News
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.
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.
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.