Even though this time of year is called the dog days of summer, that doesn’t mean there aren’t great cultural options. As you’ll see in Best Bets: August 4th – August 10th.
GUSTAVO DUDAMEL WEEK – Hollywood Bowl – Los Angeles, CA – August 5th – August 9th
This season is Gustavo Dudamel’s penultimate one at the Hollywood Bowl. This summer does not find Dudamel appearing too often, so this week’s concerts are a great opportunity to see him before he leaves Los Angeles for the New York Philharmonic. (He’ll be back next summer to close out his tenure.)
Dudamel Conducts Ellington and Ravel on Tuesday, August 5th features two works each by Duke Ellington (Harlem and Black, Brown and Beige) and two works by Maurice Ravel (Piano Concerto for the Left Hand and Piano Concero in G). The soloist is Seong-Jin Cho. The Los Angeles Philharmonic performs.
Dudamel Conducts Mahler on Thursday, August 7th finds Dudamel conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a performance of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto with soloist Vilde Frang and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan”
Jurassic Park in Concert on Friday, August 8th and Saturday, August 9th. Steven Spielberg’s film will be shown and the LA Phil will play the John Williams score live. Purists should note there will be an intermission built into these two concerts.
For tickets and more information, click on the date of each event.
BROOKLYN RIDER: 20 YEARS AT PLAY – Lincoln Center Presents – New York, NY – August 7th – August 9th
This is a series of six concerts where string quartet Brooklyn Rider celebrates two decades together.
Brooklyn Rider and Friends on Thursday, August 7th at will take place at Damrosch Park and features special guests clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, jazz vocalist Magos Herrera and percussionist Mathias Kunzli. That performance begins at 7:30 PM. This is a free concert.
The Four Elements on Thursday, August 7th at 10:00 PM is at David Rubenstein Atrium. Brooklyn Rider will perform Part 1 of their The Four Elements project – which is an amazing combination of newly commissioned works and works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Henri Dutilleux and others exploring the four elements. This concert has them performing Earth & Air. The album was released on May 23rd and is amazing. This concert is free.
Silent City on Friday, August 8th at 7:30 PM takes place at Alice Tully Hall. They will perform music from 2008’s Silent City composed by Kayhan Kalhor. Brooklyn Rider will be joined by bassist Shawn Conley and percussionist Mathias Kunzli. This is a choose what you pay concert with a suggested ticket price of $35.
The Four Elements on Friday, August 8th at 10:00 PM and takes place at David Rubenstein Atrium. This is Part 2 of The Four Elements and features Fire & Water with works by Conrad Tao, Osvaldo Golijov and Dmitri Shostakovich. This concert is free.
Family Concert: A String Quartet at Play on Saturday, August 9th at 12:00 PM takes place in the LeFrak Lobby at David Geffen Hall. This concert is designed for families of all ages. Singer Magos Herrera and soprano Ariadne Grief join this concert. This is a free concert.
Chalk and Soot on Saturday, August 9th at 7:30 PM takes place in Alice Tully Hall. This final concert features Arnold Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 2 with soprano Ariadne Grief. She also performs with the quartet on Chalk and Soot, a song cycle composed by Brooklyn Rider’s Colin Jacobsen. There will also be new works by Giovanni Sollima and Tyshawn Sorey. This is a choose what you pay concert with a suggested ticket price of $35.
MUSIC FOR NEW BODIES – Tanglewood – Lenox/Stockbridge, MA – August 7th
American Modern Opera Company presents composer Matthew Aucoin’s new “part opera, part song cycle, part vocal symphony.” The poetry of Jorie Graham serves as the libretto. The selections of her works were chosen by Aucoin and director Peter Sellars.
Thematically our relationship to our environment is examined through the eyes of a cancer patient undergoing an intense procedure. This will no doubt be a fascinating work.
Performing Music for New Bodies will be tenor Paul Appleby, soprano Meryl Dominguez, bass-baritone Evan Hughes, soprano Song Hee Lee and mezzo-soprano Megan Moore. Aucoin conducts.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
RUSLAN SIROTA TRIO – Sam First – Los Angeles, CA – August 8th
If you want to know what’s happening in the Los Angeles jazz scene, you want to make your way to Sam First. This intimate club is located very near Los Angeles International Airport.
This concert will feature pianist Ruslan Sirota with drummer Gene Coye and bassist Mike Gurrola.
Sirota has performed and recorded with the Black Eyed Peas, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, Josh Groban, Marcus Miller, Kamasi Washington and more. His most recent album, Fruits of the Midi, came out in 2023. Could a live album from this concert find its way onto a future Sam First Records release? Let’s hope so!
For tickets and more information, please go HERE. You can purchase tickets to stream the first set at 7:30 PM PT and the second set at 9:30 PM. Those details are included in the link above.
LIBERATED VOICES – Bennett Gordon Hall at Ravinia – Highland Park, IL – August 9th
I recently attended a Steans Institute Series performance at Ravinia and was thoroughly impressed. This vocal program was curated by conductor James Conlon and Cori Ellison and features Fellows of the Singers Program at the Steans Institute.
Conlon, music director at Los Angeles Opera, has long been passionate about music that was considered degenerate by the Nazis. He wants that music to be heard and embraced. This concert, in four parts, celebrates Songs of the Jewish Prisoners, Great Voices Stilled in the Camps, Gay, Romani and Catholic Comrades and Emigré Composers.
For tickets and more information, please go HERE.
Those are my Best Bets: August 4th – August 10th
Enjoy your week!
Go see a show!
Main Photo: Pianist Seong-Jin Cho (Photo by Stephan Rabold/Courtesy Baldrighi Artists Management)