Lyle Zimskind

FINDING A PLACE AT DISNEY HALL Reviewing the contemporary theatrical oratorio Place a few years ago, Opera News Magazine suggested that Ted Hearne’s many–genred musical rumination on urban gentrification and its baleful underpinnings “seemed to arrive both at the right cultural moment and entirely too late.” As if to affirm this impression, the LA Philharmonic’s…

THE WIZARD OF NAS While the Los Angeles Philharmonic and its chief conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, are no strangers to fronting pop and hip hop stars at the Hollywood Bowl, these genre-melding collaborations are not a typical programming staple in the Phil’s school-year digs on Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. But on the first night of…

TYMPANIST JOSEPH PEREIRA SURE KNOWS HIS KRAFT Sometimes concerts in the LA Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella new music series are programmed around a singular thematic element. Sometimes they offer a range of works representing a particular school or mode of composition. Some showcase distinctive performance styles. If last Tuesday night’s long Green Umbrella program, curated by…

Concerts in the L.A. Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella new music series are always an adventure. Typically curated by the (often young) contemporary musicians and composers whose work is featured in the performances, these programs offer an eclectic array of unpredictable encounters with the avant-garde art music of our moment. Some of them are highly engaging; others…

C’EST MAGNIFIQUE In a recent interview Jean-Yves Thibaudet described his decision to “stick with” the piano over the violin after years spent learning both as a child. On the keys, he realized, “You feel like king of the world. You can create every color, every dynamic.” And last week, on a foggy night in his…