Mary Beth Crain

{mosimage} An ebullient combination of musical theater and light opera in which various elements — all the way from refined classical arias to spoken dialogue and lowbrow slapstick — intermingle with wit and zest, zarzuela is probably the only musical genre to be named after a bramble bush. The first......

In the classical music world, the Ahn Trio remains unique. The three sisters — Angella on violin and the twins, Maria and Lucia, on cello and piano/keyboards — have been in the spotlight since they were tots in South Korea. They barnstormed Juilliard, got “Asian-American Whiz Kid” status in Time......

Designer Carlos Rosario keeps on the right side of destiny. After all, this is a guy who shows up in Hollywood with stars in his eyes and tinsel in his hair, can’t speak a word of English, searching for a job — and ends up on a big-budget movie for......

{mosimage} Jacaranda never seems to disappoint. This dynamic group, composed of some of L.A.’s most talented musicians, loves to program works guaranteed to amaze the ear and stretch the mind. The 2006–2007 season comes to a whopping finale this weekend with some death-defying numbers, including Alban Berg’s Piano Sonata No......

Ever wondered how, say, a Mozart quintet, a Brahms violin sonata or some Mahler lieder would look in spiffy new jazz clothing? Find out this weekend at Musaic at the Jazz Bakery, a festival “celebrating music in its different forms,” according to Uri Caine, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s composer-in-residence......

“They are simply the best I’ve ever heard,” writes Mike Marshall of Magic Mandolins about Melody of China. “Hong Wang plays the Chinese fiddle like Jimi Hendrix.” The San Francisco–based ensemble specializes in Chinese classical, folk and contemporary music, performing on a wide variety of unusual instruments. At the same......

{mosimage}Never been to an opera in a parking garage? Here’s your chance. Long Beach Opera presents the West Coast premiere of Russian composer Grigori Frid’s 1969 operatic monodrama, The Diary of Anne Frank, in Long Beach’s Lincoln Park parking garage. It’s a bold production of what one critic described as......

If you’re one of those people who always gets John Taverner and John Tavener mixed up, join the crowd. The 16th-century Taverner was considered the most important English composer of his time. Fellow Brit Sir John Tavener might be considered Taverner’s contemporary counterpart: arguably the most important and innovative choral......

Julius Eastman was one of those musical enigmas as tragic as he was transcendent. His talents were huge; he was a concert pianist and singer, as well as a dancer. But it was his bold, utterly unique compositions that established him as an unequivocal contemporary music force. Sadly, Eastman’s personal......