Home » Stories » Lara Downes & Hila Plitmann at Comunity makes LA Weekly's '12 best music shows this week in L.A.'

Stories for June 18, 2019

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    With a wonderfully singable libretto 'The Thirteenth Child' ensnares the listener's heart / Voix des Arts
     
    Posted At : June 18, 2019 12:00 AM

    Adapted from Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm's story ‘Die zwölf Brüder,' Danish composer Poul Ruder's two-act opera The Thirteenth Child is a setting of an atmospheric, wonderfully singable libretto by Becky and David Starobin, the founders of Bridge Records. Under their guidance, this world-première recording, the release of which coincides with the opening of the opera's inaugural production at Santa Fe Opera on 27 July 2019, gives the opera a truly memorable début. The vocal music conducted by David Starobin and the superlative playing of the Odense Symfoniorkester, by which ensemble The Thirteenth Child was commissioned in partnership with Santa Fe Opera, led in Act One by Starobin and in Act Two by Benjamin Shwartz, there is not one passage of the score that seems haphazardly paced. The opera advances with cinematic celerity that incites both Starobin and Shwartz to conducting of gripping urgency. Throughout the performance, maintaining the intelligibility of the text is paramount. The result of this concentration on the impact of the words is a drama that ensnares the listener's heart. READ THE FULL Voix des Arts REVIEW p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px}

  • Sarah McKenzie returns to KWMR: Point Reyes Station CA for an interview w/The French Touch
     
    Posted At : June 18, 2019 12:00 AM

    Berklee College of Music scholarship student Sarah McKenzie simply loves making music. She enjoys the composition process and her extensive international travel is a significant inspiration for her lyric writing. McKenzie writes original songs that pay tribute to lots of people. On her list are Wayne Shorter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Michel Legrand and George Gershwin. This makes her hard to categorize. She also admires a number of women musicians, and includes the legendary Marian McPartland as an early inspiration. After the great success of her 2017 disc, Paris in the Rain(Impulse! Records), the 31-year-old pianist, singer, composer returns with the poignant, Secrets of My Heart, reuniting with noted Australian composer, arranger, and events music director, Chong Lim, who produced her first two discs – Don't Tempt Me and Close Your Eyes. Recorded in New York City, Secrets of My Heart exudes cosmopolitan flair with its lineup that includes French bassist Pierre Boussaguet and Brazilian percussionist Rogerio Bocattoalongside guitarist Dan Wilson, drummer Donald Edwards, vibraphonist Warren Wolf,tenor saxophonist Troy Roberts, and cellist Jody Redhage Ferber(all of whom based in the United States). McKenzie who interviewed with KWMR: Point Reyes Station CA during her Spring west coast road trip returns for a segment with KWMR's The French Touch, a show that presents French pop music from France, Quebec, Belgium and other French speaking countries, with your host Emmanuel. Listen to the attached interview.

  • THE REHEARSAL STUDIO is impressed by the freshness and immediacy of PARTCH - Sonata Dementia
     
    Posted At : June 18, 2019 12:00 AM

    There are times that I feel as if the phrase "American original" has been invoked so often across such a diversity of sources that it has become trivialized. Composers representative of that epithet on this site easily include Charles Ives, John Cage, Lou Harrison, Henry Cowell, and, for that matter, Edgard Varèse, who moved from France to the United States in December of 1915 and turned away from his traditional training in Paris almost immediately. Nevertheless, there are several ways in which Harry Partch has his own personal distinctions. One of them involves the nine years he spent as a hobo during the height of the Great Depression. Another led to his approach to just intonation that differed significantly from Harrison's pursuits and ultimately resulted in an ensemble of invented instruments to accommodate a division of the octave into 43 unequal intervals. A little over a week ago, Bridge released the third volume in its series. As might be expected, there is considerable overlap when it comes to the pieces being performed. Nevertheless, this series is the latest to involve a contemporary ensemble committed to providing faithful accounts of Partch's music without the benefit of direct contact with the composer. In spite of the wealth of archival material, there are three selections being recorded for the first time. One of these, "Sonata Dementia," provides the title for the album. Another, "Windsong," is the original version of what would eventually become "Daphne of the Dunes." That original version was written for a film made by Madeline Tourtelot; and "Daphne" would later emerge as an expansion of the score for a dance-drama. Finally, there is the first release of a "bonus track" of Partch himself playing what has become one of his best-known compositions, "Barstow," as a solo performance at the Eastman School of Music in 1942. While the historian in me has been drawn to all of that archival material that began to emerge after Partch's death, I definitely laud the commitment of a present-day ensemble to keep the composer's music alive through both concert performances and recordings. I first encountered PARTCH on the Color Theory album released by the PRISM Quartet in the spring of 2017. However, the Sonata Dementia album provided my first opportunity to listen to the group perform compositions by its namesake. I have been impressed by the freshness of the groups immediacy, which interleaves with Partch's "original spirit" without making too much of a show of itself. Perhaps it is time for me to look into the two preceding volumes! p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} READ THE FULL REHEARSAL STUDIO REVIEW

  • Ludovico Einaudi trio on PRI - Echoes
     
    Posted At : June 17, 2019 12:00 AM

    On March 15 Ludovico Einaudi released the first episode of a seven-part new album called Seven Days Walking (Decca Records/Universal), before embarking on a North American tour at the end of May. Recorded in September and October 2018 in Schloss Elmau (Germany) and Air Studios in London (England), Seven Days Walking happens as seven episodes modeled after the days in a week, one episode a month through September. A physical box set of all seven albums will be released in December. Each episode focuses on several main themes, which recur in different forms; seven variations following the same imaginary itinerary.  Einaudi's Seven Days Walking Tour hit select North American cities on May 31 and first shows will take place at New York City's Carnegie Hall (June 4), Philadelphia Kimmel Center (June 1), San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall (June 14), and Los Angeles's Walt Disney Hall (June 16).  Over the years, Ludovico has had a couple of Echoes 'CD of the Month' Picks and has appeared live on the show on four previous occasions.  Today, Echoes welcomes him back for his fifth appearance and his first time in our home at Echoes, to promote the new album - Seven Days Walking, a 7 CD set of deep chamber works for piano, violin and cello.  

    Listen Live Tonight p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px}

  • Anna Shelest 'Donna Voce' is the KDFC: Album Of the Week
     
    Posted At : June 17, 2019 12:00 AM

    Anna Shelest's first release featuring virtuosic repertoire by women composers from the last three centuries is called 'Donna Voce.'  The program sheds light on the under-explored territory of piano repertoire and makes the case that the music of female composers, many of whom were virtuoso pianists, is as relevant today as the music of their male counterparts. The Ukrainian-born, New York City-based pianist, performs selections by Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Cecile Chaminade, Amy Beach, Lili Boulanger and Chiayu Hsu. For June 17, Anna Shelest 'Donna Voce' is the KDFC: San Francisco 'Album Of the Week' p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px}

  • Anna Shelest 'Donna Voce' is the KUSC: Album Of the Week
     
    Posted At : June 17, 2019 12:00 AM

    Anna Shelest's first release featuring virtuosic repertoire by women composers from the last three centuries is called 'Donna Voce.'  The program sheds light on the under-explored territory of piano repertoire and makes the case that the music of female composers, many of whom were virtuoso pianists, is as relevant today as the music of their male counterparts. The Ukrainian-born, New York City-based pianist, performs selections by Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Cecile Chaminade, Amy Beach, Lili Boulanger and Chiayu Hsu. For June 17, Anna Shelest 'Donna Voce' is the KUSC: Los Angeles 'Album Of the Week'   p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px}

  • Don Was sits in at Tedeschi Trucks Tokyo show / Live For Live Music
     
    Posted At : June 15, 2019 12:00 AM

    On Friday night, Tedeschi Trucks Band opened up their three-night run at Tokyo, Japans' Tokyo Dome City Hall with an electric performance, which featured a guest sit-in from acclaimed record executive, producer, and musician, Don Was. The band opened up their one-set show with "High Times", which was followed up by TTB originals "Do I Look Worried" and "Don't Know What It Means". Moving forward, the 12-piece ensemble offered up a trio of covers with The Box Tops‘ "The Letter", Bob Dylan‘s "Down In The Flood", and Willie Nelson‘s "Somebody Pick Up My Pieces". Tedeschi Trucks band continued on with setlist staples "High & Mighty", "Part Of Me", and "Midnight In Harlem", which was followed up by a cover of Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Pity The Fool". TTB brought their set to a close with "I Want More". READ / LISTEN via Live For Live Music

Top 10 for Jun

  • Laurence Hobgood :

    t e s s e t e r r a

     The Laurence Hobgood Trio with string quartet ETHEL "Two impressive things stand out: how enormous his arrangements make the string quartet sound, and how fluidly these seven musicians blend together.
  • Keith Jarrett :

    J.S. Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier, LIVE

     In February 1987, Keith Jarrett recorded, on piano, the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach.
  • Chloe Flower :

    Get What U Get

     After sending shockwaves through the socialsphere following her electrifying performance alongside Cardi B at the 2019 Grammy Awards, high-energy performance pianist Chloe Flower releases her first-ever original single on Sony Music Masterworks.
  • Angelique Kidjo :

    Celia

     On April 19, Angélique Kidjo will release Celia (Verve/Universal Music France), an album that honors Celia Cruz, widely known as "the Queen of Salsa" and the most popular Latin artist of the 20thcentury.
  • Camila Meza :

    Ambar

     Today, multitalented vocalist, songwriter and instrumentalist Camila Meza releases her debut album on Sony Music Masterworks, Ámbar.
  • Luciano Pavarotti :

    PAVAROTTI OMP

     From the filmmaking team behind the highly-acclaimed documentary The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years, PAVAROTTI is a riveting film that lifts the curtain on the icon who brought opera to the people.
  • Radical Face :

    Therapy

     "Hello, Hope, it's been a while," go the opening lines of "Dead Ends", the centerpiece of Ben Cooper's latest EP as Radical Face.
  • Seth MacFarlane :

    Once In A While

     Seth MacFarlane will release his fifth album Once In A While (Verve and Republic) digitally, and the physical CD will be available on April 26th.
  • Philip Bailey :

    Billy Jack from 'Love Will Find A Way'

     For over 50 years, Earth Wind and Fire provided the soundtrack to the lives of many.
  • The Stan Getz Quartet :

    Getz at The Gate

     On November 26, 1961, saxophonist Stan Getz and his relatively new quartet of Steve Kuhn, John Neves, and Roy Haynes performed at New York's Village Gate.

Lara Downes & Hila Plitmann at Comunity makes LA Weekly's '12 best music shows this week in L.A.'

Posted: May 17, 2019 12:00 AM | By: Admin
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On her latest album, Holes in the Sky, pianist Lara Downes surrounds herself with an impressive lineup of special guests who help her cover music from across a variety of genres by such disparate women composers as Janis Ian, Clara Schumann, Georgia Stitt, Eve Beglarian, Joni Mitchell and Paola Prestini. Folk legend Judy Collins anoints the piano reverie "Albatross" with her trademark vocal grace, and Carolina Chocolate Drops' Rhiannon Giddens imbues Downes' spare, flickering piano accents with an intimate, jazzy warmth. Downes' other collaborators include Leyla McCalla, Alicia Hall Moran, and soprano Hila Plitmann, who was an eerie presence at L.A. Phil's 2017 presentation of Annie Gosfield's War of the Worlds. At Comunity, Plitmann joins the pianist for a celebration of the new album - and of the spirit of women musicians - that includes performers from the Colburn School.
-Falling James

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Crossover Media Projects with Lara Downes

  • Lara Downes

    Holes In the Sky

    On March 1, 2019, American pianist Lara Downes releases her new album, Holes in the Sky, on Portrait, an imprint of the Sony Music Masterworks label.

    Holes in the Sky is a genre-fluid collection of music written and performed by today's leading female artists, celebrating the contributions of phenomenal women to the past, present, and future of American music.

    The music of Holes in the Sky tells the story of what women and girls can contribute to the world when they are given a chance - their dreams can make holes in the sky. Lara collaborates with an extraordinary multi-generational group of female guest artists on this album, including the iconic singer / songwriter Judy Collins, boundary-breaking violinist Rachel Barton Pine, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, fast-rising cellist Ifetayo Ali-Landing, and the urban youth vocal ensemble Musicality.

    The album is presented in direct support of PLAN International Because I Am A Girl, bolstering the rights and empowerment of girls and young women around the globe; Women's Empowerment in Sacramento, ending homelessness one woman - and one family - at a time; the Downtown Women's Center in Los Angeles, a permanent and supportive housing and healthcare provider for women; Girls on the Run in Spokane, teaching life skills through fun, engaging lessons that celebrate the joy of movement; and the Lower East Side Girls Club, breaking the cycle of poverty by training the next generation of ethical, entrepreneurial, and environmental leaders.

  • Lara Downes

    for lenny

    Lara Downes' new album For Lenny celebrates the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein with a special friends-and-family tribute to the man behind the music. The recording features Bernstein's aptly-named Anniversaries for Piano, new arrangements of his songs, and world premieres of works dedicated to Bernstein by leading American composers including Stephen Sondheim, John Corigliano, and Stephen Schwartz. The album is introduced by an essay from acclaimed writer Adam Gopnik.

  • Lara Downes

    America Again

    Pianist Lara Downes releases a solo album, America Again, worldwide on Sono Luminus on October 28, 2016. The album's title is taken from Langston Hughes' poem, Let America Be America Again, written in 1938. America Again features twenty pieces selected by Downes that explore the elusive but essential American dream, written by composers including Duke Ellington, Lou Harrison, Morton Gould, Amy Beach, George Gershwin, Angélica Negrón, Dan Visconti, Leonard Bernstein, Scott Joplin, Irving Berlin, Florence Price, Aaron Copland, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and more.

    26 NEW  67 TOTAL
    SYND:     NPR/First Listen, Classical 24, CBC
    Direct: SiriusXM, MOOD, AccuRadio
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Portland, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Denver, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Austin, Hartford, KS(Network), IN(Network), IA(Network), Canada 
    Online: The Rehearsal Studio, Second Inversion, Passion Musique et Culture, I CARE IF YOU LISTEN, therumpus, Sacramento Bee  

  • Lara Downes

    A Billie Holiday Songbook

    In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Billie Holiday's birth, Lara Downes releases: A Billie Holiday Songbook on Steinway & Sons Records, A personal tribute to this sensitive, timeless icon of American music.Radiant. Intimate.

    Lara Downes grew up listening to Holiday's recordings with her father, born and raised in Harlem. Trained in the conservatories of San Francisco, Paris, Vienna and New York, Downes acknowledges that Holiday's singing has been a lifelong influence. "As a musician, I learned from Billie Holiday to make something completely personal when you make music," she says. "something that is completely your own - maybe something unexpected, something indefinable, perhaps complicated, but beautiful. To take a chance. As the song says: "But beautiful to take a chance, and if you fall, you fall. And I'm thinking I wouldn't mind at all."

    20 NEW   49 Total
    SYND:     PRI/Classical 24
    Direct: Music Choice
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Houston, Austin, St. Louis, Baltimore, New Orleans, Madison WI, Canada
    Online: Taintradio, Classical Candor, AXS, Party934

  • Lara Downes

    13 WAYS of Looking at the Goldberg

    In June of 1955, Glenn Gould made his groundbreaking recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations for Columbia Records, rescuing the Goldbergs from obscurity in one of the most significant classical recordings of a generation. Critically acclaimed pianist Lara Downes will be breaking ground of her own when Tritone Records releases her new CD 13 WAYS of Looking at the Goldberg, a fascinating new take on Bach's masterpiece. In an extraordinary coincidence of fate and timing, Lara's recording of her new Goldberg project took place over the same four days in June as Gould's historic 1955 sessions.

    11 New 'ON' this week: 93 Total
    Synd: NPR/Sunday Baroque, The Romantic Hours, PRI/Classical 24, Harmonia, Galaxy
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Seattle, Atlanta, Baltimore, St. Louis, Houston, Cincinnati, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, Berkeley CA, San Antonio, Louisville, Purto Rico
    Online: Live 365, RadioIO, Taintradio, Crystal Ball Report
  • Lara Downes

    Exiles Cafe

    Pianist Lara Downes is known for her fusing of rare pianistic sensitivity and evocative, thought-provoking concepts. Her latest album, Exiles' Café-released on the Steinway & Sons label [30016] -- is the result of a moment of inspiration after hearing a lovely little piece entitled Tango from the Exiles' Café. Downes fantasized about this café and created a narrative around it, which she describes as "both real and metaphorical." This album captures the pain, nostalgia, and freedom that are indelibly tied to this state of being-in exile. Featuring miniature works by composers such as Chopin, Milhaud, Bartok, Weill, and including a premiere work by Mohammed Fairouz, Exiles' Café goes beyond an examination of what is to be in exile, to consider the inspiration exiled composers drew from the musical communities they found in their new homes. Because in this sense, the exiles cafes were actual places – there were indeed such locations throughout history to which composers and musicians gravitated and found each other, and they and their music were influenced accordingly.

    17 New 'ON'   183 Total
    SYND:     PRI/Classical 24, The Romantic Hours
    Direct: SiriusXM, Music Choice, MOOD, Spafax
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Wash DC, Dallas, Houston, Cleveland, Atlanta, St. Louis, Seattle, Minneapolis, Portland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Denver, New Orleans, San Antonio, Memphis, Columbus OH, Buffalo, Louisville, Madison WI, Honolulu
    Online: Taintradio, RadioIO, WGOE