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CLASSICAL CROSSROADS,
INC. 2024-2025 Concert Series
Classical
Crossroads' Classical
Interludes concerts
are graciously hosted as a gift to the community by FirstServe Community Services, the
nonprofit community service partner organization of First
Lutheran Church & School – Torrance. The finest artists
from Southern California and around the world perform concerts
at 3:00 p.m. on
the first Saturdays of each month from October through May,
except December. FIRST LUTHERAN
CHURCH & SCHOOL For information, call Classical Crossroads at (310) 316-5574 or click here. Free admission - Donations Appreciated Click
to see "First Fridays at First! ~ fff" past seasons: |
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Concerts Are Performed
in Front of a Live Audience If this is your first time attending a Classical Crossroads concert, kindly request a reservation for yourself and your guests by emailing: [email protected] Click here
at the scheduled concert time to watch the livestream. With consent of the artists, the concerts may be made available for on-demand streaming from Classical Crossroads' Vimeo Showcase for about a month, beginning a few days following the concert. Click here to sign up above for e-mail concert reminders. |
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Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. Resident
Artists & Rising Stars   Violinist
Pianist
IRYNA
KRECHKOVSKY
LOUISE
THOMAS
Resident Artists from Chamber Music | OC, Ukrainian-born violinist Iryna Krechkovsky and Irish-born pianist Louise Thomas headline the concert with duo selections from the violin and piano repertoire, followed by playing alongside five rising stars from the Pre-College Program in mixed ensemble configurations. Iryna is the Executive Director of Chamber Music | OC and is well-known and much-loved by her fans in the South Bay and beyond as the violinist of Trio Céleste. Louise has performed at leading festivals worldwide and was first introduced to Southern California audiences when she won the concerto competition at USC, where she earned her doctorate. Currently serving as Interim Associate Vice Provost at Chapman University, she joined the faculty in 2001 as Director of Keyboard Collaborative Arts and later as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Performing Arts.
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Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. Beverly Hills National Auditions Winner Pianist NGOC VU Born in Germany in 1993, Ngoc Vu played Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.21 at the 800th anniversary of the city of Dresden when he was 13. Later, he debuted at the Semperoper Hall in Dresden when he turned 15. Mr. Vu has performed in other notable halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Ehrbar Saal in Vienna, Steinway Hall London, Gewandhaus Leipzig, and Giuseppe Verdi Opera House in Salerno. He debuted at Carnegie Hall in April 2017 and returned for another performance one year later. Mr. Vu collaborated with noted conductor Vladimir Jurowski in a series of concerts and has been inspired and influenced by him ever since. He also performed Chopin's Piano Concerto No.1 with the Mittelsächsische Philharmonie Freiberg under the baton of Raoul Grüneis. Reviews praised Vu’s “sensitive, virtuosic and multifaceted playing” and a “unique tone language full of emotions.” After a recent recital, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung wrote, “every note has a meaning, every musical thought receives attention in its reflective yet intense interpretations, which explore a work down to the smallest details.” In the summer of 2016, Ngoc Vu
graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Hochschule für Musik
in Dresden and enrolled at the USC Thornton School of Music to
study with Professor Daniel Pollack, where he received his
Master of Music in 2018. Recently, he finished his Artist
Diploma at the University of Miami Frost School of Music.
Watch
a Reprise of the Livestream |
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Saturday, January 4, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. Historical
Performances
Pianist
Violinist
Cellist
STEVEN
ANDREW MCINTOSH
EVA
LYMENSTULL Hailed
by the Los Angeles Times for his "impressive clarity,
sense of structure and monster technique," Steven
Vanhauwaert has appeared as a soloist at the
National Center of the Performing Arts in Beijing, Walt Disney
Concert Hall, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, and the
Concertgebouw. He has recorded on the Hortus, Sonarti, ECM,
and Bridge labels; several of his albums have received 5
Diapasons in France. Mr. Vanhauwaert is a Steinway
Artist and the Artistic Director of Classical Crossroads' Second
Sundays at Two series. Violinist, violist, composer, and Baroque violinist Andrew McIntosh has a wide swath of musical interests ranging from historical performance practice of the Baroque Era to improvisation, microtonal tuning systems, and the 20th-century avant-garde. As a Baroque performer, he is a member of Tesserae, Bach Collegium San Diego, and Musica Angelica. He holds degrees in violin performance, composition, and Early Music performance from the University of Nevada, Reno, California Institute of the Arts, and the University of Southern California. Andrew teaches at the California Institute of the Arts. Los
Angeles-based baroque cellist and violist da gamba, Eva Lymenstull
performs as a soloist, chamber musician, continuo player, and
orchestral musician with the world's leading Early Music
ensembles and orchestras. She holds degrees from the Royal
Conservatory of The Hague, Rice University, and University of
Michigan, and a doctorate in historical performance practice
from Case Western Reserve University.
If this is your first time
attending a Classical Crossroads concert, kindly request a reservation for
yourself and your guests by emailing: [email protected] Watch
the Livestream Watch
a Reprise of the Livestream |
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"A
pianist of utmost beauty combined
Pianist Performs
Franz Liszt's Transcendental Études Pianist Sung Chang is known for his outstanding technical abilities, musical maturity, and sensitive yet powerful expression that shines through the keys. He has received critical acclaim from Jeffrey Kahane for his "poetic imagination, superb technical skills, and, most importantly, a deep emotional connection to whatever music he plays." Among his numerous wins in more than ten international competitions, Sung Chang earned the First, Audience, and Schubert Special prizes from the International Schubert Competition for Piano Duo. Sung took the Silver Medal at the 12th San Antonio International Piano Competition. Most recently, he was awarded Second Prize at The Art of Duo presented by the Boulder International Chamber Music Competition in Colorado with noted violinist YuEun Kim. The duo performed the complete Beethoven violin sonatas, all within a span of three weeks, at the USC Thornton School of Music. Sung Chang studied at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover in Germany, and completed his studies at the USC Thornton School with Professor Jeffrey Kahane. |
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Saturday, March 1, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. Pianist DANNY HOLT  Called
“phenomenal” by the late music critic Alan Rich and hailed as
one of the “local heroes” of the Los Angeles music scene (LACityBeat.com),
pianist
Danny Holt performs
around the globe in concert halls (Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney
Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl), clubs (Joe’s Pub, The Blue
Whale, Copenhagen Jazzhouse), art galleries (MASS MoCA, Hammer
Museum), churches, livingrooms, and wherever else he can find
a piano and someone to listen. He brings his boundless energy
and wit to unique interpretations of new music, 20th-century
music, and obscure, unusual, and neglected repertoire from
past centuries. His recorded catalog includes the recent solo
album Piano Music of Mike Garson and other solo,
chamber, and orchestral releases on the Innova Recordings
label, pfMENTUM, New World Records, Deutsche Grammophon, Acis
Productions, and L’st records.
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Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. Rising Stars from the USC Thornton School
TRIO PALMERA 
Pianist
Clarinetist Peruvian-American
violinist Agatha Blevin made her solo performance
debut in Turin, Italy, at age 8. She received her Bachelor of
Music Degree at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music,
where she worked closely with the Pacifica String Quartet and
received first prize in IU’s Kuttner Quartet Competition. She
completed her Master of Music Degree in 2023, studying with
Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Concertmaster Martin
Chalifour at USC’s Thornton School of Music, where she
received first prize in the 2023 Ofiesh Chamber Competition as
a member of the Marzipan Quartet. Agatha has spent summers
attending the Aspen Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival,
and Lucerne Festival Academy. Agatha has also performed with
the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra,
the Pasadena Symphony, and most recently, the Primrose
Festival Orchestra. Clarinetist
Víctor Martínez-Jara is an avid chamber musician and
orchestral player who has worked with a wide variety of
chamber music ensembles. He qualified as a semi-finalist for
the 11th Coltman Competition with Trio Palmera and won First
Prize at the “Undommens musikkmesterkap” (“The youth
music championship”) with the Consonant Quintet, a
Norwegian-Spanish wind quintet based in Oslo, Norway. He has
also been a member of the Norwegian Youth Orchestra and has
performed with orchestras such as the Norwegian Chamber
Orchestra, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, and the Oslo
Philharmonic. Víctor earned his Bachelor's and Master's
degrees at The Norwegian Academy of Music, and his Graduate
Certificate in Performance at the USC Thornton School of
Music. A native of Fresno, California, Matthew Harikian has performed as a soloist with the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra and Opera San Luis Obispo Orchestra. Recent festival participation includes Pianofest in the Hamptons and the Meadowmount School of Music. In 2022, he was selected as one of the nine collaborative piano fellows at the Music Academy of the West. Matthew is currently pursuing his DMA in collaborative piano under the tutelage of Kevin Fitz-Gerald at the University of Southern California. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in piano performance from St. Olaf College and a Master’s degree in both piano performance and music theory from the University of Minnesota. |
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Saturday, May 3, 2025 at 3:00 p.m.
Winner of the 2025 Peninsula Symphony
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