Arts Alive

n Sunday, the Los Angeles Philharmonic will kick off its centennial celebrations with a giant street party in conjunction with CicLAvia. The party follows a route from Walt Disney Concert Hall to the Hollywood Bowl with hundreds of performers taking part all along the way. As Chad Smith, head of artistic planning for the LA Phil, explains the festival celebrates more than the orchestra’s 100th anniversary.

“The Blue Boy” himself hasn’t aged a day since painter Thomas Gainsborough finished him in the 18th century, but the painting could use some TLC. Want to see the painstaking restoration process up close? KUSC’s Kelsey McConnell went to The Huntington in San Marino for the story.

LA Phil’s Gustavo Dudamel says part of the magic of the Hollywood Bowl is how many people it brings to classical music. We talked to him in advance of this weekend Celebrate LA! Festival that kicks off the Phil’s 100th anniversary season,

Listen to our extended interview with the Colburn School’s Sel Kardan

The Colburn School celebrates the 20th anniversary of it’s historic relocation to Grand Avenue with an ambitious concert schedule that includes programs with Maestro Valery Gergiev and Esa-Pekka Salonen with sneak previews of two new performance venues designed by Frank Gehry. The school has great ambitions but Colburn School president Sel Kardan testifies, it’s mission remains the same.

The LA Phil is about to kick off its 100th anniversary season with a big street party from Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. Dale Breidenthal has been a member of the violin section for 35% of the orchestra’s history since being hired by Carlo Maria Giulini. And she tells us, the sound of the orchestra changes with each music director.

“When I started with Giulini there was a real emphasis on the warmth and richness of the sound. Salonen loved wind music—Stravinsky, Ravel Debussy—and he loved that pure sound where the strings would absolutely let the winds through. So, we lightened up our sound and then Gustavo came and we’re back to more of a vibrant string sound.”

Dale Breidenthal is a member of the LA Phil’s violin section. She’s been in the orchestra for 35 years and will help the LA Phil celebrate this centenary season. The festivities get underway on Sunday, September 30th, with an eight-mile-long street party from Walt Disney Concert Hall to the Hollywood Bowl. Classical KUSC will be on hand for the event, broadcasting live from the Hollywood Bowl starting Sunday morning at 9. For more information, click here.

The LA Master Chorale’s new season kicks off next weekend with a performance of Mozart’s Requiem paired with music by Los Angeles composer Shawn Kirchner: his “Songs of Ascent.” LA Master Chorale music director Grant Gershon spoke with KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen about the upcoming season and said this season is about the old, the new, and the local.

Listen to our extended Arts Alive feature on the Colburn School, featuring Sel Kardan, president of Colburn, Maestro Stéphane Denève, and violinist Simone Porter.

Big changes are happening at the Colburn School. Frank Gehry is currently designing them a new concert hall and theater space in downtown L.A., and the Colburn Orchestra just went on its first-ever tour abroad. The orchestra—which turned 15 this year and has produced musicians who are now with the L.A. Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, and the London Philharmonic—was invited to perform at the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival, and they turned it into a mini-tour by also hopping over to Dublin.

The Pacific Ballet Dance Theatre celebrates it’s 17 season with it’s first-ever tour featuring Bizet’s Carmen. The company will bring the dramatic fire and passion of Bizet’s opera to stages in Lancaster, Thousand Oaks and Redondo Beach over the next two weekends. The company’s artistic director Natasha Middleton’s vision for the ballet company is steeped in the Ballet Russe dance tradition which has set apart from other Contemporary ballet companies.