The year 2020 has been a wild ride, and it’s not over yet. As we watched the cascade of announcements from most major professional music groups that they were cancelling their entire 2020-21 seasons, our hearts broke. We saw not just the...
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Camerata Behind the Scenes: In the Green Room
For anyone who has attended a Camerata concert, you know that the choir members don’t just loiter around the lobby and concert hall waiting for Dr. Bass to beckon them to their places. Nary a tuxedo nor black dress should be seen anywhere before...
Read moreHandel With Care: A Baroque Trivia Quiz
It’s a good thing that Peanut wasn’t G.F. Handel’s dog — he never would have put up for being ignored during that 3-week period when the master composed Messiah! Considering that the oratorio comprises almost 3 hours in its entirety, that is...
Read moreHandel’s Messiah and the Baroque Violin
Long Beach Camerata Singers will perform Handel’s Messiah on December 21 and 22, 2019, with Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra. There are many reasons to attend what promises to be a beautiful performance; today we will focus on the use of the...
Read moreEvening of Song — Evening of Fun
What do you get when you introduce a world-famous TV Director to a world-famous choral conductor? That’s what happened recently at a lunch in Westwood near the UCLA campus when Long Beach Camerata Singers Artistic Director, James K. Bass, met...
Read moreCaptive Audiences: How Many Tickets Can One Singer Sell?
Peanut never lacks for an audience because he expects everyone he encounters to pay attention to him. Perhaps we singers need to take a lesson from him and have higher
Read more“Word-Painting” and Handel’s Messiah
One of the most extraordinary aspects of Handel’s music is the use of “word-painting,” the musical technique of composing music that reflects the literal meaning of a song’s lyrics. For
Read moreHOMER (SIMPSON) LOVES HANDEL
We all know that GF Handel is famous for his iconic chorus from the oratorio, Messish, the Hallelujah Chorus. He’s so famous, it turns out, that even Homer Simpson likes his
Read moreHow GF Handel Made History Reusing Music
GF Handel, like most composers of his era, borrowed and recycled musical themes on a routine basis. Today, we would consider the practice at best, distasteful, and at worst, plagiarism.
Read moreA Busy December For Camerata
December is typically the busiest month of the year for choral musicians, and this year is no exception for the fine singers of Long Beach Camerata Singers. As the reputation
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