classical

While he will only be performing a suite from the somber Schindler's List, it will still be quite a treat to see John Williams conducting one of his masterpieces live at the Laguna Beach Music Festival, which runs from January 18 through 24.

Presented by Paul Chihara, who is the head of the film music program at UCLA, the Festival will also feature works by non-contemporary composers Ravel, Beethoven and Shostakovich, and the West Coast premiere of a sonata by Philip Glass.

Besides Schindler's List, The Red Violin and local filmmaker Greg MacGillivray's The Living Sea will get scores to be heard at the 7th annual festival, which will be held at the Hotel Laguna in Laguna Beach.

Visit www.lagunabeachmusicfestival.com for more information.

A writer for a local news blog based in Shasta County (California) presents a convincing case for having a similar festival to Jackson County (in Oregon)'s Britt Festival in their area:

 

Why couldn’t we have a similar festival here? Shasta County has no shortage of available outdoor space that could be turned into an amphitheater with parking. Redding is on Interstate 5, which tour buses fly down on their way from Portland to Sacramento, as well as being the crossroads of Highways 299 and 44: easy access for visitors from all parts of Northern California.

 

Click here to get the whole article.

The San Francisco Classical Music writer for examiner.com alerts followers to a free concert series, the Morrison Artists Series, taking place at San Francisco Sate, in early October:

A University of California campus hosting a toy instrument festival in one of its libraries? You can bet on it:

Scott Paulson is a local composer and performer who has a knack for making music with toys. While his primary instrument is the oboe — he is an oboist for both Orchestra Nova San Diego and the pit orchestra for Lyric Opera San Diego — he also demonstrates how toy pianos can be much more than toys. Paulson shows off his skills in the Teeny- Tiny Pit Orchestra, a novelty band that uses many toy instruments.

Paulson has a day job, however. He is the outreach coordinator for the UCSD Arts Library. And he has managed to fuse his love of creative music with the job he enjoys at the university. He is the founder and director of the Toy Piano Festival at UCSD, where the ninth annual event will be presented on September 5.