Sad news for chamber music fans and for anyone who enjoyed a very casual alternative to their summer classical music consumption: Southwest Chamber Music announced that they will end their twenty-year-old summer concert series at The Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA. This is definitely a loss for the Southern California classical … Continue reading
I am going to go out a relatively short limb and say that John Cage’s 4’33” is the most famous — even infamous — work in 20th-Century classical music despite the fact that only a few musicians have actually played — or “played” (said while making air quotes with fingers) — it. The three-movement work comes with … Continue reading
When I was in college, I helped to resurrect the school’s defunct radio station and eventually became the station’s Music Director. It was the hardest I’d ever worked in my life — and the most fun I’d ever had too. I spent countless hours at the station, on air and off: studying, sleeping, listening to … Continue reading
Here are more pictures from last Saturday’s first concert of Southwest Chamber Music’s 2013 Summer Festival, their 20th anniversary season. All images are care of my good friend and photographer extraordinaire, Tim Strempfer, exclusively for All is Yar. To read my review of the concert, click HERE. One reminder: folks who use Google Chrome as … Continue reading
Last Saturday night, Southwest Chamber Music opened the 20th anniversary season of their annual Summer Festival. Stravinsky’s Octet and Mozart’s Gran Partita provided the primary motivation for attending, especially if one happened to be a fan of wind instruments. But deep in the hundred acre woods of The Huntington where Jeff von der Schmidt and … Continue reading
When thinking of summertime music in SoCal, one’s thoughts usually go first to the Hollywood Bowl. There’s a good reason for that: the iconic venue in Cahuenga Pass is not only the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, it hosts a dizzying array of jazz, world music, alternative rock, musical theatre, and more. Where … Continue reading
Just got the announcement from our friends at Southwest Chamber Music detailing the four concert Summer Season they’ll be offering at The Huntington. I like it. A nice mix of old and new, rare and familiar. Stravinsky under the stars? Check. Britten Anniversary? Check. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik? Check Works by living composers Oliver Knussen and … Continue reading
In an ideal world, I would have been able to see all four concerts that formed the “LA International New Music Festival 2013” presented by Southwest Chamber Music; alas, life often gets in the way. Thankfully, after multiple thwarted attempts to make my way out to The Colburn School for the festival, I was able … Continue reading
As we reach the end of December, it’s traditionally time for a retrospective look at the year that is just completed. Since 2012 was the first full calendar year of All is Yar‘s existence, it’s an especially important one for me. I’ve been fortunate — dare I say “blessed” — to have been able to … Continue reading
The final concert of Southwest Chamber Music’s 2012 summer season at The Huntington proved to be a popular ending to what has been a popular series. Attendance on the Logia was overflowing to the point where an extra row of seating was hastily added right as the concert was about to begin. As with the … Continue reading
There’s lots going in this weekend. Pick something you like and go check it out. World premiere production of The Face The world premiere staged performance of Donald Crockett’s new chamber orchestra, The Face, is tonight at 8pm at the Aratani/Japan America Theater in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles. Subsequent performances will be … Continue reading
Inspired by the centennial of Pasadena-native, Julia Child, Southwest Chamber Music has been focusing on French music for their Summer Festival 2012 at The Huntington. Healthy portions of Debussy and Ravel are offered up in each concert. This past weekend’s programs, the third in the series, paired those two quintessential French composers with works from Vietnam. It … Continue reading
I’m not able to make any concerts this week due to various conflicts, but that shouldn’t keep any of you from going, nor should it keep me from talking about them. . . . Hollywood Bowl, Week 2 The Los Angeles Philharmonic second week of summer classical concerts were programmed similarly to the way Week … Continue reading
Tonight is the final concert of Southwest Chamber Music’s LA International New Music Festival. In honor of Memorial Day and the men and women who have worn the uniform, Southwest is offering free admission to veterans. The concert at Zipper Hall at the Colburn School begins at 8pm, with a free 7pm pre-concert discussion with … Continue reading
A four-concert event called “The Inaugural LA International New Music Festival” certainly sounds like a big deal. You can forgive Southwest Chamber Music for giving their nascent new music series such an official, highfalutin’ sounding name. With the city’s long-standing reputation as an incubator of new music and home to many prominent composers, you’d think an event … Continue reading
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