Click here for First Fridays at First! ~ fff Series

Select Season: [2000–2001] [2001–2002] [2002–2003] [2003–2004] [2004–2005] [2005–2006] [2006–2007] [2007–2008] [2008–2009] [2009–2010] [2010–2011] [2011–2012] [2012–2013]

2010-2011 Recital Series

From 2001 to 2013 in Manhattan Beach, Bach's Lunch recitals have become Classical Crossroads' First Fridays at First! ~ fff recitals in Torrance CA.

Bach's Lunch recitals were half hour without intermissions. Lunch, with sandwiches made from special-order bakery bread and farmers-market-fresh produce, were available afterwards to enjoy with the artists or take back to the office in a box.

Friday, October 1, 2010 at 12:15 p.m.

DAVID YORK organ

A native of the Pacific Northwest, David York began piano studies at age 7, organ at age 12, and received his first job as a church organist at age 16. After graduating with honors from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, David completed a Master's Degree in Organ Performance at the University of Southern California. His teachers have included Edward A. Hansen and Ladd Thomas.

David has served as Director of Music at several churches in Southern California including First Presbyterian, San Pedro and St. Luke's Episcopal, Long Beach. He recently served as Interim Organist and Choir Director at St. John's Episcopal Cathedral in Los Angeles and is currently Interim Director of Music at Lutheran Church of the Master in Westwood. David is organist at Temple Israel in Long Beach and a Lecturer in Music on the faculty of the Bob Cole School of Music, California State University Long Beach.

Friday, November 5, 2010 at 12:15 p.m.

SUSAN DIETZ soprano
and
VICTORIA KIRSCH piano

Soprano Susan Dietz began winning classical vocal competitions at sixteen and singing professionally at 18. She has studied with Mady Mesple of the Paris Opera, Jean Gireaudeau of the Paris Opera Comique, James Miller from the University of Oregon as well as sopranos, Josephine Lott and Annette Warren Smith. She has sung with the San Francisco Opera, Orange County Opera, Long Beach Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale, South Bay Master Choral, and the Oregon Bach Festival. Susan keeps busy with opera and oratorio work on the West Coast and has been the resident soloist at historic Wayfarers Chapel for 25 years.

Victoria Kirsch maintains a varied professional schedule that includes international performing, work with major and regional opera companies, including Los Angeles Opera, extensive audition playing (including Plácido Domingo's Operalia competition in 2000 and 2004 and, until 2003, the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions), curates and performs a wide variety of vocal and chamber music programs throughout Southern California.

Friday, December 3, 2010 at 12:15 p.m.

TRE COLORE TRIO

NORA CHIANG piano   STIRLING TRENT violin
JOO LEE cello

At the age of thirteen Nora Chiang was awarded a five-year scholarship to attend the pre-college division of the Juilliard School. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music. Nora did graduate work at New England Conservatory and earned a Master of Music from USC. Nora Chiang is currently director of the Applied Music Program and teaches piano at Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center and gives private piano instruction in her studio in Los Angeles.

Texas native Stirling Trent is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where he was a student of Itzhak Perlman. He is now a student of Midori Goto at the USC Thornton School, where he earned a Master's degree and is pursuing a doctorate. He has appeared in Live from Lincoln Center with Itzhak Perlman, as well as a series at Carnegie Hall in 2003 in which he was concertmaster of the New York String Orchestra under Jaime Laredo.

A native of Korea, Joo Lee came to the United States to study with John Walz at Idyllwild Arts Academy and was accepted to the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School. She earned her Bachelor's Degree at the New England Conservatory of Music and her Master's Degree at the USC Thornton School of Music under Ronald Leonard. Ms. Lee is an artistic director of the Symbiosis Chamber Orchestra.

Friday, January 7, 2011 at 12:15 p.m.

JAMES TAULBEE organ

Organist-Choirmaster James Taulbee graduated from Westminster Choir College with degrees in Church Music and Organ Performance. His organ teachers include Charlotte Atkinson, Catharine Crozier, Joan Lippincott, and Cherry Rhodes. Mr. Taulbee's formal studies include handbell directing, church music, and children's choirs. He also holds a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance from the University of Southern California. Mr. Taulbee has served as Organist-Choirmaster for five different churches in the Los Angeles area over the past 30 years.

Friday, February 4, 2011 at 12:15 p.m.

RONG-HUEY LIU oboe, NAMHEE HAN organ

A native of Taiwan, oboist Rong-Huey Liu won First Place in the Taichung Regional Oboe Competition and the Taiwan National Oboe Competition, and was invited to study oboe in the United States. She earned a Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Manhattan School of Music and a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree with Pi Kappa Lambda Honors from University of Southern California. Rong-Huey is currently the principal oboist for the Riverside Philharmonic, California Chamber Orchestra and the Asia America Symphony, and the English Hornist for the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra. She also often performs with the Fresno Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, New West Symphony, Redlands Symphony and the Santa Barbara Symphony. Rong-Huey can be heard on recordings with Calico Winds, David Benoit, Bright Eyes, Ron Isley, to name a few. Rong-Huey teaches at the Riverside Community College and La Sierra University.

A native of South Korea, Namhee Han performs on the Southland's premier organs, including those at Saint James' in the City, First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, and Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. She was a featured artist at the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists in 2004. Namhee earned a Master's and Doctoral degree in organ performance at UCLA studying with Christoph Bull. Namhee is Organist of Westwood Presbyterian Church.

Friday, March 4, 2011 at 12:15 p.m.

"smooth, sinuous, and glowing with the requisite rich color." - Los Angeles Times

DOUGLAS MASEK saxophone
and
BRYAN PEZZONE piano

Internationally renowned performer and teacher of the saxophone Douglas Masek is sought after by orchestras and concert series to perform concertos and solo recitals on stage throughout six continents. He has performed with notable conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kent Nagano, Placido Domingo, John Mauceri, Andre Previn, Leonard Slatkin, Jorge Mester, JoAnn Falletta, Boris Brott, and Grant Gershon, to name some. Having received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, and his MM degree at Ohio State University, Dr. Masek completed his academic education with a Doctorate in Musical Arts at the University of Southern California, where he taught from 1975-1995. Currently, he is Saxophone Professor at UCLA.

Pianist Bryan Pezzone is the consummate cross-over pianist who excels in classical, contemporary, jazz, and experimental genres and is well known to aficionados for his versatility and virtuosity as a collaborative pianist, recording and performing artist, improviser, and composer.

Friday, April 1, 2011 at 12:15 p.m.

Millennia Consort

ALISON J. LUEDECKE organ
and
BEVERLY REESE DORCY percussion
plus
PRESIDIO BRASS
Bill Owens & Ray Nowak trumpets                   
Sean Reusch trombone                     
 Mike McCoy horn            
               Scott Sutherland tuba

Members of the San Diego-based Millennia Consort have been seen with major symphony orchestras, including the London Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic; can be heard on soundtracks ranging from video games to major motion pictures; and have been educated at several of America's finest institutions, including the Juilliard School, Boston Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, and USC. Organist and founder Alison Luedecke earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music.

Click to Listen to Promenade
from Pictures at an Exhibition

Friday, May 6, 2011 at 12:15 p.m.

"with the purest tone, stunning technique, and the loveliness of unaffected confidence, Linda Wang demonstrated ... she is among the premier young violinists of the world" - Palos Verdes Peninsula News

LINDA WANG violin

Since her solo debut with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta at the age of nine, Juilliard- and USC-trained violinist Linda Wang has performed concertos with leading orchestras throughout the United States. In Europe, she has been the guest soloist with Sir Georg Solti and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra, Salzburg Chamber Orchestra, Paris Sinfonietta, Germany's Sächsische Kammerphilharmonie Dresden and Philharmonisches Orchester des Vogtland, and The Czech Republic's Southern Bohemian Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom she toured. In Asia, her appearances have included an enthusiastically received debut in Taipei and performances in China and with the Philippines Philharmonic Orchestra. Linda Wang's solo concerts have taken her to New York City's Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam's Beurs van Berlage and the Berlin Schauspielhaus. Ms. Wang serves on the faculty of University of Denver's Lamont School of Music.

The repertoire for Linda's recital will complement the program she will perform the following Sunday on Rolling Hill United Method Church's Second Sundays At Two series. For information, click here.

Friday, June 3, 2011 at 12:15 p.m.

New England Conservatory of Music Oboist

MARTHA KLEINER oboe

IZUMI KASHIWAGI piano

Martha Kleiner born in Manhattan Beach, California, is a graduate from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with John Ferrillo. At NEC, she played in the Philharmonia orchestra, and performed with Boston's Discovery Ensemble for the 2010-2011 season. She was also a member of the Andra Winds, a quintet selected as New England Conservatory's honors ensemble. Ms. Kleiner was a member of the National Repertory Orchestra in 2010, a 2009 fellow at the Music Academy of the West, and has been a member of the Festival Mozaic Orchestra of San Luis Obispo. Her teachers have included Los Angeles Philharmonic oboists Anne Marie Gabriele, and David Weiss. This summer Ms. Kleiner will be attending the Aspen Music Festival, and next year, she will be pursuing her Artist Diploma at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.

Pianist Izumi Kashiwagi earned her Bachelor's degree at California State University Long Beach, where she won the CSULB Concerto Competition, and her Master's at the USC Thornton School of Music, where she is currently pursuing her doctorate under Professor Kevin Fitz-Gerald.

Click here for First Fridays at First! ~ fff Series
~ top ~