[Starting this week, at the request of several of our readers, we’ll repost the vocal column from Jim Eninger’s indispensible Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter here, as soon as it’s available. To get added to Jim’s e-news list, send him a message. To see the latest issue of CCMN, click here.]
Southern California Vocal Events
LAURI D. GOLDENHERSH’s Weekly Highlights
Summer is a season of chamber music and chamber opera, of music outside and picnics al fresco. It’s also a chance for new and experienced musicians to work with colleagues in festivals and workshops, learn something new, and enjoy a change of pace. Whether you’re a learner or a listener, the season offers abundant opportunities to reboot, and remind ourselves why we love music in the first place. Here are a few choice examples over the next few weeks:
Don’t miss the culminating event of a new training program that has come to Southern California through the work of renowned coach, ARMEN GUZELIMIAN, and his organization, Thriving Creative Artists. Armen has brought the likes of BRENT McMUNN, JONATHAN MACK and JEANNINE ALTMEYER together to work with twelve very talented singers. The public can attend/audit events through Friday, observing the masters as they share their wisdom with emerging artists. Saturday night, 7/28, we’ll hear the results of their hard work at The Edye (the smaller theater at The Broad in Santa Monica) at 7pm. Tickets are just $20, or $15 for students and seniors. Get info by clicking here.
More opportunities to expand understanding include a workshop focused on working with kiddos from LOS ANGELES CHILDREN’S CHOIR, and a new choral education initiative from PACIFIC CHORALE, encouraging young singers to get involved and build some skills. This is a busy time for the chorale, as they’ve just returned from a triumphant European tour, and their annual Choral Festival is 8/12 — for information on the festival, click here.
A bit north, continuing events from MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST include master classes and a much-anticipated production of Stravinsky’s ‘The Rake’s Progress‘ in The Granada Theater, starting 8/3. These tickets sell out almost every year — get info by clicking here.
If you’re heading southward, look for events from the new OPERA NEO, based out of San Diego State University. Their “Cabaret!” program on 8/3 looks like great fun, and 8/11’s ‘Faces of Love‘ features opera scenes covering five centuries. Both are on the calendar. For details on the latter, click here.
The French “revolution” at The Huntington continues, with SOUTHWEST CHAMBER MUSIC’s annual series of summer programs in a unique and treasured space. This Saturday and Sunday, soprano ELISSA JOHNSTON sings Ravel’s ‘Chansons madécasses‘, a song cycle on Creole poems, influenced (if not emulating) Schoenberg, and anything but sedate. These songs demand a significant level of skill, and are therefore not often performed, but they’re in very good hands. Get your tickets early, and learn more about this set and the rest of the program by clicking here.
BOB RALSTON, who has manned the keyboard for Lawrence Welk and a galaxy of big names, is offering a concert series in his home theater through 2012, starting with four performances of “Easy Living” by our own RENEE BURKETT. Tickets are priced very reasonably, and this is sure to become a gathering place for a diverse array of local talent and avid music lovers. Plan ahead — tickets are NOT available at the door, and as these events take place in a private home, RSVPs are required. For details, click here.
For the operatically inclined, Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto‘ comes to the Hollywood Bowl on the 12th, but earlier that day, REPERTORY OPERA COMPANY makes their ‘Manly Men of Opera‘ the bass-iest summer tradition you’ll ever see: no fewer than ten bass singers take the stage to celebrate the machismo and pathos of a plethora of low-voiced roles. Get details by clicking here.
Next 7 will appear next week, and our next issue of CCMN will be out mid-August. Keep updated on vocal doings in the meantime by visiting the Lister Calendar! Both CCMN and Next 7 are on reduced schedule for the summer months, but we’ll continue to add events to our calendar throughout the season — check back often, so you don’t miss a thing. As always, thank you for supporting live singing!
Lauri D. Goldenhersh
lauri@laurislist.com
There’s never enough room here, and we’re always adding more there — for details about these and many other vocal events, see the Calendar at LaurisList.com, now the largest centralized resource for vocal events in the area. Visit the calendar by clicking http://bit.ly/ListerCalendar and send a message to the email address above to learn how to register with us, so you can add your vocal events!
Subscribe to ‘Next 7’, the free newsletter from LaurisList.com, to keep up with vocal-related events like these are more. All are welcome!
Click here to sign up: http://tinyurl.com/ListerNews
or click here to see the latest issue: http://www.laurislist.com/Next7
