By Ted AYALA For any composer, the imminent world premiere of one of their works is an occasion that always brings with it feelings of excited, joyous anticipation for the new sounds about to be unleashed before their audience. But for Ian Krouse the coming premiere of his latest work is an altogether more serious […]
By Ted AYALA In 1922 Dutch composer Leo Smit composed his breakthrough work “Silhouettes,” which earned him raves from Dutch critics over his skillful incorporation of Jazz Age sonorities in a symphonic work. A bright talent had dawned over Holland and with it an even brighter future seemed to augur for him. Instead, just over […]
By Susan JAMES “Furious 7,” the seventh film in the “Fast and Furious” franchise, is a worthy successor to the series and a worthy tribute to the late Paul Walker aka Brian O’Conner. This tale of unmasked avengers and the women who love them opens with a bang and rarely pauses for breath during […]
By Isiah REYES Arturo Sandoval returns to the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale for a one night only performance of “Save The Music 3” on April 11 at 8 p.m. Members of the Arturo Sandoval band as well as a few celebrity friends will join him on stage, all inspired by the same jazz, Latin […]
By Ted AYALA For many musicians, a stellar partnership on stage doesn’t necessarily guarantee an equally stellar relationship off stage. One only has to recall the enmity between the Vienna Philharmonic and Gustav Mahler or, in more recent times, that of the Audubon Quartet, which was disbanded in 2011 following bitter legal entanglements between its […]
The Kids Choice Awards were held in Los Angeles in the last days of March, and with every great awards show comes a great GBK gifting suite. For those unfamiliar, a gifting suite is an invitation-only event where product reps and designers have the chance to gift their product or service to the celebrities who […]
By Steve ZALL and Sid FISH It’s time once again for that giant bunny to come hopping around to everyone’s house bringing treasured gifts of Easter eggs and other goodies, and it’s also time for these: OPENING “Dear Ruth”– During WWII, a young girl carries on a romantic correspondence with an overseas soldier while […]
By Ted AYALA The specter of death haunts the pages of Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Piano Trio No. 2.” Thoughts about his best friend Ivan Sollertinsky – who died from a heart attack at age 41 during the work’s composition – mingle with ruminations over the horror of the Nazi concentration camps, the news of which had […]
By Ted AYALA Local music lovers on a budget this weekend need look no further than neighboring Echo Park. The Fiato Quartet will perform selections by Mozart and Schubert on Saturday, April 4 from noon until 1 p.m. at the Edendale Library. The concert is part of the Edendale Up Close series held at the […]
By Ted AYALA Through a grim cosmic irony, 2015 marks the commemoration of two significant and tragic events of the 20th century. One hundred years ago this year saw the Ottoman Empire begin its bloody ethnic purge that eventually became known as the Armenian Genocide. Between 1914 and 1918, more than 1.5 million ethnic Armenians […]