Pali High Grad Produces, Stars In Upcoming Classical Music Concert

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Palisadian Adam McCrory is producing and starring in a classical music concert, which will take place on Saturday evening, October 18.

“I’m a long-time resident of the Palisades area, a grad of [Palisades Charter High School] and my family owned a business in the heart of the Palisades for decades until the Palisades fire: Michele International,” Adam told the Palisadian-Post.

Adam is the nephew of salon owners and sisters Marice McCrory-Irwin and Anne Egan. His father, Martin McCrory, is the salon’s business manager, while his mother and cousin are stylists there. The salon reopened at 1106 Montana Avenue in Santa Monica at the end of June.

“My family home was partially destroyed by the fire also, displacing my parents and destroying many of our possessions,” Adam said.

At the time of the fire, Adam was finishing a master’s degree in music at California State University, Northridge, so was living temporarily with family in Sunset Mesa near Getty Villa.

“I was displaced also and ended up having to go through the process of living in a hotel then finding a new place to live,” Adam described.

Now, with a finished degree, Adam is producing and starring in the classical music concert, titled “Liederabend: An Evening of Romantic German Song,” which he described as a “way to bounce back from the upheaval of the fires.” Music will include German classical songs from 1795 to 1910.

“It is a traditional style of concert that dates back about 200 years,” Adam described. “German songs, or Lieder, are famous pieces from some of the most iconic composers that use lyrics from major German poets of the 1800s. The songs are often about love, loss, pain, hope, nature and humanity—but above all they focus on storytelling.”

Adam will sing the majority of songs, but will be joined by “other up-and-coming local artists, including a classical pianist and three soprano singers.” The concert will feature Adam (“Irish baritone”) and Alyssa French (“emerging collaborative pianist”), with guests Virginia Douglas (“dynamic American soprano”), Julia Behbudov (“Ukranian dramatic soprano”) and Agnese Gallenzi (“Italian coloratura soprano”).

The program will feature an intermission, as well as a wine-and-cheese reception.

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, located at 580 Hilgard Avenue in Los Angeles. Adam said the venue is a “beautiful church, with great acoustics.” There will be “limited free parking” available on site, with additional parking at Hilgard Avenue or UCLA Lot 2.

Attendees are encouraged to “pay-what-you-can,” with a $20 suggested donation to support 580 Café, which is a “community dedicated to building justice through dialogue, creative expression, belief and activism” for UCLA students.

For those who are unable to attend the concert in person, Adam will be livestreaming it via YouTube.