A Selective Guide to the Arts in Los Angeles

The chamber stages of Los Angeles are celebrating American musical originals this week with two standout concerts:  the Green Umbrella Series concert of the LA Philharmonic New Music Group on Tuesday evening, Nov. 16, in downtown LA, and  a concert in San Pedro by the Chamber Players of Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, Nov 14.   Take these two great opportunities to revive your American spirit with the musical genius of composers George Crumb, Charles Ives, Morton Gould, Alvin Singleton, and Steve Reich.

LA Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series
Tuesday evening at Walt Disney Concert Hall young French-Canadian conductor and Dudamel Fellow Jean-Michaël Lavoie will join soprano Tony Arnold and the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group with a program dedicated to American master George Crumb.

Green Umbrella will present Crumb’s 1970 classic Ancient Voices of Children as well as a more recent work he describes as “A Cycle of Hymns, Spirituals and Revival Tunes for Singer, Percussion Quartet, and Amplified Piano,” titled The River of Life (Songs of Joy and Sorrow) –  American Songbook No.1.

Tuesday, Nov. 16, 8 p.m.

Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., LA

Tickets: $61.25, $42.75, $42.75.

Upbeat Live pre-concert presentation by Russell Steinberg, composer, conductor and performer, Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, and UCLA faculty member at 7 p.m.

Chamber Players of Los Angeles

The Golden State Pops Orchestra has attained a distinctive place in our local scene with their chamber music outreach programs.   Sunday’s program in San Pedro is titled “American Voices” and features selections by Morton Gould, Steve Reich, Alvin Singleton, and Charles Ives.

Gould’s style is a mix of familiar Americana, and his composition Benny’s Gig will feature clarinetist Lisa Kohorn and bassist John Kennedy.  Also on the program are Singleton’s Intezar, with violist Laurel Diskin, cellist Eran Marcus and bass, and  Reich’s novel Clapping Music with “clappers” Ian Fiedorek and John Kennedy.  For me personally, Ives is the draw to this concert. Violinists Larry Kohorn and Alex Wurmbrand will join Diskin and Marcus for his String Quartet No. 1 – a brilliant work by a young American maverick – don’t miss it!
Sunday, Nov. 14, 3 p.m.
The Grand Annex, 434 W. Sixth St., San Pedro

Advance tickets:  $15 / $10 for students, seniors, and military
At-the-door tickets: $20 / $15 for students, seniors, and military
For information, call (310) 433 8774.

See Jim Eninger’s Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter for an extensive weekly calendar of chamber music concerts happening all around Southern California.