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First Fridays at First! ~ fff ~ Current Season

CLASSICAL CROSSROADS, INC.
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FIRSTSERVE COMMUNITY SERVICES
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First Fridays at First! ~ fff
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FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH & SCHOOL

2021-2022 Concert Series

First Lutheran Church of Torrance

The popular Bach's Lunch Recitals, a favorite in the South Bay community for two decades, are now First Fridays at First!~fff, 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 half-hour lunchtime recitals.

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" past seasons:
[2000-2013] [2013-2014] [2014-2015] [2015-2016]
[2016-2017] [2017-2018] [2018-2019] [2019-2020]
[2020-2021] [2021-2022] [2022-2023]

To Safely Begin the 2021-2022 Season,
Concerts Were Videotaped and
Streamed-as-Live at the Scheduled Concert Time

Sign up above for e-mail concert reminders, which will have the internet links to the YouTube "Premieres" of the concerts, or check back here shortly before concert time.

Classical Crossroads invites a small number of verified fully vaccinated, top supporters of the concert series to the videotaping sessions. As the season progresses and the Covid situation improves, cautious steps are planned to return to live-audience concerts, with livestreaming for those who cannot attend in person.

To appreciate the streamed concerts, you are encouraged to set aside time as you would for a live-audience concert, get comfortable, and watch on a large-screen TV with a high-quality soundbar. Alternatively, watch on an iPad or other quality computer screen with headphones. Find the links to the videos, which are available to stream on-demand for one month, on Classical Crossroads' YouTube Channel.

Friday, September 3, 2021 at 12:15 p.m.

Top Prize Winners of The Art of Duo Boulder International Chamber Music Competition

MarkHermaniolinist YuEun Kim & Pianist Song Chang

Pianist                     Violinist
SUNG CHANG       YUEUN KIM

Violinist YuEun Kim and pianist Sung Chang were awarded Second Prize at Boulder International Competition: Art of Duo (Boulder, Colorado). Sung and YuEun performed the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas, all within a span of three weeks, at the USC Thornton School of Music.

A winner of the LACMA's Sundays Live competition and the Beverly Hills National Auditions, YuEun Kim earned her Artist Diploma under Midori Goto at the USC Thornton School of Music, where she won first place in USC's Solo Bach Competition and the Strings Concerto Competition.

Also a Beverly Hills National Auditions winner, among his wins in more than ten international competitions, Sung Chang earned First Prize, Audience Prize, and the Schubert Special Prize from the International Schubert Competition for Piano Duo and recently took the silver medal at the 12th San Antonio International Piano Competition. Sung Chang completed his studies at the USC Thornton School of Music with Professor Jeffrey Kahane.

This concert was videotaped and streamed.

Friday, October 1, 2021 at 12:15 p.m.

The Latsos Piano Duo

Latsos Piano Duo

ANNA FEDOROVA-LATSO and GIORGI LATSO

Georgian-American pianist/composer Giorgi Latso and Russian pianist Anna Fedorova-Latso are winners of international competitions and highly regarded piano virtuosos on the international classical music scene. As The Latsos Piano Duo since 2013, they have performed four-hand piano recitals and concertos for two pianos with orchestras in Europe, Russia, America, and Asia. Together Anna and Giorgi are brilliant and have issued their first recording – The Latsos Perform Mozart and Schubert.

Russian-born pianist Anna Fedorova-Latso graduated from the State Glinka Conservatory in Nizhny Novgorod, and is a First Prize winner of international piano competitions in Russia, Italy, and Greece.

A Steinway Artist, Giorgi Latso received a doctoral degree (D.M.A.) from the USC Thornton School of Music. Giorgi's 2010 appearance in London's Wigmore Hall included the world premiere of his composition Cyber Moment for violin and piano, which can be seen on YouTube.

This concert was videotaped and streamed.

Friday, November 5, 2021 at 12:15 p.m.

Violinist Ambroise Aubrun & Pianist Steven Vanhauwaert

French Violinist                    Belgian Pianist   
AMBROISE AUBRUN    STEVEN VANHAUWAERT

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 Kiev. Artistic Director of Classical Crossroads' Second Sundays at Two series, Mr. Vanhauwaert is a Steinway Artist.

This concert was videotaped and streamed.

Friday, December 3, 2021 at 12:15 p.m.

American Theatre Organ Society's
2012 Organist of the Year

Organist Mark Herman

Organist
MARK HERMAN

Organist Mark Herman has been featured on several episodes of American Public Media's Pipedreams program, and has performed for countless conventions of the American Theatre Organ Society, American Guild of Organists, and Organ Historical Society. 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.

This concert was videotaped and streamed.

Friday, January 14, 2022 at 12:15 p.m.

Two Acclaimed Artists & Good Friends
Share Their Passion for Chamber Music

Violinist/Violist Yura Lee                Pianist Steven Vanhauwaert

                          Violinist/Violist                         Pianist                  
                                  
YURA LEE           STEVEN VANHAUWAERT

To be recorded on Friday, January 7, 2022 at Rolling Hills United Methodist Church. Please note: Yura Lee is stepping in on very short notice for the originally scheduled cello recital with Clive Greensmith. The First Fridays at First recital is being recorded at RHUMC instead of First Lutheran and the streaming date has been delayed one week to accommodate the change. Please find full recital information by clicking here.

Part II of a Recital in Two Parts

Part I of this recital was streamed on the previous Sunday
on Classical Crossroads' Second Sundays at Two series.

This concert was videotaped and streamed.

Friday, February 4, 2022 at 12:15 p.m.

Hausmann Quartet

Hausmann Quartet

                            ALEX GREENBAUM cello    ISAAC ALLEN violin
BRAM GOLDSTEIN violin    ANGELA CHOONG viola                  

The Hausmann Quartet has established itself as an integral part of the cultural life of Southern California as faculty Artists-in-Residence at San Diego State University and Ensemble-in-Residence at Mainly Mozart. Winner of the Beverly Hills National Auditions, the Rotenburg International Chamber Music Competition, and the Morrison International Fellowship Award, the Hausmann Quartet was one of only two American quartets chosen to participate in both the Beijing International Quartet Competition and the Banff International Quartet Competition. The quartet is named after Robert Hausmann, the eminent 19th-century German cellist and founding member of the Joachim Quartet.

The Hausmann Quartet and the Maritime Museum of San Diego have partnered to present Haydn Voyages: Music at the Maritime, a quarterly concert series aboard Berkeley - an 1898 steam ferryboat that operated for 60 years on San Francisco Bay. Concerts aboard this National Historic Landmark, docked in downtown San Diego next to Star of India, explore the evolution of the string quartet through the lens of Joseph Haydn's quartet cycle.

This concert was videotaped and streamed.

Friday, March 4, 2022 at 12:15 p.m.

AlmaNova

AlmaNova

Guitarist                            Flutist   
ALMER IMAMOVIC       JESSICA PIERCE

Their live performances are filled with energy and passion creating a "graceful, intuitively choreographed display of seamless connection." ~ Fresno Beehive

The innovative AlmaNova duo trained in the classical tradition while exploring other types of music. AlmaNova's great love of all musical genres shines through to their audience by way of their exceptional musicianship and engaging stage presence. AlmaNova has traveled worldwide playing their unique blend of classical repertoire infused with music from the Balkans, Spain, Latin America, and the British Isles.

Flutist Jessica Pierce and guitarist Almer Imamovic began their careers in France while studying at the famed École Normale de Musique de Paris. They both continued their studies at the USC Thornton School, where Jessica earned her doctorate under Jim Walker and Almer earned his Master's under Scott Tennant. AlmaNova performed throughout Europe and North America including Paris's Theatre de Naples, the Tijuana International Guitar Festival, the Juan Serrano International Guitar Festival, and the Dom Armije in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

This concert was videotaped and streamed.

Friday, April 1, 2022 at 12:15 p.m.

TC4 SAXOPHONE QUARTET

TC4 Saxophone Quartet

               Andrew Harrison soprano saxophone, leader
                         Isaac Lopez alto saxophone
                                        Francis Cisneros tenor saxophone
                                                       Robert Alexander baritone saxophone

Made up of award-winning saxophonists, who all trained at the USC Thornton School of Music as well as other leading music schools, the TC4 Saxophone Quartet performs eclectic concerts featuring selections from around the world by emerging and celebrated composers. TC4 revitalizes classics and adapts them for the saxophone.

The TC4 Saxophone Quartet will perform an outreach concert for the students of First Lutheran Church & School in the afternoon, pending relaxation of Covid regulations.

This concert was videotaped and streamed.

Friday, May 6, 2022 at 12:15 p.m.

Part I of a Concert in Two Parts*

Pianist
STEVEN VANHAUWAERT & FRIENDS
in a Concert of Piano Quartets

         Violinist/Violist            Cellist                   Pianist                 Violinist/Violist
         Rebecca Hang       Brian Schuldt           Steven          Ambroise Aubrun
                                                                Vanhauwaert

About Steven Vanhauwaert
"impressive clarity, sense of structure and monster technique" ~ Los Angeles Times

Pianist Steven Vanhauwaert has garnered a wide array of accolades, including the First Prize at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition. Mr. Vanhauwaert has made his solo debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall performing the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg's Fratello. He has appeared as a soloist 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 Kiev, and with the Pacific Symphony, the Lviv Philharmonic, the Sofia Sinfonietta, the Flemish Symphony, and the Kyiv Kamerata, to name just a few.

* Part II of this concert Streams on the following Sunday
on Classical Crossroads' "Second Sundays at Two" series.

This concert was livestreamed.

Friday, June 3, 2022 at 12:15 p.m.

Recital by the Winner of Peninsula Symphony's
Edith Knox Performance Competition 

Cellist
MEI HOTTA
with Pianist
ELOISE KIM

Nineteen-year-old cellist Mei Hotta, from Torrance, California, has been featured as a soloist on NPR's From the Top, and subsequently was invited to collaborate with Pink Martini in a performance at the Hollywood Bowl. She was invited back to From the Top to collaborate with pianist Peter Dugan and violinist Vijay Gupta. She was also featured in USC's Piatigorsky Festival's Young Artist Workshop as its youngest member and soloist. She studies with renowned cellist of the former Tokyo Quartet Clive Greensmith, pursuing her Bachelor of Music degree at the Colburn Conservatory of music.

Pianist Eloise KimPraised by The Columbian as a "musician with great poetic phrasing and poised lyrical nature," award-wining pianist Eloise Kim is a top-prize-winner of numerous competitions. She earned her DMA at the USC Thornton School with Daniel Pollack, her Master of Music at the Manhattan School, and her Bachelor of Music at The Colburn Conservatory.

This concert was livestreamed.

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