Arts Alive

Max Richter is a familiar presence in the concert hall, but more and more in the past few years he’s been bringing his smart, minimalist music into the movie theater.

Mary Queen of Scots is an old story—almost 500 years old—but in first-time director Josie Rourke’s new film, which stars Saoirse Ronan as Mary Stuart and Margot Robbie as her sisterly rival, Elizabeth I, this story of two headstrong queens feels urgent and alive. That’s in great thanks to Richter, whose gorgeous score creates a unity between the two eras… and between these two women.

The Nutcracker is as familiar at Christmastime as Ol Saint Nick, but why did Tchaikovsky write this classic ballet and how did it get to the US?

During this season of numerous Nutcrackers, writer and performer Sandra Tsing Loh offers an alternative view of Tchaikovsky’s ballet in a show titled Sugar Plum Fairy, in which she plays a 12-year-old girl who dreams of playing Clara in The Nutcracker.

Here to talk about a historic potboiler and maybe one of the most visually beautiful films ever made, Luchino Visconti’s Senso, is LA Times and KUSC film critic Kenneth Turan with KUSC’s Gail Eichenthal. It’s playing at the Nuart Theater on Santa Monica.

We know you’ve probably already been Nutcrackered to oblivion, and it’s only late November! But trust me, the Westside Ballet production stands out from the crowd. The Santa Monica-based school was founded in 1967 by Yvonne Mounsey, a former New York City Ballet soloist under George Balanchine, and Rosemary Valaire, who was a solo dancer with Britian’s Royal Ballet. The Westside Ballet’s Nutcracker tradition began just six years later. What’s so special about it? Firstly, it’s the 46th season, the longest-running Nutcracker in Los Angeles. The music is live; Tchaikovsky’s familiar score is played by the Santa Monica College Symphony Orchestra. And though the colorful scenery and costumes are thoroughly professional, the performers run the gamut from 5 year-old mice and soldiers to accomplished professionals and all levels in between.

Listen to our extended interview with composer Ellen Reid discussing her new work p r i s m with KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen.

Composer Ellen Reid is completing the quad-fecta (is that a word?) of premieres by the four major Los Angeles performing arts organizations: in 2018, she’s had new work performed by the LA Chamber Orchestra, the LA Master Chorale, the LA Phil, and now LA Opera. The opera is called p r i s m and it’s a psychological thriller, which employs shifting musical styles and creative uses of space to explore the elasticity of memory following a trauma.

From fighting fires to making pineapple fiber shine. Hear our extended interview with USC Pacific Asia Museum curator Rebecca Hall about the museum’s exhibition Ceremonies and Celebrations: Textile Treasures from the USC Pacific Asia Museum Collection. Hall spoke with KUSC’s Kelsey McConnell.

A rare exhibition in a jewel of a building. We went to the USC Pacific Asia Museum to see a display of incredible textiles from across Asia and through time.

The subject of home and displacement from home is a subject that is hitting far too close to home these days up and down the state of California as wildfires turn an abstract concept into something deeply human and, in so many cases, deeply tragic as well. The LA-based choir Tonality examines the concept of home and tells stories of refugees, homelessness, displacement, and immigration through music in their concert called Stories of Home.