If you need a mini vacation away from LA before Carmageddon, head on over to Ojai this weekend for the Ojai Music Festival. Local (and global) fave Dawn Upshaw returns to the 65th iteration of the Ojai Music Festival as music director in a well curated series highlighting contemporary composers and little known or rare works of older composers. more ›

One of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world, see what all the fuss is about this Tuesday at the OC Performing Arts Center when Lang Lang performs Prokofiev's 3rd piano concerto. The concert starts at 8, and includes Shostakovich's Festive Overture and Tchaikovsky's Suite from "Swan Lake" (you know, like that movie). more ›

This upcoming week is a chance for classical music buffs to celebrate, and to see things in a fresh context. more ›

The MET just put on a fantastic performance of Der Rosenkavalier, with some familiar faces. Hear some Strauss this week at the Disney Hall. If you missed out on Andre Watts last week, don't worry. You can check him out again this Tuesday night at 8 PM in a performance of chamber music with some musicians from the LA Phil. You might not have heard of Bottesini or Schickele, but this concert is a good introduction to their music. Watts might not be at his prime anymore, but he always puts on a good show. more ›

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The LA Times just published a story on Esa-Pekka Salonen. An interesting anecdote from the article revealed that People had selected him to be on their 50 sexiest people list, and that he had declined(!). This is all tied together somehow because this is Salonen's 17th and last year as Music director for the LA Phil. After this year, he begins his tenure at the London Philharmonia and Gustavo Dudamel takes over as the next young hotshot from out of town. For fans of Salonen he will still be around occasionally, since he has a home in Brentwood, so you don't have to go to London to see him. The best advice LAist can give is to see him as many times this year and the dates are more flexible now than they would be in upcoming seasons. more ›

One of the most exciting things to do in the summer is to go see some shows at the Hollywood Bowl. It has a variety of classical and popular shows and has been known to bridge the gap between the two genres with their collaborations between artist and orchestra (Remember this?). more ›

As the seasons for many reputable music groups come to an end, there are fewer options to choose from every week, so feel free to spare yourself of any extra stress and check LAist for any news on upcoming concerts. Hope you are all managing to keep yourselves busy and not counting down the days until the Hollywood Bowl season begins. more ›

The kind folks who read LAist every week (that’s YOU!) live all over this fantastic city and we try to have a little something for everyone. This week’s classical pick has us hanging out at the Norton Simon Museum in the Pasadena/SGV area for a concert featuring musicians of the Grammy-Award winning Southwest Chamber Music group. more ›