Vocal focus from CCMN*
Southern CA Vocal Events
Lauri D. Goldenhersh’s Weekly Highlights
The next two weeks marks the start and the finish of beautiful things!
Anoush Opera brings a 19th-century Armenian village to life with a tragic love story presented by LARK MUSICAL SOCIETY and starring HASMIK PAPIAN and SHOUSHIK BARSOUMIAN. Four performances run May 23 to 31 at the historic Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena. Click here
SONGFEST starts May 30th and runs through June 28, with a stellar festival series of FREE concerts at the beautiful Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles. See the full schedule
Wrapping up their season, LONG BEACH OPERA launches Hydrogen Jukebox on May 30. The opera is a melding of the minds of two legends, composer Philip Glass and poet Allen Ginsberg, and stars sopranos JAMIE CHAMBERLIN and ASHLEY KNIGHT; mezzo-soprano KARIN MUSHEGAIN; baritone ROBERTO PERLAS GOMEZ; tenor TODD STRANGE; and bass JASON SWITZER. The work is extrapolated from a collaboration between Glass and Ginsberg in the 1980s, from poetry written in the ’60s, and spans those decades and more, tackling socially and emotionally potent topics of war, sex, drugs, technology, politics and the fears and neuroses that drive us. It all takes place at CRAFTED at the Port of L.A. Learn more
Also finishing their seasons are SOUTH BAY CHILDREN’S CHOIR with Fiestas, Festivals, Songs of Celebration (May 23 & 24); the MANSFIELD CHAMBER SINGERS with Dreaming of a Song (May 31 & June 6), featuring music by director Kenneth Wells; MERITAGE VOCAL ENSEMBLE with Amore Amadeus (May 31); and quite a few more — take a good look at the calendar to get the big picture.
For Memorial Day, MusicUNTOLD presents a free concert at Forest Lawn’s Hall of Liberty on May 24, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, and the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. The concert with choir and orchestra includes the vocal talents of baritone BABATUNDE AKINBOBOYE; baritone MICHAEL PAUL SMITH with an aria from a new opera about Frederick Douglass; and soprano SHEILA YVETTE JUDSON, who will sing the West Coast premiere of an aria from a new opera about Harriet Tubman. The performance also features (in no particular order) the CALIFORNIA STATE MILITARY RESERVE COLOR GUARD; pianist POLLI CHAMBERS-SALIZAR; clarinetist MARCUS ELEY; pianist MARY AU; and violinist ANNELLE GREGORY. Be sure to arrive early for the 5pm pre-concert lecture, and leave yourself plenty of time for parking and seating. Again, the concert is free, but seating is first come, first served. For concert information, click here.
Continuing
Thru 5/23 — Ariadne auf Naxos, Pacific Opera Project in Highland Park
Those are the highlights from the next two weeks, so I’ll be taking next week off. (Don’t worry, the calendar is always there for you.) Whether you’re concertizing or barbecuing (hopefully both), have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and as always, thank you for supporting live singing!
Check out the Lister Calendar: http://www.laurislist.com/calendar Send us your event info: events.la@laurislist.com
Subscribe to e-news from the List: http://www.laurislist.com/enews
For the latest issue of Next 7, click: http://www.laurislist.com/Next7
Singerpreneur blog: https://www.singerpreneur.com
*This post echoed from the weekly vocal events column in the Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter. The original is a text-based email newsletter, so images, links and details may differ here.
