June will see three iconic music figures — Lou Harrison, Morten Lauridsen and Liza Minnelli — honored during disparate musical events.
Harrison, whose 100th birthday would have been May 14, was a composer whose works have been celebrated by a few hardy souls (mostly on the West Coast where he studied and later taught). He will be honored with a performance of his rarely heard opera, “Young Caesar,” on June 13 in Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The production, the first since the work premiered in 1971 at Caltech, is the final performance on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s “Green Umbrella” series. It will be directed by Yuri Shuval, the Phil’s new artist-collaborator, in conjunction with his company, The Industry.Marc Lowenstein will conduct members of the Phil. Details are on the L.A. Phil’s website.
Information: 323-850-2000; www.laphil.com
L.A. Master Chorale
The Los Angeles Master Chorale will conclude its 2016-17 season by celebrating Lauridsen with a performance of his iconic work, “Lux Aeterna,” on June 17 at Walt Disney Concert Hall. This performance marks the 20th anniversary of the piece’s premiere by the Master Chorale under the baton of its late music director, Paul Salamunovich, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. It is one of the 20th century’s most important choral works.
Current LAMC Artistic Director Grant Gershon will conduct this concert, which marks the first performance of “Lux Aeterna” with full orchestra in Disney Hall.
In addition to his prolific composing career, Lauridsen has been a professor of composition at the USC/Thornton School of Music for 50 years and was awarded a National Endowment of the Arts award in 2007. He was the Master Chorale’s Composer-in-Residence from 1994-2001 and was the subject of an award-winning documentary, “Shining Light: a Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen,” in 2012.
The MC program will also feature works by five contemporary composers: Eric Whitacre, Billy Childs, Moira Smiley, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Shawn Kirchner. Three of the pieces — Whitacre’s “Child of Wonder,” Childs’ “In Gratitude” and Smiley’s “Time in Our Voices” — are receiving their premieres.
The program is also being sung on June 22 as part of the Chorus America annual conference, which is being held in Los Angeles.
Information: 213-972-7282; www.lamasterchorale.org
Pasadena Pops
The Pasadena Pops and its principal conductor, Michael Feinstein, will open the summer season on June 17 at the Los Angeles County Arboretum with a program celebrating the “Golden Ages” of Broadway.
Minnelli will be interviewed by Feinstein about the era when her mother, Judy Garland, starred on Broadway. Soloists for the evening will include Joel Grey, Storm Large and Alex Getlin. The music will have selections by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kander & Ebb (composers of “Cabaret”), Coleman, Loesser and Jule Styne.
This concert is the first of five through Sept. 9; Feinstein will either sing or conduct in four of the programs. In addition, the Pops is co-sponsoring a performance by LeAnn Rimes and her band at the Arboretum on July 8.
Information: 626/793-7172; www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org
Robert D. Thomas is a freelance music writer. Email BobTatFORE@aol.com. Read more of his reviews at www.insidesocal.com/classact.
