Born to musicians in Toluca, Mexico, Giovanna began studying cello at the age of six. “Growing up in an ethnically diverse home with two musician parents, I was exposed to a huge variety of music. From Tchaikovsky to the Beatles, Celia Cruz to Tower of Power, Al Jarreau to Carole King, Rogers and Hammerstein to Outkast, I can truly say my influences are many,” Giovanna shared with me.
Pacific Serenades is proud to announce that it will be receiving a Letter of Distinction from New Music USA, an organization resulting from a recent merger of the American Music Center and Meet the Composer. This honor, which has been awarded annually since 1964, recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the field of contemporary American music.
The James Allen Freeman House, where our season opening concert on February 9 will be held, was built in 1913 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as one of the masterworks of architects Heineman and Heineman, and also because of its association with significant owners, its outstanding state of preservation, and its contribution to the architectural and historic significance of Pasadena. The Freeman House was selected by the Pasadena Arts Council in 1969 as one of the twelve most architecturally important “Heritage Houses” in the city. The Freeman House is one of only seven homes designated by the City of Pasadena as an Historic Monument.
Eugene Friesen and I have a friendship going back to our student days at Cal State Fresno, where we played in a trio together with pianist Sally Christian, and where we shared many youthful musical and life discoveries. We had numerous parallels in our lives. For one thing, we each had parents who valued music and insisted that everyone in our families play instruments. Eugene had wanted to play trombone, but his father, who in his own youth had been blown away hearing Piatigorsky play with the Winnipeg Symphony, chose cello for him. I chose flute. For another, as our careers evolved, we both remained active performers for whom composing became gradually more and more important.
Pacific Serenades has been making waves for a long time. Not tidal waves, but the kind of waves that lap gently and persistently, bringing with them treasures that gradually change the shore.
Born as a rebellion against the iron-fisted notions of what new music was once required to be, our waves have eroded those beliefs—that new music is supposed to be abrasive and abstruse, and that all “important” composers are dead, or at least from the East Coast or Europe.
Yes, chamber music has changed a lot since our first concert in 1982, and in our own quiet but powerful way, we have played a significant role in that change.
We have sent out wave after wave—110 pieces commissioned and premiered by Pacific Serenades, nearly all by Southern California composers—each reinforcing what we’ve always known, that music is supposed to be beautiful, that music is a pleasure to play and a joy to hear. Yes!—newness and beauty are entirely compatible.
Like radio waves, our music is being picked up by ensembles all over—with performances in Alaska and Colorado, in Texas and North Carolina; in Mexico, Germany, Austria, Spain, and Poland; in Ojai, Newport Beach, Fresno, and San Francisco. And our audience is the first ever to have heard those pieces, now being heard round the world!
With the devoted involvement of the best performers around—members of the likes of the LA Phil, LACO, and the Long Beach Symphony—as well as the enthusiasm of our wonderful audience, our award-winning ensemble will continue to send out waves of the music of our own time and our own community, during this, our 27th season and beyond.
Pacific Serenades is proud to announce that it will be receiving a Letter of Distinction from New Music USA, an organization resulting from a recent merger of The American Music Center and Meet the Composer. This honor, which has been awarded annually since 1964, recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the field of contemporary American music.
In a ceremony in New York in May, 2013, Pacific Serenades will join other Letter of Distinction winners Anthony Braxton, John Kander, John Luther Adams, and William Kraft. Previous recipients include George Balanchine, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Tower, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Morton Feldman, Laurie Anderson, Dizzy Gillespie, Michael Tilson Thomas, Virgil Thomson, Joan La Barbara, Randy Weston, the Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can, Dawn Upshaw, Jack Beeson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Copland House, William Bolcom and La Monte Young.
We’re so lucky to live in Southern California, where art is created from the unique materials of our own world, our own time, our own lives. No need to bow to the East–we’re different, and we’re happy about that! Here, we unabashedly embrace overt beauty. Here, we know that melody is the newest and most exhilarating thing going around the music scene, and that the best music moves us and uplifts our spirit.
Nestled in the hills of La Cañada, the Arts and Crafts-style home of Kimberly Rose and Michael Shannon gives the impression of being in the woods. The living area, with its openness, its warmth, and its striking view of the mountains, is an ideal setting for sharing the rich sonorities of voice and string quartet. And the house has the additional charm of once belonging to swimming movie star, Esther Williams.
Making his second appearance with Pacific Serenades is bass-baritone Michael Dean. Currently the Chair of the UCLA Music Department, where he has taught voice since 2004, he is originally from San Diego. Dean has had a prestigious career as a vocal performer in concerts and operas around the world. It was surprising for me to learn that, with his extensive experience, including singing roles on stage and in recordings, Michael did not start off his musical education as a singer.
“I originally studied piano and composition as my major at UC Santa Barbara,” Michael shared with me. “I auditioned for the chorale at UCSB, and the director encouraged me to become a voice major. At the time, I didn’t know opera that well.”
It’s as if playing jazz guitar were in his genes–Justin Morell is a fourth generation professional jazz guitarist on his dad’s side of the family. Immediately before him, his father John Morell has been a very successful recording session guitarist since the 60s and has also had an active career performing in Los Angeles area jazz clubs.
His mother’s side of the family is full of musicians, too. Her father, Carl Fischer, was Frankie Laine’s music director and pianist for years and was also the composer of many hit songs by Laine. Justin’s mother, Carol Fischer Morell, was a member of the all-girl trio, The Murmaids, whose song Popsicles and Icicles was a major hit in 1964.
