A Prelude to Cinco de Mayo!

Your LA Winds Cinco de Mayo celebration begins with our latest Virtual performance project — thrilling performances of two South of the Border classics: the Zacatecas March and the Aztec Fire section of “La Fiesta Mexicana.” Mike Armstrong, the featured LA Winds member on our last “Four Winds on Wednesdays” live stream, has done another fantastic job of putting together the performances of nearly 60 LA Winds members in what promises to be an unforgettable musical experience for our LA Winds family!

Dan Hernandez shares his own personal experience with Zacatecas, one of Mexico’s regional national anthems.  Nest up you’ll enjoy his beautiful clarinet artistry as he performs the opening to Robert Schumann’s classic “Fantasy Pieces.” Featured next are LA Winds’ flutists Susan Anderson and Debbie MacMurray who discuss the unique and fascinating qualities of “Big Flutes” which the Winds have featured both in concert and in our “Four Winds” series.  They’ll also share their experiences with a variety of performing ensembles both here in America and abroad.

We’ll close out our Cinco de Mayo festivities with the legendary Col. Arnald Gabriel leading the LA Winds in a lively performance of Clifton Williams’ evocative and energetic “Fiesta!”

Be sure to invite your friends to join our live stream and sign up on our website (LAWinds.com) to receive the latest information on our upcoming July 18 “Summer Sounds at the Skirball” concert and “Julie and Steve’s Summer Soiree” on August 22.  Be sure to also join us on May 12 for performances by LA Winds musicians Carolyne Maraghi and Paul Frederic plus a fascinating interview with recording artists Geoff Nudell and Caryn Rasmussen on “The Hollywood Recording Industry Today.”

Retail and Zoom Music Today

This Wednesday’s entertaining and informative installment of your LA Winds’ “Four Winds on Wednesdays” features a technology expert, a music retailer, beautiful melodies — and a rocket scientist! It’s called “Retail Music Today,” but it is much more than that. Maestro Piazza shares exciting news about LA Winds upcoming performances at the magnificent Skirball Center.

Then we’ll begin this week’s live stream with a prelude to our upcoming weeklong “Cinco De Mayo” celebration with an LA Winds video performance of Manuel de Falla’s electrifying “Ritual Fire Dance. Next up, Paula Savastano (whom you met when she discussed copyrights, royalties, and licensing) performs excepts from a lovely and poignant work entitled “Earth” by the contemporary Japanese composer Tagatsugu Muramatsu.

Next you’ll explore the world of “Zoom” recordings and the current trends in retail music. Our guests are Michael Armstrong, who has been your LA Winds “Zoom” recording engineer, and Andrew Robinson, a recent arrival to the LA Winds family from Florida (by way of Toronto and Kentucky). Andrew will shed light on current trends in the retail music world, while long- time LA Winds’ stalwart Mike Armstrong will give us a behind-the-scenes look at how he produces such fabulous “Zoom” recordings for the LA Winds and other 1st rate musical ensembles.

Finally, our resident rocket scientist, Winds’ saxophonist Noah Gordon, a graduate of Purdue University’s famed Aerospace program and now a Doctoral candidate at Stanford’s Aeronautics program, performs John Williams’ hauntingly beautiful solo, “Escapades,” from the motion picture “Catch Me If You Can.”

Be sure to also join us on April 28 when our “Cinco de Mayo” celebration begins with a special appearance by LA Winds’ veteran co-principal clarinetist, Daniel Hernandez. We’ll also premiere the Winds’ latest “Zoom” recordings of “Zacatecas” and “La Fiesta Mexicana.” In addition, we’ll reprise the classic recording Col. Arnald Gabriel made of “Fiesta” with the Winds nearly 20 years ago. Don’t miss either of these exciting “Four Winds on Wednesdays” live streams.