Great singing starts right away this week, with a "
Baroque Conversation" **tonight** from members of the LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, performing with sopranos JANICE TIPTON (also an LACO flautist) and ELISSA JOHNSTON at Zipper Hall. Be there early for a 6pm pre-concert reception, so you can have a little nosh before a program of Biber and Bach. This engaging series encourages performers to talk to the audience from the stage, introducing each piece and offering personal insights into the repertoire. Listeners can also ask questions at the end of the evening, creating a salon atmosphere where friends share pieces they love, breaking down the sometimes stodgy barrier between stage and seats. For details,
click here.
With '
Listening Alive: The New Music of Los Angeles', the combined contemporary forces of MUSIC ON ARGYLE, SYNCHROMY and the SYMBIOSIS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA create a unique and evocative program of some of music "for and from LA". Instrumental works by
Jason Barabba,
Daniel Gall,
Nick Norton,
Vera Ivanova and
Nick Gianopoulos are topped off with a new vocal work by
Damjan Rakonjac. This is an exceptional grouping of young compositional talent, working together to build a strong local following for their contemporary wares. '
Years' is a piece for soprano and chamber ensemble, based on Sylvia Plath's poem of the same name. The deceptively simple poem explores the conflict between stasis and motion, using rich symbolism to express the life and death struggle that reigned in the author's own mind. Rakonjac tells us he views the poem as "an embodiment of a mental struggle, the kind Plath was all too familiar with." Sung by ROKSANA ZEINAPUR, the composer's wife, this premiere will shake up the audience and break new ground. The program will be performed in Hollywood on Friday and Torrance on Saturday -- don't miss it. For details,
click here.
"A cappella" may traditionally refer to the unaccompanied singing in the style of Renaissance chapel musicians, but in our modern times, professional and college ensembles have given new meaning and new style to the term. Embracing spirited arrangements of everything from jazz, pop, barbershop, and even classical -- nothing's out of bounds. This weekend you can dip into the excitement with a series of events at UCLA, as part of the
Los Angeles A Cappella Festival on Friday and Saturday. Hosted by SIMPLY PUT, a new group based in Los Angeles, you'll have a great time peppered with plenty of vocal fireworks. For festival information,
click here.
More Baroque gems come to downtown LA and Santa Monica on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, as celebrated soprano DAME EMMA KIRKBY and Canadian countertenor DANIEL TAYLOR join MUSICA ANGELICA for '
Stabat Mater and other sacred arias'. The pair will sing arias from Handel's operas and Bach's version of Pergolesi's '
Stabat Mater', and the orchestra will perform Handel's
Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 7, all led by artistic director MARTIN HASELBÖCK. For details,
click here.
On Sunday, LONG BEACH OPERA opens its much-anticipated tale of Argentina's 'Dirty War', with the first of two performances of '
Maria de Buenos Aires' by tango master Astor Piazzolla. (The second performance is on Feb 4.) Performed on the stage of the historic Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, this irresistible opera is sung in Spanish with English supertitles, and tells of the late 1970s and early -80s, a period when Argentinians were ruled by fear and state-sponsored terrorism. The title character is the embodiment of the dance perfected and further emboldened by the composer: strong, sensual, and revolutionary. This rarely-heard work is an experience not to be missed. For details,
click here.
We're just getting started, as there are plenty of new and continuing events still on the calendar. Make room for an extra performance this week if you can, so you can enjoy and support the diverse wealth of talent available to us here in SoCal. Have a wonderful week -- as always, thank you for supporting live singing!
