CLASS ACT: Hollywood Bowl, Pasadena Pops open seasons

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Southern California News Group

hollywood-bowl-post1 Hollywood Bowl’s summer season opens this month.

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One of the joys of living in Southern California in the summertime is the plethora of outdoor music programs available. Virtually every genre is represented and the venues are part of the reason why tens of thousands of people turn out each weekend for music and accompanying picnics.

The largest, best-known venue with the widest programming options is HOLLYWOOD BOWL. If you haven’t been there in a few years (or at all), this is the year to check out the venerable venue.

The 38th annual Playboy Jazz Festival — one of the nation’s oldest and most important jazz programs — kicks off the summer season on June 11 and 12, with each day beginning at 3 p.m. George Lopez hosts and the lineup includes Fourplay, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Seth MacFarlane, and Janelle Monáe.

The official Bowl opening concert is June 18 at 8 p.m. Principal Conductor Thomas Wilkins leads his Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, with guest artist Steely Dan, and the Bowl’s legendary fireworks conclude the evening. The classical season begins July 12, with Music Director Gustavo Dudamel leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program that includes pianist Lang Lang.

One of the things that makes the Bowl so attractive is the wide number of ways to get to the Cahuenga Pass amphitheatre. Forget driving and the stacked parking at the Bowl. There are several off-site shuttle lots available and 14 Park and Ride locations throughout Southern California. The cheapest way is to take the Metro Red Line subway to the Hollywood-Highland stop and then either walk up the hill or take the free Bowl shuttle from a lot on Orange Avenue.

Information: www.hollywoodbowl.com

Style: "p25+-Ipro"THE PASADENA POPS opens its 2016 outdoor season at the bucolic Los Angeles County Arboretum on June 18 at 7:30 p.m. Principal Pops Conductor Michael Feinstein (pictured left), whose contract has just been renewed through the 2019 season (LINK), will lead a program spotlighting the music of Judy Garland, Rosemary Clooney and Peggy Lee, with soloists Madelyn Baillio, Cady Huffman and Lynn Roberts supplying the vocals. (BTW: Baillio was recently chosen to star in NBC’s Hairspray Live!)

Feinstein has become one of the great local success stories. After a successful debut concert as a soloist with the Pops, he stepped into a musical leadership role with the orchestra when Marvin Hamlisch, who had been the Pops conductor, died unexpectedly in 2013.

Despite having virtually no conducting experience, Feinstein has grown substantially as a conductor He has shown an uncanny ability to build interesting programs and make them come alive with his storytelling and deep historical music knowledge. Moreover he has found in the Pasadena Pops an eager partner in expanding Feinstein’s perusal of “The Great American Songbook.”

Feinstein will lead three of the five concerts during the upcoming summer season on the tree-lined “Great Lawn” concert venue. He will also appear as soloist in “The Sinatra Project, Volume 2” on July 30. Resident Pops Conductor Larry Blank will lead the Sinatra concert and also a program of music by Billy Joel.

Information: www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org

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(c) Copyright 2016, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

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