Los Angeles Master Chorale Inaugurates New Season with “Organ Extravaganza”
By Ted AYALA If the mood of the Los Angeles Master Chorale (LAMC) at its Disney Hall season premiere on Sunday was electric, it had ample reason to be. Opening its 49th season, not to mention its 12th under the charismatic leadership of Grant Gershon, the ensemble has further polished the legacy of its former […]
Glendale Pops Welcomes Another Season
By Ted AYALA Thursday at the Alex Theatre was the beginning of the Glendale Pops’ new season. In a climate where artistic institutions are floundering amidst a stagnant economy and dwindling sources of funding, the Glendale Pops has managed to hold its own against the tide. Pops artistic director Matt Catingub mused on the Pops’ […]
New Music, New Season for Synchromy
By Ted AYALA There is something about composers Jason Barabba, Jenni Brandon, John Frantzen, Daniel Gall, Eric Guinivan and Vera Ivanova that make drawing parallels with another group of six composers who forged a uniquely modern idiom difficult to resist: Les six. True, they have no waggish literary figure at their helm ready to serve […]
LACO Opens Season with Ravel, Norman, Matheson and Beethoven
By Ted AYALA It was just over a year ago when the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) and its music director, Jeffrey Kahane, left an indelible and deeply touching impression on their audience at the start of their 15th season together. Encored at the end of the program was the Adagio assai from Ravel’s “Piano […]
Halloween at Disneyland
By Charly SHELTON There are many theme parks around the area that celebrate Halloween in different ways. Knotts has its 40th annual Halloween Haunt, Six Flags has its excuse for a Halloween spook house event – Fright Fest – and Universal hosts its amazing Halloween Horror Nights. All run for the rest of the month. […]
Chen Returns to Pasadena Symphony
By Ted AYALA Conductor Mei-Ann Chen’s appearance last year at the Pasadena Symphony made quite a stir in the audience. Her style: bold, aggressive – and loud. Attributes that perhaps were at times a mismatch for her program of Tchaikovsky and Korngold at the Pasadena Symphony’s (PSO) opening concert last season. She opened the PSO’s […]
Dilijan Opens Season with Music of France
By Ted AYALA For local lovers of French chamber music, this last year has proven to be a feast for the ears. Lark Musical Society’s Dilijan Chamber Series continued the buffet with their own foray into French music on Sunday at Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles with a distinctive program that focused on lesser-known […]
Conductor Mei-Ann Chen Talks Music, Pasadena Symphony
By Ted AYALA When Taiwanese-born conductor Mei-Ann Chen last appeared on the Ambassador Auditorium’s stage, she left an indelible impression in Pasadena. Delivering a rousing, square-jawed Tchaikovsky 5th that left audiences cheering and people speculating that the Pasadena Symphony’s search for a permanent music director – currently its season operates under a rotating roster of […]
Fall Salons Opens Today
By Natalie MAIER The Glendale Art Association’s annual Fall Salon begins today, Oct. 4 and continues through Oct. 27. It will be located at White’s Art Framing and Restoration Gallery on Honolulu Avenue in Montrose. An artists’ reception, open to the public at no charge, will take place on Oct. 7 from 5 p.m. to […]