St. Matthew’s Music Guild Tunes Up for New Season

St. Matthew’s Music Guild will open its 2007-2008 season on October 19 with an opening night gala, patrons supper and concert featuring a return appearance by Philip Vaiman in Samuel Barber?s lyrical “Violin Concerto.” St. Matthew’s Music Guild is known throughout Los Angeles for presenting the classical music in a stunning architectural and acoustical environment, designed by architect Charles Moore. Programs are offered at a reasonable price and at a convenient location, St. Matthew’s Church, 1031 Bienveneda Ave. All performances begin at 8 p.m. This season consists of eight programs. The second performance, on November 9 will feature a West Coast appearance by the Montreal-based Ensemble Caprice, which has appeared at the Vlaanderen Festival in Bruges, Belgium, the Netwerk-Reihe of the Organisatie voor Oude Muziek in The Netherlands, the International Recorder Symposium in Stuttgart and the Ancient Music Rencontres in Heidelberg. Since taking the 2005 Boston Early Music Festival by storm they have produced several highly acclaimed CDs and been nominated for three Prix Opus awards. Music for the season by J.S. Bach will be performed on December 14 and will feature “Cantata 140–Sleepers, wake!,”Cantata 10–My soul doth magnify the Lord,” “Brandenburg Concerto No. 4” and “Violin Concerto in E Major” performed by violinist Yi-Huan Zhao and The Choir of St. Matthew?s Parish. On January 18, composer-in-residence Dwayne Milburn’s world premiere of a new piece for clarinet and orchestra will be performed, preceded by Debussy?s ?Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun? (arr. Shoenberg), Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” and Vaughan Williams’, “Five Variants of ?Dives and Lazarus.” On February 15, members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic will return for a program to include Brahms? Sextet in B-flat major plus music of Mozart, Tchaikovsky and John Harbison. April 4 brings a West Coast performance of American composer and conductor Murray Sidlin’s suite of arias, duets and instrumental works from Copland’s operatic masterpiece, ?The Tender Land.? Phil Feather, oboe d’amore, Rose Beattie, mezzo-soprano, Richard Bullock, bass trombone and John van Houten, tuba, will perform works of Wagner, Brahms, Angel and Wright on May 2. The season?s final program will be June 6 and will feature solo performances by David Searfoss, trumpet, playing Persichetti’s “The Hollow Men,” and Marda Todd, viola, playing Vaughan Williams? “Flos Campi.” The St. Matthew?s Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1984 by Tom Neenan, who is the music director and conductor of the orchestra. ?We started with four people who wanted to develop a chamber orchestra,? Neenan told the Post in 2004. They hit their stride 10 to 12 years ago, Neenan said, when they got a core group of 20 to 25 musicians playing in the orchestra. Now the 35-member St. Matthew?s Chamber Orchestra is recognized as a fully professional ensemble that has earned critical acclaim and public admiration for more than two decades. To subscribe to the 2007-2008 series call: (310) 573-7787 ext. 127 or visit: www.stmatthews.com/musicguild.