By Ted AYALA An enthusiastic audience hailed the world premiere of Ian Krouse’s “Armenian Requiem” last Wednesday night, taking place at a UCLA Royce Hall that was well-nigh packed to the rafters. The 15-movement work is massive not only in its length, which weighs in around the 90-minute mark, but also because of the forces […]
By Jason KUROSU La Cañada resident Carol Wawrychuk explores family and faith in her latest book, “Taking Nana Home,” the story of the search for her late grandmother and the long journey of bringing her home to the family burial plot in Erie, Pennsylvania. Wawrychuk’s grandmother, Mildred Johnson, died in 1970 while she was a […]
By Ted AYALA They shared a similar musical aesthetic, lived in the same city for over a decade, mingled in the same circles, and their births were separated by a mere 17 months. But cruel destiny nonetheless shaped and ultimately diverged the respective paths of Francis Poulenc and his Dutch contemporary Leo Smit. For while […]
By Isiah REYES Glendale rocked to the music of Arturo Sandoval and his big band when they performed Saturday night at the Alex Theatre along with the 2015 Arturo Sandoval Institute All Star Youth Band for “Save the Music 3.” Sandoval is a 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, a 10-time Grammy Award winner, an […]
By Ted AYALA For any composer, the imminent world premiere of one of their works is an occasion that always brings with it feelings of excited, joyous anticipation for the new sounds about to be unleashed before their audience. But for Ian Krouse the coming premiere of his latest work is an altogether more serious […]
By Ted AYALA In 1922 Dutch composer Leo Smit composed his breakthrough work “Silhouettes,” which earned him raves from Dutch critics over his skillful incorporation of Jazz Age sonorities in a symphonic work. A bright talent had dawned over Holland and with it an even brighter future seemed to augur for him. Instead, just over […]
By Susan JAMES “Furious 7,” the seventh film in the “Fast and Furious” franchise, is a worthy successor to the series and a worthy tribute to the late Paul Walker aka Brian O’Conner. This tale of unmasked avengers and the women who love them opens with a bang and rarely pauses for breath during […]
By Isiah REYES Arturo Sandoval returns to the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale for a one night only performance of “Save The Music 3” on April 11 at 8 p.m. Members of the Arturo Sandoval band as well as a few celebrity friends will join him on stage, all inspired by the same jazz, Latin […]
By Ted AYALA For many musicians, a stellar partnership on stage doesn’t necessarily guarantee an equally stellar relationship off stage. One only has to recall the enmity between the Vienna Philharmonic and Gustav Mahler or, in more recent times, that of the Audubon Quartet, which was disbanded in 2011 following bitter legal entanglements between its […]
The Kids Choice Awards were held in Los Angeles in the last days of March, and with every great awards show comes a great GBK gifting suite. For those unfamiliar, a gifting suite is an invitation-only event where product reps and designers have the chance to gift their product or service to the celebrities who […]