Hello everyone and Happy Day-After-Christmas (aka Boxing Day, for the Anglophiles amongst you). I hope you had a very Merry Christmas — even if you didn’t celebrate — and that you spent it doing what you wanted with the people you wanted. As you chillax from your reveries, please allow me to share the best … Continue reading
Jeffrey Strong will be the new 3rd/Utility Trumpet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The Fresno native has been 2nd Trumpet with the St. Louis Symphony since 2015. Prior to that, Mr. Strong served as a trumpeter in the U.S. Marine Band from 2009 to 2015. National Public Radio (NPR) interviewed him in 2011 regarding his … Continue reading
The Colburn School announced earlier today that Esa-Pekka Salonen will be joining the faculty of the Colburn Conservatory. The Principal Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra of London and Conductor Laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic will lead the brand new Negaunee Conducting Program devoted to training young conductors. The program is named for the Negaunee … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra begins its 2018-19 season in earnest with performances this weekend (at the Alex Theatre on Saturday and UCLA’s Royce Hall on Sunday) featuring violinist Hillary Hahn. While guest conductor Gemma New will be on the podium this weekend, these concerts represent the first full season of a new era. LACO … Continue reading
This evening, Ramón Ortega headlines a chamber music concert at the Colburn School’s Zipper Hall featuring oboe-centric works by Mozart, Koechlin, and Gounod. It marks the first official public appearance by Mr. Ortega as Colburn Conservatory’s new oboe instructor. Later this week, he officially begins performing at his other gig in town — Principal Oboe of … Continue reading
Thomas Hooten, Principal Trumpet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, had a great idea: record the John Williams Concerto for Trumpet and Piano. He mentioned it to the distinguished composer who thought it was a great idea too and agreed to conduct the new recording. Both of them decided to do it for free, but that … Continue reading
Hello again, folks. Long time no chat. Hope you’re well. It’s obviously been a while, and so let’s start getting caught up by talking about some key personnel moves across the Southern California orchestral landscape and beyond. New additions to the LA Phil (official and unofficial) Since the beginning of the calendar year, the Los … Continue reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
While everyone in the classical music space has been holding its collective breath waiting for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, that benevolent 800-lb. gorilla of the Southern California artistic landscape, to release details of the rest of its 2018/19 season, we should pause and examine next year’s season recently announced by the smaller yet artistically worthy … Continue reading
