Frederick Tinsley, double-bass player with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, passed away on Sept 19th. He was 76-years old. Mr. Tinsley was a 42-year veteran of the orchestra; he was originally hired by Zubin Mehta in 1974. The LA Phil will dedicate a concert to his memory during the opening week of their 2016-17 Walt Disney … Continue reading
Here’s Part Two of my interview with Raynor Carroll, the Principal Percussionist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic who’ll retire after tonight’s concert at the Hollywood Bowl. (Part One can be found HERE). In this part, he talks about: Matthew Howard, the musician taking over his orchestra chair once he steps down The challenges of attracting young African-Americans … Continue reading
“Someone will usually ask me: ‘How did you pick percussion or drums?’ I didn’t, it picked me. It was always been the sound of a drum that caught my ear,” explains Raynor Carroll, Principal Percussionist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. “I like to say I have the ideal job – and soon I’ll say I had the … Continue reading
It’s time once again to talk about one of our favorite topics: musical chairs in major orchestras, particularly the Los Angeles Philharmonic. There has been a lot happening since last we broached the topic, and by the end of the beginning of the 2016/17 season, one current principal will have retired and there’ll be three new … Continue reading
I trust everyone enjoyed their 4th of July weekend with tummies still full after all that BBQ and fingers still intact after all those fireworks. Now that those festivities are behind us, let’s look ahead to what I think are the most noteworthy concerts that the month of July has in store for classical music … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Philharmonic announced this morning that Susanna Mälkki has been appointed as Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra. The Finnish maestra’s tenure will officially begin with the 2017-18 season, with an initial contract to last three years. She will conduct three subscription weeks, Green Umbrella concerts, as well as other projects with the orchestra to … Continue reading
As I mentioned last November, Boris Allakhverdyan was one of two finalists in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s open auditions to find a new Principal Clarinet to take over for the retiring Michele Zukovsky. Multiple sources have now indicated that Mr. Allakverdyan, current Principal Clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, won the last phase of the audition … Continue reading
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Philharmonic made public their plans for the upcoming 2016-17 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall (details available HERE). This comes on the heels of last week’s announcement of the 2016 summer season at the Hollywood Bowl (HERE are details of that). In summary: it’s a damn good-looking season. The WDCH season … Continue reading
Michele Zukovsky, Principal Clarinet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, wraps up her amazing 54-year tenure with the orchestra in an all-Rachmaninoff concert today at 2pm; Cristian Măcelaru conducts. Below is the second part of my interview with her (Part 1 is HERE). In it, we chat about her switch from a French clarinet to a German one, some observations about conductors … Continue reading
On first impression, Michele Zukovsky might not strike you as anyone particularly notable other than being a fairly energetic, witty, and self-deprecating 70-something. That seems to suit her just fine. Rather than talk about herself or her career, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Principal Clarinet is more eager to share photos of herself as a proud grand-aunt, crawling … Continue reading
Once again, I do what I can to give you the latest and greatest news about the musicians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Let’s begin: Principal Flute Denis Bouriakov officially begins his tenure as Principal Flute Nov 30. He makes his subscription concert debut soon after. (NOTE: an earlier version of this post had his start … Continue reading
Lionel Bringuier was sitting in a car on an LA freeway, but by the joy of his voice, you’d think he was somewhere much more glamorous or perhaps sitting on a beach. “I love Los Angeles,” he declared, his smile coming through loud and clear over the phone. “It’s always so special for me to be here.” … Continue reading
I recently was told that it was now officially Autumn. Really??!! Summer couldn’t have passed by that quickly, could it have? The temperature yesterday was still the 90’s as it has been for much of the past few weeks, and the humidity is ridiculous by Southern California standards. But it’s true, Fall is here. There were signs: Football season … Continue reading
It’s shaping up to be a very horn-y week in Los Angeles, and we have local musicians and Colburn School faculty members Andrew Bain and Annie Bosler to thank for it. “Three years ago or so, I was asked if Colburn would be interested in hosting the International Horn Symposium,” recalls Ms. Bosler. “Around that time … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Philharmonic has a new Associate Principal Cello, though to frequent concert-goers, things will seem rather status quo. That’s because multiple sources report that at the end of this past week’s auditions, the position was awarded to Ben Hong, the orchestra’s Assistant Principal Cello since 1993 and acting Associate Principal for the past two seasons. When … Continue reading
All is Yar 