Salastina is a musician-led group that is bringing classical chamber music to a modern audience in L.A. and Orange counties.
What is it: Centuries ago, these musicians performed at the homes of wealthy patrons or well-to-do dilettantes. “Chamber music is basically the rock band of the classical music world," said Maia Jasper White, co-founder of Salastina.
Why now? Salastina performs at various locations in L.A. and Orange counties — from private homes to recording studios. The group preserves the intimacy of the chamber music format and seeks to make the music accessible to everyone.
Read on … to find out why chamber music is considered the pinnacle of classical music.
For those unfamiliar with chamber music, here's a pitch to pique your interest.
" [It] is basically the rock band of the classical music world," said Maia Jasper White, violinist and co-founder of Salastina.
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Experience the rock band of classical music
The musician-led group, now in its 15th year, has been reviving the tradition of chamber music salons in L.A. and Orange counties, with the price of a ticket as little as $5.
Centuries ago, chamber musicians performed at the homes of wealthy patrons or well-to-do dilettantes. Today, Jasper White said Salastina preserves the intimacy of these smaller public performances — more than 20 each year — that are "unpretentious and very, very social."
One of Salastina's performances.
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Courtesy Salastina
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Courtesy Salastina
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For Salastina's musicians, the smaller format affords a different league of artistic freedom.
"You think of classical music and you think of a giant orchestra. And there's a conductor bossing you around and telling you how fast and slow and how loud and soft to play," Jasper White said. "We have none of that."
Think of each performance as a jam session, which Jasper White likens to a "conversation."
"If you think of the Beatles, they weren't the Beatles when they had Pete Best. They were only the Beatles once they got Ringo Starr. So there's a certain conversational quality," she said. "A rock band or a chamber ensemble really rides and dies on who's in the group and their chemistry."
That's top of mind for Jasper White and co-founder Kevin Kumar in curating their group of resident musicians, which includes a flutist, a pianist and other instrumentalists.
Salastina co-founders Maia Jasper White and Kevin Kumar
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Courtesy Salastina
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Many of the residents are performing musicians — many work in the movie business recording soundtracks. The salons are what they do for fun, for the pure love of expression.
"You can hear and process and react to what every single other person is playing in real time," said Jasper White, who's also a resident violinist, just like Kumar.
"You feel like you have this top-to-bottom stimulus for your brain and your soul," she said.
