Violinist Tereza Stanislav, who was appointed Assistant Concertmaster of the LA Chamber Orchestra in 2003 by Jeffrey Kahane, made her Pacific Serenades debut in January of 2010. This interview was written in preparation for that program.
“What a fantastic mission Pacific Serenades has! I totally support this idea and think it is important. Who wouldn’t have wanted to work with a Beethoven and to see the process of the creation of a new piece? Musicians who don’t compose owe it to themselves to get involved in playing new music. It’s so exciting to premiere a piece, to play a piece which no one has ever done. Having insight into the creative process keeps you learning, keeps you alive as a musician. And for me, it heightens the experience to get to play a standard repertoire piece and then, with the same people, play a new piece.”
Eric Charnofsky is like a musician from an earlier era–one who is equal parts performer and composer. An active pianist of formidable skills–you might have heard him perform with the LA Phil during its 2000-01 season, when he was a finalist for the orchestra’s keyboard position–he is also a prolific composer. Add to that his life teaching full-time, at Case Western Reserve University where he teaches 20th century music history and keyboard ensemble courses, and at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he teaches symphonic literature, and you have an extremely active musical life.
At the genesis of Pacific Serenades, a concert repeated over two nights at the home of Lee Burns in 1982, three new pieces were premiered alongside Baroque and Renaissance pieces for organ. The first commissioned work of Pacific Serenades was premiered on those concerts. Composed by Roger Bourland, entitled Cantilena for flute and organ, this debut work was commissioned out of pocket by Artistic Director and founder of Pacific Serenades, Mark Carlson.
“I paid Roger $150 for that first piece,” Mark shared with me as we sat down in Roger’s living room on a recent afternoon. “And tickets were $5!”
I met Vladimir Chernov when I was a freshman at UCLA, studying voice, and he was a guest Professor. I hardly knew what to make of him, the first few times we met, with his shock of silver, jaw-length hair, and his impeccable three-piece suits. There is an intensity and a grandeur with which he does things that can be unnerving, and as a Texas girl I had certainly never met anyone like him.
Come hear the 99th-102nd works commissioned and premiered by Pacific Serenades, each the centerpiece of a program which includes treasured masterpieces of the past-music by Bach and Handel, Prokofiev and Arensky, Mozart and Dohnanyi, Haydn and Ravel.
The Raquel home was rented by Hollywood silent film star Mary Pickford in 1918.
“While at Yale, I toured southeast Asia with an orchestra. I decided to study Chinese because of it, and with all the credits I accumulated in that area, I ended up with a BA in East Asian Studies.”
Dwayne Milburn–whose newest work, Chamber Jams, for flute, oboe, cello, and harpsichord, is the 99th piece commissioned and premiered by Pacific Serenades–is continuing to play out what he calls his “Army Rondo.”
Our newest CD, Border Crossings, includes Pacific Serenades commissioned works by two Latin American-born composers and by two composers overtly …
