The spectrum of our local music scene in Los Angeles sparkles like a brilliant diamond this week. From early to modern, old to new, or green to ocean blue, there’s no place for music like LA!
Begin the big scene Saturday with ensemble green, a great new-music group that features West Coast composers, and take the opportunity to hear our distinctive sound for yourself.
Perhaps instead of the new-fangled West Coast music culture, you would prefer some fine, aged old Western culture, as in “Favorite Baroque Concerti!” If that’s your desire, then don’t miss one of the best-known Baroque music ensembles in the land, Musica Angelica, in one of their two concerts this weekend. I especially recommend the Sunday Concert at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.
Adrian Spence and Camerata Pacifica return next week on Tuesday and Thursday to their in-town haunts. Flutist Adrian Spence is in the spotlight, and the program is unique and worthwhile. Hear them either at the acoustically superb Zipper Hall or in the sumptuous uber-ambiance of the Huntington Library – you can’t go wrong with either choice.
ensemble green
Executive Director Paul Sherman has developed ensemble green into a unique Los Angeles new-music adventure that “intertwines the musical world of seminal 20th-century composers with innovative works of living West Coast composers.”
The program includes two world premieres and features guest soprano Ann Noriel:
Sean Heim: Holomovements
Shaun Naidoo: F-Sharp Wallah (World Premiere)
Jason V. Barabba: What I Mean Is (World Premiere)
Andre Previn: Vocalise
Saturday, May 8, 8 p.m.
Pasadena Conservatory of Music, 100 North Hill Avenue, Pasadena
Admission: $20. For information, call (323) 708-4290.
Musica Angelica
Music Director Martin Hasselbock and Musica Angelica stand among the very finest of Southern California’s premier Baroque ensembles. We can hear them this weekend with violinist Ilia Korol, oboist Gonzalo Ruiz and trumpeter Reinhold Friederich playing “Favorite Baroque Concerti!” Korol is always fun to hear and watch, and the Baroque all-star program will surely satisfy.
Program – Favorite Baroque Concerti!
J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No.2 for trumpet oboe, violin, and recorder
Fasch: Concerto for Trumpet
Handel: Oboe Concerto No.3 in G Minor
Vivaldi: Concerto Alla Rustica, RV151
Vivaldi: Concerto in G Minor for Strings, RV157
Telemann: Double Concerto for trumpet, violin, and strings
Saturday, May 8, 8 p.m.
The Neighborhood Church, 301 North Orange Grove Boulevard, Pasadena
Sunday, May 9, noon
The Broad Stage, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica
Tickets: $55, $49. For information and to purchase tickets, call (310) 458-4504.
Camerata Pacifica
Camerata Pacifica performs on May 13 and 18. / Photos © Camerata Pacifica by Marta Elena Vassilakis
Santa Barbara’s Camerata Pacifica is one of Southern California’s top-tier chamber music ensembles with venues in Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Marino, and Los Angeles.
Flutist and Artistic Director Adrian Spence crafted another exceptional program as he and pianist Warren Jones perform with strings Catherine Leonard (violin), Richard Yongjae O’Neill (viola), and Ani Aznavoorian (cello):
François Devienne: Duo in C Minor for flute and viola, Op.5 No.3
Carl Reinecke: Sonata for flute and piano, Op.167, “Undine”
Edwin York Bowen: Phantasy in F Major for viola and piano, Op.54
Robert Schumann: Quartet in E-flat for piano and strings, Op.47
Expect a delightful sonic splash from Spence as he dives into the Reinecke “Undine” Sonata.
Try to hear these wonderful, some less-often played, works in one of the two in-town venues – either the acoustically superb Zipper Hall or the sumptuous Huntington Library. You can’t go wrong with either.
Thursday, May 13, 8 p.m.
Zipper Concert Hall, The Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave., LA
Tuesday, May 18, 8 p.m.
Huntington Library, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino
Tickets: $42. For information or tickets, call (805) 884-8410.
These concerts were among events listed in Jim Eninger’s Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter, one of the most extensive on-line calendar resources for chamber music enthusiasts in Los Angeles.