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 We're so lucky to live in Southern California, where art is created from the unique materials of our own world, our own time, our own lives. No need to bow to the East—we're different, and we're happy about that! Here, we unabashedly embrace overt beauty. Here, we know that melody is the newest and most exhilarating thing going around the music scene, and that the best music moves us and uplifts our spirit.
Pacific Serenades couldn't have happened anywhere else, and it didn't. Rooted in this rich artistic soil of Southern California, we have grown over the past 25 years into an indisputable feature of LA culture. And not just here, but everywhere—many of the 106 works we have commissioned and premiered have scattered on the winds and have truly entered the chamber music repertoire.
Yes! Our music, sown right here in Southern California by Pacific Serenades, is being heard round the world, proof that BEAUTY—in music that sings, that touches, that inspires—STILL MATTERS, today, as always.
Working with composer Laura Karpman in her oceanside home and studio might look much more like being on a tropical holiday than going to work. But looks would be deceiving, as this second-generation Angeleno is one of the busiest composers around. I've spent the last few years helping Laura juggle a busy composing schedule for films, television shows, documentaries, theater, video games, and compositions for the concert hall. Added to that are her UCLA teaching duties at both the Herb Alpert School of Music and the School of Theater, Film, and Television.During this time, I've also tried to facilitate a more leisurely family life for Laura and her spouse, composer Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum, and their 13-month-old son, Benjamin. » read more
I'm so fortunate to have studied at UCLA these past four years with the great violinist Movses Pogossian. Throughout this time, he has never failed to deliver his passion and love for music through the violin. In the beginning, however, violin was not his instrument of choice. In Yerevan, Armenia, where he grew up, the most popular instrument by far was the piano, but to be permitted to study piano, you had to have all A's in your academic courses. Luckily for us, the young Movses had one B and was forced to enroll in violin study instead. » read more
Subscribe to our Neighborhood Church Series or our UCLA Faculty Center Series by January 15, 2012, and you will have the opportunity to bring a friend who is new to... » read more
I recently spoke with Mark about his new work, scored for alto saxophone, violin, viola, cello, and piano, and cast in four movements. Carlson describes it as a loving look backwards at music from an earlier time, especially music from American popular culture of the 1930s and 1940s, as he explores the breadth of melodic and harmonic invention of that era and reinterprets it in his own unique, classical-music voice.
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Pianist Joanne Pearce Martin has been busy lately. Very busy. In her 11th season as Principal Keyboardist with the LA Philharmonic, Joanne has been deep in the Phil's Mahler Project. As she prepared to leave on tour with the Phil to Caracas, Venezuela, she took some time to chat about her upcoming performances with Pacific Serenades.
Joanne will be appearing on her 18th concert with us on our March concerts. Beginning in 1993, Joanne has become an integral member of the Pacific Serenades family. Soon after Founder and Artistic Director Mark Carson first asked Joanne to play in 1993, she attended a Pac Ser concert at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. "I was very impressed, and was more than happy to say 'yes' to Mark," Joanne shared with me.
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Save $42 off the single ticket price when you buy all three remaining concerts for the Private Home Series!
Save $26 off the single ticket price when you buy all... » read more
Duane Tatro entered the professional world of music at the end of the Big Band days when, as a sax and clarinet player, he joined the Stan Kenton Orchestra as it crisscrossed the country. Touring with Bob Hope's show, the orchestra did radio broadcasts every Tuesday, and on the other days of the week, they performed at military bases. World War II was in full swing, and Duane was 16.
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"It's also a fringe benefit as a Pacific Serenades musician that we get to meet and make friends with so many wonderful audience members," Gary went on to add. "And it makes it more special because of the venues at which we perform. It's a wonderful situation to play chamber music in private homes, which may be the ideal setting for the most intimate of musical creations. Composers have traditionally utilized such small ensembles to convey their deepest musical thoughts and feelings, especially since they know the audience will be up close and personal." » read more
Our 105th commissioned work will premiere at the home of Richard Norton & Stephanie Rasines, the Greene & Greene masterpiece, the Cordelia Culbertson House (also known as the Culbertson Sisters House). This historic house was commissioned by the three Culbertson Sisters in 1911. Totalling at $150,000, the commission was the largest the firm had ever seen. By 1917, upkeep of the grand property became so expensive that the sisters had to sell the house. » read more
It's as if playing jazz guitar were in his genes—Justin Morell is a fourth generation professional jazz guitarist on his dad's side of the family. Immediately before him, his father John Morell has been a very successful recording session guitarist since the 60s and has also had an active career performing in Los Angeles area jazz clubs.
His mother's side of the family is full of musicians, too. Her father, Carl Fischer, was Frankie Laine's music director and pianist for years and was also the composer of many hit songs by Laine. Justin's mother, Carol Fischer Morell, was a member of the all-girl trio, The Murmaids, whose song Popsicles and Icicles was a major hit in 1964.
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Making his second appearance with Pacific Serenades is bass-baritone Michael Dean. Currently the Chair of the UCLA Music Department, where he has taught voice since 2004, he is originally from San Diego. Dean has had a prestigious career as a vocal performer in concerts and operas around the world. It was surprising for me to learn that, with his extensive experience, including singing roles on stage and in recordings, Michael did not start off his musical education as a singer.
"I originally studied piano and composition as my major at UC Santa Barbara," Michael shared with me. "I auditioned for the chorale at UCSB, and the director encouraged me to become a voice major. At the time, I didn't know opera that well." » read more
Nestled in the hills of La Caņada, the Arts and Crafts-style home of Kimberly Rose and Michael Shannon gives the impression of being in the woods. The living area, with its openness, its warmth, and its striking view of the mountains, is an ideal setting for sharing the rich sonorities of voice and string quartet. And the house has the additional charm of once belonging to swimming movie star, Esther Williams. » read more
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