Alan Gilbert and the New York Phil are in town this week, and Camerata Pacifica's 2012 season is drawing to a close. more ›

If you haven't heard, the first ever Piatigorsky International Cello Festival is going on right now, up until the 18th. If you're looking for something different to do on St. Patrick's Day, Vox Femina Los Angeles will present Shakespeare to Shamrocks on Saturday the 17th at Zipper Hall. more ›

The Los Angeles premiere of the feature length documentary Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance will take place at Zipper Concert Hall in The Colburn School this Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 8:00pm. This is the first film to chronicle how the legendary Joffrey Ballet revolutionized American ballet by daringly combining modern dance with traditional ballet and is directed by Bob Hercules. more ›

Would you like some comedy with your classical music? Check out the classical music comic duo violinist Aleksy Igudesman and pianist Hyung-ki Joo. The Los Angeles Master Chorale has its season opener tonight. more ›

iCadenza, a Classical music organization commited to helping young musicians, is putting on their first festival this week featuring concerts, masterclasses, and presentations. The festival will take place this Wednesday through Saturday at Zipper Hall at the Colburn School. more ›

John Cage on silence. Liven up your week with some Classical music! Also this week: Works of Steve Reich, Penderecki, Brahms, and more. Wednesday, April 6th: Kronos Quartet (here is the requisite Requiem for a Dream mention) is performing at the OC Performing Arts Center to celebrate the 75th birthday of composer Steve Reich.. more ›

Some mood music for Valentine's Day. If you're one of the 22% of Americans that don't watch the Super Bowl, you can either check out some of the hottest restaurants in town, go to Disneyland (no lines!) or check out Camerata Pacifica today at 3 PM at the Temple Beth Torah in Ventura. The chamber music ensemble is performing works by Clementi, Schumann, Debussy, and Currier. If you can't make it out there for one reason or another, they are performing at the Huntington Library in Pasadena at 8 PM on Tuesday and on Thursday at 8 PM at Zipper Hall in Downtown. more ›

If you can't get tickets for Tuesday's performance or want to see the inaugural concert for Gustavo Dudamel with the LA Phil, buy the DVD! Or you can buy tickets to the other performances this weekend. Alan Rich, former classical music critic of the LA Weekly (and KUSC contributor), passed away this weekend. If you wish to discover or rediscover his writings, check out his book or his blog which both include articles from his stints at the LA Weekly and New York Times (among others). He will be missed. more ›

The Grammy Museum screens the documentary Soundtrack for a Revolution tonight at 7 pm. The film tells the story of the American civil rights movement through music and features new performances by John Legend, Joss Stone, Wyclef Jean, The Roots and others alongside archival footage and interviews with civil rights leaders. A panel discussion with executive producer Danny Glover, filmmakers Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, producer Dylan Nelson and music producer Corey Smyth will follow the screening. Doors at 6:30 pm, and while the event is free, there is a $10 suggested donation. Reservations required. Calling 213.765.6830 or e-mail programs@grammymuseum.org. more ›

The Los Angeles Film Forum and Cinefamily present an evening of Animated Documentaries tonight at 8 pm at the Silent Movie Theatre. “Rendering the Facts” While most people are only exposed to animation in terms of the latest Pixar smash or through Saturday morning cartoons, animation is being used to tell more stories, real stories and real experiences. There are nearly a dozen films on the “Rendering the Facts” program, which is part of the Cocoa series - and you guessed it - filmgoers get to sip hot cocoa while contemplating the burgeoning genre. Michael Renov, USC professor, will introduce the program and there will be a Q&A with Jen Sachs, director of "The Velvet Tigress," and others. Tickets are $12. more ›

Ahh President’s Day is a great holiday for many of us. Read: We don’t have to go into the office and get to stay in on this wet and dreary Monday. But if you suffer from cabin fever tonight, then there are a few interesting options to do while venturing out: more ›

Leon Fleisher is a world renown pianist and conductor who has left a lasting impact on pianists in the 20th century. Many of his students are now world famous soloists and teachers, including Jonathan Biss, Yefim Bronfman, Helene Grimaud, and Andre Watts. He lost feeling in his right hand due to focal dystonia, and continued his career by performing left-hand piano music (yes, there is such a thing) and teaching at Peabody and Curtis. Here is a video of him performing the cadenza (often in a piece the solo instrument goes off into an improvisation or virtuosic passage, often towards the end of a piece) of Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. This piece was written for a friend of Ravel's who had lost his right arm in the first World War. Leon Fleisher eventually regained the use of his right hand and performs and conducts on a regular basis. This week he comes to Los Angeles to conduct the Colburn Orchestra. For more information on his work, 60 Minutes did a documentary on him that you can also find on Youtube and there is also an Oscar-nominated documentary titled "Two Hands" out there. more ›

NY-based comedian Kumail Nanjiani performs his one man show "Unpronounceable" tonight at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. Directed by The Aristrocrats’ director Paul Provenza, "Unpronounceable" chronicles Kumail’s Muslim upbringing in Pakistan and his move to Grinnell, Iowa, for college. more ›

REDCAT screens Brigitte Cornand’s 1995 documentary on artist Chère Louise tonight at 8:30 pm. “Documentarian Brigitte Cornand first met Louise Bourgeois in 1994 and over the next dozen years made a trilogy of intimate videos about the iconic artist, now 97, through an idiosyncratic form of collaboration between filmmaker and subject. The first installment of the trilogy, Chère Louise (Dear Louise), traces the inspirations, autobiographical sources and everyday routines that shape Bourgeois’ powerful art.” Cornand will appear in person at the screening. more ›

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You've probably heard an aria from George Bizet's this Saturday, with shows throughout the month of November. Viktoria Vizin makes her debut as Carmen, and the production is conducted by Emmanuel Villaume, who happens to be the Spoleto Festival USA's Music Director. more ›

You don't have to be this old to enjoy classical music. An article in this mornings LA Times reveals that the audience is not necessarily "dying" or as old as one might think, and talks about the benefits of classical music. Some basic points are that it's never too early to start enjoying it, attendance is solid and growing for most concerts, and people go not just for the music, but the experiences one might gain that benefit them spiritually and/or emotionally. The appreciation often grows over time, often buoyed by experiences in our youth with this music. So get a head start on other Angelenos by picking out a concert this week. There is plenty to choose from. more ›

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Russia has the Tchaikovsky Competition, Poland the Chopin Competition, and Los Angeles gets the relatively new Jose Iturbi International Music Competition. The main drawing power of the new competition? A top prize of 50,000 dollars and it takes place every year (most of these competitions take place every 4-5 years and usually offer less money). Along with the addition of Dudamel at the LA Phil and recent faculty hiring at USC and Colburn, Los Angeles is definitely an exciting place to be for classical music. 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 ›

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This week’s classical pick comes a little earlier in the day since one of the events is in the early afternoon. The picks showcase two well-recognized Germans, one of whom is making a rare visit to LA and one who has made his presence known in Los Angeles as the “Poet Laureate of Skid Row”. The Goethe-Institut of Los Angeles is collaborating with Monday Evening Concerts to celebrate the life and works of Helmut Lachenmann, one of the most influential composers of our generation. These events are held in smaller and newer venues that you should definitely check out in the near future. more ›

Jaws. Star Wars. Indiana Jones. ET. Jurassic Park. Harry Potter. These are some timeless tales that captivated our youth (and for some people, their lives). The memories should be flooding back now, reminding you of the good ol’ days, when big blockbuster movies were held together not just by special effects, but with memorable characters, plots (!), and most of all, the music. The minor second motif from Jaws will always run through your mind when you’re jumping into the beach, or even the pool (or at least now it will). The music composed by John Williams has been ingrained into our minds, and has managed to reach a global audience, a difficult feat for anyone not named Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart. The classical pick of the week has John Williams conducting several of his masterpieces with the American Youth Symphony next Sunday on the 23rd. more ›

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2008 marks the 100 year anniversary of the birth of French composer Olivier Messiaen, best known for his masterpiece Quatuor por la fin du temps ("Quartet for the end of time"). Piano Spheres is commemorating his birth with a concert at Zipper Hall this Tuesday featuring pianists Mark Robson and Joanne Pearce Martin. more ›

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CLASSICAL: There's other classical music about town tonight besides Chanticleer. The Calder Quartet is the Colburn Conservatory’s first quartet-in-residence, and these new faculty members will show their chops with a program that includes Philip Glass, Quartet No. 2 “Company” by Philip Glass; Quartet in A minor “Rosamunde” by Franz Schubert and Terry Riley's “Cadenza on the Night Plain.” more ›

If you like classical new music, then why aren't you coming to Monday Evening Concerts? This is the real deal and a one of the kind music series in Los Angeles. Last Monday night's concert was our Classical Pick of the Week and there was good reason for it. The nearly sold out concert of the young and elderly gathered at Zipper Hall at Downtown's Colburn School of Music. The night started with the... more ›