Classical Music

Paul Andersen, Enjoy! GLENDALE -- The number 33 can mean many things. With its double open sides and rounded curves, it can be an open invitation to caricaturists. Taken against 100, it signifies one-third, though at some future point a one will need to be added to get to that century mark. Using it as a person's age, it means the onslaught of middle age has firmly commenced. And those of us familiar with vinyl records can smile at the memory of the long-playing album.

Oakmont League cooks dinner for Foothill Service Club More than 50 years ago, the women of Oakmont League began a tradition of holiday service to the membership of the Foothill Service Club for the Blind that has become a festive and much anticipated occasion. On Dec. 12, the Oakmont leaguers arrived at the club's facility at Los Feliz with their arms full of the ingredients for the turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Oakmont league members were dressed in the colors of the season -- many with special aprons to signify their role for the event of preparing for and serving more than 50 people that gathered in the gaily decorated center.

An audience ranging in age, style and musical taste packed the small chapel of First United Methodist Church for the Burbank Chorale’s spring concert Saturday. The performance, titled “Another Night at the Opera” (in a double play off the title for the Marx Brothers’ comedy film and Queen’s album “A Night at the Opera”), affirmed that opera can be anything but conventional. “I wanted to pick a program that is interesting and has variety to it,” said Misha Shtangrud, the chorale’s artistic director and conductor.

Singers and listeners alike gained a measurable amount of enjoyment from the spring concert of the Glendale College Concert Singers on Sunday at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Glendale. Made up of both community members and Glendale Community College students, the 50-member group performed the choral music of contemporary American composer Morten Lauridsen and classical composers Gregorio Allegri and Johann Pachelbel. Glendale resident Cindy Baker, an eight-year member of the Concert Singers, brought her mother, Sylva, who came from Philadelphia to hear her daughter sing.

Music Director Olivia Tsui is adding a few original touches to her debut concert conducting the Glendale Symphony Orchestra. Along with a rousing musical program of Spanish and Argentine-inspired music, Tsui said she is integrating the visual element of tango into the performance on Oct. 7 at the Alex Theatre. Only the 20-member string section, two guest soloists and two tango dancers will perform this first concert of the orchestra's 83rd season, Tsui said. Tango dancers will be included in 20th century tango composer Astor Piazzolla's piece "Cuatro Estaciones en Buenos Aires" (The Four Seasons)

Paul Andersen, Enjoy! BURBANK -- David Troy Francis is the first to admit that the market for the music he plays is not exactly Top 40 sized. "There is not a huge, pent-up demand for 20th-century American classical music, the 49-year-old Burbank pianist confided. "But," he sighed, "playing it does bring me joy." For whatever reason, contemporary classical music has long been a hard sell for artists, composers, record companies and just about anyone connected with it. Although, like most music, there is a broad spectrum of styles used as composers create their sound scapes, most classical listeners, when confronted by "new" music, shy away from it, expecting it to be atonal and/or hard to listen to. Unfortunately, it is a misconception that sometimes causes works to wait years before they appear on a recording.

Philharmonic 48 Hours Winning the chance to perform with a professional orchestra is a grand finale to Ko Sugiyama's early years of music study. After the violinist performs with the Burbank Philharmonic Sunday at The Starlight Bowl in Burbank, the 18-year-old Glendora resident will head for college Monday at the Cleveland Institute of Music in Ohio. He will major in violin performance in the school's four-year program. Earlier this year, Sugiyama competed and won the first young artist competition sponsored by the symphony orchestra.

Joyce Rudolph, Weekend BURBANK -- It's an eclectic mix, but David Benoit has found a comfortable key on the success scale by combining jazz and classical music. He started private piano lessons at age 13, concentrating on jazz right off. "That's my main thing because that's what I know," says the 46-year-old, who lives in Palos Verdes. "My dad was a jazz guitar player. I grew up listening to his records by Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson." Benoit progressed to classical music study at 17. Abby Fraser taught him some classical music and sight reading and then Carolyn Brown introduced him to the classical piano music of Chopin, Mozart -- all the masters.

I am a big fan of musical theater, both in film and on stage, and have attended many shows throughout the years where music is interwoven into the story. “2 Pianos 4 Hands” at the Colony Theatre in Burbank requires a different sensibility, and your own enjoyment of this play may very well be determined by your knowledge of and appreciation for classical music. It opens with the two characters, Richard (Roy Abramsohn) and Ted (Jeffrey Rockwell), playing a concerto by Bach that continues for a while, leaving one to wonder when dialogue will commence that allows you to know the two people onstage.

An intern has joined forces with the Glendale Symphony Orchestra Assn's executive director to help promote and raise funds for future concerts. Shin-huei Du will concentrate on marketing and audience development under the guidance of Diane Hedrick in the orchestra association's Glendale office. Originally from Taitung, Taiwan, Du came to the United States for graduate study in 2001. After she received her master's degree in music education in 2003 from USC, she started doctoral study in music administration at Texas Tech University.

If you ask 13-year-old Lukas Bartke or 14-year-old Clayton Bonura, “Star Wars” is the best song to play at the Verdugo Youth Musicians Assn. As the orchestra inches to the intro, and the conductor announces the song, all the kids let out a sigh of relief. In 2001, the association began providing classical music training from professional musicians to children of all ages who live in Glendale, Burbank, La Cañada, Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley. As part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Partnership Program, the collaboration gives children their first seat next to a monstrous cello or drum.

I am a big fan of musical theater, both in film and on stage, and have attended many shows throughout the years where music is interwoven into the story. “2 Pianos 4 Hands” at the Colony Theatre in Burbank requires a different sensibility, and your own enjoyment of this play may very well be determined by your knowledge of and appreciation for classical music. It opens with the two characters, Richard (Roy Abramsohn) and Ted (Jeffrey Rockwell), playing a concerto by Bach that continues for a while, leaving one to wonder when dialogue will commence that allows you to know the two people onstage.

Without exception, the Glendale Youth Orchestra is something special. The stunningly talented youth group packed a mesmerizing classical performance with selections from Mozart and Mendelssohn, in celebration of its 20th anniversary season finale Tuesday at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. The concert, under the gifted hand of Conductor Brad Keimach, who is Juilliard trained and a protégé of Leonard Bernstein, highlighted the youth orchestra?s exceptional talent with an efficiently laid out program worthy of a Disney Hall audience.

Classical chorale works will blend with jolly holiday favorites when the Burbank Chorale performs its Rejoice concert at the First United Methodist Church in Burbank. Founded in 1920, the chorale’s holiday concert program includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Coronation Mass and George Frederic Handel’s “Zadok the Priest” as well as traditional holiday carols “Silent Night” and “Jingle Bells.” “Rejoice” was the best fit for the theme because of the time of year, artistic director Misha Shtangrud said.

Amid the hectic preparations of a dress rehearsal for the Providence High School musical “Godspell” on Thursday, a phantom voice suddenly resounded in the auditorium. “I need to get a test on Jesus here,” said the soundman, Dayne Adams. “Godspell” seemed an apt choice for the school’s annual musical this year, said Debbie Learned, musical director of the production. “Our Easter season comes early this year, and we thought it was good to do ‘Godspell’ and then go right into it,” she said.

Singers and listeners alike gained a measurable amount of enjoyment from the spring concert of the Glendale College Concert Singers on Sunday at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Glendale. Made up of both community members and Glendale Community College students, the 50-member group performed the choral music of contemporary American composer Morten Lauridsen and classical composers Gregorio Allegri and Johann Pachelbel. Glendale resident Cindy Baker, an eight-year member of the Concert Singers, brought her mother, Sylva, who came from Philadelphia to hear her daughter sing.

The pursuit of the American dream will blend with traditional Christmas carols when the Glendale Symphony Orchestra presents its "Sounds of Christmas" concert on Friday at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Musical director and conductor Olivia Tsui has invited her longtime friend, Burbank composer and guitarist Del Casher, to join in the celebration. The orchestra will perform two of his works, "Americana Suite" and "A Christmas Medley," with his band, Del Casher's Jazz Five, she said.

Music Director Olivia Tsui is adding a few original touches to her debut concert conducting the Glendale Symphony Orchestra. Along with a rousing musical program of Spanish and Argentine-inspired music, Tsui said she is integrating the visual element of tango into the performance on Oct. 7 at the Alex Theatre. Only the 20-member string section, two guest soloists and two tango dancers will perform this first concert of the orchestra's 83rd season, Tsui said. Tango dancers will be included in 20th century tango composer Astor Piazzolla's piece "Cuatro Estaciones en Buenos Aires" (The Four Seasons)

An intern has joined forces with the Glendale Symphony Orchestra Assn's executive director to help promote and raise funds for future concerts. Shin-huei Du will concentrate on marketing and audience development under the guidance of Diane Hedrick in the orchestra association's Glendale office. Originally from Taitung, Taiwan, Du came to the United States for graduate study in 2001. After she received her master's degree in music education in 2003 from USC, she started doctoral study in music administration at Texas Tech University.