LACC Caps 25th Anniversary Season With 5/14 Concert

Los Angeles Children's Chorus (LACC), which has been enchanting audiences for 25 years and is considered one of the world's foremost children's choirs, culminates a year-long celebration of its first quarter century with a special 25th Anniversary edition of its annual Spring Concert, showcasing choir members current and former at the spectacular Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, May 14, 2011, 7 PM. This moving performance, which includes special appearances by the renowned Calder Quartet and an LACC alumni choir, features some 260 current LACC members in six choirs and pays tribute to the more than 1,500 children who have been a part of LACC since its inception. Up-and-coming composer Caroline Park, an LACC alumna, has crafted a new work for the occasion, Motion, a soundscape from her travels through the U.S. and abroad, with text by her sister, also an LACC alumna, Jennifer Park.

"This concert marks a very special milestone for the chorus," says LACC Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson. "As the choir's reputation for training the next generation of singers and music lovers continues to grow, so do the accomplishments of our esteemed alumni. It is an honor to celebrate everyone who has been affiliated with the choir over the past 25 years."

Park's work, Motion, revolves around cities being vessels of sound with constant, fluctuating soundscapes, and incorporates audio she recorded in several cities around the world. Park notes that the genesis for Motion was a near fatal accident she had while walking in London when she did not hear a car coming towards her because she was wearing headphones and listening to her iPod. As a consequence, she realized that she was not aurally attuned to her environment and wrote the piece to challenge performers and audience members to fully engage in every aural context.

The concert opens with the beloved American folksong Sail Away, performed with Scott Williams on the hammered dulcimer, and concludes with current choir members and alumni jointly performing the uplifting gospel song Praise His Holy Name arranged by Keith Hampton. Also featured are Songs of Hefez from Behind the Caravan by Abbie Betinis, written in Farsi and inspired by 14-Century Persian poetry, as well as a range of folk songs and works by such master composers as Betty Bertaux, one of the country's leading composers for treble voice, Bach and Vivaldi that have been part of LACC's repertoire for the past 25 years.

LACC Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson conducts the Concert Choir and Chamber Singers. Mandy Brigham leads the Intermediate Choir and Preparatory Choir, and Amy Brehm conducts Apprentice Choir. LACC alumna Allison White and LACC's Founding Director Rebecca Thompson conduct the alumni chorus. The choirs will perform separately and combined. LACC's last two appearance at Ambassador Auditorium - widely recognized for its superlative acoustics - in 2006 and 2008 drew sold-out crowds and garnered considerable critical acclaim.

Tickets are $26, $38 and $52; children 17 and under are half price. For tickets and information, please call (626) 793-4231 or visit www.lachildrenschorus.org. Ambassador Auditorium is located at 131 S. St. John Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105.

Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz