MUSIC REVIEWS
Guest Conductor Fabien Gabel Takes San Diego Symphony to New Heights
Under the astute baton of guest conductor Fabien Gabel, Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma and the San Diego Symphony gave a rapturous account on Friday, May 4, of Leonard Bernstein’s “Serenade,” a violin concerto written for no less a violinist than Isaac Stern in memory of the composer’s early mentor, Boston Symphony Music Director Serge Koussevitsky.
Read MoreAdventurous NWEAMO 2018 Festival Opens at San Diego State University
Curated by New West Electro-Acoustic Music Organization founder Joseph Waters, the 2018 NWEAMO Festival’s opening concert on April 27, 2018, offered diverse sonic visions of seven composers working in various ways with computer generated sound.
Read MoreJahja Ling Returns to San Diego Conducting an Inspired Shostakovich Fifth Symphony
Returning to the podium of the San Diego Symphony as Laureate Conductor, Jahja Ling presided over one of the more amazing performances of the 2017-18 season with a probing account of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony and the young Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov’s thrilling San Diego debut in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto.
Read MoreCamarada Goes Calypso at the Mingei in Balboa Park
Branching out from its customary programming, Beth Ross Buckley’s enterprising Camarada offered a laid-back concert of jazz-tinged calypso Sunday, April 15, at the Mingei International Museum.
Read MoreCivic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez: Spicing Up the Staid Organ Recital in Balboa Park
When the Spanish organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez became San Diego Civic Organist at the beginning of 2018, he made it clear that he intended to bring a fresh approach to programming, and his program Saturday evening, April 14, displayed some of his ideas for revitalizing that staid convention of the organ recital.
Read MoreAccomplished Choir of Queen’s College, Oxford, Sings Rewarding Concert at All Souls’ Episcopal Church
The Choir of Queen’s College, Oxford, presented a substantial concert Friday, April 13, at All Souls’ Episcopal Church in Point Loma. The 21-voice ensemble started its California tour last week in the San Francisco Bay Area and will complete their California excursion Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles at St. James in-the-City Episcopal Church on Wilshire Blvd.
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