75th Birthday Tribute for Tigran Mansurian Brings Hope for Founding of Armenian Music Studies Program at UCLA

By Ted AYALA The local festivities for composer Tigran Mansurian’s 75th birthday, which Dilijan Chamber Series kicked off earlier this month, continues this Sunday at UCLA. Beginning at 2 p.m. at the school’s Schoenberg Hall, the Lark Music School Choir of Glendale will be joined by the VEM String Quartet and other performers in a […]

Lady Falcons Continue Title Defense

Water Polo     By Brandon HENSLEY   Crescenta Valley High School girls’ water polo Coach Brent Danna wasn’t sure how to describe his team’s success midway through the season. So far, though, it appears the Lady Falcons’ play in the water has done most of the talking for him. “I don’t know if I […]

POP reaches new, dark plateau in Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw”

By Ted AYALA Pacific Opera Project, or POP as they’re known to their fans, has emerged in recent years as one of Southern California’s most exciting opera companies. Not the very least because of their irreverent and often outrageous productions of repertory classics. A La Bohème set among Highland Park hipsters? Check. The Marriage of […]

Umi Garett, Nicholas McGegan at the Pasadena Symphony

By Ted Ayala I used to be among those that believed that the day of the capital G Great conductors—the likes of Beecham, Furtwängler, Mengelberg, et al—was something that had gone the way of Quadraphonic sound, Dynagroove, and bell-bottom pants. OK, there might be just a handful of conductors—literally only about five or less—alive today […]

Dilijan celebrates the music and life of soft-spoken rebel, Tigran Mansurian

By Ted Ayala The word “rebel” brings to mind connotations of the aggressive, the confrontational, even of rudeness; of a lonely, brash, and, perhaps, not quite likeable anti-social figure willfully cocking a sneer at his audience. None of those qualities would seem to apply to Tigran Mansurian, whose 75th birthday Dilijan Chamber Series celebrated Sunday […]

Colby Fire Continues to Burn

Colby Fire Continues to Burn

  By Mary O’KEEFE The Colby Fire that started early this morning darkened skies and showered the southland with ash. The fire began at 5:52 a.m. Thursday in the Angeles National Forest. It quickly moved into the area of Glendora and as of 3 p.m. Thursday, 1,709 acres have been burned and three suspects have […]

Digital Issue 01.16.14

Here is the paper for Thursday, January 16, 2014. Check back every Friday to get your copy on your computer, Smartphone, eReader or tablet to take with you on-the-go! If it works or doesn’t work on your device, let us know and we can make a note of it to improve the experience, or if […]

Warm, Windy Weather to Continue

UPDATE 1/17/14: Governor Brown Declares Drought State of Emergency SAN FRANCISCO – With California facing water shortfalls in the driest year in recorded state history, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today proclaimed a State of Emergency and directed state officials to take all necessary actions to prepare for these drought conditions. “We can’t make it […]

State Money Woes Mitigated Under Proposed Budget

By Jason KUROSU Gov. Jerry Brown’s third stint as California’s governor has been characterized by efforts to save money, a plan of action that continues with the most recent budget that proposes to set aside money for the state’s Rainy Day Fund. With this new budget, Brown seeks to pay back ever-increasing debt totaling in […]

Letters Needed for the Crossing Guard

By Mary O’KEEFE In the never-ending fight to keep pedestrians safe, especially students walking to school, the crossing guard has been a powerful weapon. Praises have been heaped on these local heroes who brave texting teen drivers, rushed parents and absent-minded business people as they step into the treacherous waters otherwise known as the school […]