CLASSICAL CROSSROADS, INC.
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FIRSTSERVE COMMUNITY SERVICES
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Classical Interludes
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FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH & SCHOOL

2025-2026 Concert Series

Classical Crossroads' Classical Interludes concerts are graciously hosted as a gift to the community by FirstServe Community Services, the nonprofit community service partner organization of First Lutheran Church & School – Torrance. The finest artists from Southern California and around the world perform concerts at 3:00 p.m. on the first Saturdays of each month from October through May.

FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH & SCHOOL
2900 W. Carson Street, Torrance, CA 90503
(on the south side of Carson Street just east of Maple)
For a Google map, click here.

For information, call Classical Crossroads at (310) 316-5574 or click here.

Free admission - Donations appreciated

Click to see "First Fridays at First! ~ fff" and "Classical Interludes" past seasons:
[2000-2013] [2013-2014] [2014-2015] [2015-2016]
[2016-2017] [2017-2018] [2018-2019] [2019-2020]
[2020-2021] [2021-2022] [2022-2023] [2023-2024]
[2024-2025]

Concerts Are Performed in Front of a Live Audience
and Simultaneously Livestreamed at the Scheduled Concert Time

If this is your first time attending a Classical Crossroads concert, kindly request a reservation for yourself and your guests by emailing: ClassicalCrossroads@gmail.

Click here at the scheduled concert time to watch the livestream.

With consent of the artists, the concerts may be made available for on-demand streaming from Classical Crossroads' Vimeo Showcase for about a month, beginning a few days following the concert.

Saturday, October 4, 2025 at 3:00 p.m.

   

Trio Sol discovered early on how much joy they found in creating music together. Formed at the University of Southern California, the trio quickly expanded beyond the classroom, seeking professional opportunities to share their artistry with wider audiences.

Their passion for musical diversity is reflected in a repertoire that spans German, French, Czech, Ukrainian, and American traditions—performed with equal enthusiasm and authenticity. Drawing on their varied cultural backgrounds, they bring a rich blend of perspectives, experience, and insight to their interpretations.

Though each member is a distinct and dynamic individual, together they form a unified voice—one that balances individuality with a deep sense of musical connection.

Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 3:00 p.m.

Songs of the Americas

   

Beverly Hills National Audition Winners, rising opera stars Xavier Prado and Camila Lima, and pianist and noted film composer Ruy Folguera, are favorites at Classical Crossroads and have an avid following among South Bay aficionados. They bring a program of Songs of the Americas and other popular favorites.

A Holiday-Themed Organ Recital

Organist
MARK HERMAN

Organist Mark Herman has been featured on several episodes of American Public Media's Pipedreams program, and has performed for the American Guild of Organists, the Organ Historical Society, and countless conventions of the American Theatre Organ Society, which, in 2012, named him Organist of the Year. On the international stage, he has toured in Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Additionally, his arrangements, compositions, and performances have been heard both on television and in motion pictures. In 2019, he was honored to be featured alongside the Los Angeles Philharmonic for a rare organ solo cameo.

Saturday, January 3, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.

  

Resident Artist of Chamber Music | OC, Ukrainian-born violinist Iryna Krechkovsky is joined by Visiting Artist, Korean-born Sookkyung Cho, for masterpieces from the violin and piano repertoire.

Iryna Krechkovsky is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Chamber Music | OC. She is well-known and much-loved by her fans in the South Bay and beyond as the violinist of Trio Céleste.

Now Associate Professor of Piano at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, Sookkyung Cho earned her Bachelor's degree from Juilliard and her Master's from Peabody. She returned to Juilliard for her Doctor of Musical Arts.

Saturday, March 7, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.

Part I of a Concert in Two Parts*

Classical Crossroads’ Second Sundays at Two Artistic Director and Steinway Artist Steven Vanhauwaert is joined by his esteemed violinist colleague Ambroise Aubrun.

Hailed as a “marvelous violinist” (France Musique) with “sensitive tone” (Pizzicato Magazine) and “tremendous ease, suppleness and beauty of sound” (Nice-Matin), French violinist Ambroise Aubrun has performed extensively in Europe and North America in halls such as Salzburg Haus für Mozart, Yerevan Khachaturian Grand Hall, Los Angeles Broad Stage, Zipper Hall, Chicago Bradley Hall, and Paris Hotel des Invalides. He has shared the stage with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Scott St. John, Martin Chalifour, Fred Sherry, Clive Greensmith, Carrie Dennis, Richard O’Neill, Rohan de Saram, Steven Vanhauwaert, and the Borroméo and Ebène string quartets, among others.

Hailed by the Los Angeles Times for his “impressive clarity, sense of structure and monster technique,” Steven Vanhauwaert has garnered a wide array of accolades, including the First Prize at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition. Mr. Vanhauwaert made his solo debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall and has appeared in some of the world’s leading venues, including the National Center of the Performing Arts in Beijing, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, the Concertgebouw in Brugge, the Great Hall of the Budapest Liszt Conservatory, the Forbidden City Theatre in Beijing, Segerstrom Hall, and the National Philharmonic Hall in Kyiv. Artistic Director of Classical Crossroads’ Second Sundays at Two series, Mr. Vanhauwaert is a Steinway Artist.

* Part II of this concert is on the next day
at Rolling Hills United Methodist Church
on the "Second Sundays at Two" series.

Saturday, April 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.

  String Quartets by American Composers

Formed in 2008, the Fiato Quartet is a winner of the 2022 Beverly Hills National Auditions. Its members hold degrees in music performance from the University of Southern California, Rice University, Northwestern University, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The members are spread among the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Pasadena Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, New West Symphony, and Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra. As studio musicians in Los Angeles, they also record music for motion pictures, television, and records.

Saturday, May 2, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.

Winner of the 2026 Peninsula Symphony
Edith Knox Performance Competition

For over a decade, Classical Crossroads has been collaborating with the Peninsula Symphony in providing the annual winner of its Edith Knox Performance Competition with a recital opportunity with a $1,000 honorarium (plus $500 for a collaborating pianist) on the Classical Interludes series. The recital honorarium from Classical Crossroads augments the $2,000 Winners Prize from Peninsula Symphony, which also awards the winner with a concerto performance with the orchestra. See the Peninsula Symphony's past winners, who have performed recitals on the Classical Interludes series.