Calendar

Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC), one of the nation’s leading children’s choirs, is holding auditions for boys and girls ages eight (by September 1, 2012) to twelve on May 31 and  June 1, 2 and 4, 2012, in Pasadena.  Previous singing experience is not necessary, but audition appointments are required.

LACC’s program focuses on training children who may not necessarily have had previous singing experience, but who are dedicated to achieving excellence in vocal technique, choral singing and classical music.  Successful candidates will demonstrate the ability to match pitch, follow instructions, and thrive in a structured, but supportive learning environment. Children audition in groups of five to ensure their comfort, and no preparation is necessary.

Under the artistic direction of Anne Tomlinson, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, currently in its 26^th season, provides a comprehensive music education and performance program for children of diverse cultural and economic backgrounds in Los Angeles County.   LACC is comprised of six choirs with choristers ranging in age from 8 to 18 who hail from 60 communities throughout Southern California. (Younger singers are encouraged to enroll in LACC’s class for six- and seven-year-olds, First Experiences in Singing, offered in Pasadena.)

Rehearsals for entry-level choirs are once a week at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.  In addition, all children take musicianship classes (a six level curriculum) and receive individual vocal training.  They receive mid- and end-of-year evaluations as well.  Repertoire is selected to fit each choir’s skill level and focuses on classical works, but also encompasses folk music from around the world, spirituals, gospel songs and jazz, as well as new music

High-profile performance opportunities are an important and integral part of the program and include two culminating choral concerts each year, plus performances at major civic events.  LACC’s premier choirs perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, among other prestigious music presenters.  The choir was also featured in the Academy Award-nominated documentary film, “SING!” which chronicles a year in the life of the choir and is shown periodically on PBS stations nationwide, as well as follow-up documentaries “SING OPERA!” and “SING CHINA!”  In addition, LACC tours locally, nationally and internationally.

Auditions will be held at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, located at 585 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California 91101.  For more information or to make an audition appointment, please call (626) 793-4231 or visit www.lachildrenschorus.org.

Los Angeles Children's Chorus

On May 19, 2012 at 8 pm, the Garden State Philharmonic presents “Totally Tchaikovsky: the Sequel” at the Strand Theater in Lakewood, New Jersey. On stage will be renowned pianist Craig Ketter. Mass transit to Lakewood is available via NJ Transit bus service from New York Port Authority, #137 or 139.

Dan Locklair’s Dance the Joy! for solo organ will be performed on Sunday, May 20 – 6:00 PM as part of the choral evensong service at St. Pancras Church on Euston Road in London, England. This will be presented by the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music.

Dance the Joy! (Toccata for Organ) was written in 2004 on a commission from United Music Publishers and is included in their Organworks! publication, produced in cooperation with Subito Music. Mr. Locklair is the only American whose music will be performed at the 2012 London Festival of Contemporary Church Music.

Other composers on the May 20 choral evensong service are Daniel Rollison, Julian Anderson, Ron Corp, Andrew Gant and Hilary Tann.

For more information about the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music, call 020 7388 1461 or visit http://www.lfccm.com/.

For information about Dan Locklair, including a bio, list of works, discography and much more, please visit http://www.locklair.com.

Chamber and solo piano music by American composer Joel Feigin will be presented on Sunday, May 20 -7:30 PM at Kanack Hall, 1-10-1 Kanagawa, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken 221-0044 in Yokohama, Japan. This Zen in Music concert is presented as part of the meeting of the Japan Institute of Rhythm.

The event will feature violinist Junko Ando and pianist Daidouji Rentarou performing the composer’s Gently Flowing, Sonata for Violin and Piano (2010). Mr. Feigin will perform the first and third of his Four Meditations from Dogen (1994). Music by composer Kouichi Kiriyama will also be presented.

On May 19, Mr. Feigin will take part in a panel discussion on “Schoenberg in America” presented by the Musicological Society of Japan. It will begin at 2:00 p.m. in the Art Hall of Meiji-Gakuin University of Tokyo.

For more information about the May 20 concert, call 81 (0) 45 440 1211or visit the Japanese-language site http://kanack-hall.jp/.

Joel Feigin’s website is at http://www.joelfeigin.com.

Judith Shatin’s For the Fallen, for trumpet and electronics will be given a preview performance by Ivano Ascari on Saturday, May 19 – 4:00 PM at Westchester Italian Cultural Center, 1 Generoso Pope Place in Tuckahoe, New York. Its official World Premiere will be given by Mr. Ascari on Wednesday, May 23 – 9:30 AM at the Studio Theater of Columbia State University’s Schwob School of Music, 900 Broadway in Columbus, Georgia. The latter will be presented as part of the 37^th Annual Conference of the International Trumpet Guild.

The composer writes, “For the Fallen, for trumpet and electronics, was commissioned by Ivano Ascari, to whom it is dedicated. After discussing the project with him, I decided to make my inspiration from, and create electronics from, recordings of the Maria Dolens Bell, also known as the Bell of Peace, located in Rovereto, Italy. Originally fabricated from the bronze of melted canons from WWI, donated by countries involved in the war, it is one of the largest ringing bells in the world. Built between 1918 and 1925 to commemorate the fallen in all wars, and recast twice since then, it is rung every day in the memory of the fallen, and in hopes of peace. The original recordings were kindly provided by engineer Marco Olivotto.”

Other composers on these programs include Fabrizio Festa, Giuseppe Call, Girogio Caslini, Alessandro Annunziata, Davide Zannoni, Costantine Lignos and Peter Anthony Monk.

For more about the May 19 program, visit http://wiccny.org/music-trumpet-prelude/. More about the May 23 performance at http://music.columbusstate.edu/events/itg2012/index.php.

Visit Judith Shatin online at http://www.judithshatin.com.

Jacaranda Presents First Large-Scale U.S. Performance of Counter-Culture Icon Terry Riley’s Legendary “Olson III,” and
Lou Harrison’s “Suite for Violin, Strings, Piano, Celesta and Two Harps,” Featuring Internationally Acclaimed Violinist Alyssa Park

“Olson III,” with Some 100 Performers, Unites Los Angeles Children’s Chorus with Jacaranda Festival Orchestra & Chorus and Members of Jacaranda Youth Chamber Orchestra
SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 7, 2012—Jacaranda, the classical music series known for new and rarely heard music, culminates its 2011-12 season on Sun., May 20^th at 6 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica with two large works by California mavericks: Terry Riley – Mark Alan Hilt, director“Olson III” (1967)Lou Harrison/Richard Dee – Alyssa Park, violin; Mark Alan Hilt, conductor“Suite for Violin, Strings, Piano, Celesta and Two Harps” (1974/1993) Riley’s landmark single-page composition, “In C”  (1964), was featured on Jacaranda’s inaugural concert nearly 10 years ago. The world premiere of its aggressive successor, “Olson III,” triggered as calamitous a near-riot as any in music history. Riley, beloved as the father of minimalism, described its “hard core repetition” as a “form of ritual,” which elicited catcalls, boos, whistles and door-slams from the unsuspecting Swedish audience who witnessed its 1967 premiere in Stockholm. All of this was broadcast live and recorded by Swedish radio—the only such fracas preserved for posterity—and 25 years passed before a second large-scale version of the intense work was performed in France in 2002. Uniting nearly 100 singers and instrumentalists, Jacaranda will give the first U.S performance to replicate the 77-year-old composer’s original intentions.
The Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) will combine with members of the Jacaranda Youth Chamber Orchestra and Jacaranda Festival Orchestra & Chorus to perform the work. LACC first participated with Jacaranda in a concert performance of the Five Knee Plays from “Einstein on the Beach” by Philip Glass in 2009. Says LACC director Anne Tomlinson: “Jacaranda opens up exciting new possibilities for us. We would not have been able to participate with the L.A. Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in 2011 performing Mr. Glass’ music for the film, ‘Powaqqatsi,’ without Jacaranda.” Alyssa Park, who in 1990 established an international reputation as the youngest prizewinner in the history of the Tchaikovsky International Competition, was featured on Jacaranda’s 2008 concert to inaugurate The Broad Stage in Santa Monica. On that occasion she played “Double Concerto for Violin, Cello & Gamelan” by Harrison, the subject of a new documentary by Eva Soltes that premiered this March San Francisco. To open Jacaranda’s May 20^th concert, Park will play a version of a concerto that the composer had made in 1974 with violinist Richard Dee, “Suite for Violin & American Gamelan.” After finding that transporting the heavy gamelan was cumbersome, Harrison authorized Kerry Lewis to arrange a new version. Michael Tilson Thomas led the 1993 premiere of “Suite for Violin, Strings, Piano, Celesta and Two Harps.” The Jacaranda Youth Chamber Orchestra, 30 to 40 of the most dedicated public and private high school students from Ventura to Orange Counties, will perform a chamber version of “Olson III” on Saturday May 12^th at 3 p.m. The Jacaranda Festival Chorus will join them. The concert is free to the public and is supported by the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Department. Both concerts will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica, 1220 2^nd St., Santa Monica 90401. Tickets for the Sun., May 20, 6 p.m. concert are available at www.jacarandamusic.org, or by calling 1-800-595-4TIX. Purchased online, tickets are $35 general and $15 for students, or at the door the evening of the concert: $40 general, $20 for students. 
About JacarandaJacaranda, with a motto of  “music at the edge,” is a series of intimate concert adventures into the realm of new and rarely heard classical music designed to awaken curiosity, passion and discovery. Founded in 2003 by arts impresario Patrick Scott and conductor/organist Mark Alan Hilt, Jacaranda produces a series (11 concerts this season) in Santa Monica that features current and rising stars in the world of classical music performance. For information or to purchase tickets go to www.jacarandamusic.org or call (213) 483-0216.

The Bronx Arts Ensemble’s final 2011 – 2012 season 3 pm chamber music concert on Sunday, May 20 at the home of George and Katrin Phocas at 5020 Goodridge Avenue in the Bronx features Broadway guitarist Scott Kuney and BAE clarinetist Mitchell Kriegler. Concert program includes Robert Baksa’s “Nonet” as well as Boccherini’s “Quintet for Guitar and Strings in D, G.448 (‘Fandango’)” and Brahms’ “Quintet for clarinet and strings” and . Tickets to the May 20 concert are $25 and include an intermission reception to meet the artists. http://bronxartsensemble.org or 718.601.7399.

Steven R. Gerber’s Elegy on the Name of “Dmitri Shostakovich” will be performed by cellist Misha Quint on Friday, May 18 – 8:00 PM in Mannes Concert Hall of the Mannes Building, Mannes College The New School for Music, 150 West 85th Street in New York, New York.

The Elegy was written in 1991, and is available in versions for cello or viola.

Other composers on the program include Francoeur, Fauré, Tchaikovsky (Nocturne and Pezzo-Capriccioso for Cello and Piano), Schnittke (his Cello Sonata) and Granados (Intermezzo from the opera “Goyescas” and Danza Española). Mr. Quint will be joined by pianist Svetlana Gorokhovich. More about him at http://www.mishaquint.com/.

The May 18 concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call 212-580-0210 or visit http://www.newschool.edu/mannes/.

Visit Steven R. Gerber at http://www.stevengerber.com.

Dan Locklair’s Phoenix Processional for solo organ will be performed by Margaret Chen on Thursday, May 17 – 12:15 PM in the Main Hall of Suntory Hall, Akasaka 1-13-1, Minato-ku in Tokyo, Japan. This will be part of the Organ Promenade Concert Series.

Phoenix Processional comes from a larger composition entitled Phoenix Fanfare and Processional for organ, brass quartet and percussion. The original three-minute Phoenix Fanfare was commissioned in 1979 by New York City’s Union Theological Seminary. In August of 1985, the scoring of Phoenix Fanfare was reduced to brass quartet and joined with a newly composed processional to become Phoenix Fanfare and Processional. It was first performed at the September, 1985, Opening Convocation of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The organ solo version of Phoenix Processional was created by Dan Locklair in 1996. It has been recorded by Marilyn Keiser for the Gothic/Loft CD The Music of Dan Locklair (LRCD-1110).

The May 17 concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call +0570-55-0017 or go to http://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/suntoryhall/.

For information about Dan Locklair, including a bio, list of works, discography and much more, please visit http://www.locklair.com.

Opera Moderne stages Benjamin Britten’s haunting chamber opera, Turn of the Screw, at Peter Norton Symphony Space for one night only on Saturday, May 26, 2012 at 8 pm. This 20th century masterpiece is a terrifying tale of the supernatural based on a story by Henry James.

The eerie tale is accentuated by Luke Leonard’s innovative stage direction which incorporates original sculptures by Maggie Hartzell into the set and employs unconventional lighting techniques including fluorescents by lighting designer Marie Yokoyama. Goose-bumps are virtually guaranteed!

The cast features tenor Glenn Seven Allen, soprano Anna Noggle and ‘boy wonder” Benjamin Wenzelberg.

The initial setting of Turn of the Screw is not at all spooky on its surface: An old and faithful housekeeper, two young orphan children and an eager new governess in a remote English country estate. But the scene is not so serene: spirits from the past encroach upon the living, as reality and the supernatural mingle. What exactly did happen between the children, their former governess and the deceased manservant, Peter Quint? This question weighs on the new governess’s mind, and issues of murder and molestation rear their ghastly heads.

Opera Moderne presents a new production of

Turn of the Screw

Music by Benjamin Britten

Libretto by Myfanwy Piper

Peter Norton Symphony Space
2537 Broadway at 95^th Street, NY, NY

Saturday, May 26th, 2012 at 8pm

Tickets:  $55 in advance; $65 day of show.

Tickets for Symphony Space members, seniors, and children: $45

Student tickets: $30.

Call Symphony Space box office 212-864-5400

Or visit SymphonySpace.org

Anna Noggle

Glenn Seven Allen

Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg