Carvin Knowles

Puppet score tugs at Elfman’s heart strings

Published on September 20, 2007

"My strongest link to my Jewish background is musical," he said. "I found myself drawn to Russian and Eastern European musical roots."

No ordinary orchestra—in war and in peace, the Israel Philharmonic plays on

Published on January 25, 2007

If it were a novel, no one would believe the 70-year saga of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, with its astonishing cast of famous characters, including Leonard Bernstein, Arturo Toscanini and Albert Einstein. But it's all true. It's a history ripe for Hollywood: An orchestra that has lived through wars and constant strife, performed on battlefields and had more than its own share of internal drama and turmoil.

Coast-to-coast U.S. tour trumpets Philharmonic anniversary

Published on January 25, 2007

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has been celebrating its 70th anniversary in style, hosting appearances by many of the orchestra's friends from over the years.

Keys to harmony—practice, practice, practice!

Published on January 25, 2007

Conversations in Hebrew, Russian, German and English fill the air. Two of the orchestra's musicians play chess, loudly clapping down on the timer after each move. The creative chaos is just a little heady.

Vienna Glories in Past and Present

Published on January 19, 2006

The best way to discover Mozart here might be a night at the Vienna Opera. I was lucky enough to attend a performance of "The Magic Flute" during my visit, which was sponsored by Austria Tourism. This was classical Mozart through and through in terms of the music, but the performance was strikingly modern.

Curtain Rises on Mozart’s Jewish Tie

Published on January 19, 2006

"Mozart does not belong to any nation. It would be a total misunderstanding for anyone to lay claim to Mozart," said Peter Marboe, Vienna Mozart Year artistic director. "That makes it obscene that the Nazis should claim him as an example of a great German artist and all the while hide his Jewish collaborators."

Composer’s Score Has a Unique ‘Ring’

Published on December 12, 2002

Nineteenth century composer and notorious anti-Semite Richard Wagner believed that a Jewish composer could never successfully treat serious mythical subject matter in music. But Wagner never anticipated Howard Shore.

Groovy Kitsch

Published on December 14, 2000

"Let My People Go-Go" is a very kitschy CD, but this isn't your ordinary, everyday kitsch.

Los Angeles Jewish Symphony Premieres New Work

Published on April 13, 2000

Influenced by Israeli folk dance and Sephardic music, the composer describes her new work as lyrical, colorful and rhythmic.

Flash! Handel’s Chanukah Oratorio in Yiddish

Published on November 25, 1999

In a concert entitled "The Light of Helfman-Generations of Music from the Brandeis-Bardin Institute", which celebrates Max Helfman, founder of Brandeis Bardin's Summer Arts Institute, the LAJS will inaugurate its sixth season with a performance of Handel's triumphant "Judas Maccabeus" in a Yiddish translation by Helfman.

L.A. Becomes Eclectic

Published on October 7, 1999

"The World Festival of Sacred Music--The Americas," a 9-day multicultural program initiated by his holiness the Dalai Lama, kicks off this weekend with a mind-boggling schedule of over eighty concerts and "musical happenings" that cover an eclectic range of styles and ethnicities of almost anything that can broadly be called "sacred" in places where you might not expect them.

Middle East Peace Through Music

Published on October 7, 1999

Can music be a catalyst for peace in the Middle East? His Holiness the Dalai Lama thinks so, and he's not alone.

Taste of KlezMex

Published on July 15, 1999

In spite of thunder, lightning, pouring rain and occasional gusts of unchecked sentimentalism, the Viva Klezmer-L'Khayim Mariachi concert at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre on Sunday, July 11, was a high-energy, crowd-pleaser that mostly delivered on its promise to explore the intersection of the two forms.

Notes from a Master

Published on December 10, 1998

With the release of "Star Trek: Insurrection," composer Jerry Goldsmith has completed his fourth orchestral score for a "Star Trek" feature film. During the past 35 years, the composer has written some of the most memorable film and television music ever. His 100-plus film scores are remarkably diverse, including "Alien," "Chinatown," "Basic Instinct" and last summer's "Mulan."

The Movies’ Music Man

Published on April 2, 1998

The list of films for which Elmer Bernstein has written orchestral scores reads like a roll call of cinema's all-time classics: "The Ten Commandments," "The Age of Innocence," "The Magnificent Seven," "Ghostbusters," "To Kill A Mockingbird," "CapeFear," "True Grit," "Animal House," "The Great Escape," "My Left Foot"...just to name a few.