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Press Releases
Salastina Music Society Debut Concerts With Elizabeth Futral & Seth Rogen
The Salastina Music Society will present its debut concert at the Zipper Concert Hall on Thursday, June 17th. The program features soprano Elizabeth Futral and actor Seth Rogen, and celebrates an eclectic offering of music ranging from classical and tango to a world premiere and storytelling.
The June 17th program includes Ernest Chausson: Chanson Perpetuelle, Op. 37 featuring Elizabeth Futral; Johannes Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111; Ástor Piazzolla: Primavera Porteña (“Spring” from The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires); Three Neruda Arias, a world premiere by composer Jeremy Cavaterra featuring Elizabeth Futral; and Alan Ridout: Ferdinand the Bull, narrated by Seth Rogen.
The June 18th program includes Ernest Chausson: Chanson Perpetuelle, Op. 37 featuring Elizabeth Futral, Johannes Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111, Ástor Piazzolla: Primavera Porteña (“Spring” from The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires), Three Neruda Arias, a world premiere by composer Jeremy Cavaterra featuring Elizabeth Futral; and Giuseppe Verdi: Sempre Libera (from La Traviata) also with Elizabeth Futral.
Joining soprano Elizabeth Futral and actor Seth Rogen in the debut concerts are Artistic Directors Maia Jasper and Kevin Kumar, violists Robert Brophy and Andrew Duckles, cellist Vanessa Freebairn-Smith, bassist Geoffrey Osika, harpist Julie Ann Smith, oboist Rong-Huey Liu, flutist Timothy Hagen, pianist Francois Chouchan, and composer Jeremy Cavaterra.
The concerts will take place at 8 pm on Thursday, June 17th at Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School (200 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012), and 8 pm on Friday, June 18th at the First Presbyterian Church (1220 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401). Tickets can be purchased at www.salastinasociety.com or at the door.
Elizabeth Futral, one of the preeminent sopranos on any stage in the world today, has performed to great acclaim with the Metropolitan, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Los Angeles, Washington National, Deutsche Opera Berlin, Berlin State, San Francisco, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston Grand, and New York City Operas among many others. The role of Stella in Andre Previn’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” was created especially for Futral. Her discography includes releases on Deutsche Grammophon, Euphorbia, Newport Classics, and Chandos.
“I'm terribly excited to be participating in the first concerts of this new group,” says Futral. “It's an honor for me, and I hope it will mark the first of many for the society!”
Seth Rogen is the star of films such as Knocked Up, Superbad, Pineapple Express, Funny People and the upcoming The Green Hornet, and has writing and producing credits in other notable hits, including The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He has provided voice talents to movies like Shrek the Third, Horton Hears a Who!, Kung Fu Panda, and Monsters vs. Aliens.
“I've always been a huge lover of classical music,” remarks Rogen. “It is the only type of music that makes you seem smart just by listening to it. I will be reading ‘Ferdinand the Bull,’ which will be a big moment for me, because I learned to read specifically for this event. I'm excited to be a part of it and hope the audience bears with me if I have to sound out a few of the longer words.”
Each musical work will feature a different combination of instruments. The largest ensemble of the evening will be used for the world premiere of Jeremy Cavaterra’s “Three Neruda Arias” set to poems by Pablo Neruda.
“I began setting Neruda's poem ‘Ausencia de Joaquín’ (‘Joaquin's Absence’) years ago as a piano-vocal song, and then developed the idea for a small chamber ensemble,” says Cavaterra. “When the Salastina Music Society offered to put the piece on its debut program – and with the prospect of writing for such fine players and Elizabeth Futral as the soloist, I couldn't refuse. I finished the first song, which became an aria, and added two more on Neruda's texts ‘Pájaro’ (‘Bird’) and ‘Aquí’ (‘Here’).”
“Our aim is to select music that is sophisticated, but will appeal even to the casual or first-time concertgoer,” explains Maia Jasper, one of the founders/artistic directors of The Salastina Music Society. “This is something I personally have always wanted to put together. After discovering that we shared similar goals, ideas, and tastes a few years ago, Kevin [Kumar] and I began brainstorming something truly unique to the classical music scene and to Los Angeles."
The Salastina Music Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting world-class performances of chamber music. With the goals of broad audience appeal and innovative programming, Founders/Artistic Directors Maia Jasper and Kevin Kumar purposefully design each concert to be slightly shorter than the average classical music concert, which can be taxing on the contemporary listener. Performances are also designated as “free applause zones” in which no attempts will be made to stifle applause between movements of pieces.
“We’re not trying to make the concert experience more casual,” concludes Kevin Kumar. “On the contrary, we would like our programs to be formal events with appropriate respect for the performers and music, but that doesn’t rule out spontaneous displays of appreciation. Also, we’ve chosen music we hope will evoke a wide variety of reactions from our listeners. We have a healthy respect for the intelligence of our prospective audience and believe they’ll know what’s appropriate.”
Receptions after the concerts will be open to all ticketholders. Scoops, a local gourmet ice cream company with a cult following, will be catering the June 17th reception with mini ice cream cones of exotic flavors.
www.salastinasociety.com
The June 17th program includes Ernest Chausson: Chanson Perpetuelle, Op. 37 featuring Elizabeth Futral; Johannes Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111; Ástor Piazzolla: Primavera Porteña (“Spring” from The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires); Three Neruda Arias, a world premiere by composer Jeremy Cavaterra featuring Elizabeth Futral; and Alan Ridout: Ferdinand the Bull, narrated by Seth Rogen.
The June 18th program includes Ernest Chausson: Chanson Perpetuelle, Op. 37 featuring Elizabeth Futral, Johannes Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111, Ástor Piazzolla: Primavera Porteña (“Spring” from The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires), Three Neruda Arias, a world premiere by composer Jeremy Cavaterra featuring Elizabeth Futral; and Giuseppe Verdi: Sempre Libera (from La Traviata) also with Elizabeth Futral.
Joining soprano Elizabeth Futral and actor Seth Rogen in the debut concerts are Artistic Directors Maia Jasper and Kevin Kumar, violists Robert Brophy and Andrew Duckles, cellist Vanessa Freebairn-Smith, bassist Geoffrey Osika, harpist Julie Ann Smith, oboist Rong-Huey Liu, flutist Timothy Hagen, pianist Francois Chouchan, and composer Jeremy Cavaterra.
The concerts will take place at 8 pm on Thursday, June 17th at Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School (200 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012), and 8 pm on Friday, June 18th at the First Presbyterian Church (1220 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401). Tickets can be purchased at www.salastinasociety.com or at the door.
Elizabeth Futral, one of the preeminent sopranos on any stage in the world today, has performed to great acclaim with the Metropolitan, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Los Angeles, Washington National, Deutsche Opera Berlin, Berlin State, San Francisco, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston Grand, and New York City Operas among many others. The role of Stella in Andre Previn’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” was created especially for Futral. Her discography includes releases on Deutsche Grammophon, Euphorbia, Newport Classics, and Chandos.
“I'm terribly excited to be participating in the first concerts of this new group,” says Futral. “It's an honor for me, and I hope it will mark the first of many for the society!”
Seth Rogen is the star of films such as Knocked Up, Superbad, Pineapple Express, Funny People and the upcoming The Green Hornet, and has writing and producing credits in other notable hits, including The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He has provided voice talents to movies like Shrek the Third, Horton Hears a Who!, Kung Fu Panda, and Monsters vs. Aliens.
“I've always been a huge lover of classical music,” remarks Rogen. “It is the only type of music that makes you seem smart just by listening to it. I will be reading ‘Ferdinand the Bull,’ which will be a big moment for me, because I learned to read specifically for this event. I'm excited to be a part of it and hope the audience bears with me if I have to sound out a few of the longer words.”
Each musical work will feature a different combination of instruments. The largest ensemble of the evening will be used for the world premiere of Jeremy Cavaterra’s “Three Neruda Arias” set to poems by Pablo Neruda.
“I began setting Neruda's poem ‘Ausencia de Joaquín’ (‘Joaquin's Absence’) years ago as a piano-vocal song, and then developed the idea for a small chamber ensemble,” says Cavaterra. “When the Salastina Music Society offered to put the piece on its debut program – and with the prospect of writing for such fine players and Elizabeth Futral as the soloist, I couldn't refuse. I finished the first song, which became an aria, and added two more on Neruda's texts ‘Pájaro’ (‘Bird’) and ‘Aquí’ (‘Here’).”
“Our aim is to select music that is sophisticated, but will appeal even to the casual or first-time concertgoer,” explains Maia Jasper, one of the founders/artistic directors of The Salastina Music Society. “This is something I personally have always wanted to put together. After discovering that we shared similar goals, ideas, and tastes a few years ago, Kevin [Kumar] and I began brainstorming something truly unique to the classical music scene and to Los Angeles."
The Salastina Music Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting world-class performances of chamber music. With the goals of broad audience appeal and innovative programming, Founders/Artistic Directors Maia Jasper and Kevin Kumar purposefully design each concert to be slightly shorter than the average classical music concert, which can be taxing on the contemporary listener. Performances are also designated as “free applause zones” in which no attempts will be made to stifle applause between movements of pieces.
“We’re not trying to make the concert experience more casual,” concludes Kevin Kumar. “On the contrary, we would like our programs to be formal events with appropriate respect for the performers and music, but that doesn’t rule out spontaneous displays of appreciation. Also, we’ve chosen music we hope will evoke a wide variety of reactions from our listeners. We have a healthy respect for the intelligence of our prospective audience and believe they’ll know what’s appropriate.”
Receptions after the concerts will be open to all ticketholders. Scoops, a local gourmet ice cream company with a cult following, will be catering the June 17th reception with mini ice cream cones of exotic flavors.
www.salastinasociety.com
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