Los Angeles Master Chorale Celebrates the Holidays

Get a Handel on this: The Blogger Kid and I visited the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Wednesday night to check out a holiday tradition I've long been intrigued by: The Handel's Messiah Sing-Along. And indeed, it was a fascinating experience to be standing in Disney Hall as hundreds of people around you sang "For unto us a child is born" and of course, the famous "Hallelujah" chorus.

Conducted by music director Grant Gershon, the Los Angeles Master Chorale impressed with tenor Arnold Livingston Geis, bass Chung Uk Lee, mezzo soprano Nike St. Clair and soprano Zanaida Robles. But the star of the show was the audience, of course, and this crowd came to sing -- many of them clutching their own ear-torn copies of "Messiah."

Copies of the music to sing along were $10, but the Blogger Kid and I decided to forgo singing the songs and just soak it in. We couldn't stay too long -- it was a school night, after all -- but I'm glad to have experienced it and share it with the kid.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale's Christmas celebration continues this Saturday, Dec. 14, with a "Festival of Carols." (That also is a bit of a sing-along, and boasts well-known, famous holiday tunes.) And on Sunday, Dec. 15, it's the non-sing-along version of "Handel: Messiah." Ticket details here.

ONE MONTH UNTIL THE GREAT LOS ANGELES WALK!

I don't want to alarm anyone, but the Great Los Angeles Walk 2012 is coming fast and furious! We're only a month out now from the annual event -- named one of the best of LA by LA Weekly!

As you probably know by now, we're meeting on the steps of the Walt Disney Concert Hall at 9 a.m. on Saturday, November 17, and then walking down Temple, up Virgil and through Melrose (and then, Santa Monica Boulevard) on the way to the ocean.

Keep checking the website (GreatLAWalk.com to make sure you have all the details. And go RSVP on our Facebook page as well.

Children's Film Festival Returns to the Redcat

The Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT) brings back its annual International Children's Film Festival starting this Saturday, March 26, and continuing through April 17.

Tix are just $5 per screening; we took Evan to the event two years ago for a screening of shorts (read about our experience here), and noted at the time that it was truly the "only film festival where crying, talking and sleeping during a movie is deemed acceptable behavior."

More details on this year:

Presented by CalArts in partnership with Northwest Film Forum, the festival features four weekends of mind-expanding programs of short films from around the globe made by acclaimed filmmakers and up-and-coming auteurs alike. More than 100 works of wondrous animation and exhilarating live-action have been hand-selected and grouped into programs designed for children as young as two years of age by festival curator Elizabeth Sheperd.

This audience favorite offers a treasure trove of enchanting programs for tiny tots, chills and thrills for adventurous older viewers, and films sure to inspire the whole family. Festival highlights include new animation from China curated by acclaimed animator Joe Chang, emerging talents of indigenous filmmakers from around the world, and a very special Nick Family Fun Day on Sunday, March 27, 2011.

Tix are $5 per screening; I definitely recommend. Check out the schedule here.

Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater
631 West 2nd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213 237-2800

FRANKLIN AVENUE CONTEST: A Chanticleer Christmas

Contest time again... this time, we've got two tix to see "A Chanticleer Christmas," part of the "Deck the Hall - Holiday Concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall" series.

Show takes place this Thursday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m.

Called the “orchestra of voices,” the Grammy-winning Chanticleers are pretty popular this time of year, as they perform an eclectic mix of Christmas music. More info here.

Wanna go? Just email us at franklin_avenue(at)yahoo(dot)com. In his inaugural run as prize picker, the Blogger Baby 2.0 will select our winner!

Deck the Walt Disney Concert Hall

The folks at the L.A. Phil have been great in passing out free tix to Franklin Avenue readers, so I agreed to pass this info along from them:

Celebrate the holidays in style with L.A.’s latest tradition at Walt Disney Concert Hall. December 9-31, 2009 – seven performances to choose from! Events include: Holiday Organ Spectacular, Handel's Messiah, A Chanticleer Christmas, Holiday Sing-Along, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and New Year's Eve with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

For tickets and more information, visit LAPhil.com/deckthehall.

Meanwhile, we're also planning this year to finally make it down to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Christmas Eve to check out the 50th annual Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration.

The six-hour, completely free event (audience members are allowed to come and go as they please) is an L.A. tradition, and features more than 40 different performing groups from across the county. PBS outfit KCET also airs the event live.

FRANKLIN AVENUE CONTEST: See the L.A. Phil This Wednesday

The LA Phil presents the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra this Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Want tix? Simply email us at franklin_avenue(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Details:

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Philharmonia Chorale, Bruce Lamott, director

America ’s top period orchestra celebrates one of England’s greatest composers; this marks the Walt Disney Concert Hall debut of internationally acclaimed Texas mezzo Susan Graham.

For tickets and info go here.

FRANKLIN AVENUE CONTEST: L.A. Phil This Friday

No Halloween party on Friday night? How about a little class for your evening... we've got a pair of tickets to see Christoph Eschenbach conduct the LA Philharmonic in Dvorák on Friday night, Oct. 30.

Details:

LA Phil Presents Eschenbach Conducts Dvorák – Oct 29-Nov 1 at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Featured Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
Christian Tetzlaff, violin

Progam:
DVOŘÁK Carnival Overture
SZYMANOWSKI Violin Concerto No. 1
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”

A fresh take on the beloved “New World” Symphony follows the bizarre dream-like imagery and sensuality of Szymanowski’s
First Violin Concerto.

Email us at franklin_avenue(at)yahoo(dot)com -- we'll pick the winner at random. Good luck!

Zubin Mehta/Vienna Philharmonic Tix: We Have a Winner!

We have a winner! Franklin Avenue reader Daphne Wang will be in the audience as Zubin Mehta leads the Vienna Philharmonic -- long considered one of the world's best orchestras -- this week at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Featured artists also include Lang Lang (piano) and Angela Maria Blasi (soprano).

The Blogger Toddler picked Daphne out of a hat filled with everyone's names. She appears to be a pretty good choice; here was her email to us:

I'm a doctoral student in violin performance and have been trying to find ways to go to this very concert. But of course, starving music students can't really afford to go see the Vienna Phil so... if I won the tickets, I'd be SO happy!

Congrats, Daphne! And thanks to everyone who entered -- we had a huge response. More contests to come!

Maria's Thursday Three

(Flickr pic by ruimin84.)

1. The Walt Disney Concert Hall Rooftop: Add this to your list of free things to do in L.A. The roof is a pleasant spot to spend some time on a weekend, as you're surrounded by beautiful trees and plants, a mosaic flower fountain and a children's amphitheater. With benches and small tables scattered around, I'm always thinking about going there with a picnic lunch.

2. The Black Apple: One of my favorite artists from Etsy is The Black Apple's Emily Martin. She captures a perfect blend of melancholy and groove in her art. Consider getting this print or this one.

3. "Lost": It was satisfying seeing Desmond make contact with Penny, despite that crazy radioactive time travel plot bend. Do Sun and Jin round out the Oceanic Six? And are Desmond and baby Aaron the seventh and eight survivors? Does evil Ben count?

FRANKLIN AVENUE CONTEST: Grizzly Bear with the L.A. Phil

Check out Brooklyn-based quartet Grizzly Bear, featuring the Los Angeles Philharmonic, at Walt Disney Concert Hall on March 1.

Here's the write-up:

Brooklyn's lo-fi atmospheric quartet, Grizzly Bear, co-headlines with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in an awe-inspiring yet intimate evening of sensory immersion. The first half features the orchestra playing selections hand-picked by Grizzly Bear and the LA Phil, reflecting classical music's influence on the band's sound. Grizzly Bear's full set follows, showcasing their dreamy melodies, adventurous instrumentation and seductive vocal harmonies.

More details here.

Want a pair of tix? Drop a line to our Franklin Avenue e-mail, and Blogger Toddler will choose a name at random. Thanks for reading!

The Only Film Festival Where Crying, Talking and Sleeping During a Movie Is Deemed Acceptable Behavior

(Flickr pic by Stephanie Asher.)

As I wrote last week, we took Blogger Toddler to his first-ever movie featival this weekend.


Crowd at the REDCAT

The Third Annual International Children's Film Festival at the Walt Disney Concert Hall's REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) gallery features films geared toward a wide range of kids. We attended the entry "Four-Legged, Finned and Furry Friends," a series of animal-themed animated shorts geared toward kids three and up.

The shorts were mostly cute -- some educational, most humorous. Some had no dialogue; most others were in English. (Just one -- a fun entry from Sweden -- was subtitled.) The hour-long show was just the right length: Evan (and virtually every other kid in the room) was starting to get antsy at the end. Evan's not a big fan of dark theaters; with a crowd so young, I'm surprised they didn't keep the lights dim.

Lucky for us, we found street parking for free; otherwise, parking is $8 at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Screenings are $5 and continue over the next two weekends. ("Four Legged, Finned and Furry Friends" next runs on March 1 at noon.)


REDCAT lounge