Vocal focus from CCMN*
Southern CA Vocal Events
Lauri D. Goldenhersh’s Weekly Highlights
The season is wrapping up, with finales, festivals and fine music, everywhere you look!
CCMN will be released every two weeks through the summer, so this is the first double issue of the off-season. However, with so much packed into the next two weeks, we can’t possibly address everything, so be sure to check the calendar for more fun than we can get to. There’s certainly something for everyone, like roses in every color under the sun.
This week
Of course, there are big doings in Ojai this weekend, as the OJAI MUSIC FESTIVAL started on Wednesday and continues through Sunday. The schedule is a continuing cycle of unique and collaborative concerts, curated this year by UC San Diego’s star percussionist/conductor Steven Schick. This season’s vocal artists include intrepid soprano Mellissa Hughes (stepping in for an ailing Peabody Southwell), and an ensemble organized through CalArts, formed to perform the world premiere of Sila, by Pulitzer-winning composer John Luther Adams. There are plenty of non-vocal events, as well, of course, and the schedule is heavier than usual with percussion works. No surprise there, and it should all result in a truly dazzling weekend. Tickets are sold out for several events, so get yours right this minute — click www.ojaifestival.org
ANGELES CHORALE wraps up their season by seeing into the future (and sharing a peek with us); and JOUYSSANCE ends theirs on 6/13, by looking back to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, with a program of love songs from the biblical ‘Song of Songs‘. VOX FEMINA goes Broadway with ‘Side by Side by Sondheim‘, which is sure to be great fun. (Be sure to support their first-ever cycling event on 6/27, too — see the calendar!)
SONGFEST’s star-studded concerts are in full swing, including a Libby Larsen premiere on 6/12 , just to start. Check their schedule and peruse the many offerings between now and the end of the month. The concerts are free and they’re all at the Colburn School, so you won’t want to miss it. Their almost daily masterclasses are also available for audit: for just $20, you can sit in on the wisdom of innovative artists, and learn a thing or three. To learn more, click: songfest.us
Need a Brahms fix? Now’s the time, as both PASADENA MASTER CHORALE and MOUNTAINSIDE MASTER CHORALE are singing his German Requiem on 6/14, in Pasadena and Claremont, respectively. Each performance has its own approach, and details are you-know-where.
Finally, REPERTORY OPERA COMPANY opens ‘The Barber of Seville‘ in Pomona on Sunday, and the show runs through 6/27. This hilarious opera is one of Rossini’s most popular, and remains one of the most beloved works in the repertoire. Read about this production and get tickets by clicking: repertoryoperacompany.org
Next week
SONGFEST continues with concerts featuring LA composers, songmaster John Musto and more. MEISTERSINGERS wrap up their season with ‘By Any Other Name‘, a program of rose-themed songs; and the SAN GABRIEL VALLEY CHORAL COMPANY comes to Pasadena with a grand 20th Anniversary Concert and Silent Auction, celebrating two decades hard at work making music.
Programs start at MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST in Santa Barbara, with Beethoven’s 9th and masterclasses galore, and that’s just the vocal stuff. Tickets always go quickly, so clickety-click: musicacademy.org
VINEYARD TOURING OPERA returns with a fundraiser featuring Lee Hoiby’s ‘Bon Appetit!‘, a charming little gem starring mezzo ERIN MURPHY as kitchen queen Julia Child. Two performances 6/20-21 are in Claremont and South Pasadena. Get details by clicking: vtopera.org
More festivals
Summer fests are already here! Plan ahead, and take in as much as you can, as they’ll be gone again before you know it:
- SONGFEST (now thru 6/28), Downtown LA
- MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST (June 15-Aug 8), Santa Barbara
- unSUNg (June 28, July 26, Aug 23), Glendale
- SOUTHWEST CHAMBER MUSIC’s LA International New Music Festival (July 7-15), Downtown LA
Continuing
Thru 6/14 — Aida, LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN OPERA
Thru 6/14 — OJAI MUSIC FESTIVAL
Thru 6/15 — Dog Days, LA OPERA
Thru 6/20 — Carmen, CENTER STAGE OPERA: Read our rave review
Thru 6/28 — SONGFEST
Of course, be sure to wish the dads in your life a big HAPPY FATHER’S DAY on 6/21. Make this the year they feel just as special as the moms.
We certainly won’t be bored this month, and we’ll have more for you in two weeks. Happy musicmaking, 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
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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 in this enhanced version.
