New West Symphony

The New West Symphony inspires passion for symphonic music through live performances and education initiatives that engage and enrich our diverse audiences. Learn more on our website newwestsymphony.org or call 866-776-8400.

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Press Release: Winners of New West Symphony Quick Bowman Piano Competition Announced

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – May 5, 2017) — In the only professional piano competition held annually in Ventura County, Man-Ling Bai and Rosalind Wan Wong have been named the adult co-winners of the New West Symphony Quick Bowman Piano Competition.   Youth competition winners were Jocelyn Chen, Leo Jergovic and Claire Hou.

The Quick Bowman Piano Competition was created by Henry and LaReine Quick in 1990 to give local youth an opportunity to perform before judges and be awarded for their participation. This year’s winners received cash awards and will be given performance opportunities throughout the year and instruction by world class pianists at masterclasses. Participants came from throughout California, with competition and performances held on the campus of California Lutheran University.

“It was amazing to see how much the caliber of the competitors has risen since last year,” said James Lent, head judge for the competition.  “It was a very strong first year for the adult category and I’m very pleased with the winners that we found. I think having the adult competition alongside the youth winners’ recital was very inspiring for the kids from the youth division to have this accomplished group of pianists to look up to and aspire to.”

Both adult co-winners were no strangers to competition and public performance. Bai has won first prize in many competitions including the Southern Adventist Concerto Competition, the Carmel Music Society Biennial Piano Competition, and the Lansum Piano International Competition. An avid composer as well, her compositions have been performed on television shows in Taiwan such as “Young Composer Prodigy.”

Wong’s career includes solo and chamber recitals at such performance halls as Segerstrom Hall, Royce Hall, Hammer Museum, J. Paul Getty Museum, LACMA Bing Theater, Aspen Physics Center, Maybeck Performing Arts Center, and Schoenberg Hall. She will receive her doctorate this year from the University of California, Los Angeles.

The full list of winners:

Adult – first place Man-Ling Bai and Rosalind Wan Wong.  Third place Evelyn Lee.

Age 15-17 – first place Jocelyn Chen, second place Davina Lin; third place Jonathan Po.

Age 11-14 – first place Leo Jergovic; second place Dylan Lee and Andre Nguyen; third place Nathan Park and Daniel Wang.

Age 7-10 – first place Claire Hou; second place Gabriela-Zoe Chao; third place Jake Liu

“Encouraging and inspiring youth to have an appreciation for the beauty of music is central to the mission of the New West Symphony,” said Executive Director Natalia Staneva.  “All of the participants in this year’s competition displayed a love for music that we hope will last a lifetime.  We saw a lot of talent on the stage and look forward to hearing about their ongoing achievements for years to come.”

About the New West Symphony

Founded in 1995, the New West Symphony is a professional orchestra that draws its players from the rich talent pool of professional Los Angeles-area musicians. The Symphony is the resident company of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, the Oxnard Performing Arts Center and Barnum Hall in Santa Monica.  It presents six Masterpiece Series concerts annually and provides a number of educational opportunities for local youth through its annual Symphonic Adventures concerts, its traveling Music Van, and the Harmony Project of Ventura County.  For more information go to newwestsymphony.org and follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/newwestsymphony.

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Learn about Beethoven’s “Emperor” Piano Concerto, Haydn’s Symphony No. 104, and Rossini’s Overture to La scala di seta before the New West Symphony’s Emperor concert May 11-13, 2017. These program notes were written by Richard E. Rodda, Ph.D. and narrated by Jeff Baker. Tickets available at www.newwestsymphony.org. 

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Press Release: GRAMMY Winner Garrick Ohlsson Debuts with New West Symphony

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – April 17, 2017) — GRAMMY Award® winner Garrick Ohlsson makes his New West Symphony debut performing Beethoven’s “Emperor” Piano Concerto with the New West Symphony. Guest Conductor Fawzi Haimor will also lead the orchestra in Rossini’s Overture to La Scala di Seta and Haydn’s Symphony No. 104. Performances will be held on May 11-13, 2017 in Santa Monica, Oxnard and Thousand Oaks.

Pianist Garrick Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. Ohlsson is the only American to have won the International Chopin Competition, and he is well known for his huge repertoire and mastery of the works of Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire. He won a GRAMMY® Award in 2008 for his recording of the complete Beethoven sonatas, and he has received many other prestigious awards including the Avery Fisher Prize, first prize in the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition, first prize in the Montreal Piano Competition, and the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance.

Fawzi Haimor has been recently announced as Music Director Designate of Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen. Haimor recently completed his tenure as Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Haimor has recently made debuts with NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and New Mexico Philharmonic among others. He earned bachelor’s degrees in both music and neurobiology, a master’s degree in conducting from the University of California-Davis, and a second master’s in instrumental conducting at Indiana University.

“It’s a great pleasure to be conducting ‘Emperor’ with Garrick Ohlsson,” said guest conductor Fawzi Haimor. “In a world filled with so many amazing pianists, Garrick is a visionary. I’m also very excited to perform Haydn’s Symphony 104. Haydn’s compositions create an opportunity for the conductor to put their own personal stamp on the piece so this will be a very special and unique performance. The Overture to La scala di seta is also a great piece with a lot of virtuosic parts for the oboe and provides a platform to showcase the amazing talents of the New West Symphony orchestra.”

Performances will be held on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 8pm at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica (1310 11th St); Friday, May 12, 2017 at 8pm at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center (800 Hobson Way); and Saturday, May 13, 2017 at 8pm at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza (2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd.). Tickets are $30-$120 and are available at www.newwestsymphony.org or by calling [phone].

Concerto No. 5 for Piano and Orchestra in E-flat major, Op. 73, “Emperor” by Ludwig van Beethoven

The “Emperor” is the largest in scale of all Beethoven’s concertos, and the last one he would finish. The Concerto No. 5 was composed in 1809 amidst an invasion by Napoleon that left Beethoven with a profound sense of misery. In spite of the unpromising circumstances that surrounded its composition, the majestic “Emperor” Concerto is a virtuosic piece with full chordal textures and a wide dynamic range that make it one of the most difficult concertos ever written.

Overture to La scala di seta by Gioacchino Rossini

La scala di seta (“The Silken Ladder”) is a one-act comic farce composed in 1812 that deals with the complications of a secret marriage in which the secret husband Dorvil uses the silken ladder of the opera's title to climb to the chamber of his wife, Giulia. It is no wonder that this miniature masterwork has continued to be a popular piece in modern concert repertoire as Rossini’s orchestral ingenuity sparkles throughout the Overture to La scala di seta, with a bubbling main theme and ending with whirling high spirits and festive brilliance.

Symphony No. 104 in D major, “London” by Joseph Haydn

The magisterial symphonies Haydn composed for his two visits to England were the first compositions made after his release from his three decades of work for the Esterházy family in 1790. Haydn made two astoundingly productive trips to England, composing six symphonies from January 1791 to June 1792, and six more symphonies during his visit in February 1794, which also lasted for a year and a half. The last of the works that Haydn composed there, the “London” Symphony opens with perhaps the most solemn introduction to be found anywhere in Haydn’s instrumental works, with stern, unison, minor-mode proclamations of open intervals alternating with hushed passages of deeply affective harmonies. It has been suggested that the Andante’s strong expression of turbulent emotional territory was Haydn’s musical elegy to his departed friend and colleague, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who died in 1791.

About the New West Symphony

Founded in 1995, the New West Symphony is a professional orchestra that draws its players from the rich talent pool of professional Los Angeles-area musicians. The Symphony is the resident company of the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, and Barnum Hall in Santa Monica.  It presents six Masterpiece Series concerts annually, performing major works from the symphonic repertoire with internationally-acclaimed artists as guest soloists.  It also provides quality outreach and educational opportunities for the communities it serves through its annual Symphonic Adventures concert programs for youth, its traveling Music Van, and its New West Symphony Harmony Project of Ventura. More information is available at www.newwestsymphony.org or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/newwestsymphony.

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Learn about Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Poulenc’s Gloria before the New West Symphony’s Fantastique concert April 7 & 8, 2017. These program notes were written by Richard E. Rodda, Ph.D. and narrated by Jeff Baker.  

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Press Release: New West Symphony Partners with Carnegie Hall to Present Concerts for Students and Families

In collaboration with Carnegie Hall, the New West Symphony presents “The Orchestra Rocks” student and family concerts on March 1, 2, and 5. Carnegie Hall’s LINK UP Program, The Orchestra Rocks, emphasizes rhythm and involves participation by 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students. The New West Symphony and Carnegie Hall have provided course materials for 5,200 students, and have partnered with 200 teachers in 16 Ventura County school districts to provide music instruction. Students have been preparing to clap/stomp, sing or play recorder from the audience for the rare opportunity to perform with the professional New West Symphony orchestra.

“Teachers and principals have been very grateful for the new program and the resources provided by the New West Symphony and Carnegie Hall that are allowing them to teach music in the classroom,” said Karen Gatchel, education programs manager with New West Symphony. Ms. Gatchel has personally recruited and trained all participating teachers, and for many this was their first experience teaching music.

The works being performed include Thomas Cabaniss’ Come to Play, Giuseppe Verdi’s Anvil Chorus from Il trovatore, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Finale from Symphony No. 4, Igor Stravinsky’s Dance of the Adolescents from The Rite of Spring, Carl Orff’s O Fortuna from Carmina Burana, Gustave Holst’s Mars and Jupiter from The Planets, and Thomas Cabaniss’ Drumlines.

Joining the New West Symphony orchestra for the program will be actor Jeffrey Scott Parsons as Master of Ceremonies, three lead singers from the New West Symphony Staff – Allie Leslie, Rebecca Madigan and Emma Pell, a balalaika player, and the Oxnard High School Drumline.   

Performances

Symphonic Adventures, performances of The Orchestra Rocks for students and teachers only, will be held on Wednesday, March 1st at Oxnard Performing Arts Center at 10:00 am and 11:30 am, and on Thursday, March 2nd at Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza at 10:00 am and 11:30 am. These performances are closed to the public and participation has been arranged by each participating school. Press passes are available.

The Orchestra Rocks Family Concert is available to the public and will be held on Sunday, March 5th at Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza at 2:00 pm. The Orchestra Rocks Family Concert, generously sponsored by Sigrid Weidenweber, will have the same performers as Symphonic Adventures and will add the Los Robles Children’s Choir, violin soloist Kevin Miura from Colburn School, and New West Symphony’s Harmony Project of Ventura County musicians on stage. Prior to the concert, the New West Symphony Music Van, our musical ‘petting zoo’ will be setup on the Kavli Patio from 12:30-2:00 pm, where young and old can play real orchestra instruments.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for children and are available on the website at www.newwestsymphony.org or by calling [phone]. Press passes are available.

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Press Release: Harmony Project Celebration Brunch to Raise Funds for Music Education for Underserved Students in Ventura

The New West Symphony will present its second annual Harmony Project of Ventura County Celebration Brunch on February 12 at the Ventura Beach Marriott. GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter Perla Batalla will headline the event which will raise funds to support the New West Symphony Harmony Project of Ventura County, a youth development program that uses music education as a tool for social transformation among underserved students in Ventura. The New West Symphony will honor Bona and Larry Press as Supporters of the Year, the City of Ventura as Community Partner of the Year, and Montecito Bank and Trust as Business of the year. 

The Celebration Brunch will also include a special video produced in collaboration with The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. The Lennon Bus is a non-profit mobile recording studio dedicated to providing students of all ages with free hands-on opportunities to make music and produce video projects. The Lennon Bus team will work with 8 Harmony Project students to produce this video in their fully equipped professional music and video studio.

 The New West Symphony Harmony Project of Ventura County is a tuition-free after-school program that provides quality music instruction to children from low-income families who would not otherwise have access to a music education. The program currently serves 160 students in Ventura from third grade through their high school graduation. 

“Harmony Project is committed to strengthening our community through music,” said Harmony Project Director Andrea Landin. “This event will help raise awareness and funds to sustain our program and allow us to reach more children. We currently have 40 children on the waitlist and would love to be able extend a music education to all who want to join. Our students and teachers are practicing hard for this special event, and we are thrilled that Perla will be joining us and sharing her talents.”

Perla Batalla is a GRAMMY-nominated vocalist, composer and arranger who first gained international attention as a backup singer for Leonard Cohen before embarking on a solo career. Batalla earned GRAMMY Nominations for her album “Mestiza” (meaning of mixed blood), and her 2007 album “Bird on the Wire,” a tribute to Leonard Cohen. She received the United Nations Earth Charter Award for extraordinary devotion to social and economic justice for her work exposing young audiences to the beauty of music and the Spanish language.

Tickets for the Harmony Project Celebration Brunch are $150 per person and can be purchased online at www.newwestsymphony.org or by calling [phone].

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KVTA Interview with guest conductor Donato Cabrera and New West Symphony’s Marketing Director Rebecca Madigan. 

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Press Release: The New West Symphony Will Honor Smokey Robinson at Fundraising Gala

The New West Symphony will honor legendary R&B singer Smokey Robinson and his wife Frances at the “Being with You” gala on January 29 at Le Méridien Delfina Santa Monica. The Robinsons will be honored for their extraordinary leadership in the entertainment industry, philanthropy and commitment to the performing arts. Proceeds from the event will support the New West Symphony’s orchestra and its community outreach and education efforts, many of which are focused on exposing children and young adults to the beauty of symphonic music.

We are honored to present the 2017 New West Symphony Bravo Award for Musical Excellence to Frances and Smokey Robinson,” said Natalia Staneva, executive director of the Symphony. “The Robinsons are well known for compassion and generosity. They have supported causes ranging from addiction recovery support, HIV & AIDS, health and human rights, to causes supporting children's health and education, which is also an important focus of the New West Symphony.”

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, GRAMMY Award® winner Smokey Robinson founded "The Miracles" and penned hits including "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" and "Tears of a Clown." Once pronounced by Bob Dylan as America's "greatest living poet," this acclaimed singer-songwriter's career spans over 4 decades of hits. During the course of his 50-year career in music, Robinson has accumulated more than 4,000 songs and continues to thrill sold-out audiences around the Smokey Robinson remains a beloved icon in our musical heritage and has received numerous awards including the Grammy Living Legend Award and the President’s National Medal of Arts Award. He has also been inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters' Hall of Fame. In November, he received "The Gershwin Prize for Popular Music," awarded by the Library of Congress.

The “Being With You” gala will begin at 6:00pm on Sunday, January 29 at the Le Méridien Delfina Santa Monica. Tickets are $300 per person and can be purchased online at www.newwestsymphony.org or by calling [phone].

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Press Release: Smokey Robinson Debuts with the New West Symphony Narrating “A Lincoln Portrait” by Aaron Copland

GRAMMY Award® winner Smokey Robinson makes his New West Symphony debut as the narrator for A Lincoln Portrait by Aaron Copland. Guest Conductor Donato Cabrera will also lead the orchestra in The Chairman Dances, ‘Foxtrot for Orchestra,’ derived from John Adam’s opera “Nixon in China,” and Symphony No. 7 by Antonin Dvořák. Performances will be held January 27-29, 2017 in Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Santa Monica.

Born and raised in Detroit, Smokey Robinson founded "The Miracles," and their single “Shop Around,” penned by Robinson, became Motown’s first #1 hit on the R&B singles chart. Once pronounced by Bob Dylan as American's "greatest living poet," this acclaimed singer-songwriter's career spans over four decades of hits such as "You've Really Got a Hold on Me," "Tears of a Clown" and “I Second That Emotion.”

Conductor Donato Cabrera makes his conducting debut with the New West Symphony as the third candidate being considered for the Symphony’s music director position.  An accomplished conductor with a global reputation for innovation and new music, Maestro Cabrera has been music director of the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra since 2014 and music director of the California Symphony since 2013. He was recently San Francisco Symphony resident conductor, working closely with famed music director Michael Tilson Thomas.

Cabrera says of the program, “The New West Symphony is an orchestra that is known for its extraordinary artistry as well as its deep connection with its audience. I’m very honored to be making music with this excellent orchestra in three pieces that play to both strengths. John Adams’s The Chairman Dances is a modern day classic written by a fellow Californian that is full of energy and vitality. Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait reminds us that the words of this great man can still have the capacity to inspire and shape our national identity and culture. Finally, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 is perhaps his greatest symphony, written at a time when Dvořák and the rest of his Czech compatriots were discovering a national identity and voice.”

Performances will be held on Friday, January 27, 2017 at 8pm at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center (800 Hobson Way); Saturday, January 28, 2017 at 8pm at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza (2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd.); and Sunday January 29, 2017 at 4pm at Barnum Hall at Santa Monica High School (600 Olympic Blvd.). Tickets are available at www.newwestsymphony.org or by calling the New West Symphony box office at [phone].

A Lincoln Portrait by Aaron Copland

Composed in 1942 soon after the US entered World War II, Copland composed the piece to convey the American spirit through the words of Abraham Lincoln. Copland deliberately chose “excerpts that seemed particularly apposite to our [wartime] situation,” wrote Copland about A Lincoln Portrait. The excerpts and quotes are timeless and are still relevant:

This is what Abe Lincoln said. "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we will save our country." [Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862]

The Chairman Dances, “Foxtrot for Orchestra” by John Adams

Composer John Adams is considered one of the greatest contemporary composers, and is also the most frequently performed living American composer according to the League of American Orchestras. The Chairman Dances (Foxtrot for Orchestra) is a by-product of Adams’ opera Nixon in China, written in 1985 and set in three days of President Nixon’s visit to Beijing. Foxtrot for Orchestra is a whimsical piece that evokes humor of a fictional scene depicting Chairman Mao and his wife as cabaret dancers like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Symphony No. 7 in D minor by Antonin Dvořák

Heavily influenced and inspired by Brahms, Antonin Dvořák composed his Symphony No. 7 in the midst of grief after losing his mother. Composed for the London Philharmonic Society, and only the second composition published of Dvořák’s works, it is widely considered to be the best symphony ever written since Beethoven. Combining his cherished and familiar Bohemian folk music with German symphonic style, Symphony No. 7 is deeply expressive and a monumental reflection of Dvořák’s personality.

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Press Release: New West Symphony Will Honor Community Leaders at Holiday Fundraiser

The New West Symphony will be honoring community leaders at its upcoming “Poinsettia Supper Club” holiday fundraiser on December 9, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Westlake. Honorees will include SAGE Publishing and Miriam Chase Wille.

SAGE Publishing is being honored for its commitment to education, a value and priority shared by the New West Symphony. Based in Thousand Oaks, SAGE has been an educational publisher since 1965, and is a strong advocate of education in communities around the globe. The SAGE journal The Neuroscientist recently published a study on the biological effects of ‘making music’ on learning, which included Harmony Project students in the study. The New West Symphony’s Harmony Project of Ventura County provides tuition-free music education to underserved children.

"SAGE Publishing and the New West Symphony share a passion for education and a mission to support educational initiatives to improve lives," said SAGE President and CEO Blaise Simqu. "The New West Symphony has supported generations of students in Ventura County and provided critical leadership for music education, which has truly enriched our community.  SAGE Publishing is honored to be recognized."

Miriam Chase Wille will also be honored at the event for her dedication to supporting the arts in Ventura County. Wille has been a devoted patron and supporter of the New West Symphony since its founding in 1995. She led the search committee for its first music director and in 2012 she provided the funding for a new music director through a $1 million gift that endowed the Symphony’s Music Director Chair, while honoring her parents by establishing the Glywn & Ruth Chase Music Director Fund. Wille has been on the Board of Directors for the Symphony and has been actively involved in the New West Symphony League, the fundraising auxiliary of the New West Symphony. Her many contributions over the years have helped to secure a vibrant future for the New West Symphony, its high-quality, live professional concerts as well as its vital education and community engagement programs.

Double GRAMMY Award® winner Jack Jones will headline the Poinsettia Supper Club and Ross Porter, former broadcaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers, will act as Master of Ceremonies. The Poinsettia Supper Club will begin at 5:30pm on Friday, December 9 at the Hyatt Regency Westlake. The evening will include a cocktail hour, dinner and live auction followed by a performance by Jack Jones. 

Tickets are $250 per person and can be purchased online at www.newwestsymphony.org or by calling [phone]. Proceeds from the event will support the New West Symphony’s orchestra and its community outreach and education efforts, many of which are focused on exposing children and young adults to the beauty of symphonic music.

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Rach 2 Rocked!

Vadym Kholodenko performs Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the New West Symphony . Photo credit: Eugene Yankevich.

The audiences in Oxnard and Thousand Oaks were overwhelmed by the sheer number of magical musical moments in the Rach 2 concert this weekend. It’s difficult to describe just how stunning Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 was, performed by global superstar Vadym Kholodenko. Vadym’s fingers seemed to dance across the keys, with a light and dexterous touch, resulting in a nuanced performance that brought out the romance in this familiar piece in the most spectacular way. The orchestra, led by guest conductor Philip Mann, masterfully complemented the soloist, responding and leading the piano in an exchange that ultimately resulted in rousing standing ovations both nights!

Maestro Philip Mann conducts The Firebird. Photo credit: Eugene Yankevich.

If that weren’t enough, the concert also featured the world premiere of Go, a New West Symphony commissioned piece by Los Angeles-based composer Adam Schoenberg. Adam joined us at the concerts and introduced his piece by saying he “wasn’t embarrassed to admit” that he was trying to musically replicate the sounds he and his son make while imitating race cars. Indeed he did, with principal string players opening the piece by making revving engine sounds you would never expect string instruments could make!

Composer Adam Schoenberg introduces Go at the New West Symphony concert on Saturday night. Photo credit: Eugene Yankevich.

To close the program, Maestro Mann conducted the orchestra in Stravinsky’s 1919 Suite from The Firebird, a memorable performance of another iconic piece that showcased the incredible talent of our orchestra members. The Firebird Suite spans emotional ranges from brooding to joyful, and not only launched Stravinsky’s career as a modern composer but hinted at the edgy and, at the time, controversial music he would later compose. The orchestra built to a hopeful and explosive finish.

Vadym Kholodenko. Photo credit: Eugene Yankevich.

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Phillip Mann, guest conductor for this weekend's concert, and New West Symphony GM Sasha Guryevich were interviewed on KTVA radio this morning. Take a listen to their fascinating conversation here. Join us for our Rach 2 concert Friday November 4th at 8:00pm at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center or Saturday November 5th at the Thousand Oaks Civic Center. Purchase tickets here.

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Press Release: Grammy Winner Jack Jones to Headline the Poinsettia Supper Club Fundraiser

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – October 31, 2016) — Double Grammy winner Jack Jones will headline the New West Symphony League’s annual Poinsettia Ball holiday fundraiser on December 9 at the Hyatt Regency Westlake. Ross Porter, former broadcaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers, will act as Master of Ceremonies for the event. Proceeds from the Poinsettia Supper Club will support the New West Symphony’s orchestra and its community outreach and education efforts, many of which are focused on exposing children and young adults to the beauty of symphonic music.

Jones has recorded more than 50 albums and his impressive credits include an international TV variety show and performances at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the London Palladium, and the White House. Jones earned two Grammys for Best Pop Male Vocal Performance for “Lollipops and Roses” in 1962 and “Wives and Lovers” in 1964. Today, Jones continues to enthrall sold-out audiences around the globe at performing arts centers, casinos and symphony halls.

“I’m thrilled to be performing at the Poinsettia Ball this year!” said Jones. “It’s exciting to have an opportunity to contribute to a great organization that does such wonderful things for music and music education in their community. This is how we keep the music playing.”

Porter is an American sportscaster who has been ranked as one of baseball's 60 all-time best announcers and is a member of the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame after 38 uninterrupted years on the air in Los Angeles. Porter is best known for his 28 seasons as a play-by-play announcer for Los Angeles Dodgers where he announced the last two Dodgers World Series titles. He has the distinction of being the only broadcaster to have been the voice of both a World Series champion (the Dodgers) and a college basketball champion (University of Nevada, Las Vegas).

This event will be the 27th annual Poinsettia Ball hosted by the New West Symphony League, the volunteer organization that provides financial support to the Symphony. The Poinsettia Supper Club will begin at 5:30pm on Friday, December 9 at the Hyatt Regency Westlake. The evening will include a cocktail hour, dinner and live auction followed by a performance by Jack Jones. Tickets are $250 per person and can be purchased online at www.newwestsymphony.org or by calling [phone].

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Press Release: NWS Honors Community Veterans with Special Performance of Stars and Stripes Conducted by Major Vu Nguyen

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – October 27, 2016) — In honor of Veterans Day, guest conductor Major Vu Q. Nguyen, Commander and Conductor of the Air National Guard Band of the West Coast, will lead the New West Symphony orchestra in a special musical presentation of “Stars and Stripes” at the top of the November 4th Rach 2 concert in Oxnard. Discounted tickets are available for veterans and their families to attend the concert, performed at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center. Discounts also apply for the Saturday, November 5th concert in Thousand Oaks.

“Music in the military has had a long tradition, going back to when the military was first formed,” said Major Nguyen. “We use music to honor and commend all the men and women who serve and have served in the military, here and abroad. Music inspires patriotism, boosts morale and esprit de corps in our troops and in the communities in which we perform.”

Based at the Channel Islands Air National Guard Station in Port Hueneme, Major Nguyen is the Conductor of the Air National Guard Band of the West Coast, attached to them 146th Air Lift Wing. He has conducted throughout the western United States and in Japan, and has received numerous awards including the California Music Educators Association's Gilbert T. Freitas Award for Achievement in Music Education. Major Nguyen earned his Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Oregon and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Washington. He has served on the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis and he is currently an assistant professor of music and director of bands at the University of Indianapolis.

“This musical presentation marks the beginning of an important community partnership and we are honored to have Major Nguyen lead the New West Symphony orchestra for the first time in recognition of Veterans Day!” said Kiren Bansal, director of business operations and development.

The Rach 2 concert will feature Van Cliburn gold medalist Vadym Kholodenko performing the title piece, Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Guest conductor Philip Mann will lead the orchestra in the program that will also include Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird and the world premiere of Go by Adam Schoenberg. The first performance will take place on Friday, November 4, 2016 at 8:00 pm at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, located at 800 Hobson Way in Oxnard. The program will be repeated on Saturday, November 5, 2016 at 8:00 pm at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.

Tickets are available at www.newwestsymphony.org or by calling 1-866-776-8400. Veterans and their families will receive 25% off tickets with the code “vets25.”*

*This offer is only available online and may not be applied to previously purchased tickets or combined with other discounts. This offer is not valid in the following sections: Founders Circle, Orchestra Center, and Mezzanine Front. 

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Interview with Composer Adam Schoenberg

We sat down with LA-based composer Adam Schoenberg to discuss his piece Go which will have it’s world premiere with the New West Symphony orchestra at its upcoming Rach 2 concert on November 4 & 5. 

Q: What was your inspiration for Go?

Adam: The original concept came from a commission for a string quartet and after that was performed it became apparent that this material could be developed into a more substantial work and become a concert opener. The initial concept for the string quartet was about horse racing. It grew from that idea into one where the instruments of the orchestra would sound like engines revving. The entire piece begins with the strings, using glissandi to sound like revving engines. From there I added more layers and lines for the orchestra, to make it more vibrant. It’s a high-energy concert opener.

Q: What is your composition process? Is it challenging for you, or are you inspired and find that the musical ideas flow easily?

Adam: I generate music through improvisation. I’ll sit down at the piano and improvise for hours and hours, and often record those improvisations. I’m not aware of myself or my surroundings; I’m in a deeper place and the music emerges from the subconscious. From these improvisations, I extract the most meaningful material, and at that point, I become the composer and architect. It’s as if I’m putting together puzzle pieces to build a musical structure. I like to have a couple of months to conceptualize. After I’ve come up with the material, it can take me 3 weeks to a few months to complete the piece.

Q: You’ve been a teacher and guest lecturer at renowned music programs around the country. What do you tell young composing students when you’re guest lecturing?

Adam: I tell them to write the music that is inside of them, the music that they fundamentally believe in. I believe it is important to stay true to who you are as a human being and then others will hopefully respond to your music.

Q: You have been the recipient of many awards and honors. What makes your compositions stand out from other modern-day composers so that orchestras such as the LA Phil and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra seek you out and commission your work?

Adam: My language/style/voice is typically described as more accessible, tonal, lyrical, and slightly more catchy, so an audience is able to take away musical concepts that they’ll enjoy on first hearing, which lures them into wanting to hear more. There is a natural accessibility to it, and I write music that I want to hear and that I ultimately like.

Q: Tell me about your film compositions.  How does that process vary from writing a classical piece?

Adam: The most genuine answer is that you have complete artistic control to express yourself in any manner, unless there is a specific tone requested by the commissioner. When scoring a film, or doing anything media related, you’re responding to the image and you are at service to the image, the director and producers. I love the collaborative aspect, and film is the greatest synthesis of all the arts. It’s so rewarding to be part of this process. One of the feature length movies that I’m most proud of is Graceland (2013), a foreign thriller.

Q: If you weren’t a composer, what would you be?

I always thought I’d be an architect or judge.  My dad’s a composer. I actually found out today that I am officially related to George and Ira Gershwin. Their grandfather was my great-great-great-great grandfather!

Q: What do you currently have in the works, and what are your goals moving forward as a composer?

Adam: I am currently writing a new piece for Jerry Junkin, eminent band director of the University of Texas Wind Ensemble and the Texas Performing Arts. It’s a 30-minute symphony that will premiere in March. I’m also writing a two-piano concerto for the Dranoff International Two-Piano Foundation for their final round in December 2017. After that, I’m writing a violin concerto for Anne Akiko Meyers that will be premiered in the Spring of 2018.

I love teaching, and I teach composition and film scoring at Occidental College.

Q: Are you going to be at the concert?

Adam: Yes, I’ll be there both nights!

About Adam Schoenberg 

Recently named one of the Top 10 most performed living classical composers by orchestras in the United States, Adam Schoenberg’s music is “invigorating” (Los Angeles Times), and full of “mystery and sensuality” (The New York Times). This most recent season included performances and premieres at the Library of Congress, Kennedy Center, New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Hollywood Bowl. Schoenberg earned his Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The Juilliard School. He is currently a professor at Occidental College, where he runs the composition and film scoring programs.

Click here for Adam Schoenberg’s full bio. 

To purchase tickets, visit newwestsymphony.org or call [phone].

[newwestsymphony]

Press Release: Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Vadym Kholodenko to Make New West Symphony Debut

Vadym Kholodenko, the gold medal winner of the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, will make his New West Symphony debut playing Sergei Rachmaninov’s Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Opus 18. The world premiere Adam Schoenberg’s Go, written on a commission from the New West Symphony and Igor Stravinsky’s 1919 Suite from The Firebird complete the program.

Philip Mann, the second of six music director candidates appearing this season, will lead the orchestra in two performances of the program. The first performance takes place on Friday, November 4, 2016 at 8:00 pm at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center located at 800 Hobson Way in Oxnard. The program will be repeated on Saturday, November 5, 2016 at 8:00 pm at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. Philip Mann last appeared with the New West Symphony during the 2011/2012 season.

Speaking about the program, Mr. Mann said, "I'm particularly excited about rekindling a musical relationship with the fantastic New West Symphony, especially with our prior collaboration still fresh in mind as something which burned with a special intensity and rare chemistry.

"It is always a special pleasure to offer a program of such appeal, depth, and indeed spectacle. All three works offer a feast of orchestral pyrotechnics, with a color palette as nuanced and groundbreaking as cinematic technicolor. There is a sense of newness and innovation, that borders on danger in all three of these works, but there is also gobsmacking beauty. My vision for this juxtaposition of music offers an experience designed to both amaze a first-time listener and delight a long time devotee.

"I am looking forward with great anticipation to sharing the stage with Vadym Kholodenko, one of our art form's rising stars and a musician of uncommon sensitivity and depth.  A world premiere is also always an important and special event, and can remind ourselves that a living art full of constant creation allows us to hear familiar favorites freshly anew."

Tickets:  Tickets priced from $34 to $124 are available by phone, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday at 1-866-776-8400.  Tickets are also available in person at the New West Symphony office, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday and through the Symphony website 24/7 at newwestsymphony.org.  Tickets are also available at the respective concert hall box offices.

Hear & Now Live:  These lively and informative, 30-minute pre-concert discussions about the music on the program begin one hour prior to the performances.  The programs are free and open to ticket holders for the respective performances.

About the Conductor

Philip Mann is the music director of the Arkansas Symphony. He was elected a Rhodes Scholar and was also the winner of the Vienna Philharmonic’s Karajan Fellowship at the Salzburg Festival, and an American Conducting Fellow. Click Here for a complete biography.

About the Soloist

Pianist Vadym Kholodenko won the gold medal and all special prizes at the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2013. Born in 1986 in Kiev, Ukraine, he began his studies at Kiev’s Mykola Lysenko Special Music School under Natalia Grydneva and Borys Fedorov. In 2005, he moved to Moscow to study at the Moscow State Conservatoire with Vera Gornostaeva. Click Here for a complete biography.

About the Music

Sergei Rachmaninov went into a deep depression following the disastrous 1897 première of his First Symphony. In January of 1900 he began seeing Dr. Nicholas Dahl, a Moscow physician who was familiar with the latest psychiatric advances from Paris and Vienna. By the summer of 1900 Rachmaninov was hard at work on his Second Piano Concerto. The work was premiered in October 1901 and to this day is one of the most popular and beloved of the great Romantic piano concertos.

Composer Adam Schoenberg said of  his work Go, "Go, commissioned to honor the 20th Anniversary of the New West Symphony in 2015, is a high-energy, groove-oriented, single-movement work inspired by the idea of racing. The piece begins as if each member of the orchestra is at the starting line of a race. Using string and brass glissando techniques to create a revving effect, the work opens with a series of roaring engines that increase in intensity before locking into a groove that becomes the foundation of the piece. Several different grooves and rhythmic patterns develop as the members of the orchestra continue to round the track. The piece ends with a 'sprint to the finish.'"

Igor Stravinsky was the third composer sought by the impresario Serge Diaghilev to provide the score for his contemplated ballet based on Russian folk lore. Stravinsky had just six months to complete the score The Firebird. The ballet, which Stravinsky considered his first mature work, was an instant success at its premiere in June of 1910 in Paris. The scores to Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, again for Diaghilev and his Ballet Russe, followed in quick succession.

The story of the ballet deals with the glittering Firebird and the evil ogre Kashchei, who captures maidens and turns men to stone if they enter his domain. Stravinsky drew three concert suites from The Firebird. The 1919 suite includes six scenes from the complete score.

Click Here for complete program notes.

Visit www.newwestsymphony.org for tickets or call [phone].

[newwestsymphony]

Announcing Ross Porter as Emcee for Poinsettia Supper Club

Photo of Ross Porter conducting an interview from mlb.com.

With the Los Angeles Dodgers playing in the National League Division Series finale tomorrow in Washington, we couldn’t resist sharing our own exciting Dodger's related news…

Today we formally announce that the amazing Ross Porter will emcee this year’s holiday fundraiser benefitting the New West Symphony!

Ross Porter is an American sportscaster, known for his 28-year tenure 1977-2004 as a play-by-play announcer for Los Angeles Dodgers baseball. Amongst his many accolades, Porter is the only broadcaster to have been the voice of a World Series champion (1981 and 1988 Dodgers) and a college basketball champion (with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1990). Porter was known for providing fans with statistical information on players during his broadcasts. He announced the last two out of the six Dodgers World Series titles. Ross was inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2005 with Vin Scully, his colleague of 28 years, as his presenter.

On the eve of such an important night for Dodgers fans everywhere we want you to know that you'll have the opportunity to see legendary sportscaster Ross Porter in person on December 9 when the New West Symphony League presents the annual gala. We are thrilled to have Ross Porter on board for one of our most popular events of the year!

NWS reps pause to take a selfie with Ross Porter and his wife Lin at a Poinsettia Ball planning meeting on 10/12/16. L to R: Kiren Bansal, Director of Business Operations for New West Symphony, Lin and Ross Porter, Camille Sindell, Chair of the event, and Linda Hamilton, long-time Symphony supporter and friend of the Porters.

Click here to learn more about the event!