Tonight marks the latest installment in Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s annual “Westside Connections” series of three concerts pairing music with (insert annual topic here) . . . no seriously, the topic changes every year, complete with special guests discussing how the the topic and music mesh. This year, Margaret Batjer (LACO concertmaster and series curator) has … Continue reading
When I got the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s email informing me that one of their former Dudamel Conducting Fellows, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, had been selected as the orchestra’s Assistant Conductor, the first thing I thought was, “Oh, good for her.” The second thing I thought was, as a diacriticly-challenged English-speaker, “Wait — how exactly do you say that name?” I reached out … Continue reading
Gustavo Dudamel returned to the Los Angeles Philharmonic podium for the first time since October 14, 2012. Most of the next few weeks will be devoted to preparing programs for the orchestra’s upcoming tour to Europe and New York, but this past weekend’s concerts were not going to be played out of town. On paper, … Continue reading
I have more than a few things to say about last Tuesday’s Los Angeles Philharmonic concert at the Hollywood Bowl, as usual. But let’s get one thing out of the way, shall we? Yefim Bronfman is a bad-ass. Ok, perhaps this is old news, but even if that’s the case, it’s worth repeating. So many … Continue reading
I had been really looking forward to these concerts. It was supposed to feature two masterful Spaniards in a night featuring a good chunk of Spanish music. Unfortunately, that went by the wayside as Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor and friend of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, cancelled for health reasons. Pepe Romero, the distinguished guitarist (not … Continue reading
Peter Stumpf, Principal Cello of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, gave his first recital in Indiana since being announced as a new full-time professor of music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. The review of the Jun 29th concert in the Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) was unequivocally glowing, with Peter Jacobi calling Mr. Stumpf “a musician of … Continue reading
All is Yar 