Arts Alive

Matthew Bourne’s staging of Prokofiev’s Cinderella ballet, at the Ahmanson Theatre through March 10, has been called “a perfect treat,” “a glorious spectacle.” Alan Chapman talked with Bourne at the KUSC studios.

Yesterday, we officially ushered in the Year of the Pig. But, at the LA Phil, the celebration continues tonight and tomorrow night with two programs guest conducted by Elim Chan. Chan says can remember the exact moment when she realized she wanted to conduct. She joined KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen to discuss her memories and her experiences breaking down barriers.

KUSC’s Alan Chapman has a lot to say about music, but can he say it in 60 seconds? That’s the Chapman Challenge. We ask a question and Alan has a minute to answer it. Today’s question is from Dr. Gerard Frank, who writes this: “We hear of composers who studied with Nadia Boulanger. How come we never hear anything she wrote?

The 35th annual Sundance Film Festival wraps up this weekend with a big awards ceremony. Gail Eichenthal joins film critic Kenneth Turan to discuss his favorite pix from this year’s festival, beginning with a feature nabbed immediately by Amazon for a record-breaking $13 million dollars for US distribution alone. Turan spoke to us from Park City, Utah.

Today’s edition of Arts Alive tackles the difficult question of funding for public school arts and music education. It’s a question for which one local conductor, together with the orchestra he founded, has a pretty creative answer. Carlo Ponti founded the Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra four years ago. He says it’s an ensemble which exists to help fund music education.

Ah, Disneyland. With vibrant rides, costumed characters, and pretzels shaped like Mickey ears, you may think it’s just a place for kids. However, Disney theme Parks employ some of the most sophisticated sound design in the world. Here are 5 reasons why.

Now through March 10, you can experience a one-of-a-kind exhibition by artists Maira Kalman and Alex Kalman, inspired by the life of Maira’s mother and Alex’s grandmother, Sara Berman (1920–2004), at the Skirball Cultural Center. The artists spoke with KUSC’s Sheila Tepper.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, the orchestra and its founding artistic director and conductor Noreen Green have just released a new CD featuring the first-ever recordings of two major works by an extraordinary, long neglected composer who emigrated to Los Angeles to escape the Nazi regime in the late 1930’s.

Sound Investment is Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s unique commissioning program that allows donors, or “sound investors,” to journey along with different composers as they write, edit, and premiere a new orchestral work. Since 2001, seventeen composers total have been commissioned including Andrew Norman, Matthew Aucoin, Julia Adolphe and Ellen Reid. This season’s composer, Sarah Gibson found influence for her piece warp & weft in the feminist art of Miriam Schapiro.

LA Times and KUSC film critic Kenneth Turan joins KUSC’s Gail Eichenthal to discuss Peter Jackson’s “They Shall Not Grow Old” and Franz Osten’s “Shiraz: A Romance of India”