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Memorial Day music & video: Tom Hooten, US Marine Band play “With Malice Toward None”
Los Angeles Philharmonic / Music News & Info: Classical

Memorial Day music & video: Tom Hooten, US Marine Band play “With Malice Toward None”

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For Memorial Day 2018, I offer this video of a 2016 performance by the US Marine Band (“The President’s Own”) featuring soloist Thomas Hooten, Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Trumpet, playing an arrangement of “With Malice Toward None” from the John Williams soundtrack to the movie Lincoln. Mr. Hooten was a member of the US Marine … Continue reading →

RIP Robert D. Thomas, Southern California music critic
Music News & Info: Classical

RIP Robert D. Thomas, Southern California music critic

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The Southern California classical music community has lost one of its important voices.  Robert D. “Bob” Thomas died in the early morning of Thursday, May 3rd. He reached countless readers as the long-time music critic and writer for the Pasadena Star-News and its sister publications in the Southern California News Group, as well as for … Continue reading →

REVIEW: Camerata Pacifica impresses in new Lera Auerbach viola preludes and Schubert Piano Trio in B-flat Major
All Reviews / Music News & Info: Classical / Reviews 2017/2018

REVIEW: Camerata Pacifica impresses in new Lera Auerbach viola preludes and Schubert Piano Trio in B-flat Major

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Camerata Pacifica‘s April concert was a juxtaposition of two contrasting works: the world premiere of Lera Auerbach‘s 24 Preludes for Viola and Piano (“Wanderer”), a Camerata Pacifica commission; and the Piano Trio in B-flat Major by Schubert.  Both  were roughly 45-minutes in length, but similarities ended there.   Continue reading →

Ojai Music Festival names LA Phil’s Chad Smith to be their new Artistic Director
Appointments / Auditions & Appointments / Los Angeles Philharmonic / Music News & Info: Classical

Ojai Music Festival names LA Phil’s Chad Smith to be their new Artistic Director

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The Ojai Music Festival announced this morning that Chad Smith will be their new Artistic Director beginning in 2020.  Mr. Smith will take over for Thomas W. Morris, Ojai’s Artistic Director since 2004 and former top executive with the Cleveland Orchestra and Boston Symphony, who had previously announced his decision to retire after the 2019 … Continue reading →

A chat with Grant Gershon: his thoughts as the LA Master Chorale tackles “Lagrime di San Pietro” again
Interviews / Los Angeles Master Chorale / Music News & Info: Classical

A chat with Grant Gershon: his thoughts as the LA Master Chorale tackles “Lagrime di San Pietro” again

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The Los Angeles Master Chorale opened their 2016-17 season with staged performances of Orlando di Lassos’s Lagrime di San Pietro (Tears of St. Peter), a Renaissance-era work unknown to most singers and audience members alike, even the most ardent aficionados of choral music. I spoke to Artistic Director Grant Gershon at the time.  We discussed … Continue reading →

VIDEO: New Order’s “Blue Monday” turns 35 today; here’s Orkestra Obsolete’s inventive re-interpretation
Music News & Info: Classical / Music News & Info: Rock, Jazz, World Music, etc.

VIDEO: New Order’s “Blue Monday” turns 35 today; here’s Orkestra Obsolete’s inventive re-interpretation

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Thirty-five years ago today, New Order released their seminal New Wave dance hit, “Blue Monday.”  The song — along with its iconic packaging for the 12″ vinyl single as an over-sized floppy disc — represents a key moment in time for the band, the clearest  indication that it had moved beyond its more austere roots … Continue reading →

My $0.02 on the 2018/19 LA Phil season: beyond the obvious awesomeness, my 3 big takeaways and other noteworthy tidbits
Los Angeles Philharmonic / Music News & Info: Classical

My $0.02 on the 2018/19 LA Phil season: beyond the obvious awesomeness, my 3 big takeaways and other noteworthy tidbits

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After teasing its 2018/19 season in November and postponing its originally planned announcement by an extra couple of days, the Los Angeles Philharmonic finally dropped the other shoe last week and released full details of its Centennial Season. It is, to use a word that is ubiquitous yet completely accurate and appropriate this time:  awesome. … Continue reading →