22nd Season Features 4 World Premieres

Jake Heggie’s Piece for Tenor and Baroque Ensemble (a Co-Commission with London’s Wigmore Hall) is 90th Work Commissioned by the Leading Chamber Ensemble

New Music by Jazz Trumpet Virtuoso John Daversa, Academy Award Nominee Bruce Broughton, and Film/Television Composer and Orchestrator Jeremy Cavaterra Also World Premiered During Season

A new work for tenor and Baroque ensemble by Jake Heggie, whose song cycles and operas are championed internationally, is among four world premieres presented by Pacific Serenades, one of the West Coast’s leading chamber ensembles, during its 22nd season beginning in January 2008. The Heggie piece is a co-commission with London’s Wigmore Hall, the celebrated chamber music recital venue, and brings to 90 the number of works commissioned and presented by Pacific Serenades since its inception.

The 2008 season, featuring four concert programs, also includes world premieres of jazz trumpet virtuoso John Daversa’s new work for flute and string quartet, Academy and Grammy Award-nominee and multiple Emmy Award-winner Bruce Broughton’s new work for violin and piano, and film/television composer and orchestrator Jeremy Cavaterra’s new work for clarinet, bassoon, viola, and piano.

“This season’s adventures embrace the blurring of boundaries between jazz, film music, opera, and traditional chamber music,” says Pacific Serenades Founder and Artistic Director Mark Carlson. “Our programs offer works that balance the anguish of war with a commitment to life, pieces which seem to come out of the blue and others equally bold in using traditional forms, fairy tales right next to stories from modern Europe and America, and the soulfulness and joy that are Baroque music sharing the stage with modern words.”

Pacific Serenades, twice winner (2003 and 2005) of the prestigious Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, has achieved critical acclaim for its concerts at which new music is played alongside traditional chamber repertoire in intimate settings, including private homes. By the end of the 2008 season in June, the ensemble will have to its credit world premieres by 48 different composers, with the milestone 90th work well surpassing those commissioned and presented by any other organization of its kind in the country. Among Pacific Serenades’ musicians are principals of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and Long Beach Symphony.

Pacific Serenades opens the 22nd season with a new work for flute and string quartet by John Daversa on Saturday, January 26, 8 p.m., at a private home in Encino; Sunday, January 27, 4 p.m., at The Neighborhood Church in Pasadena; and Tuesday, January 29, 8 p.m., at The UCLA Faculty Center. The program, titled To the victims of war, a dedication to life, also features Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110, and Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2, performed by Kathleen Lenski and Connie Kupka, violin, David Walther, viola, David Speltz, cello and Mark Carlson, flute. Daversa, a jazz trumpet virtuoso and founder/leader of the John Daversa Big Band, is an active performer, composer, arranger, director, producer, and educator based in Los Angeles. Among those with whom he has performed or recorded are Bobby Caldwell, Glen Campbell, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Perkins, Lalo Schifrin, Jack Sheldon, Andy Williams and Gerald Wilson.

The season’s second concert series, Mavericks and magicians, spotlights Bruce Broughton’s new work for violin and piano on Saturday, March 1, 8 p.m., at a private home in Brentwood; Sunday, March 2, 4 p.m., at The Neighborhood Church in Pasadena; and Tuesday, March 4, 8 p.m., at The UCLA Faculty Center. Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 66, and Debussy’s Sonata for cello and piano (1915) are also on the program, performed by Belinda Broughton, violin, David Speltz, cello, and Joanne Pearce Martin, piano. Broughton, one of the most versatile composers working today, writes in every medium, from theatrical releases and TV feature films to the concert stage and computer games. His first major film score, for the Lawrence Kasdan western Silverado, brought him an Oscar nomination, and the soundtrack album for his next project, a classically styled score for Barry Levinson’s Young Sherlock Holmes, earned a Grammy nomination. With over 20 Emmy nominations, Broughton has received a record ten, including for Glory & Honor; O Pioneers! and Dallas He conducted and supervised the recording of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue” for Disney’s Fantasia 2000, and his score for “Heart Of Darkness” was the first orchestral score composed for a video game. An accomplished composer of concert music, Broughton has conducted and recorded numerous original works written for ensembles ranging from the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Chicago, Seattle and National Symphonies to the United States Air Force Band.

Jeremy Cavaterra’s new work for clarinet, bassoon, viola, and piano is the centerpieces of Dark woods and gleaming cities on Saturday, April 26, 4 p.m., at a private home in Tarzana; Sunday, April 27, 4 p.m., at The Neighborhood Church in Pasadena; and Tuesday, April 29, 8 p.m., at The UCLA Faculty Center. The program also features Schumann’s Märchenbilder (Fairytale Pictures), Op. 113, for viola and piano; Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsodie for clarinet and piano, 1910; Glinka’s Trio pathétique in D minor, for clarinet, bassoon, and piano; and Tansman’s Suite for bassoon and piano. Gary Gray, clarinet, Judith Farmer, bassoon, Roland Kato, viola, and Ayke Agus, piano, are the performers. Cavaterra, composer and orchestrator of music for television, film, and the concert hall, is also a writer nearing completion of his first novel

Closing the 2008 season is Pacific Serenades’ 90th premiere, a new work for tenor and baroque ensemble by Jake Heggie, composer of the acclaimed opera Dead Man Walking, on Saturday, May 31, 4 p.m., at a private home in Hancock Park; Sunday, June 1, 4 p.m., at The Neighborhood Church in Pasadena; and Tuesday, June 3, 8 p.m., at The UCLA Faculty Center. Heggie’s piece is a co-commission by Pacific Serenades and London’s Wigmore Hall, recognized throughout the world for the 400 events it presents each year including song, early music, chamber music and jazz. The concert series, titled The soul of lyricism, also includes selected arias for tenor with flute and oboe obbligato and basso continuo and Sonata in B minor, BWV 1030, for flute and harpsichord by J.S. Bach; Handel’s Trio Sonata in F major, Op. 2, No. 4, for flute, oboe, and basso continuo; and Vivaldi’s Sonata in C minor, RV 53, for oboe and basso continuo. Performers are Mark Carlson, flute, Leslie Reed, oboe, David Speltz, cello, and Patricia Mabee, harpsichord. Nicholas Phan is the tenor for the work by Heggie, who has composed more than 200 songs as well as concerti, orchestral works and chamber music. Among the artists with whom he’s collaborated are singers Audra McDonald, Patti LuPone and Zheng Cao, conductor Nicholas McGegan and director Leonard Foglia. His numerous commissions include works for the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Metropolitan Opera with Lincoln Center Theater, Opera Colorado, Ravinia Festival, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Louisville Orchestra, among many others, and individual commissions from singers Frederica von Stade, Jennifer Larmore, Bryn Terfel and Robert Orth.

Under Carlson’s direction, Pacific Serenades has become one of the foremost chamber music organizations in the nation since its inception in 1982 and one of the longest performing on the West Coast. Pacific Serenades’ CD, The Hall of Mirrors, won the 2001 Chamber Music America/WQXR Records Awards. A new recording, funded by The Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund and The Aaron Copland Fund for Recording, is being released during the 2008 season.

The Neighborhood Church in Pasadena is located at 301 N. Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena, the UCLA Faculty Center is located at 405 N. Hilgard Avenue in Westwood. Directions to the private home concerts (which are open to the public) are provided to ticket buyers prior to the performances.

Pacific Serenades concerts are supported in part by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and by Los Angeles Center Studios and Keyboard Concepts.

Season subscriptions are available for $175 (private home series) and $98 (Neighborhood Church and UCLA Faculty Center series), with special “Mix-and-Match Series” and other packages. Single tickets are $55 (private home concerts) and $32 (Neighborhood Church and UCLA Faculty Center series). Tickets are available for purchase through Pacific Serenades by calling (213) 534-3434. Student rush tickets are available for $5 (at the door only) for concert programs held at the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena and the UCLA Faculty Center. For more information, or to request a brochure, please call (213) 534-3434 or visit www.pacser.org.