical world, stepping into the position of pianist and chorus master at the iconic Vienna State Opera and the renowned Salzburg Festival. These early experiences led him to appointments as assistant to the music director at the Teatro Real in Madrid, and personal assistant to the legendary Maestro Zubin Mehta at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence, Italy.

During this formative period, Kabaretti was privileged to collaborate with some of the most iconic and revered conductors of the time, including Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa, Valery Gergiev, and Riccardo Muti.

As a guest conductor, Kabaretti worked with over 100 orchestras and opera houses, maintaining a vibrant international schedule. His engagements have included appearances with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotà, Orchestre National du Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. His operatic and ballet experience includes productions at the Royal Swedish Opera, La Scala di Milano, The Israeli Opera, Puccini Festival, Avenches Opéra Festival, Opéra de Lausanne and the New National Theatre in Tokyo. In 2005, Kabaretti led Teatro San Carlo di Napoli on its first tour to Japan.

Nir Kabaretti has collaborated with distinguished musicians such as Lang Lang, Plácido Domingo, Joyce DiDonato,  Vadim Repin, Hélène Grimaud, Lynn Harrell and André Watts.

His latest recording, War Silence, featuring four rare Italian piano concertos with pianist Roberto Prosseda and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, was released by Hyperion in 2025 and has received widespread critical acclaim.

Nir Kabaretti resides with his family in Santa Barbara.

The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara is happy to welcome back Elena Wason of Natun Organization all the way from Panajachel Guatemala.

Our club has supported Natun Guatemala for many years and Natun has been the  largest recipient of International Service monies from our club for many years. Annually, and she will come and share about many of the projects and programs our club has contributed towards.  She will also share some new developments within Natun as it ccmpletes its transistion to local leadership.

The Santa Barbara Rotary Club is pleased to host this important forum of the three leading candidates for Mayor for the City of Santa Barbara: Kristen Sneddon, Eric Friedman, and Wendy Sims-Moten.  This will be a great time to personally assess the candidates before finalizing your choice for this important position.