-
Recent Reviews
- Camerata Singers – Considering Matthew Shepard
- Chamber Music Monterey Bay — Escher String Quartet
- Aizuri String Quartet — Fabulous Artistry
- YMMC March Concert – Migration
- Ensemble Monterey’s Tribute to an Early Spring
- Pianist Kevin Lee Sun in Aptos Keyboard Series
- Monterey Symphony presents: Ovation
- The Thoughtful Muse: A Recital by Pianist Daria Rabotkina
- Stravinsky – Music & Dance in Miami
- Ehnes Quartet in Beethoven Quartet Cycle
- Heavy Stuff – A Recital by Vladimir Feltsman
- Santa Cruz Symphony: Catharsis
-
-
Recent Previews
-
List by Category
-
-
The Joy of Modern & Traditional Music
Our little corner of the World is a quiet one. We have many opportunities to savor live performances of wonderful music. While those concerts would probably not demand the attention of those hungry for elite spectacles, I enjoy an hour or two of carefully chosen music competently prepared for our listening pleasure. Those who gathered at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Carmel on Sunday, August 18, 2019 experienced a lovely afternoon of music. Cortez Montalbo, trumpet and Steve Denmark, organ shared with us their Joy of Modern & Traditional Music. Dr. Denmark did double duty by accompanying on the piano as well as the organ. Mr. Montalbo used a collection of three instruments, cornet and two trumpets (B-flat and C) to play a variety of compositions.
Read full storyYMMC Woodwinds & Brass Ensembles Benefit Concert
Elias Osorio & Bennett Bishop
On Friday evening, May 10, at Hidden Valley Seminars in Carmel Valley, Youth Music Monterey County (YMMC) presented a concert by Woodwind & Brass Ensembles. It was very inspiring to see these young musicians coming together to perform a wide variety of music, most of which is totally unfamiliar, unless you are a brass or woodwind player, of course. In a society where so many young high school students’ free time is dominated by various sporting activities, it is indeed gratifying to also see the fruits of many hours, spent not on the playing fields, but in practice rooms developing musical skills that often reached a very high professional level.
Read full story
Archived in these categories: 20th Century, Baroque, Brass, Woodwinds
Christmas with Camerata Singers
A lovely afternoon at the First Presbyterian Church of Monterey was the setting as the brass players warmed up, the Church began to fill, amidst the anticipatory hubbub of audience members greeting each other and reading over the printed program of Christmas With the Camerata Singers. Under the direction of John Koza, Artistic Director and Conductor, these singers presented a program filled with old texts and new settings and rhythms. Mixed meters and syncopation dominated many selections. Ably accompanied by Organist Tiffany Bedner and a Brass Quintet, the singers rose to the rhythmic as well as dynamic demands. Read full story
Archived in these categories: 20th Century, Baroque, Brass, Choral, Classical Era
YMMC — Discovery of Central Asia
Justin Khoi Vu & the Junior Youth Orchestra
It was a full house at Sunset Center Sunday afternoon as Youth Music Monterey County with conductor Farkhad Khudyev presented its final concert of the 2014-2015 season.The concert was titled “Discovery of Central Asia” and was dedicated to the hard working, committed music teachers who prepare and inspire the young musicians making up the Youth and Honors orchestras.
Archived in these categories: 20th Century, 21st Century, Brass, Chamber music, Concerto, Orchestral, Youth Music Monterey
Carmel Bach Festival 2014 — Opening Night at Sunset Center
Soprano Clara Rottsolk, counter tenor Robin Blaze, tenor Arron Sheehan, Maestro Paul Goodwin and composer Caroline Shaw
(Peninsula Reviews photo prohibited by Carmel Bach Festival)
On Saturday evening, July 19, at Sunset Center we enjoyed the opening concert of the 2014 Carmel Bach Festival. Instead of a chilly foggy evening, it was warm and balmy, David Gordon gave one of his charming pre-concert lectures, the brass ensemble on the upper terrace was appropriately festive, the concert was spiritually uplifting, and we had an elegant post-concert reception courtesy of Alaska Airlines to which the entire audience and festival musicians were invited. It begs the question, how could it get any better?
Maestro Paul Goodwin, associate conductor Andrew Megill and assistant conductor John Koza were responsible for delivering opening night fine performances by the festival musicians featuring the festival orchestra, chorale and chorus, plus the evening’s soloists sopranos Dominique Labelle and Clara Rottsolk, countertenor Robin Blaze, tenor Aaron Sheehan and baritone Peter Harvey.
Archived in these categories: 21st Century, Baroque, Brass, Carmel Bach Festival, Choral, Oboe, Orchestral, Strings, Woodwinds
