By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
This article was first published today in the above papers.
When you go out of town for a few days, as I did this past week, the inbox jams up with interesting news and tidbits, including:
• The University of Southern California — figuring that (a) if one classical music station is good then two would be better and (b) it knows something about running a nonprofit classical music station since KUSC (91.5 FM in L.A.) has been operating for 63 years — has entered into an agreement with Entercomm Communications to convert San Francisco-based KDFC into a noncommercial classical music station.
The new station will broadcast over 90.3 and 89.9 FM in the Bay Area. To make this happen, USC purchased the rights to 90.3 from the University of San Francisco (KUSF) and 89.9 from Howell Mountain Broadcasting Co.
The new station will keep the KDFC call letters that have been used to broadcast classical music commercially in the Bay Area since 1947 (ironically, the same year that KUSC began). KDFC is the last major-market classical station to convert to a noncommercial format. KDFC will keep its current staff and facilities, although KUSC will provide expertise in noncommercial areas such as membership and fundraising. Programming will remain essentially separate between the two stations.
• The Los Angeles Philharmonic is in Europe as you read this playing a tour that began with performances Friday and Saturday in Lisbon and continues in Madrid today. Then it’s on to Cologne Tuesday and Wednesday, London Thursday and Friday, Paris on Jan. 30 and 31, Budapest on Feb. 2 and 3 and Vienna on Feb. 4 and 5.
Except for Madrid, each of the stops begins with John Adams’ Slonimsky’s Earbox, Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 (Jeremiah) and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. The second concert is Mahler’s Symphony No. 9. Madrid gets Mahler’s 9th only.
The first London concert will be broadcast live at 11:30 a.m. (PST) on KUSC as part of American Public Media’s “Classical Live” series. Both concerts will also stream on the Internet Feb. 16 and 17 as part of the “Full Works Concert Programme” from Classic FM (www.classicfm.co.uk).
• British organist Carol Williams plays a recital tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Walt Disney Concert Hall. Her program is an eclectic collection of old and new ranging from music by J.S. and C.P.E. Bach to The Madness of Morion! by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. Williams played the world premiere of Jenkins’ work in 2008 at the Spreckles Organ Pavilion in San Diego, where she is currently artistic director, as well as the city’s Civic Organist. Info: www.laphil.com
Speaking of Jenkins, he’s the reason I was in New York City last weekend. I joined with 250 other choristers pulled together by Distinguished Concerts International New York to sing Jenkins’ Stabat Mater in Carnegie Hall (and, yes, we got there with lots of “practice, practice, practice”). It was a great “bucket list” experience.
• Continuing the British theme, the Los Angeles Master Chorale presents a concert of British choral music next Sunday at 7 p.m. in Disney Hall. Grant Gershon leads 48 choristers in music ranging from William Byrd to Benjamin Britten, including a selection of English madrigals. Info: www.lamc.org
• A couple of the region’s foremost youth orchestras are presenting free concerts next Sunday and the timing and locales are such that you can probably catch both of them.
The Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra plays at 4 p.m. at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica. Music Director Case Scaglione will conduct Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Mozart’s Symphony No. 36 (Linz) and Ligeti’s Violin Concerto, with the orchestra’s concertmaster, Caitlin Kelley as soloist. Info: www.ymf.org
A few miles up the 405 freeway at 7 p.m. in UCLA’s Royce Hall, Alex Treger leads the American Youth Symphony in the U.S. premiere of Charles Fox’s oratorio Lament and Prayer. Cantor Raphael Frieder, who sang the baritone solo part in the world premiere in June 2009 at the National Opera in Warsaw, will be the soloist, and the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus will also perform. Info: www.aysymphony.org
(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.
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