July 10, 2019
Class 2: “So, when you say ‘classical’ you mean…?” In Class 1 you learned the basics, and in Class 2 you’ll continue building upon the basics to discover different styles of orchestra music, how to tell them apart, and why it even matters. Here’s a sneak peek at the music you will hear during Class
July 16, 2019
Class 3: “You mean there’s more to classical…?” Now that you’ve made it through the first two sessions of Fresh Look, we treat you to Beethoven. Here are samples of what you’ll hear in Class 3: “You mean there’s more to classical…?” BEETHOVEN – PIANO CONCERTO NO.3, II The second movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto
July 11, 2019
Class 4: The Wrap Party It’s time to reap the rewards of your hard work and commitment these last four weeks. In the last class, you’ll be treated to a private performance by California Symphony musicians. Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll hear in Class 4: The Wrap Party. BRAHMS – SYMPHONY NO. 1 Brahms’
April 3, 2019
The California Symphony presents EPIC BRUCKNER at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek on Sunday, May 5 at 4pm, featuring: Balch – Artifacts Bruckner – Symphony No. 7 BALCH – ARTIFACTS We’ll have to wait until May 5 to hear the world premiere of Composer-in-Residence Katherine Balch’s violin concerto, Artifacts, but in
August 20, 2019
Gabriela Lena Franks’ The Keeper and the Dove song cycle uses text by Pulitzer Prize-winning Cuban-American playwright Nilo Cruz to explore the complex relationship between Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. The “Keeper” allows Kahlo’s spirit form to return to her beloved husband for one last visit during the Dia de los Muertos (Day
April 14, 2019
Q: What instrument is named after a tuba, looks like a French horn, and sounds like a trombone? No, that’s not the beginning of a super nerdy orchestra joke but it’s a pretty good description of the hybrid horn that is the Wagner tuba. A quartet of the rare instruments features in Bruckner’s Symphony No.
October 17, 2019
By California Symphony Music Director Donato Cabrera. In programming this concert with the California Symphony, there were a few ‘a-ha moments’ that I hoped to share with everyone, on stage and off. Because conductors and unadventurous and nervous marketing departments of most symphony orchestras have sadly codified the repertoire, you, the audience, rarely get to hear all of
October 26, 2019
Composer Kevin Puts’ association with California Symphony dates back to 1996, when he became the orchestra’s third ever Young American Composer-in-Residence. It was an experience he has called “life-changing,” and it launched a career that has so far yielded the prestigious Rome Prize (2002) and a Pulitzer Prize win for his debut opera Silent Night (2012), as well
August 15, 2019
By California Symphony Music Director Donato Cabrera. As we approach the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth in 2020, I thought we could get a head start by programming his most popular symphony, and perhaps the most recognizable piece of Western Classical Music, his Symphony №5, with one of his lesser known works, The Creatures
October 17, 2019
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Symphony No. 1 in E-flat Major, K. 16 (1764) A child prodigy of staggering talent, itty-bitty Wolfgang Mozart was trundled about Western Europe from ages 7 through 10 by his doting—and exploitative—father. The family arrived in London in April 1764, where eight-year-old Wolfgang formed a close bond with Johann Christian Bach,