Vocal focus from CCMN*
SOUTHERN CA VOCAL EVENTS
Lauri D. Goldenhersh’s
Weekly Highlights
What to do, what to do? There may not be as many blocks on the calendar this week, but there are big things happening:
SONGFEST wraps up on Friday with several concerts today and tomorrow. In case you’ve been hiding away, these concerts are FREE and top-quality — get thee to Colburn for some excellent concertizing. But first, click here
LONG BEACH OPERA reprises their production of David Lang‘s The Difficulty of Crossing a Field this weekend, putting the audience on the stage and the production all around them. The layout is not the only mashup in the experience, as the opera combines with spoken word and leans toward theater, telling a story from Ambrose Bierce set before the Civil War, where the mysterious disappearance of a slave owner changes everyone he leaves behind. This show got raves two years ago, when it sold out and left many at the door. Tickets are selling well now, too — at last check, at least one show (6/29) had sold out, and the others were getting close. Check out the video, background and audio samples on LBO’s website
And it’s finally here! unSUNg, our summer concert series, starts this Sunday, 6/29 in Glendale, with “Songs UnCommon and New” from five contemporary composers: JONATHAN N. KUPPER, ROBERT S. COHEN, ALAN L. SMITH, CHRISTINA WHITTEN THOMAS, and JAC REDFORD. This concert is all voice and piano, and feature the singing talents of RACHEL PAYNE, CORIL PROCHNOW, TRACY VAN FLEET, APRIL AMANTE and KAREN HOGLE BROWN, with pianists BRIAN FARRELL, NIC GERPE and LISA SYLVESTER partnering with the vocalists. Learn more about the whole series, or get tickets, directions and even suggestions on local dining by clicking:
http://www.laurislist.com/unsung
After this week, we’ll be going to a bi-weekly schedule for the summer, so here’s a peek at next week, too: be sure to check the schedule for MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST in Santa Barbara, and get those tickets early — they’re hard to come by, and worth every effort! Next weekend, INDEPENDENT OPERA COMPANY does seasonal Shakespeare with Britten’s lovely ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’. And we’ll be adding more events as they arrive in our Inbox. (You’ve sent us yours, right?)
Hope to see you soon, whether it’s at unSUNg or another summer happening. Enjoy the “lazy” season, and thank you for supporting live singing!
**Please forgive the inside joke — some of you may recognize the daily vocal warm-up from high school choir. Nothing gets stuck in your head like those pithy arpeggios!
