Katia Popov, violinist, performs with the California String Quartet at Norton Simon Museum Friday, July 30.

The California String Quartet will perform at the Norton Simon Museum on Friday, July 30 at 7:00 p.m. in a program of Maurice Ravel and Bela Bartok.
Musicians Katia Popov and Lorand Lokuszta, violins; Alma Fernandez, viola; and Vanessa Freebairn-Smith, cello form the California String Quartet. Each musician is noted as performers in regional Southern California orchestras as well as for motion picture and recording soundtracks. Popov serves as concertmaster of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and principal second violin at the Long Beach Symphony. The others are active in various orchestras as the Long Beach Symphony and Pacific Symphony locally.
Ravel’s String Quartet in F will begin the program, a four-movement piece that is full of both energy and drama. Bartok’s String Quartet No. 3, also in four movements is in line with today’s musical ideas and tastes.
Entrance to the museum is required, however the concert is free. The Norton Simon Museum is at 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena.

The smiling face belongs to jazz-trumpeter Nolan Shaheed. The Pasadena-born man is both a top jazz trumpeter and national track champion. He will perform for the Upper Hasting Ranch Assn. on Aug. 7 along with the Harmonium Trio.

A program of music extending from Mendelssohn to W. C. Handy will be presented for the benefit of the Upper Hastings Ranch Assn. beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 7 at a private residence in Pasadena. The event is open to the public.
Appearing at the concert will be the Harmonium Trio and jazz artists Nolan Shaheed on trumpet and Harold Johnson on piano. The Harmonium Trio include Tina Chang Qu, violin; Ling Yan, cello and Yin Yin Huang Acevedo, piano.
Harmonium Trio will perform the music of Paul Schoenfield, Henryk Wieniawski, Astor Piazzolla and Felix Mendelssohn. Shaheed will offer St. Louis Blues by Handy.  Huang-Acevedo will play Chopin’s Nocturne in F-sharp major and PIazzola’s “Invierno Porteño” from his “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires”, the first movement of Schoenfield’s “Café Music for violin, cello and piano” and Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 2 in C-minor with the Harmonium Trio.

Nolan Shaheed has performed with all the big jazz stars.

Yin YIn Huang Acevedo

The performers for this event are as interesting as the music to be heard. The Harmonium Trio consists of three musicians who are graduates of top-notch music schools. Qu studied at the Curtis Institute and The Julliard School; Ling Yan holds a BFA and Masters degree from Boston University, Huang is Associate Professor of Keyboard studies at Cal State L A. Shaheed is Pasadena-born and bred and graduated from John Muir High School in Pasadena. But, the trumpeter, who has served as Music

Ling Yan

Director for Marvin Gaye, lead trumpet with Count Basie, and is an A-list studio musician, is just as well-known for his track abilities. He holds both world and national age-group records in the 800 to 3,000 meter class. Shaheed, says: he runs, he plays, he runs, he plays. There was no word from the concert’s producer, Nat Nehdar, to determine if a lap around the track will be a part of the evening’s plan.

Nehdar, who services District 5 on the Pasadena Human Relations Commission, has planned an evening of Margaritas and hor d’oeuvre at 7:00 p.m. with the concert beginning at 8:00 p.m.

“This is a very interesting program,” Huang reports.  “Johnson is such a wonderful jazz pianist and don’t miss out on hearing the international trumpeter Nolan Shaheed.”

The event, to benefit the Hastings Ranch Assn. will be held on the terrace of the residence at 4085 Park Vista Dr., Pasadena which is at the very top of Michillinda Ave. The home possesses a stunning view of the entire city of Pasadena, Nehdar says. He promises an outstanding mid-summer night concert under the stars. Tickets are $20. Reservations are a must and can be obtained by calling Nehdar at (626) 351-8680.

By Bill Peters

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet

Late note: Helios Quartet to perform at Sundays Live this Sunday, Aug. 1.  Details at end of review.  BP

REVIEW…

I have always been a purist about my CDs—only hearing one album at a time. But, a friend of mine insisted that I would enjoy a multiple disc player to hear various tracks of changing musical styles. It turns out I do enjoy the eclectic. The other night, though I loaded three Los Angeles Guitar Quartet CDs and found that there are enough stylistic differences between the albums for good listening. One caution: their latest recording, “Interchange” contains a concerto by Joaquin Rodrigo and a work for guitar quartet and orchestra by Sergio Assad that properly needs to be heard as full works.
I recommend buying the three albums as a set. The first is “LAGQ Spin” released in 2006. The album is filled with sensational new compositions. In fact the “Spin” title comes from guitarist Andrew York who composed the piece while a member of LAGQ where he served with the group for 16 years.
The second album in the set should be “LAGQ Brazil” released in 2007. Recorded at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, the 15 tracks are loaded with great material by Sergio and Odair Assad, Marco Pereira, Hermeto Pascoal, Baden Powell, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Heitor Villa-Lobos and others. Singer Luciana Souza adds her special jazz vocalizing to two tracks, although I find the voice distracting from the overall appeal of the guitar music. In addition to regular LAGQ members John Dearman, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant and Matthew Greif, Katisse Buckingham’s flute is downright sassy.
The third album is their latest Telarc release, “Interchange” that musically draws attention to Los Angeles freeways and its intersection with our diverse cultures and influences. Two works are heard on the album performed by the LAGQ with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra conducted here by David Amado. The album opens with “Concierto Andaluz” by Rodrigo. Written in 1965, it is a perfect musical companion to his well-known composition “Concierto d’Aranjuez”. Assad, commenting on his “Interchange”, says of this work, ” ‘Interchange’ grew out of my view of the quartet’s ability to blend different music styles into a unique and novel interpretation. I used their individual taste in music as starting points for the first four movements and I end the piece with the coalescence of these four different pieces forming an interchange.” As Assad says, each Los Angeles Guitar Quartet member has an opportunity to display individual abundance of talent.
The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet is a multi-winning Grammy group that has performed for nearly 30 years.

Note:  Four current or former students of William Kanengiser, a founding member of the LAGQ will perform as the Helios Guitar Quartet this Sunday, Aug. 1 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the Leo S. Bing Theater at 6:00 p.m.  The guitar quartet will perform selections from J. S. Bach’s Well -tempered Clavier and other works.  Part of the museum’s Sundays Live, the performance can be heard and seen at www.helioguitarquartet.com Admission is free.

By Bill Peters

Kristin Korb sings jazz standards-and is bassist in the trio at Descanso Garden's Summer Jazz Series Thursday, July 29.

The eight week Summer Jazz Series at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge continues Thursday, July 29 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. with bassist Kristin Korb playing the big acoustic bass and singing “California cool” jazz. The Telarc recording star is a premier singer with a deep sense of swing.
Korb will be accompanied at the piano by Pamela York.
Based on some of the tunes Korb is known for you can probably expect to hear the 1940 hit “Everything Happens to Me” and “You Stepped out of a Dream”, now a jazz standard, composed by Herb Nacio Brown (“Singin’ in the Rain”)and Gus Kahn lyrics (“I’ll See you in my Dreams) for the film “Ziegfeld Girls”.
Korb says, “The program will be a buoyant mix of Great American Songbook, Brazilian and blues.  Bring your friends, family and a picnic basket!”

Korb serves as adjunct professor of bass at Azusa Pacific University and at USC. She is a resident of Glendale.

The concert is free, but admission to Descanso Gardens is charged. Picnicking is allowed during this event. Also, Camellia Lounge is open for cocktails and appetizers. Other acts follow each Thursday to Aug. 12. Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Dr., La Cañada Flintridge.

By Bill Peters

July 29 – Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses

July 30 – Non Stop Bhangra

July 31 – Maleco Collective

Aug 1 – Jazz Mafia’s Realistic Orchestra

Bethany Ann Pflueger, a resident of Sierra Madre, will conduct the Pasadena Summer Youth Chamber Orchestra at Levitt Pavilion July 27.

The Pasadena Summer Youth Chamber Orchestra will perform at Levitt Pavilion, Memorial Park, in Pasadena at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 27 in a program of the music of Bernard Herrmann, J.S. Bach, Karl Jenkins, William Grant Still, and Benjamin Britten.
Founder-manager of the PSYCO, Roberta Wilcox, has enlisted the talents of two local music educators to conduct the orchestra: Bethany Ann Pflueger and Chad Prado. Pflueger, a flutist, is a Professor of Music at Glendale Community College. Prado, a violist, teaches Music Education at the elementary school level in the Pasadena Unified School District.
PSYCO, that is, the Pasadena Summer Youth Chamber Orchestra, is not without a sense of humor. One of the numbers on the program is taken from Bernard Herrmann’s score to the Alfred Hitchcock film “Psycho”. Other music will be Bach’s “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 3; Jenkins’ “Palladio” Concerto Grosso; “Serenade” by William Grant Still; and Britten’s “Simple Symphony”.
The Pasadena Summer Youth Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1986 by Wilcox to give talented high school and college students an opportunity to play with outstanding conductors and study classical music.
Levitt Pavilion is in Memorial Park which is located at the corner of Raymond Ave. and Walnut St., Pasadena.  The concert is sponsored by the Pasadena Senior Center.

The one, the only...Elvis!

Aug. 1—Elvis!,  embodied by Harry Shahoian, probably the most popular act of all our local summer concerts in the park, returns to his hometown, Sierra Madre, for his 7th appearance. Shahoian’s act has been a hit since he started in Las Vegas in 2000.  Our “Elvis” leaves immediately following the Concert in the Park to head for the Golden Nugget where he has accepted a booking into the Rush Lounge. 

The Sierra Madre program is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Sierra Madre. The Club will  offer food and refreshments. Picnicking, of course, but alcohol is prohibited.  The show starts at 6:00 p.m.   Memorial Park, 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. Free.