Email Author Mary Beth Crain

2012 Stories by Mary Beth Crain

• A to Z Cappella

  published May 10, 2012

  When it comes to a cappella singing groups, there's something for everyone. The art form originated in ancient times as an answer to religious... More >>

• The Ivory Coast

  published April 5, 2012

  It takes a lot to pinch jaded old L.A.'s butt and make it holler. But "Play Me, I'm Yours" just might be up to the job. The brainchild of British... More >>

• Bowing Up a Sweat

  published March 29, 2012

  The best advice for any violinist who's thinking of attempting John Adams' Violin Concerto is: start training now! Rev up that heart rate and beef... More >>

• Dust Busters

  published March 22, 2012

  If you're looking for a music group to complement your latest illuminated manuscript exhibition, quick -- call in the experts, i.e. the Rose... More >>

• Weill You Were Out

  published February 16, 2012

  German cabaret sensation Max Raabe once studied to become an operatic baritone at the Berlin University of the Arts. But fate had other ideas.... More >>

• Simon Boccanegra

  published February 16, 2012

  Every great composer is entitled to one fiasco, and Giuseppe Verdi's was Simon Boccanegra. It flopped big-time at its 1857 premiere in... More >>

• Pie a la Modem

  published February 9, 2012

  When you round up the best and brightest of L.A.'s cutting-edge pianists and hook them up with People Inside Electronics, aka PIE, aural visions... More >>

• Leif To Love Ya

  published February 2, 2012

  If there were an award for the most difficult name in the piano world to pronounce, the honor undoubtedly would go to Leif Ove Andsnes. "It's... More >>

• How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

  published January 26, 2012

  If the highly nontraditional Long Beach Opera has a tradition, it's to consistently surprise its audience. Director Andreas Mitisek has delighted... More >>

• Fuck Dance, Let's Art

  published January 19, 2012

  "I realized back then that simply moving the little squares on graph paper, I could show anything: I could show motion, it could represent notes,... More >>

• Make Mine Mahler

  published January 12, 2012

  Gustav Mahler completed his fourth symphony in 1901. Like his previous three "Wunderhorn" symphonies, it was based on texts from the German folk... More >>

• On Key

  published January 5, 2012

  Leroy Anderson, that inveterate composer of oh-so-distinct American music such as Sleigh Ride and The Syncopated Clock, made his... More >>

• Marathon Man

  published January 5, 2012

  Paul Jacobs has been lighting up the pipes — organ pipes, that is — since a 3,500-member parish in his hometown of Washington,... More >>