By Néstor CASTIGLIONE A surprise new chapter has been opened in the contentious, decades- long dispute over the 710 Freeway extension. A lawsuit filed by the city of Rosemead last Thursday is seeking to overturn the decision by the governing board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro) to drop funding for the […]
By Néstor CASTIGLIONE Lili Boulanger and Cécile Chaminade were, in many respects, as dissimilar in outlook and style as two composers could ever be. The former was a brilliant child prodigy who composed a small but highly original body of work before her untimely death at the age of 24. Her legacy lives on thanks […]
Duofest Finale, Eclectic Flute/Percussion at Glendale Noon Concerts Await DuoFest, the Boston Court’s summer music festival produced in conjunction with the composer collective Synchromy, continues this week with performances by Panic Duo (violinist Pasha Tseitlin and pianist Nic Gerpe), as well as husband and wife team, soprano Justine Aronson and pianist Richard Valitutto. Today, […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Local 9-year-old violin prodigy Eyla Zorbas has an answer: practice! As a 4-year-old she was captivated by music and was taken with the urge to play a musical instrument. “But I did not have enough guidance back then,” she explained. “Then one day I saw […]
By Néstor CASTIGLIONE Once a mainstay of the Baroque and Classical periods, the mandolin’s importance fell off a bit during the 19th and most of the 20th century. An instrument with ancient roots, the mandolin enjoyed great prominence during the Baroque period, inspiring a slew of concertos by some of the era’s most famous composers, […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE Locals may have noted the hardhats busy at work on Ocean View Boulevard earlier this week. Connecting La Crescenta to Glendale and cutting a swath through the heart of Montrose, the key thoroughfare will be receiving an upgrade as part of the city’s Montrose Vision 20/20, a public renovation plan approved by […]
By Néstor CASTIGLIONE Discounting his various works that remain unpublished, existing only as stillborn sketches or destroyed altogether, Maurice Ravel’s compositional output comes out to just under 60 works, about one work for every year of his life. He was a fastidious composer, ever attentive to any single note that strayed from his vision of […]
By Néstor CASTIGLIONE After a wide-ranging season that saw the chamber group exploring works from Beethoven to Weill, with a sojourn to the New England school along the way, the Salastina Society closes its season with a program of music devoted to the music of Los Angeles-born composers. The Saturday, June 10 program will consist […]
By Nestor CASTIGLIONE Harry Zavos, professor emeritus at Loyola Law School and a regular presence at city hall, died on May 25 in San Diego from a terminal illness. He was 84 years old. Zavos was among the most prominent activists at city hall – which sometimes earned him the scorn of city council. Former […]
By Néstor CASTIGLIONE The popular image of Mozart is that of the precocious boy genius who composed astoundingly mature and original music at an age that most other children are barely learning to cope with basic arithmetic. The truth is a little more complicated than that. Mozart was no doubt a wunderkind: gifted with a […]