You need to take the time to watch this. You will feel much better afterwards. Seriously. Because these three guys kick some serious ass with this brief arrangement of the Stravinsky classic. (Tip of the hat to Brian Lauritzen for originally sharing this gem on FB)
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra kicked-off their 2016-17 season with the purest form of chamber music imaginable: three musicians in someone’s living room playing for a handful of engaged and enthralled guests. Yet as accurate as that description is, it merely begins to scratch the surface of what was a much richer experience that evening. …
Attend the Ojai Music Festival, Southern California’s loveable cabal of contemporary classical music, and you expect works by living composers, particularly brand new pieces that get their debut at the festival. This year, the first world premiere shows up on Saturday afternoon: This might also be a form of dreaming by Caroline Shaw (with text by Claudia … Continue reading
There are few places that celebrate living composers and their works more than the Ojai Festival. And among those favored by this haven for contemporary classical music is Kaija Saariaho. She first gained notice in the early 1980’s as part of the “Ears Open Society,” the Finnish collective of Sibelius Academy alumni which included Esa-Pekka … Continue reading
Nineteen years down, one more to go. With tonight’s concert at UCLA’s Royce Hall, Jeffrey Kahane will complete his penultimate season at Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. It’s a tenure that is remarkable not only for its length (which is considerable) or even the quality of the music that has resulted from … 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
“Mommy would explain to us: ‘Quiet, Daddy’s composing. Quiet, Daddy has Stravinsky coming to the house tonight.’ ” — Lena Ballinger (Rachel Weisz), Youth “Molto triste.” — Sumi Jo, the Oscar’s red carpet If you watched the 88th Academy Awards last night, you may have noticed that only three of the five songs nominated in the “Best … 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
