Sam Kim

Barry Sanders (not the football player), the Ring Festival leader, speaks about the festival and it's importance to the city of Los Angeles. As we mentioned earlier this month, the Ring Festival LA kicked off this week. You can look at this comprehensive guide as well for more information regarding future events. For bargain hunters and information junkies, a majority of these events are FREE and take place all over Los Angeles. For Wagner/Ring...

Peppermint Bark by Gaby from Whatsgabycooking.com. Used with permission. This Saturday, food bloggers all across the country are coming together to hold a bake sale for Share Our Strength, a non-profit organization that aims to help feed the nearly 17 million (no, that is not a typo) children in America that are facing hunger. The National Food Bloggers Bake Sale has a chapter in Los Angeles, and is spearheaded by food blogger Gaby of...

Anna Russell provides a thoughtful analysis of the Ring Cycle (we apologize for the poor video quality). It's a good week for opera fans in LA. If you were interested in watching Wagner's Ring Cycle, now's your chance to take advantage of a great offer. We encourage you to take part in this historic occasion; this is the very first time a festival of this magnitude has taken place in Los Angeles. The LA...

Although the art direction for this Ring Cycle is a little out of the norm, chances are if you're from LA you haven't had many opportunities to see any operas from Wagner's Ring Cycle. You can still buy tickets for all four operas this Summer here. As an added incentive, these tickets are tax deductible as well. If you're the non-committal type, you can catch up on the first three operas on Youtube or...

Victor Borge celebrates a birthday. While you were busy celebrating Twitter's 4th birthday, we were celebrating Bach's 325th on Sunday. If you want to get in on the action, you can check out Musica Angelica this weekend in Pasadena and Santa Monica. The renowned Baroque orchestra will perform Bach's St. John Passion, the closest to an opera that you'll get from Bach. The Saturday performance takes place at 8 PM in Pasadena and the...

If you love a piano as much as Tony Bennet does, then you're in for a treat. Joanne Pierce Martin, pianist for the LA Phil, is performing a program for Piano Spheres this Tuesday at 8 PM at Zipper Hall. The program includes pieces by Ligeti and Antheil, and a world premiere by former LA Phil conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. Tickets are 25 dollars (12 for students). If you're into Romantic era pieces, the LA...

Simon Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in a performance of Strauss' Ein Heldenleben. It's harder than it looks. The LA Opera has announced it's 2010/11 season which is a little toned down this year (it's hard to top the Ring Cycle anyways)

If you liked the music from the figure skating routines in the Winter Olympics, you're in luck. This is an excerpt of Gershwin's Piano Concerto, used by Kim Yu-na in her gold medal performance. If you enjoyed the Winter Olympics figure skating programs and would like to know a little bit more about the music (or dance to the music), EMI released a new album last week titled "Dance! The World's Favourite Ice-Dancing Music"....

Photo by estarla. Used with permission. When a restaurant has 20+ items on the menu and 30+ specials on the chalkboard, who goes to Lazy Ox and orders a burger? Although most people are there looking for the baco, the burger shouldn't be ignored. With dishes like the "morcilla sausage w/ pomme puree" (morcilla sausage mixed w/ pomme puree, served like a dip/rillette), "pig ear chicharon", pigs trotters, branzino, and "lamb cheek w/ semolina",...

Contrary to popular belief, this video does not explain the history of the piano in its entirety. The harpsichord and the pianoforte were precursors to the modern piano, and you can hear both of them (and an organ) in this week's Classical Pick. Do you ever long for the good ol' carefree days of the 40's and 50's? You're in luck. This week, you'll have several opportunities to relive your baroque fantasies. This Wednesday,...