A Message from the Maestro

 

Dear LA Winds Family,

Let me begin by thanking all of you for making the “Maestro & Mozart Birthday Dinner/Concert” such a rousing success! It was a birthday party I will never, ever forget. Nearly 200 subscribers, donors, musicians, cooks, servers, board members and friends of the Winds joined in a truly memorable celebration. Special thanks to members of the Song of Angels Flute Orchestra and their director—our very own Chuck Fernandez—along with the nearly 15 select members of the LA Winds who helped provide the musical entertainment.

All the Winds will be back on stage, however, when we perform for our upcoming Sunday, March 3rd concert taking place at 3:30 pm in the beautiful Performing Arts Education Center at Agoura High School, (28545 Driver Ave., Agoura Hills, CA 91301). We’ll feature a tribute to noted composers of Italian heritage—past and present—who have left their mark on our eclectic musical landscape. Works by Verdi, Puccini, and Rossini, as well as contemporary composers Rosario Galante, Norman Dello-Joio and Frank Ticheli, will be performed. Star soprano Sarah Salazar from the Center Stage Opera will be our featured soloist.

After the concert, members of the “Maestro’s Circle” will be treated to the annual “Thank You” dinner at the Marmalade Café in Calabasas (see flyer below). Even if you’re not a “Circle” member, come by Marmalade to say “Hi” to me, the Winds members, and our soloist. Marmalade has promised to donate 15% of our bills to the Winds’ Annual Fund, so you’ll not only enjoy good food and good company, but you’ll also contribute to the Winds’ ongoing success. Finally, as we begin the 2nd part of our spectacular 2018 – 2019 season, allow me, on behalf of my colleagues in the band and the Operations Committee, to wish you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous 2019.

See you at 3:30 pm on March 3rd, at Agoura High School!!!

Please present a printed or digital copy of this flyer to your server at the Marmalade Cafe in the Calabasas Commons (4873 Commons Way, Calabasas, CA 91302) so the LA Winds can benefit by receiving 15% of the funds from the amount of your delicious meal!

Yours musically,

Sincerely,

Stephen Piazza, Director, Los Angeles Symphonic Winds

 

A Message from the Maestro

 

Dear LA Winds Subscriber………

As a valued member of the LA Winds family, I want to remind you of 2 very special events that are taking place prior to our October 7 opening subscription concert of the Winds’ 2018-2019 season.

The FIRST event is our annual “Intimate Afternoon of Chamber Music Concert” which this year will be held at 2:30 pm, Sunday August 26 in the new auditorium of the Valley Outreach Synagoguelocated 26668 Agoura Road, Calabasas, CA  91302.

This concert will feature members of your LA Winds as well as the ever-popular “Song of the Angels” flute orchestra in a concert celebrating“Chamber Music by Legendary Jewish Composers”.  Local Jewish music scholar Neal Brostoff will serve as the MC and your guide through what promises to be a unique and exciting afternoon of music making. I’ve attached a flyer so you can share the information about this concert with your family and friends. This is a free concert providing your Winds with the opportunity to reach out to a new community and expand our subscriber base.

The SECOND event is our annual appearance at the Leo S. Bing Theater of the LA County Art Museum on Wilshire Blvd. Your Winds will perform Sunday September 23 at 6:00 pm.  If you feel like having an afternoon of visual art culture, experiencing the cooler west side weather and hearing the Winds in a classic auditorium that may no longer be a part of the future museum complex, join us for this free concert on Sept. 23.

In the meantime, I hope to see you August 26 at the Valley Outreach Synagogue. And for those of you who have not yet renewed your subscription for our 2018-2019 season, I would urge you to download the form, because we will be mailing out the tickets over the next several weeks.  Don’t be left out!

Yours musically,

Sincerely,

Stephen Piazza, Director, Los Angeles Symphonic Winds

A Message from the Maestro

Stars of the LA Winds

Sunday, March 25, 2018 at 2:30 pm
Agoura Hills HS Performing Arts Education Centre
28545 W Driver Ave, Agoura Hills, CA 91303

Dear Friends and Members of the LA Winds Family,

Thank you so much for sharing your Valentine’s weekend with us last month!  I’m sure you’ll agree that our February 11th concert was among the finest LA Winds concerts in our group’s history. Not only did our instrumentalists give us exciting and heartfelt renditions of “Romeo and Juliet” and “Samson and Delilah”, but our vocal soloists, Courtney and Christina, turned the afternoon program into an unforgettable event.  It goes to show you how much star soloists can make a concert a truly memorable experience. With that in mind, I want to remind you that our March 25 concert, “Stars of the LA Winds” will feature equally memorable soloists drawn from the ranks of your very own LA Winds.

Beginning with a stirring antiphonal rendition of “Fanfare Canzonique” featuring our brass section, our “Stars” program continues with performances by our trumpet and flugelhorn soloist Gabriel Velasco, piccolo soloist Debbie MacMurray, and alto saxophonist Caryn Rasmussen. The first half closes with the world premiere of Andrea Vancura’s fascinating journey to the fringes of sleep and wakefulness—“Hypnogogia” followed by LA Winds staff arranger, Charles Fernandez and his rendition of Shostakovich’s “Galop”. The second half of our program consists of 2 works sure to please our long-time subscribers as well as those of you who are new to the LA Winds family. We’ll perform the blues and rock movement of  Frank Bencriscutto’s “Symphonic Jazz Suite” featuring Greg Anderson and Mark Marcus. And our “stars” concert closes with Michael Daugherty ’s powerful and fun-filled tribute to Superman—“Red Cape Tango”—part of his “Metropolis Symphony”.  Many of you will recall Daugherty’s exciting and cutting edge “Raise the Roof” which LA Opera’s timpanist Therese Dimond performed with us last season.

Following the concert, join us at Agoura’s own Boar Dough Wine Bar at 5015 Cornell Rd Unit G, Agoura Hills, CA 91301. Come and meet the “Stars” at this no-host reception. Those of you who joined us for our “Oktoberfest” or “Maestro’s Circle” receptions know how much fun it is to celebrate with your LA Winds. I’d love to meet and talk with you at this fun-filled wine tasting reception following the concert. Without your continued support, the LA winds would not have become one of the valley’s true cultural icons—and I’d like to personally thank you for your support.

If you need additional tickets, they are available through our LA Winds ticket manager Melinda Benane at [email protected].  Advance sales tickets are available for $20. Tickets at the door are $25.

See you under the ”stars” at our 2:30 concert on Sunday, March 25^th in Agoura!

Sincerely,

Stephen Piazza, Director, Los Angeles Symphonic Winds

A Message from the Maestro

February 11th Valentine’s Concert – Don’t Miss this One!

Our February 11, 2018 concert celebrates famous couples from the symphonic and operatic world—couples who have been synonymous with the beauty and tragedy of those most human of emotions—love and desire.

It promises to be among the most exciting, romantic and passionate concerts in the over thirty-year history of your LA Winds! I know that there are many demands on our time, and our social calendars are oftentimes overbooked. Family, friends, leisure and work responsibilities often necessitate choices on how we spend our valuable free time. Let me urge you, however, to clear your calendars so you don’t miss our February 11 concert.

We invite you and your loved ones to begin your Valentine’s week with an entertaining, inspiring and unique symphonic wind concert celebrating Romeo and Juliet, Porgy and Bess, Samson and Delilah and Tristan and Isolde. Christina Roszhart of Center Stage Opera – a remarkable young award-winning dramatic soprano — will be our featured soloist in Tristan and Isolde. Courtney Marsh – a gifted, supremely talented rising star mezzo– will sing selections from Porgy and Bess. Along with the virtuoso instrumentalists of the LA Winds, you’ll share in an unforgettable afternoon of high-powered music making.

The acoustically inviting and beautiful Performing Arts Education Center of Calabasas High School (22855 Mulholland Hwy, Calabasas CA 91302) will once again serve as our venue. As usual, we will begin at 2:30 pm.  All who attend will receive a Valentine’s gift package from your LA Winds—a small gesture of thanks to you from your LA Winds. And members of the Maestro’s Circle are also invited to a post-concert dinner and reception at the Marmalade Café in Calabasas.

As many of you may know, each of these works occupies a truly special place among the masterworks of Western culture. Tristan and Isolde marked a giant leap forward in terms of its daring harmonic resources and cataclysmic climaxes. Written in the same year (1859) as Darwin’s Origin of Species and Marx’s Das Kapital, it marked a turning point in the history of Western art, just as the other works were equally transformative in the fields of science and economics. Gershwin’s controversial Porgy and Bess, written in 1936, was likewise a musical game changer in that it successfully combined elements of “classless” jazz and “classical” music into an artform long associated only with upper-class snobbery. And Tchaikovsky’s melodies in Romeo and Juliet (1860), once dismissed by the musical intelligentsia as insubstantial “musical cotton candy”, are now staples in the symphonic diet. Finally, the exoticism of the Saint Saens Bacchanale—certainly not as shocking as it may have been when it premiered in 1877—retains its seductive magnetism as Delilah celebrates here short-lived victory over her newly-shorn rival, her deceived and conflicted lover, Samson.

Although hundreds of you already have tickets to this spectacular event, additional tickets are available through our LA Winds ticket manager Melinda Benane at [email protected]. Advance sales tickets are available at $20. Tickets at the door, $25.

See you on the 11^th! Don’t miss it!   Amor Vincit Omnia

Sincerely,

Stephen Piazza, Director, Los Angeles Symphonic Winds

IMPORTANT CHANGES
TO THE  NOVEMBER 19th LA WINDS CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT

Due to several schedule conflicts and inadequate parking at the Sheman Oaks Women’s Club, we have changed the venue of our Nov. 19th Chamber Music Concert. The new location is St. Luke Lutheran Church, 5312 Comercio Way, Woodland Hills, CA 91364 (near the corner of Ventura Blvd & Canoga Ave)

Note also that there is no longer a need for a 1:00 pm concert so we will have only one concert at 4:00 pm

It’s going to be a great concert with music for wind quintet, a performance from the Song of Angels Flute Choir, the majestic Mozart C minor Serenade, and more.

See you on Sunday, November 19th at 4:00 pm at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Woodland Hills!

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A Message from the Maestro

Thanks to your support, our Oktoberfest Concert was a rousing success—both musically and socially!

Spotlighting such legendary composers as Bach, Strauss, Mendelssohn, Henze and Orff, the musical portion of the day’s events was one of the Winds’ most impressive opening concerts.  I was especially moved by the Winds’ performance of Michael Doty’s challenging and beautiful arrangement of the Suite from Der Rosenkavalier.  Michael was very appreciative of our programming his work and commented how “expertly and very expressively” we performed it.  We’re looking forward to playing more of Michael’s excellent transcriptions next season.

I hope you enjoyed the Bach Passacaglia as much as I did. The ever-evolving color palette of Will Schaeffer’s setting led to an incredibly compelling ending worthy of the sonic splendor of the greatest cathedrals in Europe, as well as offering deep insights into the profound majesty of J.S. Bach’s musical vision.

However, if I had to pick one highlight out of many that we shared with you that day, it would be the excerpts from “Carmina Burana”.   Not only did the Winds present both a powerful and intimate insight into this 20th-century masterpiece, but the singers added a level of musicality that gave us the kind of moving artistic experience we hope to get from the concerts we attend.  Kudos to Dennis, Egan and Christina for their contribution!

As you know, Christina and her colleagues form Center Stage Opera will be joining us for our Holiday Spectacular concert on Dec. 17. It is an event not to be missed.

Finally, let me thank the dozens of Winds’ family members who celebrated Oktoberfest at the Local Peasant after the concert.  It gave me a chance to meet and talk with many of our LA Winds family who are so important to our continued success.  It was a great pleasure for me and the band members as we look forward to the post-concert reception after our Holiday Concert.

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SPOTLIGHT
Daniel Hernandez, Principal Clarinet

I met Steve Piazza as a senior in high school way back in 1980. I enrolled at Pierce College the next fall where Steve was Music Director. I approached Steve and asked if I could play in his Concert Band. He obviously said yes. The next fall I transferred to Cal Arts where I studied with Michele Zukvosky, principal clarinetist with the LA Philharmonic. During that time, Steve would occasionally invite me to play with his band. I played two tours. One in San Francisco and one in San Diego. In 1983 I moved to NYC to study with the great clarinetist and teacher Kalmen Opperman. While there I received my BA in Clarinet Performance and Music Education from the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College. A few years after graduation I fell ill and put the Clarinet aside to focus on healing. In 1997, I returned home to California at which time my health had improved. I wanted to play clarinet again. I just decided to show up at an LA Winds rehearsal and Steve immediately asked me if I wanted to play.

I have now been a member of the LA Winds for 20 years, having some of my best life adventures including the UK tour in 2002, Paris, Luxembourg in 2011 and of course performing at the great Disney Concert Hall in June 2016. I have made some wonderful friends, some that are here some that have passed but I will never forget. In closing, the LA Winds has given me a sense of belonging, direction and overall camaraderie and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

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A Special Concert Event from our friends at

Melina & Friends!

The Performing Arts Center
(on the campus of Reseda High School)
18230 Kittridge Street • Reseda, CA 91335

This special concert event features some of opera’s most beloved works, performed by internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Milena Kitic, Center Stage Opera Artistic Directors Shira Renee Thomas and Dylan F. Thomas, and CSO Vocal Competition winners Joseph Lopez, Anastasia Malliaras, Maggie Liu, and Christina Roszhart.

TICKETS:
$60 (VIP Seating, reserved parking)
$35 (Orchestra)
$30 (Loge)
$27 (General Admission)

10% discount for Seniors and Students
10% discount for LA Winds subscribers

Click here to buy tickets
or call 818-517-4102

A Message from the Maestro

Welcome to our Season of Celebration! 

After what I hope was an enjoyable summer for you and yours, your LA Winds are returning to the beautiful and acoustically spectacular Calabasas HS Performing Arts Center for our second year of residency.

Our 2017-2018 Season of Celebration begins Sunday, October 1st at 2:30 pm with a celebration of Oktoberfest – as the Winds bring you an afternoon of exhilarating music-making followed by fun-filled Hofbrauhaus style beer tasting at the popular gastropub – The Woodland Hills location of The Local Peasant.

At the concert, we will be performing some of the world’s most celebrated compositions by some of the greatest composers, beginning with Richard Strauss’ heroic Fanfare for the Vienna Philharmonic—a work that has been played at the annual ball for the Vienna Philharmonic over 70 times since 1924.

After the Fanfare, we’ll perform a charming work by the German composer, Hans Werner Henze, The Adventures of Don Quixote. In a fascinating contrast to the music you may know from the 1964 musical The Man of La Mancha, Henze’s graceful and exuberant work is based on Giovanni Paisiello’s 1769 opera Don Chisciotte della Mancia (one of 94 operas Paisiello wrote!).  Henze’s work presents the lighter side of his extensive musical output. Although themes of the play and opera deal with a utopian, fantasy-based society that is in keeping with Henze’s controversial pro-communist political beliefs, his equally heartfelt pro-Jewish, anti-fascist rhetoric was just as controversial to the former fascists who simply wanted to “wish away” the past.

Although Richard Strauss’s opera Der Rosenkavalier was certainly not controversial, Strauss’s political alliances certainly were. Oftentimes referred to as “a reluctant Nazi” Strauss, however,  was declared “not guilty” in his de-Nazification trial in 1948. Nonetheless, the outspoken antifascist conductor Arturo Toscanini had once famously declared “To Richard Strauss, the composer, I take off my hat, to Richard Strauss, the man, I put it on again.”  Strauss would later reply that he considered himself above politics, and also famously said: “I just sit here in Garmisch [his home, outside Munich] and compose. Everything else is irrelevant to me.” Following his psychologically charged operas Salome and Elektra, Rosenkavalier offers a poignant look at love through the varied prisms of youth, hope, joy, resignation, and maturity.  Michael Doty’s setting of the Suite from Der Rosenkavalier presents some of the work’s most beautiful and compelling themes.

The second half of our program begins with Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Overture for Winds.  Originally written when he was 15 years old for 11 wind players and later expanded to 24 players by Mendelssohn himself, John Boyd’s contemporary setting for full band still allows the work’s charm and exuberance to shine through.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor, which follows the Mendelssohn, is one of many organ works that have become part of the orchestral and wind symphony repertoire in arrangements by such well-known musicians as Leopold Stokowsky, Ottorino Respighi, Sir Andrew Davis and, for our performance, Will Schaeffer.  Based on a simple 8 bar theme that is presented in various guises through 20 variations, the work builds to a  climax worthy of the acoustical splendor of any of Europe’s great cathedrals.

The final 2 works on our Oktoberfest program include selections from Carl Orff’s setting of 14th-century poems and songs entitled Carmina Burana. Originally conceived as a ballet with dancers, singers, and a small instrumental ensemble, today’s version has been arranged for winds by John Krance and modified to include vocal soloists. This version maintains both the grandeur and intimacy of one of the classic works of 20th-century German composers.

Our concert closes with a medley of popular German (and American!) songs titled The Little German Band, which will send us on our way to our very own Munich–style “Hofbrauhaus” reception at the Local Peasant gastropub in Woodland Hills.

See you on October 1 !!

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A Letter from the Editor

Welcome back to the ever-evolving TEMPO! We hope you’ll like our new format this year:

• The Maestro’s Message: Steve will be giving you more personal information about himself and details about upcoming concerts
• Information & News: We’ll make sure you have the latest information about locations, times, tickets and subscriptions, extra-curricular activities (there are plenty this year!), as well as sponsorship opportunities
• Spotlight: We would like your suggestions for subscribers or band members you would like to see “in the spotlight”! Share your nominations by emailing [email protected] and telling us why you’d like to see this person in the spotlight. Give us a few weeks to get the full story (and photos).

We hope you can join us at 6 pm this Sunday, September 24th at LACMA “Sundays Live” concert. Come see us in the beautiful Bing Theatre – it’s free! Visit the Sundays Live website for more information. If you can’t make it to the performance you can still hear it live! on the same website. Our concert will also be kept there as a podcast for one week after the show. You can even download it!

Oh … and thank you for visiting our new LA Winds website for the latest and greatest news and information. We’ll be adding photos, audio, and video all the time, so come back often.

Thank you again for joining us for the 2017-18 “Season of Celebration” See you soon!

A Message from the Maestro

This Sunday’s “Extraordinary Women” concert promises to take you on one of the most fascinating journeys of your LA  Winds season. From the 15th century heroine Joan of Arc to the present-day royalty of Queen Elizabeth, the Winds will share with you the power, majesty and beauty of some of history’s most influential women.

On Sunday, June 18 – FATHER’S DAY, we’ll celebrate such legendary men as King David, Cyrus the Great and George Washington. The LA Winds “Flight 584” Big Band will also perform.

After the concert, I’ll host a special “invitation only” reception at the concert hall for members of the Maestro’s Circle and the LA Winds Board of Directors. If you or someone you know is interested in helping to fund the Winds’ important activities by joining our Executive Board, let me know at [email protected] so I can get complimentary tickets for the concert and reserve a place for them at the reception.

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday, May 14th and Sunday, June 18th. Both concerts are at 2:30 pm and we’re back at our new home in Calabasas!

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Member Spotlight
Joel Kabakoff (Bb Clarinet, Alto Clarinet)

I’ve been a band member since 1994. After speaking with bandmate Bob Crosby after a rehearsal of another group we played in, he suggested that I call Steve Piazza. I did so, telling him about my clarinet background. He replied with: “We can always use good ones.” Within 5 minutes of my first rehearsal, I knew I was finally in the right place. Playing with the LA Winds has led to years of enrichment, playing before appreciative home audiences and going on many great ventures, including 5 European trips! My favorite moment was on our first European trip in 2000 where we played a joint concert with the local band in the hill town of Prossedi, Italy.

In addition to the LA Winds, I  play alto clarinet in the Los Angeles Clarinet Choir. I’ve been working as a paralegal for over 20 years and currently work in the recording department at a Westlake Village title company. I enjoy golf, photography and rooting for Cleveland sports teams.

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Subscriber Spotlight
Marcy and Mike Orkin

Now retired, Marcy, a paralegal and Mike, a scientist, were raised in the San Fernando Valley. We subscribed when our high school daughter, Dena, joined the nurturing Wind’s clarinet section. She is now completing a DMA degree in clarinet performance and literature. When her brother, Daniel, returned from college, she encouraged him to join the trombone section.

Tuesday nights, we may be found at Viva Cantina in Burbank watching/listening to Daniel and fellow LA Wind’s members performing in the Flight 584 Big Band.

Marcy volunteers and Mike helps (?) by nagging Maestro Piazza to program more Henry Fillmore marches.

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Special Thanks

Thanks to Nancy Lew and her husband, Lee, for their generous support of the LA Winds and for hosting the LA Winds Woodwind Quintet (Juan Rivera, Steve Piazza, Jessica Wilkins, Charles Fernandez & Joy Armstrong) and Saxophone Quartet (Caryn Rassmusen, Ed Etayo, Tom Stipulkosky & Dave Weston) at their lovely home. The cake was amazing (see inset above) and the ribs were unbelievable!

To find out more about how you can host a chamber group at your home next season, as a Maestro’s Circle member, email [email protected] or check out the subscriber form in the next concert program.

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We are sorry to have lost a dear friend of the LA Winds family last month

Elaine Kinkel
It is with much sadness that we pass on the news that Elaine Kinkel has passed away after a long battle with cancer. Elaine was a huge supporter of the LA Winds who helped with many fundraising events, including our Ralphs program, and tirelessly volunteering her time and energy over many years. Her son, Rick Kinkel (trumpet) and daughter-in-law, Audrey (clarinet) are LA Winds alumni. 

She will be missed by the entire LA Winds family