LaJollaLight.com | Art Briefs

Apr 30, 2008
- La Jolla Light

La Jolla Music Society presents violinist
La Jolla Music Society presents the final concert of this season's Discovery Series, violist Richard O'Neill at The Neurosciences Institute on Sunday, May 11 at 3 pm.

Grammy-nominated violist Richard O'Neill is rising to international prominence as one of the most promising artists of his generation. A graduate of Julliard, he is the first and only violist to receive the prestigious Artist Diploma.

O'Neill will also be joined on stage by highly acclaimed pianist, Warren Jones and the Maestro Chamber Academy to perform Bach's "Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat Major, BWV 1051," and Britten's "Lachrymae, Reflections on a Song of John Dowland, for Viola and String Orchestra, Opus 48a "(1976).

La Jolla Music Society enhances the concert-going experience by presenting "Preludes" - pre-concert chats and performances - prior to each performance, free to ticket-holders. As part of the partnership between the La Jolla Music Society and the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory, 19-year-old local San Diego student and violist, Keren Bunnell, will perform at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets are $30 for adults, $5 for children, and are available through the La Jolla Music Society Box Office, (858) 459-3728 and online at www.LaJollaMusicSociety.org.

Society also closes chamber season
La Jolla Music Society closes this season's Revelle Chamber Music Series with the Zuckerman Chamber Music Players at MCASD Sherwood Auditorium on Saturday, May 3 at 8 pm.

Famed violinist, conductor, music director and three-time Grammy-winner Pinchas Zukerman has teamed up with four proteges from Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra. The program will include Kodály's "Duo for Violin and Cello, Opus 7" performed by Pinchas Zuckerman alongside his wife, Amanda Forsyth, Mendelssohn's String Quintet in B-flat Major, Opus 87 and Dvorák's String Quintet in E-flat Major, Opus 97.

Tickets are $25-$75 and are available through the La Jolla Music Society box office, (858) 459-3728 or online at www.LaJollaMusicSociety.org.

Auditions for Youth Symphony
The San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory has released its 2008-2009 audition requirements. Applications and audition requirements are now available on the organization's Web site at www.sdys.org. After completing the application process, qualified students are scheduled for an audition during June 12-16 at one of the Balboa Park rehearsal rooms or at the San Diego Musician's Union located on Morena Boulevard. Auditions are open to students ages 7-25.

All auditions require a three-minute prepared solo, selected scales and sight reading.

There are additional requirements by instrument and ensemble. Interested students are encouraged to read the full listing of requirements posted on www.sdys.org.

"We work to place students according to skill and age appropriateness," said artistic director Jeff Edmons. "This time of year is one of the most exciting times for us. It is always rewarding to see our returning students work to improve their current placement and equally rewarding to see all the new talent our communities have to offer."

More than 85 percent of the current students are applying to return in 2008-2009 with another 10 percent of students preparing to graduate high school.

The 2008 graduating class will attend some of the most prestigious schools in the country with a number of students receiving admittance to Harvard, MIT, Yale, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSD to name a few.

"It is common for our students to go on to very successful academic experiences and professional careers," described SDYS President and CEO, Dalouge Smith. "Their interest in music is fuel for excelling in other areas of their lives."

The San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory is the 6th oldest continuously operating youth symphony in the United States and boasts more than 450 students annually in seven different training ensembles. Ensemble skill levels range from pre-professional to beginner with students between 8 and 25 participating. Other instructional programs include music theory classes, brass quintet, string quartet, flute choir, horn ensembles, brass choir, percussion ensembles, and viola instruction.

Contact the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory at (619) 233-3232 or visit them on the web at www.sdys.org for more information about tickets, concerts, and annual student auditions. Ticket prices for the Copley Symphony Hall events are $5 for students under 25, $15 and $25 for seniors/military/music educators and $25 and $35 for adults.

Playhouse has first resident company
The La Jolla Playhouse announced April 27 the launch of a new initiative, the Resident Theatre Program. According to a press release, the program is meant to address the lack of available, affordable performance spaces for the many vibrant theatre companies in the San Diego area.

The first resident company will be Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company. The newly appointed company will be in residency at La Jolla Playhouse from August 18 through September 21, 2008 and May 12 through June 14, 2009.

"I have been so impressed," Artistic Director Christopher Ashley said in the release, "by the dynamic adventurous and diverse theatre community in San Diego, many of which are without a permanent home base." Mo'olelo will be in residence in the 99-seat Studio Theatre at the Playhouse.

Georgia O'Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle
The San Diego Museum of Art is the only West Coast venue for Georgia O'Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle. This major traveling exhibition features the iconic works of Georgia O'Keeffe, as well as five other women modernists who paved her way. Running from May 24 to September 28, the show includes more than 80 works by these pioneering women, who were all, at one point, reigning artists in the circle of renowned photographer Alfred Stieglitz. The exhibition is the first to present works by these women together in the same context.

Art at the Library
Half the membership of the Allied Artists Association of San Diego (AAASD) will be showing their work at the La Jolla/Riford Library's Meeting Room during the month of May. The other half will have their show in June. A reception for the artists will be held on Saturday, May 10 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The public is invited.

The library is located at 7555 Draper. Its viewing hours are Monday and Wednesday 12 - 8 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., and Sunday 1 - 5 p.m. For more information about the association, you can e-mail them at www.alliedartistsassnofsd@juno.com.