FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ST. MATTHEW’S MUSIC GUILD ANNOUNCES ITS THIRTY-FIRST SEASON OF CONCERTS IN PACIFIC PALISADES
VIOLINIST GLENN DICTEROW, THE COMBINED CHOIRS OF THE USC THORNTON SCHOOL, CHATHAM BAROQUE AND THE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA AT ST. MATTHEW’S TO BE FEATURED
St. Matthew’s Music Guild has announced its 2015 – 2016 concert season, to take place at St. Matthew’s Church, 1031 Bienveneda Avenue, in Pacific Palisades. In announcing the series, Music Director and Conductor Thomas Neenan said, “thanks to the continued support of our subscribers, plus foundations and government agencies such as the Los Angeles Arts Commission, the Music Guild continues to offer outstanding concerts, perform meaningful outreach in underserved communities and commission new music from deserving young composers.”
The series opens on Friday, October 16 with a concert by The Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s, a critically acclaimed ensemble made up of some of the finest freelance and studio musicians in the city. Violinist Glenn Dicterow will be featured in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2. Dicterow, former Concertmaster of the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras, is currently on the faculty of the USC Thornton School. The program will include music of Mozart and Stravinsky.
The combined Chamber Singers and Concert Choir of the USC Thornton School – with more than eighty singers performing – will be presented November 6. Jo-Michael Scheibe and Christian Graces will conduct masterpieces of the choral repertoire from more than three centuries.
The Chamber Orchestra and Choir of St. Matthew’s Parish offers an annual holiday concert on December 11, featuring Vivaldi’s beloved “Gloria” plus music of Buxtehude, an organ concerto by Handel with organist Cecily Yuka Ito, and an audience sing-along of the traditional “Hallelujah” Chorus from Handel’s “Messiah.”
Pittsburgh-based Chatham Baroque returns for their fifth Music Guild engagement on January 22 in “A Mediterranean Odyssey.” The program includes an exciting mix of French, Italian, and Spanish works featuring guest violinist Adriane Post and percussionist Danny Mallon.
Eight of Los Angeles’s finest choral artists will team up with members of the Chamber Orchestra on February 26 for “Extravagant Music from Venice, Leipzig, and London” featuring music of Gabrieli, Handl, Bach, Gerald Finzi and Benjamin Britten
Oboist Phil Feather will be featured in a Chamber Orchestra concert April 8, playing Albinoni’s Oboe Concerto in B-flat. The program includes Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings and Turina’s “La Oracíon del Torero.”
On May 6, two world premieres will be presented: “Chautauqua West” by John O’Reilly, and a newly commissioned work from Matthew Brown. The concert also includes Brahms Serenade No. 1 and Geminiani’s “Enchanted Forest.”
The season concludes on June 10 with a performance of Mozart’s powerful “Requiem in D minor.” Left incomplete at the time of his death, the Chamber Orchestra and Choir of St. Matthew’s Parish will present the reconstruction by Robert Levin. The orchestra’s Concertmaster, Yi-Huan Zhao, will also perform Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4.
All concerts take place Fridays at 8pm. Admission is $35 or Music Guild Season Pass. The Music Guild offers season passes which are good for all concerts for as little as $200. For more information, visit the Music Guild website: MusicGuildOnline.org or call (310) 573-7421.
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Contact: Thomas Neenan, tneenan@stmatthews, (310) 573-7787, ext. 127.