Tag: composer

San Diego Opera’s "Daughter of the Regiment" Reporting for Duty

Chorus rehearsal for San Diego Opera's production of "Daughter of the Regiment"

UCSD-TV is thrilled to bring you another season of programming from San Diego Opera, which kicks off its 2013 season Jan 26 with Donizetti’s sparkling comedy “Daughter of the Regiment,” updated to the WWII era.

Leading up to Saturday’s premiere, tune in to San Diego Opera Stars in the Salon online, or tonight at 8 on UCSD-TV, to hear the cast and creative team’s thoughts on the composer, the opera’s history, traditions and musical highlights, and the joys and challenges of a theatrical life.

Our crew has been at the Civic Center recording all the action for UCSD-TV’s Friday night premiere of San Diego Opera Spotlight, but you can get a sneak peak with these brief video production updates that capture different phases of the intense rehearsal process. You can find them all at our Opera Spotlight series page or right here on the UCSD-TV blog!

First Rehearsal – Daughter of the Regiment

Chorus Rehearsal

First Onstage Rehearsal

Stars in the Salon

Summer(Fest) is Still in the Air – Starting Tonight!

Sure, the days are getting shorter, but the spirit of summer is still going strong on UCSD-TV with the premiere of three programs from La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest 2012 season.

The excitement kicks off tonight, October 5, at 8pm with Tan Dun’s Water Passion, a multicultural/multimedia oratorio, written by the acclaimed Chinese composer to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of J.S. Bach, whose “St. Matthew Passion” provided the initial inspiration for this work.  The music is a theatrical  mix of water bowls, drums, strings, Tibetan bells, chants, digital sounds, Chinese opera and Tuvan throat singing, with a dash of jazz and postmodernism, all filtered through Tan Dun’s adventurous sensibility.

Then tune in next Friday, October 12, at 8pm for Commissions & Premieres, part of SummerFest’s long tradition of showcasing new works. This year’s program includes stimulating pieces by American composers Gabriel Kahane, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Aaron Jay Kernis, and French composer Marc-Andre Dalbavie.

Finally, on October 19, there’s the Finale Concert, featuring 38 of the world’s best chamber and symphonic musicians as the SummerFest Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of celebrated conductor Kent Nagano.  The eclectic program includes Rossini’s beloved “Overture to The Barber of Seville,” Beethoven’s viruoso “Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major,” Maurer’s surprising “Sinfonia Concertante in A Minor for Four Violins and Strings,” and Mendelssohn’s  colorful “Symphony No. 4 in A Major.”

All programs repeat throughout the month and will be available online by their premiere date.

If you’re still not ready to let summer go, visit our SummerFest series page, where you can find video of performances and behind-the-scenes interviews going all the way back to 1999. That should keep you warm during the winter!

La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest 2012: Tan Dun’s Water Passion