ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
It’s often said that great music can transport listeners to a higher plane or another world, and, on Saturday, May 17, at 8:00 p.m. at the historic Ambassador Auditorium, the California Philharmonic will ensure that just that happens when it presents an evening of music that spans the cosmos – from here on Earth and our solar system to a galaxy far, far away. On the program are excerpts from John Williams’ classic film score Star Wars, Holst’s epic orchestral work The Planets, and the ‘intergalactic premiere’ of earth: you are here, written especially for this concert by Cal Phil composer-in-residence Roger Allen Ward.
“From time immemorial, the night sky has inspired humanity to reach for the stars,” says Cal Phil founder and Music Director, Dr. Victor Vener. “And this holds especially true for the composers whose works we’ll feature. For instance, Gustav Holst, who was a passionate devotee of astrology, once said that he only studied subjects that suggested music to him. And, now, his great orchestral work, The Planets, is the most-performed composition by an English composer.” The suite was an instant success. “Legend has it that, at the first rehearsal of ‘Jupiter,’ the women cleaning the concert hall put down their mops and began dancing,” Vener adds.
To enhance the audience’s enjoyment and understanding of The Planets, Cal Phil has designed a multi-media production that will include recent photographs and moving images of the planets captured by spacecraft designed by JPL.
Tickets for Cal Phil’s performance of “The Planets” range from $30 to $95/person and are available by calling (626) 300-8200 or online, at www.calphil.org. The box office, located at 1120 Huntington Drive in San Marino, is open Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Ambassador Auditorium is located at 131 South St. John Avenue in Pasadena.