Long Beach Camerata Singers Website

Camerata Singers Grow Audience, Sound

cameratasingers — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:01:26 +0000

By Jim Ruggirello on Gazettes.com on Sunday, March 25, 2012 12:15 am

They’re the Big Three of the Baroque era.

That would be Johann Sebastian Bach, George Friderich Handel and Antonio Vivaldi. And works by these three geniuses made up the program by the Long Beach Camerata Singers at Covenant Presbyterian Church one blustery Sunday evening.

The audience for the Camerata seems to have grown, at least as I eyeballed it the other day. That’s a good thing, and artistic director Robert Istad has his group sounding great. He also puts together innovative programs.

This particular concert is the culmination of the 38th annual Long Beach Bach Festival, which has included a fascinating recital by Laura Harrison combining pop, jazz and classical selections, an interesting juxtaposition of a contemporary piece, a little Mahler and one of the Brandenburgs arranged for piano quartet, and an evening of jazz at The Wine Bar.

This final concert was kind of a jolly sandwich, with sunny, upbeat works in the Italian style surrounding a somber German masterpiece. The program opened with Handel’s festive “Laudate Pueri,” with guest soprano Claire Fedoruk contributing some dazzling coloratura filigree (and a thrilling, and surprising, high note at the end) while the Camerata negotiated Handel’s intricate lines with aplomb.

One noticed right off the bat that the Camerata’s sound just keeps getting better and better, the tenors especially solid and satisfying but everyone sounding terrific.

Bach’s Cantata No. 4, “Christ lag in Todesbanden,” is a miraculous work, richly composed, deeply emotional and quite moving. When performed as well as it was here, by the Camerata and an excellent bass soloist named Kevin Long, the results are breathtaking.
And the Vivaldi Gloria has always been a favorite, a piece that simply reeks of pure joy. Soloists from the Camerata more than held their own alongside Fedoruk, with soprano Janette Anastasia and mezzos Jade Clavesilla and Shannon Kao offering remarkable, professional-quality performances.

A word about the instrumentalists. Principal cello Erin Breene put in a full day of distinguished continuo work, and it’s a shame that the oboes weren’t named in the program. The oboe solo in “Domine Deus” was lovely. Throughout the evening, the small pick-up orchestra was excellent, supported by Peter Bates at the organ and Na-Young Moon on harpsichord.

Istad and his crew are to be congratulated, for their excellent performances, innovative programming and audience growth. Let’s hope they can keep up the remarkably high standard they’ve set for themselves. Click on longbeachcameratasingers.org to learn more.

Camerata Singers Go Broadway!

cameratasingers — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 03:12:43 +0000

Join us as we close our concert season with our popular Broadway–themed benefit performance. A reception and silent auction precedes the concert, offering a wide variety of items for bidding.

Saturday, June 9, 2012
6:30 p.m. Pre-Concert Reception/Auction
7:30 p.m. Performance
CSU Long Beach – Gerald R. Daniel Recital Hall

Gloria! Beauty and the Baroque

cameratasingers — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:25:50 +0000

The final Long Beach Bach Festival event of the season!
Mar 18, 2012 @ 5:30 PM – Covenant Presbyterian Church

Featuring:
Long Beach Camerata Singers & Symphony Orchestra
Robert Istad, conductor
Claire Fedoruk, soprano
Na-Young Moon & Peter Bates, continuo

Bach a Bacchus with Lindsey Hundley!

cameratasingers — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:11:43 +0000

Jazz artists Lindsey Hundley, Dominic Thiroux, and Lauren Kosty perform jazz-inspired arrangements of some of J.S. Bach’s most famous works in the Long Beach Bach Festival event, “Bach a Bacchus.” Come taste a variety of wines and sample light hors d’oeuvres while listening to Lindsey’s creative performance in a casually elegant environment. March 10 at 7:30 p.m. @ The Wine Bar – 250 W. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach, CA

Brandenburg, Old and New

cameratasingers — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:02:29 +0000

We welcome you to our second Long Beach Bach Festival event, featuring CENTRAL4 in “Brandenburg, Old and New.” Los Angeles Composer Jenni Brandon’s new piece “Meditations on Brandenburg 5” was commissioned by CENTRAL4 especially for this occasion.

March 3 at 7:30pm
First Congregational Church of Long Beach
241 Cedar Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90208

Signal Tribune Article on Bach to Basie

cameratasingers — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:07:48 +0000

Originally posted on the signaltribunenewspaper.com

The Long Beach Camerata Singers are kicking off the new year in celebration of Bach, Blues and more with the 38th annual Long Beach Bach Festival. Singers and instrumentalists will give four concert performances over a span of two months, interpreting the famous composer in unique ways.

Recording artist Laura Harrison will open this year’s Bach Festival on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 5:30pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach. Harrison’s set, entitled Mash-up! Bach to Basie, will take the audience from Johann Sebastian Bach to jazz legend William “Count” Basie, and will include Baroque arias, jazz standards, and popular favorites on the same program.

Harrison’s debut jazz CD, entitled Now…Here, currently plays in 43 states and 13 countries, climbing to number 18 on the CMJ Jazz National Chart. Wilbert Sostre of the Jazz Times believes she sets the standard for jazz singers today. Of her debut album, Sostre writes: “…this is what a jazz singer should sound like.”

On March 3 at 7:30pm, The Central4 Piano Quartet will combine classical and contemporary music in a performance at First Congregational Church of Long Beach. The group’s performance, Brandenburg, Old and New, will include Bach’s Brandenburg Concert No. 5 in D Major, as well as a piece commissioned specifically for this occasion by Los Angeles composer Jenni Brandon.

The popular “Bach a Bacchus,” featuring pianist Lindsey Hundley, will be the third presentation of the Bach Festival on March 10 at 7:30pm at The Wine Bar in Long Beach. Audience members will have the opportunity to sample wines and hors d’oeuvres while they enjoy jazz-inspired variations of some of Bach’s most famous work.

The Long Beach Bach Festival will conclude this year with “GLORIA! Beauty and the Baroque” performed by the Long Beach Camerata Singers and Orchestra. The concert, conducted by Robert Istad, will highlight the best of the Baroque Period with Vivaldi’s Gloria in D, Handel’s Laudate Pueri Dominum and Bach’s Cantata BWV 4–Christ lag in Todesbanden.

Admission prices are $25 for advanced tickets and $30 at the door. Purchase advanced tickets at longbeachcameratasingers.org.

Laura Harrison: Mash-Up! Bach to Basie

cameratasingers — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:46:56 +0000

We welcome you to our first Long Beach Bach Festival event, featuring Laura Harrison in “Mash-Up! Bach to Basie.” Enjoy baroque arias mixed with jazz standards and popular favorites on the same program.

February 19, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach
5450 E Atherton St.
Long Beach, CA 90815

Who We Are

cameratasingers — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 18:12:39 +0000

We are a 70-member choral ensemble committed to providing educational outreach and cultural opportunities throughout the city of Long Beach and its neighboring cities. Serving the performing arts community for over four decades, the Long Beach Camerata Singers is dedicated to presenting performances and festivals designed to reach a broad spectrum of our community members, and beyond.

Choral Music Fans Have Blast At Concert

cameratasingers — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 03:06:50 +0000

By Jim Ruggirello on Gazettes.com on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 2:24 pm

You have to love a concert called “Blast!”

That was the season-opening effort by the Long Beach Camerata Singers, presented the other evening at Covenant Presbyterian, and devotees of choral music certainly had a you-know-what.
Artistic director Robert Istad is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about his chosen art form, and his programs are invariably put together with intention and a good deal of thought. For this one, he chose 20th and 21st century works for chorus, organ, percussion and harp.

Given that framework, the repertoire turned out to be extremely varied, with composers new (Jonathan Dove, Tarik O’Regan, Nico Muhly, Ken Walicki) and old (Ralph Vaughan Williams, Martin Shaw, Herbert Howells) exploring different ideas about what this particular combination could achieve. One of Istad’s stated intentions was to give an historic context to the contemporary works and to make the older compositions sound modern. By gosh, it worked.

I suppose some good things can come out of Orange County, and one of them is Jung-A Lee, who was the amazing organist on this concert. She was by turns supportive and extremely virtuosic. Her sizeable and technically accomplished contributions to the success of the evening were extraordinary.

Lee was an equal partner with Istad in the concert’s culmination, an excellent performance of a 20th century classic, Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms.” The percussion ensemble from California State University, Fullerton, where Istad is the director of choral studies, and harpist Ellie Choate also distinguished themselves here, as they did throughout the program.

The excellent Senior Wave Chorale from Manhattan Beach Middle School performed two numbers on their own, Martin Shaw’s too-short “Fanfare” and Sheldon Altman’s lively “Bim-Bam,” and guested with the Camerata in Nico Muhly’s difficult but effective “A Good Understanding.” Five boys from the group also collectively sang the alt solo in the second movement of the Bernstein, and very nicely, too.
Speaking of public school music, the Camerata began giving a Music Educator of the Year award a few years back, which is a lovely idea. This year’s recipient is Paula Riley, from our own Stanford Middle School.

The highlight of the newer works for me was “just like a dream experience…” by Ken Walicki, who also teaches at Fullerton. The immediately attractive choral lines, accompanied by the organ and punctuated by percussion and harp, made for an entertaining and satisfying world premiere.

Istad described Tarik O’Regan’s “Dorchester Canticles,” written in 2004, as “wild and crazy,” and it certainly was that. So was the Muhly for that matter, and then the Bernstein was there to demonstrate where all that wildness and craziness came from. Howells and Vaughan Williams represented a tamer and saner tradition.

There was so much going on, I almost didn’t notice how good the Camerata was. Istad has fashioned a wonderful sound, seamlessly blended, powerful when necessary, and capable of giving terrific, authoritative performances in a variety of styles. What really came through during the entire concert was the singers’ energy and enthusiasm.

They seemed to be having a blast.

Originally posted on Gazettes.com by Jim Ruggirello

School Choir to Sing With Professionals

cameratasingers — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 17:31:02 +0000

By Liz Spear from the Manhattan Beach Patch, October 21, 2011.

The Manhattan Beach Middle School chorus is joining the Long Beach Camerata Singers for “Blast! (Bernstein, Pipes, and Percussion)” this weekend for performances in Redondo Beach and Long Beach.

It’s all about music this weekend for 44 kids who sing in the Manhattan Beach Middle School Senior Wave Chorale.

Or maybe it’s almost always all about music!

In any case, the students will be performing with the professional Long Beach Camerata Singers Saturday and Sunday after spending time rehearsing with the group’s artistic director, Robert Istad.

There are more than a few Manhattan Beach connections going on here but, in addition to the MBMS kids, Manhattan Beach resident Karla Devine is a singer with Camerata.

Said Devine of listening to the students rehearse with Istad Thursday, “The kids sound magical. When I heard their first entrance, it sounded like they just were floating into the piece! They are so well-prepared. Heather Gold [the MBMS chorus conductor] is amazing!”

Said Istad after Thursday’s rehearsal, “It is incredibly impressive to hear a middle school chorus tackle complicated repertoire with such musicality, finesse, beauty, and precision! I am astounded with Ms. Gold’s abilities. She is a superb musician and teacher. I look forward to an amazing weekend of concerts with them.”

Choir students delivered a stunning performance at the city’s Sept. 11 commemoration and often sing in the community at charity events. They also performed last spring at a choral festival sponsored by the Southern California Vocal Association and received a superior rating, said Gold.

“All the singers are very excited about the chance to sing with the Long Beach Camerata Singers,” said Gold. “It has brought an air of professionalism to our rehearsals knowing that we will perform such beautiful music with such an accomplished group.”

The MBMS program has five choirs, consisting of about 165 students.

If you didn’t hear them at the Sept. 11 city commemoration, these kids are amazingly gifted and deliver vocals that are heavenly.

“Blast!” will be performed in Redondo Beach Saturday at 7 p.m. at Riviera United Methodist Church, 375 Palos Verdes Boulevard, and in Long Beach on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 E. 3rd Street. Tickets cost $25 each in advance and $30 at the door. Purchase tickets online or call 562-522-1045.

Posted at the Manhatten Beach Patch on October 21, 2011.