Pianist

Midge Boardman, Weekend GLENDALE -- Strains of Chopin, Stravinsky and Richard Strauss will fill Glendale's Alex Theatre Jan. 22, when guest pianist Christopher O'Riley and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra bring their artistic excellence to the next segment of the "Made in California" season. O'Riley will interpret the Chopin favorite Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor. Chamber Music Director Jeffrey Kahane called O'Riley a remarkable pianist in a recent interview.

Joyce Rudolph Anatolia Ioannides will live out her dream of sharing rarely heard chamber ensemble music of her native Greece Thursday when she performs a concert featuring three contemporary composers. The pianist will be joined by violinist Maia Jasper and soprano Natalie Janssen in a free performance Thursday in the Brand Library concert hall. "We have included in the program worthwhile works of distinguished Greek composers from the beginning of the 20th century to the present that are not necessarily scheduled often in a recital program," Ioannides said.

Jeff Klemzak of La Crescenta owns a roofing business. "The Pianist," Roman Polanski's tale of one man's journey through the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation, is one of the finest films I've seen in quite some time. The story is told with a richness and depth that carries the viewer on an emotional see-saw, from the heights of superbly performed classical music to the depths of Nazi depravity. Adrien Brody plays Wladyslaw Szpilman, a famous concert pianist whose work was familiar to Polish listeners in the days just prior to World War II. Szpilman and his family are forced by the Nazis from their comfortable Warsaw home into spare and unheated quarters in the living hell of the newly created Jewish ghetto.

The last couple of weeks have been “June gloom” in regard to the weather here in the Greater Los Angeles area. But on Sunday afternoon, the sun shined bright for just a moment. It could have been a coincidence, but it seemed to shine a little brighter on the corner of Maryland and California avenues in Glendale, when the Center for Spiritual Living-Glendale hosted the “Healing Light Benefit Concert” featuring critically acclaimed pianist, composer and vocalist Mel Dangcil.

Classical music pianist and teacher Angela Cholakyan will be true to her Russian roots Saturday when she performs the work of Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky in a concert in West Hollywood. The La Crescenta resident will also be mistress of ceremonies for the concert she coordinated that features five singers and violinist, she said. “I wanted it to cover his Romances,” she said, describing Romances as short vocal compositions that are more like chamber music than opera, but based on poems.

A trio of highly accomplished musicians will present the music of Boccerini, Smetana and other masters during a free concert at 4 p.m. Feb. 9 at Salem Lutheran Church, 1211 N. Brand Blvd. The trio is made up of cellist David Speitz, pianist Ayke Augus and violinist Connie Kupka. Speitz has performed at the Library of Congress, Lincoln Center and the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico. Augus was both pupil and pianist for the master class of legendary violinist Jasha Heifitz at USC. Kupka has performed with the Arriega Quartet and in festivals including those in Santa Fe, N.M., the Grand Canyon and the Bach Festival in Oregon.

PIANIST TO PERFORM AT FUNDRAISER L?aureole?s annual benefit on March 6 will be a concert featuring Mel Dangcil , a pianist and composer, rather than a fashion show. Dangcil, a native of San Francisco, uses improvisation and changes notes from classical pieces, making them his own. After moving to Southern California, he performed in concerts as a band-pianist, ballet accompanist and vocal coach. He worked for 17 years with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera and retired from the Los Angeles City College Music Department, where he was music director of the commercial voice program.

The Associates of the Brand Library and Art Center will host the first concert in its annual Music Series on May 2 at the Brand Library and Art Gallery, located at 1601 W. Mountain St. in Glendale. Featuring soprano Anne Marie Ketchum, mezz-soprano Cynthia Jansen and pianist Victoria Kirsch, this concert will include selecetions from Granados' "Tonadillas," Handel's "Flavio" and Giulio Cesare Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffman" and other works by Debussy, Serrano, Saint Saens and Gouncid.

Gifted cellist Andrew Hayhurst and pianist Charlotte Dutton will perform a benefit concert at La Crescenta Presbyterian Church on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. The program will include Bach's 2nd Suite for Cello in D Minor, Brahms' Fantasies for Piano, and Shostakovich's Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor. A free-will donation is requested, and all proceeds will go to Elizabeth House, a shelter for homeless pregnant women and their children, located in Pasadena. Reservations are not necessary.

PIANIST TO PERFORM AT FUNDRAISER L?aureole?s annual benefit on March 6 will be a concert featuring Mel Dangcil , a pianist and composer, rather than a fashion show. Dangcil, a native of San Francisco, uses improvisation and changes notes from classical pieces, making them his own. After moving to Southern California, he performed in concerts as a band-pianist, ballet accompanist and vocal coach. He worked for 17 years with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera and retired from the Los Angeles City College Music Department, where he was music director of the commercial voice program.

Classical music pianist and teacher Angela Cholakyan will be true to her Russian roots Saturday when she performs the work of Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky in a concert in West Hollywood. The La Crescenta resident will also be mistress of ceremonies for the concert she coordinated that features five singers and violinist, she said. “I wanted it to cover his Romances,” she said, describing Romances as short vocal compositions that are more like chamber music than opera, but based on poems.

Burbank, known mostly for its entertainment studios and the airport, is also home to a bundle of intriguing restaurants. On Friday nights, one restaurant in particular transforms from your typical ?home away from home? family restaurant into a swank, hip, fun and cool dining experience for those looking to start their weekend right. From 6 to 9 p.m. every Friday, Theresa?s Family Restaurant on West Olive Avenue plays host to incomparable pianist Rob Correll. The evening is suited for all ages or anyone who enjoys good music, good food and good people.

The quiet upstairs nook of Left Coast Wine Bar transforms into a vibrant space filled with the sounds of Cuban jazz on Friday nights. Singer and pianist Iliana Rose performs with her band while audience members sip wine and sample some of the dinner menu items. Others sing along with Rose or shake the percussive instruments on their table to Cuban classics like “Guantanamera.” Sergio Gonzalez on drums, David Zasloff on trumpet and Roy Alnashef on bongos complete Rose’s quartet band.

Actor and singer Brent Keast grew up listening to his dad sing the musical standards of the 1930s and ’40s in the shower. “I remember him singing ‘My Sweet Embraceable You,’ ‘I’ve Got the World on a String,’ ‘Night and Day,’” Keast said. “Those were his favorite songs.” They were quite a distance from Keast’s tastes in music, which included the Beatles and the Association. “When I first heard them, I thought they were silly, but when you start to grow up, you see that these songs were really treasures,” the La Crescenta resident said.

In many elite youth piano competitions, contestants must be ready to endure multiple elimination rounds. But the New York Piano Competition, which begins today at the Manhattan School of Music, gives this traditional model a twist. Contestants still play multiple rounds of challenging pieces, they are still judged and still awarded prizes based on merit. But they get to take part in the entire competition from start to finish without fear of being sent home. For Connie Kim-Sheng, a 16-year-old from La Crescenta who is one of 22 teenage pianists from across the country taking part in the competition, this kind of contest holds some appeal.

Send DATEBOOK items to Glendale News-Press, 221 N. Brand Blvd., 2nd Floor, Glendale, CA 91203 or fax to (818) 241-1975. Submissions must be received two weeks before publication. TODAY Concert pianist Eldred Marshall will perform a full recital consisting of popular works by Ludwig van Beethoven at 7:30 p.m. at the Brand Library Recital Hall, 1601 W. Mountain St., Glendale. Among the repertoire he will perform are the "Les Adieux" and "Appassionata" sonatas.

Audience members know that The Pasadena POPS Concerts at lush Descanso Gardens are heavenly, but the opening concerts of the 2007 season will be especially celestial. Inspired by the moon, composers of all generations have written nocturnal masterpieces. During the 2007 season premiere, Fly Me To The Moon, on Friday and Saturday, June 22 and 23, music director Rachael Worby and guest artists, vocalist Valarie Pettiford and pianist Sarkis Baltaian, will light up the night sky with spectacular selections.