Work Four Camarada Concerts Into Your Balboa Park Calendar

Camarada is one of the San Diego Museum of Art‘s new resident artists, and the first season is four concerts long. Each one is programmed against the museum’s collection and the special exhibitions on view, which means the music and the art are in the same room.

Tango from Buenos Aires by way of Tijuana, holiday jazz for kids, a centennial world premiere, and a soprano-led program spanning three centuries. Here is the full run, in order.

Poetics of the Arrabal: Opera and Tango

A program built entirely on Astor Piazzolla in arrangements by Andrés Martín, named for the arrabales, the outer neighborhoods of Buenos Aires where tango took shape. Mezzo-soprano Gabriela Bojórquez and tenor Martín de León sing, both rooted in Tijuana’s music scene.

The Camarada Tango Quartet plays the quieter ache of Oblivion and Adiós Nonino alongside Yo soy María and Balada para un loco. Mario Montenegro directs, in collaboration with Ópera Explicita.

📆 Sunday, October 4, 2026 | 6:30 PM
🎟️ Grab your tickets here

Let it Snow

Holiday jazz aimed squarely at kids and families, with Peter Sprague arranging and on guitar, and Allison Adams Tucker singing. The set runs through Linus and Lucy, Winter Wonderland, Sleigh Ride, and Frosty the Snowman.

Tripp Sprague covers flute, saxophone, and harmonica, with Beth Ross Buckley on flute, Mackenzie Leighton on double bass, Danny Green on piano, and Duncan Moore on drums. At $20, it is the lowest ticket price of the four.

📆 Saturday, December 12, 2026 | 1 PM
🎟️ Grab your tickets here

Living Legacy

The museum’s 100th anniversary gets a new concerto from Andrés Martín, receiving its world premiere, commissioned with sponsorship from Zoraida and Gary Payne. A new stop-motion animated work by Mexican artist Hugo Crosthwaite is unveiled the same night, running alongside the music.

The Orquesta de Baja California joins the Camarada Tango Quartet, making this the binational night of the series. Beth Ross Buckley, David Buckley, Dana Burnett, and Martín anchor the quartet.

📆 Friday, January 15, 2027 | 7:30 PM
🎟️ Grab your tickets here

Love, Light, & Longing

Soprano Tasha Koontz returns for a program that travels from Bach’s Sonata in G Minor to Alban Berg’s Nacht, with Hugo Wolf songs in between. Negin Zomorodi’s The Birth of a Shadow pairs soprano with alto flute.

Ruslan Biryukov plays selections from Max Reger’s Suite in G Major for Solo Cello, and Brahms’ Two Songs for Soprano, Viola and Piano closes things out. Travis Maril is on viola, with narration from Jordan Kuspa and Deidré Guevara.

📆 Thursday, March 18, 2027 | 7:30 PM
🎟️ Grab your tickets here

See you there!

Doors open half an hour before every downbeat, so give yourself time in the galleries first. Four concerts, one museum, and a season we would take in full.

📍 1450 El Prado, San Diego
ℹ️ View the full concert list here

See you there, San Diego!