Posts by Nick Norton
Gordon Getty Concerts, and a whole lot going on in November
I just discovered the Gordon Getty Concerts series, held at (you guessed it) The Getty Center. I haven’t been to one yet, but they look like really, really cool programs, all of which are designed to highlight or compliment a current exhibit at the museum. On November 12, electronic music pioneer Carl Stone will be there to play a mixed program of early works and world premieres. The shows are pretty cheap too, $15 max, or $10 for students and seniors. For details, visit the series’ page.
That second week of November is going to be huge. The very same night, Synchromy open their season over on the east side of town. The next night the LA Master Chorale performs The Little Match Girl Passion. Vicki Ray is playing an all premiere program (including one of her own) on Tuesday with Piano Spheres down at Zipper Hall, and the week closes with both wild Up and Jacaranda rocking their respective houses (both near the beach!) on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The American Youth Symphony (who sound absolutely amazing this year, and never charge admission) are performing Lutosławski’s Fourth Symphony and Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (and Beethoven 5) on Sunday as well.
Details about all of these, as always, can be found on our concert listings page.
Interview: Music Director Grant Gershon on the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s 2011-12 Season
Grant Gershon is a busy guy. You would be too, with a season as jam packed as the one he has programmed for the LA Master Chorale. He’s also an LA local, having studied at USC and working – in addition to his duties as the LAMC’s music director – with the LA Opera, LA Phil, LA Children’s Chorus, and others. I’m amazed and honored that he had the time to answer a few questions about the chorale’s current season, which began this past weekend at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
I’m going to open with a loaded question: what concert or piece are you most excited about this season?
Grant Gershon
Hmmm, you’re asking me to choose my favorite kid! That can be very hurtful to the siblings, you know. Okay…I’m very interested to see what Gabriela Lena Frank comes up with for the chorale and Huayucaltia. David Lang and James Newton are two very good friends of mine, and I’m eager to share their music with our singers and audience.
You’ve got a lot of variety programmed, both throughout the season and within individual concerts. Could you talk about how you prepare differently for, say, Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion than you do for David Lang’s The Little Match Girl Passion?
Someone once asked Helmut Rilling how he prepares a score, and he said, “I look at it.” Pretty much the same for me, whether it’s Bach or someone else!
Could you talk a little bit about the “LA is the World” commissioning project, and this year’s composer, Gabriela Lena Frank?
I love Gaby’s music and her sense of fantasy. “LA is the World” is a commissioning initiative that we started in 2006. The idea is to pair composers with master musicians that represent traditions within the various communities that make up Los Angeles. Gaby will work with the terrific band Huayucaltia, which specializes in Andean music. Gaby comes to this project with a lot of experience and perspective on this music of her mother’s roots.
Were you involved in the creation of the expanded choral version of The Little Match Girl Passion, or did David Lang take that on himself?
That was his deal.
You mentioned that in programming this season, you’ve focused largely on texts, and said that you would be doing “pieces of tremendous political import and works with profound spiritual implications.” Could you discuss some of the philosophical nuances of programming and performing music?
Whoa, that’s a lot to chew on! First off, did I say that? Okay, I probably did. One of the things that I find most fascinating about programming a season of choral works is that you have to deal with the spiritual implications of this repertoire. Since the most ancient times, singing in groups has had a strong ceremonial or religious underpinning. Certainly the great choral repertoire that has come down to us over the last 600 years was more often than not written either for liturgical use or to communicate the composer’s own religious or spiritual quest.
The LA Master Chorale is not a religious organization, and I’m not interested in proselytizing. The music itself has to be of such a high quality that it universalizes any dogma that the words alone would suggest. To me, that is the ultimate test of what is worthy of our programs.
At the same time, the “political” message behind a piece like Gorecki’s Miserere (support of the solidarity movement in Poland) or Lang’s The Little Match Girl Passion (the responsibility of society to aid the least fortunate) is amplified and made even more compelling by the brilliant musical structure of each work.
I know you’re running out of time, so just a few quick LA questions! What is your favorite:
1. Neighborhood
Eagle Rock, of course!
2. Place to hear music
Walt Disney Concert Hall, of course!
3. Restaurant
Too many to say!
4. Bar/hang out
Kendall’s (after a concert).
5. Store
Apple (just shoot me now!).
6. Thing to do/see
Star gaze through the light pollution!
For more information on Grant and the LA Master Chorale, visit lamc.org.
Reviewers wanted!
I am discovering that as soon as you’ve got anything resembling a news blog, people start asking you to review their concerts. This is totally awesome, but, as luck would have it, I’m a busy guy. I’d love to attend and review every concert in town, but there are indeed conflicts in life.
That said, I’d love to have a few more people writing for this site. If you think you can write, and are interested in getting some free tickets and maybe free CDs or whatnot, drop me a line and we’ll work something out.
As always, there are quite a few concerts over on the concert listing page. If you’d like to review one of them in particular, mention that in your message too.
Thanks!
Free Show Alert: CSS, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Gang Gang Dance, Datarock
While it doesn’t exactly fit neatly into the realm of post-classical-neo-modern-pseudo-populist-concert music that we claim to cover on this blog, I figured some of our readers might be interested in the completely free block party in Echo Park this Sunday. Lots of bands, and apparently some food trucks and craft beer too. At least it had better be craft beer. If they’re advertising “world class” and show up with Heineken and Stella, I will stage a futile and largely ignorable personal protest.
For details (and to RSVP, which is required), go to uptheantics.com/cc2011.
You may have noticed that the concert listings page has been massively updated. If not, I recommend checking it out.
AxS Festival 2011 Kicks Off This Weekend in Pasadena
Pasadena’s AxS Festival 2011 starts this weekend, and it looks awesome. It just came to my attention because my friend David Sprio, a tenor with Pasadena Pro Musica and Southwest Chamber Music, sent me an invitation to Pasadena Pro Musica’s show on Sunday, featuring choral music by Lauridsen, Holst, and neurobiologist-cum-composer Elaine Bearer. Details on the concert are available here and here.
Being a big fan of science in general, I think this is worth checking out, and events go for a full two weeks.
The festival website has a ton of information, over at axsfestival.org.
Interview: Composer Dale Trumbore on Snow White Turns Sixty
Dale Trumbore
Last Tuesday Dale Trumbore released her first CD, entitled Snow White Turns Sixty, on her own Dissonant Gorgeous Productions imprint. I caught up with Dale after the release party to talk about her music and life as a composer in LA.
Tell me about the impetus for this record, and the decision to feature songs for voice and piano for your first release.
The decision to record a CD of art-songs as my first album was largely a practical one. I wanted to release a CD as a way of getting my music out into the world; I knew that, logistically speaking, it would be much easier to produce a CD with only two performers than, say, a CD of my choral works. I also knew that at some point I wanted to record the song cycle Snow White Turns Sixty, which, at half an hour long, could practically be an album all by itself.
I’ve been working with soprano Gillian Hollis since 2008, and we’ve been good friends since before then; I knew that Gillian would be willing to take on all of this music and do an incredible job with it. I also wanted the CD to be as much about Gillian’s performance of the songs as I did the music itself. Gillian’s an incredible musician: her range is incredible, her tone quality is unique, her diction’s impeccable, and she’s completely willing to tackle any music I give to her, all of which makes her a natural choice for a muse and collaborator. We actually started discussing making this CD in early 2010, so it’s been in the works for a while.
So you wrote this specifically for Gillian’s voice, and I understand you had some contact with the poets as well. Did you collaborate throughout the process and allow for critique and suggestions, or was it more of a process of working on your own with them in mind?
Although the Snow White Turns Sixty songs were premiered by the Chamber Opera of USC (and have been performed separately in concert by several singers at USC), I definitely wrote them with Gillian in mind. The reason I started writing the cycle in the first place was that Gillian had wanted to put together a concert of songs related to fairy
tales, spanning opera, art-song, and even Disney films; even though that concert has yet to happen, I did know that Gillian would ultimately end up performing these songs. I don’t think I sent her the music until after it was completed, though. (The experience of writing Sara Teasdale Songs for her in 2009 gave me a pretty good understanding of her voice, although her voice has definitely matured since then, too.)
The newest song cycle on the CD, This thirst in the lungs, is probably the most hand-tailored for Gillian’s voice. We did a lot of experimenting with specific passages that sit in Gillian’s upper register, finding text that was ideal—both in terms of vowel placement and emotional content—to have Gillian hit a high D or stretch out a word in a longer, melismatic setting. We wrote probably 90% of the cycle during the three weeks while Gillian was in Los Angeles to rehearse for the CD, and that process was extremely gratifying.
As far as collaboration with the poets goes, I asked some specific questions in the initial text-setting process; for instance, Diane Thiel’s poem “Kinder- und Hausmarchen” (“Children’s and Household Tales,” the original German title for the Grimms’ Fairy Tales) ends with the German phrase “Es war einmal im tiefen tiefen Wald,” though the rest of the poem is in English. Diane puts the English translation of this last phrase as a footnote at the end of the poem. With Diane’s permission, though, I chose to set the German text and then the English translation of that text as part of the song, so that the audience understands—without having to read any footnotes in the program—that this last line of text means “Once upon a time, in the deep, deep wood.” If I hadn’t set the translation as part of the song, the wonderfully cyclical quality that that line lends to this song (the last of the cycle) might have been lost.
It’s wonderful working with contemporary poets in the performance process, too. While rehearsing this summer, Gillian and I emailed poet Eileen Moeller to ask how she preferred we pronounce the word “quay” in performance, since there are several technically correct possible pronunciations. Eileen quickly sent back a response: she wanted the word pronounced “key” (presumably to align with the word “keening” immediately thereafter). All of the poets involved with the project have been absolutely lovely to work with, and I’m incredibly grateful to them for allowing me to set their words to music.
At a few moments in Snow White Turns Sixty almost seem to take a turn toward musical theatre (I’m thinking specifically of Hazel tells Laverne). Was that intentional, or have you had much experience in that realm?
There was a phase, when I was probably 5 or 6 years old, when I watched the 1955 movie version of the musical Guys and Dolls (with Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando) every single day; I think I still know most, if not all, of the songs in that musical by heart.
While my penchant for watching Guys and Dolls daily is long gone (thank goodness), my love of musical theater is not. I’ve accompanied six or seven full-length musicals and countless musical revues; at UMD, I served as the pianist for every student-produced musical theater production put on during my sophomore through senior years.
So to return to the question: yes, the allusions to musical theater in my compositions are very much intentional. It feels like a bit of a dirty little secret in the classical music world to love musical theater; most classical musicians I know scoff at musicals (barring West Side Story, the single musical that it’s socially acceptable for composers to like). But I’m a huge fan of Stephen Sondheim, George Gershwin, and John Kander, in particular, and the American Songbook in general. It’s highly likely that I’ll end up writing a musical before I ever write an opera.
Being that you’re from Jersey but live here now and have been here for a little while, and that this blog is dedicated to LA’s scene, and that this is the first interview, tell me something you like and something you dislike about our fair city.
I’ve lived in LA for over two years now; I love that each different neighborhood within LA can feel like a different city, and I love the abundance of good food, particularly the fact that incredible, locally grown food is available year-round. I’m a huge fan of the Larchmont Farmer’s Market, and right now I’m rejoicing over the fact that fresh figs and passion fruit are in season.
But—and this is the native New Jerseyan in me—I miss having distinct seasons, especially fall, which was my favorite season until I moved to a city where it doesn’t exist. I’m really excited to visit the East Coast for a whirlwind trip in late October: a friend’s wedding in MD, a NJ concert with Gillian as part of our national Snow White Turns Sixty tour, and a NYC performance of my piece for string quartet by the new-music ensemble ACME. I hope the trees are still changing colors in one or more of those states when I’m there, so I can get at least one weekend of fall in before I return to LA.
And your favorite:
1. Neighborhood
I have to go with Silverlake, where I live.
2. Place to hear music
I recently went to the Blue Whale for the first time, and it’s a fantastic venue.
3. Restaurant
Flore.
4. Bar/hang out
Right now, probably The Thirsty Crow.
5. Store
Crossroads (in Silverlake).
6. Thing to do/see
Right now: attempting to teach myself how to surf at Venice Beach, with some help from Juhi Bansal, a fellow composer, and Nic Gerpe, who premiered my piano concerto last February. I have yet to completely stand up on a board, but I’m determined to get there soon!
What is one question that you wish interviewers would ask you, and how would you answer it?
“What’s your absolute favorite piece of all time?” And the answer is Messiaen’s O Sacrum Convivium, which—aside from one high Bb in the soprano section that’s just impossible to sing at that moment with the grace that the piece requires—is absolute perfection of form, melody and harmony, and pure joy to listen to, captured in only 5 minutes of music and 4 voice parts. It’s a gorgeous little piece.
You can listen to (and buy!) Snow White Turns Sixty at daletrumbore.bandcamp.com.
Review: Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra plays Golijov, Bermel
LACO’s concert this past Saturday night at the Alex Theatre featuring West Coast premieres from composer-in-residence Derek Bermel and Argentine megastar (in some circles) Osvaldo Golijov was a serious kicker of a season opener.
Maestro Jeffrey Kahane, who is celebrating his 15th year as LACO’s music director, opened the show with a surprisingly energized and bold sounding Overture from The Magic Flute. For a piece we’ve all heard a million times (and I wasn’t particularly excited to hear again), Jeff and the LACO cats breathed some serious new life into it.
I had brought a few friends who dig modernism but find most traditional classical music really dull, and they both said that it might have been the best performed piece of the night, and that they were totally into it. LACO 1, 99% of period instrument ensembles 0.
Golijov’s Sidereus was probably the highlight of the evening, although it didn’t overshadow Bermel’s Ritornello for a moment. The Golijov managed a bit of a post-minimalist, almost Inception-soundtrack-Hans Zimmer sound at times, with descending seventh chord arpeggios in the upper strings, but modal lines in the winds and constantly changing textures kept the piece interesting. Some particularly exciting downbeat-heavy brass polyrhythms toward the climax really carried the piece across the line from “well that was cool” to “where can I get a recording?”
Possibly the most impressive thing about it was Kahane’s handling of the rhythm. I’ve always thought of him as a colorist. He’s very sensitive to balance, and lets everything breathe, but I couldn’t personally imagine enjoying him doing, say, Rite of Spring. After this past Saturday I’d certainly like to hear it.
The Bermel, with Wiek Hijmans on electric guitar, may have been the stylistic high point of the evening. Most electric guitar concertos fail miserably, in that composers use sounds that are so idiomatic of the electric guitar – bent strings, chunky power chords, etc. – that the pieces sound totally forced, almost like a show of “look at me, I know how to rock too!” Such was not the case with Bermel’s Ritornello. If anything, he managed to find the perfect blend between the guitar and the ensemble, with the guitar’s broken triplet pattern being perfectly backed by the perfectly tonal harmonies outlined in the strings.
Hijmans is an excellent improviser – downright inspiring – and Bermel certainly gave him room to play. In what may have been good taste, Hijmans kept his improvisations short and to the point. I would have enjoyed it a bit more if he had extended his solo sections a bit further, but that was in no way detrimental to enjoying the piece.
The second half, Beethoven’s 4th piano concerto, saw Kahane return to his colorist self. There’s no doubt about his abilities as a virtuosic pianist, and it is great to see him conduct from the keyboard, but I felt that the performance lacked the punch and boldness it really needed to carry it over the edge. The audience dug it though, and called him back for an extended encore. Mark Swed over at the LA times seemed to think it rocked a little harder than I did, so read his review too.
LACO’s got a few cool concerts coming up. The next one we’ll be covering here is December 10th, which will feature some music from Brit boy-genius Thomas Adès. If the season opener is any indication of things to come, I’m excited already.
Day Trip Idea/Free Show Alert: Carlsbad Music Festival
The Carlsbad Music Festival kicks off tonight in North County San Diego with a free Village Music Walk from 5:30 to 9:30, featuring performances from The Calder Quartet, red fish blue fish, Vicky Chow, Penelope, My Brightest Diamond, and festival founder Matt McBane‘s very own bandsemble, Build. Oh boy, that is a lot of links.
It looks like some restaurants and bars and things like that will be offering deals, stores will be staying open late, etc. This alone probably makes it worth the drive/train ride/5-minute-flight-followed-by-40-minute-drive, but the rest of the weekend looks extremely promising too.
Free picnic concerts on Saturday and Sunday will include Terry Riley’s epic In C (a personal favorite) and West African electronica collective Burkina Electric. The New Amsterdam Records heavy lineup (this is a good thing) will continue with concerts throughout the weekend.
You can check out the complete schedule by clicking here. I personally won’t be able to make it, because that free show alert from earlier this week has led to my getting tickets to LACO‘s concert this Saturday night (with West Coast premieres from Derek Bermel and Osvaldo Golijov), after guitarist Wiek Hijmans literally made my brain melt a little from sheer virtuo-visionary ecstasy. Plus Bright Eyes are playing in Santa Barbara on Sunday night, for those of you who may be interested in that as well.
If you go, please feel free to review your experience in the comments.
Free show alert: Wiek Hijmans, Timo Andres, Derek Bermel in Pasadena
Tonight KPCC and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra present Plugged in at the Crawford Family Forum in Pasadena, as part of their Campus to Concert Hall program. From KPCC’s site:
Get “plugged in” to the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with a performance by Wiek Hijmans on electric guitar, LACO Sound Investment composer Timothy Andres on piano, and LACO composer-in-residence Derek Bermel on clarinet. The trio will explore the reaches of 21st century musical creativity in a free performance as part of the Campus to Concert Hall program. Embrace and celebrate the connection between musicians, audiences and community.
KPCC’s Crawford Family Forum plays host to the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra on Tuesday, September 20th at 8pm, as they bring a creative, accessible and timely performance to audiences free of charge with a post-concert Q&A and reception with the artists.
Admission is free, but RSVP is required.
This appears to be part of the build up for LACO’s September 24th and 25th concerts, which will feature west coast premieres by Golijov and Bermel. Bermel’s piece is for electric guitar and orchestra, and, as you may have guessed, Wiek Hijmans will be the soloist.
To RSVP and for more details, visit the event page on KPCC’s website.
Hi there.
Welcome to New ClassicLA. We’re going to cover all of the new “classical” music in LA, as well as experimental, outsider type sounds, and anything else I deem interesting. Trust me, this is going to be awesome.