Camerata Pacifica Traverses Groundbreaking Music from the 20th Century to the Dawn of the Era at Music Academy of the West

Camerata Pacifica, the international chamber music collective renowned for its musical versatility and bold programming, traverses a range of groundbreaking music from the 20th century and the dawn of the era, including three works for solo instrument, October 25-30, 2024, at four Southern California venues.

The performances are Friday, October 25, 7:00 pm, at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West; Sunday, October 27, 3:00 pm, at Thousand Oaks’ Janet and Ray Scherr Forum; Tuesday, October 29, 7:30 pm, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino; and Thursday, October 30, 8:00 pm, at Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles.

The program opens with Sooyun Kim, “a rare virtuoso of the flute” (Libération) performing Kazuo Fukushima’s mysterious Mei for Solo Flute written in 1962 by the self-taught Japanese composer.

Shifting back in time to 1896, Rachmaninoff’s Moments musicaux, Op. 16, a set of deeply expressive solo piano pieces, showcases celebrated Principal Piano Irina Zahharenkova, heralded for her “impressive…musical colour” (Bachtrack).

The final solo work, Stravinsky’s 1918 jazz- and ragtime-inspired tour-de-force Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet, is interpreted by Camerata Pacifica Principal Clarinet Jose Franch-Ballester, a captivating performer of “poetic eloquence” (The New York Sun).

Schoenberg’s 1906 landmark Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9, arranged by his student Anton Webern between 1922 and 1923, caps the program with the three solo artists joined by Alena Hove, a rising violinist applauded for her “rich, smooth tone” (CityArts), and Principal Cellist Ani Aznavoorian, whose “scorchingly committed performances…wring every last drop of emotion out of the music” (The Strad).

For tickets ($75 at The Huntington, Music Academy of the West, and Zipper Hall; $91 at Janet and Ray Scherr Forum) and information, visit www.cameratapacifica.org.