By Ted AYALA Smokers may find themselves and their second-hand smoke feeling less welcome in Glendale in the near future. Tuesday night saw the Glendale City Council push forward with proposals for new laws that would ban smoking in all new and future apartments and condominiums and effectively ban it in common areas throughout residential […]
By Ted AYALA The last time she was in town, cellist Alisa Weilerstein left a deep impression on local audiences with her playing of Peter Tchaikovsky’s “Rococo Variations.” The 2011 MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient returns to Los Angeles for a pair of concerts with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) this weekend, closing out the […]
By Ted AYALA The recent announcement by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) regarding its 2013-14 season startled some of its supporters in Glendale who feared the ensemble may be feeling its way toward a new home. In a press release, the orchestra announced that the first two concerts of its new season would take […]
By Ted AYALA It may have been overcast and pouring outside Pasadena’s Presbyterian Church on Sunday night, but the verdant tones of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus defied the stormy weather with a program that was fragrant with spring blossoms. The music of Benjamin Britten figured prominently in a program that spanned Baroque music, Canadian […]
By Ted AYALA In the early 20th century, with the film industry not yet out of its infancy, composers for the silver screen drew from concert music and opera to light their way as they charted new modes of expression. Things have come full circle since those days, as the latest Gernot Wolfgang chamber work […]
By Ted AYALA The Santa Cecilia Orchestra will cap off its 20th anniversary with a fundraiser at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts on Saturday, May 11. Sonia Marie de León de Vega, the orchestra’s music director, will be joining members of the orchestra for an evening of wine and light appetizers. A chamber […]
By Ted AYALA Unable to reach an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 18 (IBEW), the Glendale City Council approved a 1.75% pay cut for the city’s utility workers. Contracted workers are also required to pay more for their health insurance, up to 75% of the increased cost of premiums put into […]
By Ted AYALA The Pasadena Symphony Orchestra’s concert on Saturday afternoon marked not only the end of its 2012-13 season, it was also the final chapter in a brief, and sometimes turbulent, period in the orchestra’s history that was triggered in May 2010 by the unexpected dismissal of Jorge Mester. Mester had been the orchestra’s […]
By Ted AYALA Youth, specifically the seemingly carefree days of childhood, have long been a source of inspiration for artists across the centuries. There would scarcely be room in this entire paper to list all the composers who have sought to evoke the freshness and wonder of childhood in their music. Of these, Robert Schumann, […]
By Ted AYALA Faced with a budget gap and the need to find new streams of revenue for Glendale, the Glendale City Council voted on Tuesday to allow the serving of alcoholic beverages on city property. Deukmeijian Wilderness Park and the Brand Library will be among the sites where visitors can order themselves a drink […]