STAGES OF DISCOVERY – NEW DILIJAN CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES
By Chris Pasles
Times Staff Writer
ver20apr20,0,4427443.story?coll=cl-music
April 20, 2006
Disney Hall And The Like May Get The Spotlight, But Lots Of Other
Live Arts Venues Have First-Rate Talent Too
In the mood for a concert, a play or a ballet? Think beyond Disney Hall
or the Ahmanson Theatre. The region abounds in a variety of venues,
from museums and universities to churches and mansions. It’s 7:30
p.m. and you’re hot to hear this piece for 100 electric guitars by
Glenn Branca at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Usually you can get in,
even at the last minute. But on this night it’s sold out.
Well, what about that Rachmaninoff concert the next week?
Same thing.
But if you have some flexibility, you could get your new music fix
with Vinny Golia at the REDCAT or your fill of Romantic music by the
Pasadena Symphony a few days later.
Though this very scenario played out just a few weeks ago, it’s typical
of the busy spring performing arts season here. Yes, Disney Hall,
the Ahmanson Theatre and the Orange County Performing Arts Center
tend to grab the headlines, but there is plenty of first-rate artistic
life outside their walls. The trick lies in knowing where to find it.
Southern California has a wealth of venues that consistently offer
programming of high quality — whether they are churches, museums,
universities, civic auditoriums or historic sites. Better yet, the
prices usually won’t tax your wallet.
This weekend, for instance, the young Avalon String Quartet plays at
the Doheny Mansion, pianist Christopher O’Riley plays the music of
Elliott Smith at the Getty Center, the New York-based Parsons Dance
Company appears at Cal State Northridge, the enterprising Jacaranda
chamber music series continues at the First Presbyterian Church of
Santa Monica and Southwest Chamber Music plays at the Norton Simon
Museum in Pasadena.
And that’s not a complete list by any means.
“There are, in fact, a lot of choices,” says Deborah Borda, president
of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn.
“You have a truly great chamber music hall in Zipper downtown. I go
there on a regular basis. You have Royce, which is an absolute jewel.
The place I attend away from the Music Center more often than anything
else would be Royce. There’s a real advantage of having very good
halls of different sizes.”
They run the gamut from the Alex Theatre in Glendale to the Zipper
Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. And between A and Z, you can
easily find dozens of smaller, less well-known Southland venues that
regularly offer music, dance and theater events, whether as part of
their own series or as rentals.
But where to start?
Here’s a look at some of the more significant and perhaps surprising
places.
Historic sites
Ice cream came to Los Angeles in 1856. Surfing was introduced to
California at Redondo Beach in 1907. So culture palaces could not
be far behind in this relentless march of progress. In fact, some
of the Southland’s best sites date from the early decades of the
last century. Going to a performance in them today is a magnificent
reminder of our rich cultural history.
The Alex Theatre was built in 1925 as an upscale vaudeville and
movie hall, and it was renovated by the city of Glendale in 1992 as
a centerpiece of the city’s Brand Boulevard revitalization, honoring
the site’s historic importance. But there’s nothing dated about its
offerings. You could have caught the exciting modern dance troupe
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago or pianist-conductor Jeffrey Kahane and
the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in their Mozart series last year.
Another LACO concert is coming up May 20, and Burbank-based Media City
Ballet will open its fifth season with a new production of “Hansel and
Gretel” May 13 and 14. (It’s also home to the occasional TV taping.)
The Doheny Mansion opens a window on deluxe Victorian living. Built in
1899-1900 and sold in 1901 to oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny, it is now
part of Mount St. Mary’s College’s downtown L.A. campus. The resident
Da Camera Society sponsors chamber music programs under the Tiffany
glass dome of the Pompeian Room. (The society also finds attractive
venues such as the Bradbury Building and the Queen Mary for its “Music
in Historic Sites” series.) The next chance to sample the lifestyles
of the rich and famous comes Friday, with the Avalon String Quartet,
and May 12, with the Toronto-based Gryphon Trio.
An important piece of Hollywood history is the 1,200-seat Ricardo
Montalbán Theatre, a 1920s landmark previously called the Doolittle
Theatre and before that the Huntington Hartford. It got a new name
when the Ricardo Montalbán Nosostros Foundation took it over from
UCLA in 2000, looking for a venue to enhance opportunities for Latinos
in the entertainment industry. John Stothers’ musical “Pilgrim” just
finished its run. No other show has been announced, but stay tuned.
Built in 1873 as the only California opera house south of San
Francisco, the 680-seat Lobero Theatre was refurbished in 1924 as a
more versatile space. It’s now home to several Santa Barbara arts
groups, including Santa Barbara Opera and Santa Barbara Chamber
Orchestra, but it will draw a more far-flung audience this summer
when dance superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov and Hell’s Kitchen Dance
make their only Southern California appearance June 21 to 23.
Others to look for: Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara, Wilshire
Ebell Theatre in L.A., Wadsworth Theatre in West L.A. and Ambassador
Auditorium in Pasadena
Religious sites
Churches and synagogues have become sanctuaries for emerging groups
that have small wallets but big ideas, including exploring new
repertory or mixing old and new in interesting ways. The sites help
remind us of the arts’ higher aspirations too.
Actor’s Co-op, based at the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood,
has won six Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, including a 1996
citation for sustained achievement by a small theater. It performs in
two venues in the church: the Crossley Terrace Theatre and the Crossley
Theatre. Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” has been extended at
the Crossley Terrace through Sunday. Larry Shue’s comedy “The Nerd”
will open Friday and run through May 28 at the Crossley Theatre.
The First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica is the base for the
enterprising Jacaranda music series, founded in 2003 by Mark Hilt
(one of the church’s directors of music) and Patrick Scott. This
adventuresome group juxtaposes newer and older repertory. Next up
is a Saturday concert to honor the 50th anniversary of neo-Romantic
Romanian composer Georges Enesco’s death. His works will be played
alongside music by Ravel.
Westwood United Methodist Church is home to composer Young Riddle’s
Nimbus Ensemble, in its third season. This ensemble also juxtaposes new
and older music, but with a twist. Each program includes a “mystery”
piece identified from the stage. Sunday’s program will include works
by La Monte Young, Shostakovich, Lutoslawski and somebody else. To
find out who, you’ll have to go.
Though it recently finished its current season, the Music Guild casts
a wide net, with concerts at Sinai Temple in Westwood, Valley Beth
Shalom in Encino and (the secular) Daniel Recital Hall at Cal State
Long Beach. Founded in 1944, this presenter has a history of spotting
up-and-coming ensembles, as well as bringing in more established
artists. There’s also a smaller Sunday afternoon series at University
Synagogue in Brentwood. Catch their programs next year.
Others to look for: Concerts also pop up regularly at the Neighborhood
Church in Pasadena, Pasadena Presbyterian, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian
in Newport Beach, St. Luke’s Episcopal in Long Beach, Rolling Hills
Covenant Church, St. Matthew’s in Pacific Palisades, Pacific Unitarian
Church and Temple Beth Torah in Ventura.
On campus
Colleges and universities see the arts as more than a means of
enriching their students’ educational experience. They realize they can
bridge the gap between town and gown by enticing community audiences
onto campus for performances they might not find anywhere else locally.
UCLA presents the most inclusive list through its UCLA Live series at
Royce Hall. Built in 1929 on the model of a church in Milan, Italy,
Royce is an acoustically superior site. Chinese powerhouse pianist
Yundi Li made his L.A. recital debut there last Thursday. Upcoming
events include the innovative Vancouver-based dance company the Holy
Body Tattoo on Saturday and Sunday and satirist David Sedaris on
April 28.
Cal State Fullerton opened a $48.5-million Performing Arts Center in
January, designed by the same team that created the Zipper Concert
Hall at the Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles. The centerpiece of
the new facility is the 800-seat Meng Concert Hall, where the Pacific
Symphony will play April 30 in a return to its roots. The orchestra,
which next season moves into its new Orange County home, the Renée and
Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, was born at the university 27 years ago.
Just topping 1,100 seats, the Luckman Theatre is part of the Harriet &
Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State Los Angeles. It’s home
to James Newton’s Luckman Jazz Orchestra, which just finished its
season but will return in the fall. Visiting groups include Britain’s
enterprising Phoenix Dance Theatre on April 28 and 29 and risk-taking
Montréal Danse on May 13.
Professional groups playing at the Zipper Concert Hall include
Musica Angelica, the Piano Spheres series, Camerata Pacifica, the
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s “Conversations” series and, next
up, the new Dilijan Chamber Music series with an Armenian genocide
commemoration on Friday.
Others to look for: Glorya Kaufman and Schoenberg halls at UCLA,
Beckman and Ramo auditoriums at Caltech, Bing Theater at USC, Santa
Monica College, Bridges Auditorium at the Claremont Colleges, Campbell
Hall at UCSB, Los Angeles Harbor College, the Carpenter Performing
Arts Center and Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater at Cal State Long
Beach, Laguna Beach Artists Theatre at Laguna Beach High School,
Marsee Auditorium at El Camino College and Raitt Recital Hall at
Pepperdine University.
Museums
Art museums and other institutions focus on visual or broad cultural
missions, but they often supplement their aims by hosting music or
dance events to enrich their patrons’ experiences.
The Huntington Library, established in 1919 as a research and
educational institution, has become a summer site for Southwest
Chamber Music. (It also plays concerts at the Norton Simon Museum in
Pasadena and Zipper Hall.) Its next Norton Simon concert is Saturday,
with a repeat at Zipper on Tuesday. Southwest’s summer series runs
July 7 through Aug. 26.
The famed Getty Center in Los Angeles, which houses Western art
from the Middle Ages to the present, and the Getty Villa in Pacific
Palisades, the Getty’s original home, also offer music events. The
New York Chamber Soloists will play works by Stravinsky, Milhaud,
Satie and others at the Getty Center on May 6.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is discontinuing its distinguished
serious music programs at the end of this season, but you can still
catch the amazing Italian pianist Marino Formenti in two contemporary
music programs Monday and May 1.
The Skirball Cultural Center in L.A. mainly explores 4,000 years
of Jewish culture through exhibitions, films and music, but it also
presents a modest, enterprising dance series. Next up are Japanese
movement artists Eiko and Koma with Cambodia’s Reyum Painting
Collective in “Water Colors” on Monday.
Civic auditoriums
Cities tend to reach a stage where pride needs to be expressed in
an impressive building that lets the public access the arts. Some of
the Southland’s oldest buildings reflect that pride and address the
public’s democratic range of interests.
The 3,000-seat Pasadena Civic Auditorium, built in 1931, holds
musicals, ballets, televised award shows and other events. But for
the music lover, it’s best known as the home of the Pasadena Symphony,
which will close its 78th season on May 6 when Jorge Mester conducts
works by Glinka, Prokofiev and Berlioz.
The Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, owned and operated by the
city of Cerritos, opened in 1993. It offers more than 150 performances
a season, ranging from pops to opera. The center can be configured
six ways, from an 1,800-seat area theater down to a 900-seat recital
hall. Last week, Ballet NY danced parts of George Balanchine’s “Who
Cares?” and other works. As part of the theater’s José Iturbi series,
which showcases young emerging artists, baritone Quinn Kelsey will sing
works by Beethoven, Bellini and other composers on Wednesday. The
London-based Carl Rosa Company will stage “H.M.S. Pinafore” on
April 28.
Last year, you could have caught tap virtuoso Savion Glover dancing to
music by Vivaldi, Bach and Mendelssohn at the jewel-box Irvine Barclay
Theatre. This 750-seat theater was built in 1990 as a joint project
by the city of Irvine, UC Irvine and the Irvine Theatre Operating
Company. It will present its annual summer Flamenco Festival on
Aug. 4-13 and an adaptation of the Chinese classic “The Peony Pavilion”
on Sept. 22-24. The theater also serves as the site for chamber music
concerts sponsored by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. Next
up on that series is pianist Krystian Zimerman on Friday.
Built in 1920, the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, owned and operated by
Los Angeles County, is one of the city’s oldest performing arts sites
still in use. The 1,241-seat outdoor theater is home to a variety of
events from May through October, including Ballet Moderno y Folkorico
Nacional de Guatemala on May 27, Winifred R. Harris’ Between Lines
on June 17 and the Viver Brasil Dance Company on July 7.
Others to look for: Norris Center for Performing Arts in Palos Verdes,
Countrywide Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks and Oxnard
Performing Arts Center.
Satellites and independents
Institutions sometimes reach out to other parts of a community, as
Valencia-based CalArts did by opening REDCAT to reach a downtown L.A.
audience. Other venues exist simply on their own. Either way, they
show individual profiles in their arts offerings.
Some of the wackiest and most cutting-edge events can be found at
REDCAT (the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater), housed in the
same complex as Walt Disney Concert Hall. There will be a tribute
to contemporary microtonal composer Ben Johnston on May 17, and the
ensemble Partch will continue an ongoing multimedia survey of the
chamber music of maverick composer Harry Partch on May 30.
Another venue devoted to cutting-edge art is Highways Performance Space
in Santa Monica, founded by writer Linda Frye Burnham and performance
artist Tim Miller in 1989. Upcoming events include R Dance Company’s
“Freedom Dances” on April 28 to 30.
Others to look for: Ivar Theatre, Fountain Theater, Open Fist Theatre
and Unknown Theatre in Hollywood; Japan America Theatre and Nate Holden
Center for the Performing Arts in L.A.; El Portal Theatre in North
Hollywood; Electric Lodge in Venice; Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa
Monica; Madrid Theater in Canoga Park; Founders Hall at the Orange
County Performing Arts Center; and Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla.
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at
latimes.com/archives.
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