In just a few years, San Francisco Classical Voice has proven itself one of the best sources of arts news on the West Coast, and their annual Audience Choice Awards give readers in the Bay Area and in SoCal a chance to point to what (and who) they love most.
This year’s Los Angeles area winners include plenty of predictable names (Dudamel will be a hard guy to beat in his category for some time yet), but there are some surprises in the mix, too. Read the full details here, but here’s the boiled-down list:
- Best Opera Singer: Cristina Jones
- Best Chamber Music Ensemble: Salastina
- Best Choral Ensemble: Los Angeles Master Chorale
- Best Dance Soloist: Micaela Taylor
- Best Early Music/Baroque Ensemble: Tesserae Baroque
- Best New Music Ensemble: Cal State Fullerton New Music Ensemble
- Best Orchestra: Los Angeles Philharmonic
- Best Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel
- Best Instrumental Soloist: Vicki Ray, piano
- Best Jazz Vocalist: Esperanza Spalding
- Best Jazz Instrumentalist: Herbie Hancock
- Best Opera Performance: Pacific Opera Project, Iolanta
- Best Chamber Music Performance: Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, 2021–2022 chamber performances at The Huntington
- Best Choral Performance: Pacific Chorale, “Songs of the Soul”
- Best Dance Performance: DIAVOLO at The Wallis
- Best New Music Performance: Pacific Chorale, Tarik O’Regan’s The Stillness Chained
- Best Orchestra Performance: Cal State Fullerton Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Choir and HEX vocal ensemble, Pamela Madsen’s Oratorio for the Earth
- Best Early Music/Baroque Performance: Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Bach’s Goldberg Variations for String Orchestra
- Best Instrumental Recital: Martin Chalifour, “A Chalifour Celebration” at the LA Phil
- Best Vocal Recital: Davóne Tines, 2022 performances at the Ojai Music Festival
- Best Jazz Performance: Herbie Hancock (with Esperanza Spalding) at the Hollywood Bowl
- Best Large Venue: Walt Disney Concert Hall
- Best Small Venue: Zipper Hall
- Best Outdoor or Club Venue: Descanso Gardens
- Best Festival: LA Phil, Noon to Midnight
- Best New Discovery: Cristina Jones in Pacific Opera Project’s Iolanta
- Best Streaming Performance or Series: Salastina, Happy Hours
Big congrats to all of the winners, and thank you for doing what you do!
Read about the Bay Area winners here…
