Five-Spot: What caught my eye on March 14, 2011

Each Thursday morning,
I list five events (six this week) that peak my interest, including (ideally)
at least one with free admission — this week there are two. Here’s today’s
grouping:

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Saturday at 8 p.m.
at Valley Performing Arts Center, Northridge

China Philharmonic;
Long Yu, conductor, Renaud Capuon, violin

The Southland’s newest concert hall, located on the campus
of Cal State Northridge, gets its first major classical music program with this
performance. Yu conducts music by Berlioz, Puccini, Borodin and Ravel; Capuon
will be soloist in Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. INFO: www.valleyperformingartscenter.org.
The same program is presented Friday night at Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa
Mesa. INFO: www.philharmonicsociety.org

 

Saturday at 8 p.m.
at Alex Theater, Glendale, Sunday at 7 p.m. at Royce Hall, UCLA

Los Angeles Chamber
Orchestra; Jeffrey Kahane conductor, Jon Kimura Parker, piano

The program includes John Harbison’s Gil pi usati, Dvorak’s Serenade in E Major for Strings, and
Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor).
The Harbison piece was premiered by LACO in 1993. Parker (who was born on
Christmas Day 1959 in Vancouver) won the 1984 Leeds International Pianoforte
Competition and has gone on to an international career. INFO: www.laco.org

Sunday at 4 p.m.,
Neighborhood Church, Pasadena

Pasadena Pro Musica;
Stephen Grimm, conductor

In this Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday program at the beginning
of what Christians call “Holy Week,” PPM presents Dietrich Buxtehude’s
seven-movement work Membra Jesu Nostri,
along with Grimm’s own Christus Factus
Est
and William Cornyshe’s Woefully
Arrayed.
INFO: www.pasadenapromusica.org

 

Sunday at 5:30 p.m.
at Rene and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Costa Mesa

Pacific Chorale, John
Alexander Singers, Pacific Symphony; John Alexander, conductor, Lori Loftus,
organ

John Alexander conducts his forces in the Southern California
premiere of David Lang’s The Little Match
Girl Passion,
which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for music and also won a
Grammy Award. The piece, based on a Hans Christian Anderson story and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, will be paired with
Faur’s Requiem. INFO: www.pacificchorale.org

 

And the weekend’s “free admission” programs …

 

Friday at 1 p.m.,
Walt Disney Concert Hall

Los Angeles Master
Chorale’s 22nd High School Choir Festival

LAMC Music Director Grant Gershon
leads a 900-voice massed choir of students from 24 Southland high schools and
an 80-voice Festival Honor Choir also comprised of students from those schools.
In addition to hearing some terrific singing led by one of America’s premiere
choral conductors, it’s a great way to experience the magnificent acoustics of
Disney Hall for free. A preconcert by the Master Chorale’s Chamber Singers, led
by Assistant Conductor Leslie Leighton, will begin at 11 a.m. Tickets for each
event must be arranged ahead of time. INFO: 213/972-7282; www.lamc.org

 

Sunday at 3:30 p.m.,
Occidental College, Eagle Rock

Occidental College
Chorus and Glee Club; Desiree La Vertu, conductor

The program, performed in the college’s distinctive Herrick
Chapel, features music by Bruckner, Mozart, Lauridsen and Victoria, songs from
Latin America, gospel selections and popular favorites. INFO: www.oxy.edu

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(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved.
Portions may be quoted with attribution.

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