The Crown City Symphony is presenting three free concerts this month. Conductor Marvin Neumann has picked music from Armenia, Bohemia and Italy for the program, which will be:
Rossini—Overture to “La Gazza Ladra”
Bagdasarian—a Rhapsody for Violin—U.S. Premiere
Arutiunian---Concerto for Tuba
Dvorak---“Husitska Overture”
Concerts will be Sat., May 14 at St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church, 2215 E. Colorado, Pasadena; Sat, May 21, at the Altadena Senior Center; and Sun., May 22, at The First Baptist Church of Pasadena, 75 N. Marengo. All concerts begin at 2 PM, and are free.
Violin soloist, Ophelia Nanagyulyan, began her studies as a child in Armenia. She received her Bachelor and Master degrees from the State Conservatory of Music in Armenia. She was a member of the Yerevan Chamber Orchestra and was violin soloist with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1968, she performed under conductor/composer Aram Khachaturian. Also, Bagdasarian, the composer of her solo, “A Rhapsody for Violin”, was her teacher at the conservatory and the performance at the Armenian Church is a United States premiere. She is an active performing member of The Tuesday Musicale of Pasadena and teaches violin and viola at the Los Alamitos Conservatory of Music.
Tubist, Stephen Wood, a professional magician who has toured the world combining magic and music, is a graduate music student at Long Beach State College. He has been a brass player most of his life and played with many groups including the famed Salvation Army Band, church groups and touring bands. His teachers include Beth Mitchell, Patrick Sheridan and currently, John Van Houten. He will be performing the Concerto for Tuba, by Arutiunian.
Also on the program is the familiar overture to “La Gazza Ladra” by Rossiniand the less well-known but very dramatic, “Husitska Overture” by Dvorak
Crown City Symphony, whose motto is Ability not Age, has received grants from The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Foundation and the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division, and the Pasadena Showcase for the Arts. It is sponsored by The Tuesday Musicale of Pasadena.
The web site is crowncitysymphony.org. For more information email Roberta Wilcox, manager, at manager@crowncitysymphony.org, or call, (626) 797-1994.
