By Ted AYALA “What is that music?” my father called out from the living room one weekend afternoon back in 1991. “I’m playing a video game,” I answered. My father – a severe man who held a profound disdain for my obsession with video games – stepped into my room. Immediately I froze. “The music […]
By Ted AYALA From far and wide, they came to the Los Angeles County Hall of Administration – some 800 people altogether. From the South Bay, Palmdale, East Los Angeles, and everywhere in between. Crowds gathered in stormy debate over the proposed plans to redistrict Los Angeles County. Supervisors Gloria Molina and Mark Ridley-Thomas propose […]
By Ted AYALA The controversy that has broiled over in the wake of the Glendale Rose Float Association’s design choice for the city’s 2012 float spilled over into the Council’s Tuesday meeting. At the center of the storm is the city‘s float – a smiling cartoon elephant. Critics argue that the float promotes circuses and […]
By Ted AYALA One year after a fare hike for the Beeline and Dial-A-Ride, the Glendale City Council voted in favor of raising fares even higher at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. With the city’s transportation fund dwindling amid wilting city revenues, director of Public Works Steve Zurn explained the move. “We established the fare at […]
By Ted AYALA Summer is often a time for leisure for many people – but not for Sonia Marie de León de Vega. For nearly a quarter of a century, she has been the engaging and energetic music director of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, whose home is Occidental College’s Thorne Hall in Eagle Rock. Over […]
By Ted AYALA There was a sense of optimism wafting between the notes on Saturday at the Rose Bowl. On the stage set up on the stadium’s lawn were the Pasadena Pops and its music director Marvin Hamlisch. Hamlisch has much to take pride in. His inaugural season with the Pops has been an undisputed […]
By Ted AYALA The city with the longest unbroken participation in Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses will continue through 2012. Glendale City Council voted on Tuesday to approve plans for its 2012 Rose Parade float after speculation that the city would be forced to abandon its plans because of shrinking revenues and the need to trim […]
By Ted AYALA A handful of concerts from local musical organizations will be bringing this year’s summer concert season to a close this weekend – and the timing couldn’t be better. With temperatures this weekend expected to soar into the 100s in the valleys, this is the perfect opportunity for local music lovers to venture […]
By Ted AYALA One of my most memorable – and surprising – musical experiences was when I heard a powerful and searching performance of Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 at the Alex Theatre last spring. Memorable because Schumann as a symphonic composer could often be his own worst enemy, scuttling brilliant thematic and structural ideas […]
By Ted AYALA Glendale has joined a growing list of cities that have banned the retail sale of cats and dogs. The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously, with Mayor Laura Friedman absent, in favor of imposing the new ordinance. Councilman Rafi Manoukian served as Mayor Pro Tem. “Council gave us directions in June to […]