Search results for

It’s the 8th Annual BFF Binge Fringe Festival of FREE Theatre, Oct 15 - Nov 19, the only FREE Fringe Festival in the nation, offering 38 in-person plays, workshops and family-oriented events, presenting:

Mulatto Math: Summing Up the Race Equation in America 7:00pm, The Other Space, 16+

Now more important than ever - an edgy one woman show written and performed by the inimitable Monique DeBose. Through original music and stories of her family’s history, this mixed-race woman (from an African American father from the segregated south and Irish American mother from upstate New York) shares her most vulnerable stories around her exploration of family, race and identity. As an audience member, you get the have the experience of being a fly on the wall for some of the most potent and real conversations from 'the other side'. A heartfelt, funny and intimate look at race and the implications of race-consciousness in America. Yes, it's one woman's story...but audiences from all backgrounds have found themselves and heard their own voices in Monique's story.

Directed by Denise Dowse.

Special thanks to generous grants from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission and Playhouse PALS. The BFF celebrates the range and depth of the human condition and the idea that theatre arts experiences are vital, transformative, and must be available for all.

Solo Flute of the Berlin Philharmonic, Sébastian Jacot, hailed as a “rockstar” flutist, makes his highly anticipated Camerata Pacifica debut on a diverse and compelling program of solo and duet works with award-winning Camerata Pacifica Principal Pianist Irina Zahharenkova, noted for her “breathtaking technique” (France’s La Revue du Spectacle). They perform Sunday, February 11, 3 p.m., at Janet and Ray Scherr Forum in Thousand Oaks; Tuesday, February 13, 7:30 p.m., at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino; Thursday, February 15, 8 p.m., at Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles; and Friday, February 16, 2024, 7:30 p.m., at Hahn Hall at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy.

The program includes Jacot and Zahharenkova performing Bach’s Sonata in A Major for Flute & Obbligato Harpsichord, BWV 1032, one of the gems of the flute literature, and French composer André Jolivet’s blazing Chant de Linos, a virtuosic showpiece filled with technical gymnastics for both flute and piano.

Jacot is also featured on Rome Prize winner Christopher Cerrone’s Liminal Highway, a “supremely enchanting and hypnotic (work with) stunning harmonies” (Limelight Magazine) for flute (doubling on piccolo and beer bottles) and immersive electronics. Zahharenkova is spotlighted on Haydn’s Adagio in F, H. XIVV, No. 9, an exquisite solo sonata for keyboard, and demonstrates her harpsichord genius on Kryštof Mařatka’s Melopa, which the Czech composer himself describes as “a haunting and unpredictable gallop.”

For tickets ($75 at The Huntington, Hahn Hall and Zipper Hall; $80 at Janet and Ray Scherr Forum) and information visit www.cameratapacifica.org.

The future of democracy in the United States concerns people across today's political spectrum. But how have we gotten here? Like today, the nature of democracy and its place in U.S. politics has been debated since the nation's founding. We will look at how democracy has been defined and revised over the past two and a half centuries from the Founders' deep suspicions and the Civil War's reshaping to the impact of both World War I and World War II. To put today's debates in context, we will also explore what perceptive outsiders such as Alexis de Tocqueville (from whom the course title is borrowed) and James Bryce have had to say about the American "experiment."

Chris Kimball (PhD) is Professor Emeritus of History at California Lutheran University. His undergraduate degree is from McGill University and his master’s and doctoral degrees are from The University of Chicago. He previously served as California Lutheran University’s seventh president (2008-2020) after two years as provost and vice president for academic affairs. Specializing in U.S. history, he has taught on subjects such as the Civil War, U.S. Foreign Relations, the history of sport, the history of American cities, and legal issues in higher education.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people 50+ years of age, seeking intellectual stimulation through university level courses (without the pressure of grades) for the sake of learning and social engagement.

These lectures can be attended online via Zoom or in-person at our Thousand Oaks campus.

Camerata Pacifica, the international chamber music collective renowned for its musical versatility and bold programming, traverses a range of groundbreaking music from the 20th century and the dawn of the era, including three works for solo instrument, October 25-30, 2024, at four Southern California venues.

The performances are Friday, October 25, 7:00 pm, at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West; Sunday, October 27, 3:00 pm, at Thousand Oaks’ Janet and Ray Scherr Forum; Tuesday, October 29, 7:30 pm, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino; and Thursday, October 30, 8:00 pm, at Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles.

The program opens with Sooyun Kim, “a rare virtuoso of the flute” (Libération) performing Kazuo Fukushima’s mysterious Mei for Solo Flute written in 1962 by the self-taught Japanese composer.

Shifting back in time to 1896, Rachmaninoff’s Moments musicaux, Op. 16, a set of deeply expressive solo piano pieces, showcases celebrated Principal Piano Irina Zahharenkova, heralded for her “impressive…musical colour” (Bachtrack).

The final solo work, Stravinsky’s 1918 jazz- and ragtime-inspired tour-de-force Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet, is interpreted by Camerata Pacifica Principal Clarinet Jose Franch-Ballester, a captivating performer of “poetic eloquence” (The New York Sun).

Schoenberg’s 1906 landmark Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9, arranged by his student Anton Webern between 1922 and 1923, caps the program with the three solo artists joined by Alena Hove, a rising violinist applauded for her “rich, smooth tone” (CityArts), and Principal Cellist Ani Aznavoorian, whose “scorchingly committed performances…wring every last drop of emotion out of the music” (The Strad).

Artists often work and create together to formulate new styles. Just as often, they compete and respond to each other's work, leading to breakthroughs and new developments. In this course, we begin in the Renaissance with the ideological rivalry between Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, and then between Michelangelo and Raphael. We then move forward in history, exploring different artistic rivalries and how they fueled artistic creation. Other frenemies include Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso and Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock.

Week 1: Renaissance Rivalries (Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, Leonardo and Michelangelo, Michelangelo and Raphael, Caravaggio and Baglione)

Week 2: Manet and Degas

Week 3: Van Gogh and Degas

Week 4: Matisse and Picasso

Bio:

Katherine E. Zoraster is an Art Historian and a Professor of Art History at several local colleges specializing in Western art from the Renaissance to the 20th century. She graduated with a double major in English Literature and Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles. Following her undergraduate degree, she received a Master’s Degree with Distinction in Art History from the California State University at Northridge.

In addition to the courses Katherine teaches for other lifelong learning programs, she also works as an Art History Instructor for the full-time program at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Arts. Katherine also serves as a commissioner for the Burbank Cultural Arts Commission and volunteers at the Burbank Animal Shelter. In her free time, Katherine is an avid runner and travels extensively.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people ages 50 and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

Camerata Pacifica, a chamber music collective renowned for its musical versatility and bold programming, caps its 2024-25 season with an unexpected mix of chamber works by Frédéric Chopin, William Bolcom, and Lara Auerbach.

William Bolcom’s irreverent Orphée-Sérénade, composed in 1984 for piano and chamber orchestra, which deftly shifts from lyrical to witty, and flippant to propulsive, sets the tone for the program.

Providing a luscious musical palate cleanser, Camerata Pacifica Principal Pianist Irina Zahharenkova is spotlighted on Chopin’s virtuosic Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante in E Flat Major, Op. 22. The kaleidoscopic work combines technical brilliance, rich harmonies and tremendous emotional depth.

Concluding the program and the 2024-25 season is Lera Auerbach’s Dreammusik, for cello and chamber ensemble written in 2014 for Camerata Pacifica and Principal Cellist Ani Aznavoorian, who is featured on the work. Commissioned by Sandra Tillisch Svoboda in memory of her husband Al, it reflects the broad musical sensibilities of Auerbach, “an artist of her time” (Gramophone) who creates “music of extraordinary power and intensity” (The New Yorker).

In addition to Zahharenkova and Aznavoorian, the artists featured on the season finale include Jolente De Maeyer, violin; Jason Uyeyama, violin; Che-Yen Chen, viola; Ani Aznavoorian, cello; Andrew Janss, cello; Tim Eckert, double bass; Sooyun Kim, Flute; Nicholas Daniel, Oboe; Kathleen McLean, Bassoon; Jose Franch-Ballester, Clarinet; Irina Zahharenkova, Piano; and Ji Hye Jung, Percussion.

Camerata Pacifica presents landmark works for solo piano by Beethoven and Chopin as well as a Mozart tour de force for woodwinds and horn on a milestone program that launches “Beethoven 32,” a momentous three-year cycle featuring Principal Pianist Gilles Vonsattel on all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in a hybrid blend of solo recitals and chamber programs. Setting the tone for this significant project, Vonsattel performs Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op. 106, “Hammerklavier,” considered among the most demanding and monumental pieces in the solo piano repertoire.

A counterweight to the titanic “Hammerklavier” is Mozart’s Wind Serenade in E-flat Major, K.375, at once ceremonial, seductive, and witty, offering striking aural and emotional contrast to the Beethoven. It features oboists Nicholas Daniel and Claire Brazeau; clarinetists Jose Franch-Ballester and Pascal Archer; bassoonists Eleni Katz and William Wood; and Melia Badalian, horn.

To close the program, Vonsattel, “a pianist well worth watching” (The New York Times), plays Chopin’s Nocturne No. 11 in G Minor, Op. 37, No. 1.

Presented at four Southern California locations, the performances are Tuesday, October 28, 7:30 pm, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino; Wednesday, October 29, 7:00 pm, at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West; Thursday, October 30, 8:00 pm, at Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles; and Sunday, November 2, 2025, 3:00 pm, at Thousand Oaks’ Janet and Ray Scherr Forum.

For tickets ($75 at The Huntington, Music Academy of the West, and Zipper Hall; $94.40, including fees, at Janet and Ray Scherr Forum) and information, visit www.cameratapacifica.org.

From the inescapable "Call Me Maybe" to Fiona Apple's intricate word puzzles to the strikingly gorgeous return of Iris DeMent, the Fresh Air critic counts down his favorite albums and musical moments of the year.

Watch live performances from Allison Russell, Bonnie Raitt and more as the Americana community reveals its top album, song and artist of the year.

KCLU presents a live event with Marco Werman, host of The World, on Saturday, January 28 at 8 p.m. at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Scherr Forum Theatre.