Sounds Mysterious is a game in which Brian assigns us a piece of music that none of us recognize. He even redacts the composer’s name. We rehearse it, perform it, and attempt to guess the composer along with you. The delight of surprise and interactive “whodunnit” guessing game make for an engaging spin on the live concert experience.

Artists:
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
HyeJin Kim, Resident Pianist
Brian Lauritzen, Resident Host

Salastina Members may watch the livestream for free in our Members-Only Lounge.

Slow your heartbeat and set it aflutter with a selection of soul-soothing and soul-stirring Romantic, pop, classical, and movie score favorites. The intimate, vibe-y, chandelier-lit venue in the heart of Hollywood puts you up close to the performers: a string quartet, pianist, and flutist who've recorded your favorite film soundtracks. Enjoy complimentary wine and chocolate-covered strawberries upon arrival, and mingle with the artists after the show.

Artists:
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
HyeJin Kim, Resident Pianist
Ben Smolen, Resident Flutist


Please note tickets need to be purchased in advance; there are no door sales or livestream for this concert.

$20 Reserve parking is available for purchase below.

A contemplative Happy Hour exploring the porous boundary between mortality and the beyond. Musical selections include the slow movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet Opus 132 and the world-premiere instrumental-only chamber arrangement of Eric Whitacre’s profoundly moving choral work, The Sacred Veil. The setting – a marble sanctuary suffused with the rainbow light of hundreds of stained glass windows – sets the scene. Reception with the artists to follow. 

Program:
Juhi Bansal: Cathedral of Light
Olivier Messiaen: Louange from The Quartet for the End of Time
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 132, III "Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der Lydischen Tonart," Molto adagio – Andante
Eric Whitacre: You Feel Like Home: Suite from The Sacred Veil for Piano Quintet

Artists:
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
HyeJin Kim, Resident Pianist
Eric Whitacre, Composer

Salastina Members may watch the livestream for free in our Members-Only Lounge.

Join us for a Virtual Watch Party of the newly-released film Maestro starring Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein. A free Zoom roundtable discussion immediately follows.

The film is 2 hours and 9 minutes long; we will begin our roundtable discussion on Zoom at 8:15.

How to watch:

• stream on Netflix (requires your own subscription)

You may either:

• Join us in our Zoom room at 6 PM PT, hit “play” on the film on your own device at the same time as everyone else, and use Zoom’s chat box as we watch the film together

• OR watch the film on your own ahead of time, joining us on Zoom for the Roundtable Discussion only at 8:15 PM PT

If you haven't received a Zoom room link, please click the registration link in your ticket email receipt.

Eat, drink, and dance the night away in support of Salastina's Vital Sounds Program, an initiative that provides the healing power of music to those who need it most.

Through Vital Sounds, Salastina provides free, one-on-one, virtual bedside concerts to patients in UCLA's intensive care unit. Vital Sounds concerts take place every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday — rain or shine, including holidays. Since May 2020, we've provided over 51,000 minutes of music to over 2,500 patients and their caregivers.

Salastina musicians are joined by special guests Joachim Horsley and Friends. For an idea of what to expect musically -- and what you'll be dancing to: imagine the answer to the question, "what if Beethoven lived in 20th century Havana?"

Enjoy La Puglia’s passed hors’d’oeuvres, buffet dinner (including vegetarian options), dessert, and wine and cocktails throughout.

Tickets are $250 per person. All proceeds benefit Salastina’s Vital Sounds Program. Ticket sales close December 15.

Salastina thanks Dr. Nirav Kamdar for underwriting the dinner, venue rental, and concert, and Philip and Kristan Swan for underwriting the event bar.

Sunday, December 3, 2023 @ 11 AM
Doheny Mansion at Mount Saint Mary’s University

As the holiday season approaches, immerse yourself in a late-19th-century musical, culinary, and generally Christmas-y explosion.

Enjoy a 5-course gourmet holiday brunch prepared by Master Chef alum Becky Brown. Travel back in time in the stunning period venue; built in 1899, the Doheny Mansion’s Pompeian Room is replete with actual gilded details, colored marble floors, and a golden, ombre glass dome that is simply resplendent at mid-day. And naturally, it’ll be appropriately decked out for Christmas.

The concert features The Yuletide Carolers, a festive a capella group dressed in the fashion of the time, as well as music composed during the turn of the last century.

Come in costume, if you wish. (We sure will!)

Salastina proudly presents this performance in partnership with The Da Camera Society in celebration of its 50th Anniversary Season.

NOTE: Tickets are non-refundable. At checkout, you may choose either the full regular or full vegan menu. Substitutions politely declined.

Artists:
Kevin Kumar, Co-Artistic Director and Violinist
Tereza Stanislav, Guest Violinist
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Charlie Tyler, Guest Cellist
Benjamin Smolen, Resident Flutist
Cristina Montes Mateo, Guest Harpist
The Yuletide Carolers

Musical and culinary menu:

Welcome
Welcome Carols: The Yuletide Carolers
Welcome cocktail: Cranberry orange mimosa with rosemary and sparkling wine 

First course
Harry & Rupert Gregson-Williams, arr. by James McMillen: The Gilded Age Medley
Food: Salmon tartine with sauce gribiche, mushroom blinis with shallot confit, tea sandwiches 
Vegan option: Mushroom blinis with shallot confit, tea sandwiches

Second course
Gabriel Fauré: Après un Reve
Food: Butternut squash “chowder,” spiced pepitas, herbs (gluten-free)
Vegan option: same as above

Third course 
Claude Debussy: Danse sacrée et danse profane
Food: Steelhead trout with lobster sauce américaine, asparagus
Vegan option: Cauliflower steak, zhoug, tahini garlic sauce, asparagus (gluten-free)

Fourth course
Max Bruch: Kol Nidrei
Food: Leg of lamb roulade, fried cumin and coriander, mint chutney, sunchokes (gluten-free)
Vegan option: Roasted sunchokes & maitake mushrooms, fried cumin and coriander, mint chutney, sunchoke purée (gluten-free)

Fifth course
Johann Strauss II: Wine, Women, and Song
Food: Eton mess with “exotic fruits,” lime curd, Chantilly cream 
Vegan option: “Exotic fruits” with sorbet (gluten-free)

*Ticket sales close Friday, December 1st at 12PM

December 2, 2023 @ 2:30 PM - Pasadena
Doheny Mansion at Mount Saint Mary’s University
+ Livestream

One Performance Only!

All the glory of Handel’s timeless Messiah, but make it chamber music. This chestnut gets the one-on-a-part treatment – and the nimbleness and luminosity that affords. Salastina loyalists will enjoy the return of last season’s most popular Happy Hour guest, the effervescent Belgian soprano Laurence Servaes, alongside the return of stunning mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski. With Brian Lauritzen providing historical and emotional context along the way, you'll get to know the piece better than you ever have before. And yes: please sing along during the Hallelyou-know-what. Mulled wine reception to follow.

Salastina proudly presents this performance in partnership with The Da Camera Society in celebration of its 50th Anniversary Season.

Program:
George Frideric Handel: Messiah

Artists:
Kevin Kumar, Co-Artistic Director and Violinist
Tereza Stanislav, Guest Violinist
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Charlie Tyler, Guest Cellist
HyeJin Kim, Resident Pianist (… on harpsichord)
Brian Lauritzen, Resident Host
Laurence Servaes, Soprano
Clara Osowski, Mezzo-Soprano
Richard Pittsinger, Tenor
Johnathan McCullough, Bass-baritone

Salastina Members may watch the livestream for free in our Members-Only Lounge.

In-person tickets are currently SOLD OUT. Please sign up for the waitlist below.

Join us for our rescheduled Part 2 of our conversation with and world premieres from this year’s Sounds Promising cohort. The young composers featured in this Happy Hour: Mieke Doezama (Hawaii), William Jae (Rochester, NY), Zygmund de Somogyi (London, UK), Isaac Uria de Silva (Ecuador), and Aaron Israel Levin (New Haven, CT). Read more about our Sounds Promising cohort here.

Members Early-Access at 1:30 PM

Find the world premieres of our Sounds Promising composers below.

Salastina’s contribution to the statewide California Festival of contemporary classical music is in partnership with Leela Dance Collective, a Hindustani Kathak dance company. Encounters With Beauty is a world-premiere piece of choreography set to music by our dear friends and LA-based composers Derrick Skye and Reena Esmail. Drinks reception, replete with Indian munchies, to follow.

What to Know Before You Go at the Edye Second Space

Artists:
Saavani Thigale, Hindustani vocalist
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
Derrick Skye, Composer

Leela Dance Collective
Rukhmani Mehta and Seibi Lee, Co-Artistic Directors and Dancers
Rachna Nivas, Dancer
Joanna Meinl, Dancer
Sonali Toppur, Dancer
Ahana Mukherjee, Dancer
Carrie Jennings, Dancer

Salastina Members may watch the livestream for free in our Members-Only Lounge.

*In-Person tickets are currently SOLD OUT.

Paris-based rockstar of the harpsichord Jean Rondeau performs a full live, in-person recital of works by Haydn, Clementi, and Mozart. The event includes conversation with the artist and a mimosa and pastry reception.

Program:
Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 31
Muzio Clementi: Gradus ad Paranassum op. 44, N°45 - Preludio Andante malinconico in C minor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Sonata No.16 in C Major, K. 545
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Rondo in A minor K. 511
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Fantaisie in D minor K. 397

Salastina Members may watch the livestream for free in our Members-Only Lounge. Please note this special performance is ONLY available to rewatch for 72 hours.

In-person tickets are currently SOLD OUT.

Join us for our rescheduled event in our virtual room for conversation with and world premieres from this year’s Sounds Promising cohort. The young composers featured in this Happy Hour: Riccardo Perugini (Florence, Italy), Jazreel Low (Singapore), Jonah Cohen (New York City), Celina Kintscher (Los Angeles), and Nicholas Ma (Montreal).

Read more about our Sounds Promising cohort here, and see the playlist of their world premieres below.

Members Early-Access at 1:30 PM

Find our Sounds Promising composers world premieres below.

Salastina’s Resident Flutist Benjamin Smolen guides us through the flute works of Shostakovich’s BFF, Mieczysław Weinberg, a composer with whom he became enamored while studying in Moscow. Mimosa and pastry reception to follow.

Program:
Mieczysław Weinberg: 12 Miniatures for Flute and Strings
Mieczysław Weinberg: Flute Concerto No. 1, Op. 75

Artists:
Ben Smolen, Resident Flutist and Soloist
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
Ted Botsford, Guest Bassist

Salastina Members may watch the livestream for free in our Members-Only Lounge.

Salastina Member’s are invited to be a fly of the wall for our 2023 Sounds Promising Composer Workshops.

Members can rewatch this workshop in the Members Lounge.

Salastina Member’s are invited to be a fly of the wall for our 2023 Sounds Promising Composer Workshops.

Members can rewatch this workshop in the Members Lounge.

Salastina Member’s are invited to be a fly of the wall for our 2023 Sounds Promising Composer Workshops.

Members can rewatch this workshop in the Members Lounge.

Salastina Member’s are invited to be a fly of the wall for our 2023 Sounds Promising Composer Workshops.

Members can rewatch this workshop in the Members Lounge.

Salastina Member’s are invited to be a fly of the wall for our 2023 Sounds Promising Composer Workshops.

Please join via the Zoom link in the Member’s Lounge.

Join us for a Virtual Watch Party of the newly-released film Chevalier. A free Zoom roundtable discussion immediately follows. For that, we’ll be joined by Wynton Grant, a violinist who prepared Kelvin Harrison Jr. for his portrayal of the film’s titular role. Wynton also appears as a solo artist for the film’s soundtrack — alongside Salastina’s own Resident Pianist HyeJin Kim.

The film is 1 hour and 47 minutes long; we will begin our roundtable discussion on Zoom at 7:50.

How to watch:

• stream on Hulu here (Hulu subscription required starting at $7.99 a month)

• purchase on Amazon, AppleTV, Google Play, or YouTube for $14.99

You may either:

• Join us in our Zoom room at 6 PM PT, hit “play” on the film on your own device at the same time as everyone else, and use Zoom’s chat box as we watch the film together

• OR watch the film on your own ahead of time, joining us on Zoom for the Roundtable Discussion only at 7:50 PM PT

After registering through our system below, you’ll receive an e-receipt. It will include a link through which you must once again register in order to receive the Zoom link.

Composed during an incredibly difficult period of converging crises in Mahler’s life, this piece — based on classical Chinese poetry — is about the beauty and transience of life. It’s sublimation at its finest.

Arnold Schoenberg, of all people, arranged what Leonard Bernstein called Mahler’s “greatest symphony” for chamber ensemble. Specifically: 2 singers, string quintet, piano, winds, percussion… and no conductor (because #chambermusic, duh).

Do not miss this one-night-only performance at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. To get in the mood before dinner, you are welcome to wander the Huntington’s grounds from 3:00 - 5:00 PM free with your concert ticket purchase.

From 5:00 - 7:30 PM, you may either bring your own picnic dinner to enjoy at the tables at the inside entrance of the Huntington OR enjoy dinner out in nearby San Marino, South Pasadena, or Pasadena proper.

Pre-concert drinks and post-concert wine and hors-d’oeuvres reception.

What to Know Before You Go

Program:
Gustav Mahler, arranged by Arnold Schoenberg and Rainer Reihn: Das Lied von der Erde

Artists:
Clara Osowski, Mezzo Soprano
Thomas Cooley, Tenor
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
Ted Botsford, Double Bassist
Ben Smolen, Resident Flutist/Piccolo player
Lara Wickes, Guest Oboist/English Horn player
Don Foster, Guest Clarinetist
Alex Rosales Garcia, Guest Bassoonist
Dylan Skye Hart, Guest French Horn player
Micah Yui, Guest Pianist
John Sawoski, Guest Keyboardist
Eddie Meneses and Jonathan Wisner, Guest Percussionists
Camilla Tassi, Projection Designer
Brian Lauritzen, Resident Host

Salastina Members may watch the livestream for free in our Members-Only Lounge.

Get a sneak peek of the NHSQ’s 2023 Summer Festival. This year’s focus: early 20th Century French music. How do they say… le sigh?

The members of this quartet are all dear friends and colleagues from LA’s recording studios. And they are beasts of musicians. After a little conversation and a performance of some of their festival repertoire, we’ll sightread some electrifying octet music together. And as with all of our Happy Hours this season: enjoy music, mingling, mimosas, and munchies.

Salastina Members may watch live for free in our Members-Only Lounge. Non-Members may purchase tickets below.

Who is the Stradivarius of our time? Mario Miralles is one answer. His instruments are coveted by string players worldwide; you’ve heard them on all the world’s major stages. And his waiting list is miles long.

A wildly generous anonymous donor commissioned Mario to build a violin, viola, and cello for Salastina’s Resident Artists’ use. This is a gift beyond any of our wildest dreams, and the process has been riveting.

Yoshi’s cello is already finished; if you’ve been to any of our concerts this season, you’ve heard it! By the time of this event, Maia’s violin will be finished, and Meredith’s viola will be gestating. (If you’re wondering about Kevin: he already owns one, having purchased it several years ago.)

This event is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to hear about the different stages of a luthier’s process. The musicians for whom he’s building the instruments will speak to what the process is like from their perspective, and what they’re looking for in an instrument. Mario, a notoriously private figure, can then address how he translates those abstract artistic wishes into physical reality. And of course… you’ll hear them!

Join us for a stunning and colorful preview of our collaboration with Leela Dance Collective, a Hindustani Classical Dance troupe.

For this world premiere piece of choreography, Leela takes its inspiration from Derrick Skye's American Mirror, which weaves musical traditions from around the world into an multi-layered, opulent musical languages all its own.

The stunning venue, built in 1899, reflects this simpatico synergy of styles -- uniting Romantic Revival, Gothic, Chateauesqe, Moorish, and California Mission styles with light, color, and sheer luxury.

And as with all of our Happy Hours this season: enjoy music, mingling, mimosas, and Indian munchies. You won’t be sari you came!

Salastina Members may watch live for free in our Members-Only Lounge. Non-Members may purchase livestream tickets below. In-person tickets are currently SOLD OUT. Click below to join the waitlist.

Program:
Derrick Skye: American Mirror

Artists:
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist

Join us for a complete performance of Derrick Skye’s As I Heard When I Was Young before we record it in the studio. Derrick will be there to share his inspiration for the piece — and his warm and charismatic personality.

As with all of our Happy Hours this season: enjoy music, mingling, mimosas, and munchies.

Salastina Members may watch live for free in our Members-Only Lounge. Non-Members may purchase tickets below.

24/7 family time got you missing Zoom yet? If so, we're here to provide you with the perfect excuse to escape into cyberspace.

Cozy up with us from the comfort of your couch for a watch party and discussion of the Oscar-bait film TÁR.

TÁR is a 2022 psychological drama starring Cate Blanchett as Lydia Tár, a renowned composer-conductor. The subject of the film: her life and downfall.

Our musicians have LOTS of thoughts on how accurately (or not) the film portrayed both the psychology of classical musicians and classical music culture in general. This is an opportunity to share your own thoughts -- and ask us anything. Examples:

• "are all conductors that crazy?"

• "would something like that really ever happen at Juilliard, or in any educational setting?"

• "is that how artists 'get the gig' in the real world?"

• "how has #metoo played out, and how does it continue to play out, in the field of classical music?"

We are prepared to share war stories! 

Join us for the chat having seen the film -- or not, if you don't mind big-time spoilers. If you haven't seen it yet, you're welcome to either watch it ahead of time on your own OR join our Amazon Prime Watch Party.

Here is a link that includes all the ways you can watch the film ahead of time. It is currently $19.99 to watch on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

We invite Amazon Prime members to watch in real-time together by joining our Amazon Prime watch party. Here's how:

• First,  purchase the film on Amazon Prime for $19.99; we recommend doing this ahead of time

• To join the watch party, you must be logged in to your Amazon Prime account

• The watch party will begin at 6 PM PT

• If you'd like to join the watch party from your laptop, simply click here

• If  you'd like to watch on your TV, you can watch in either the Prime Video App or Firestick. Click "My Stuff," scroll down to "Watch Party" (the last option available), and enter the code 25115516

There is no cost to join us for the chat on Zoom at 8:30 PM PT.

Joachim Horsley is a composer, pianist, and arranger. His 2019 album “Via Havana,” praised by the French publication Le Figaro as “masterful,” features piano-driven re-imaginings of great Classical works using Afro-Caribbean Rhythms. His related YouTube videos have garnered over 3 million views.

Recently he created the original scores for the ABC TV Series “Baker and the Beauty,” Disney Channel's “Big City Greens,” and Warner Brothers feature film “Batman: Soul of the Dragon.” Other projects include arranging for Michael Bublé and John Legend, as well as orchestrating Ben Folds’ Piano Concerto.

Mimosa and pastry reception to follow in Pasadena Conservatory’s lovely outdoor courtyard.

Salastina Members can cash in on those benefits for in-person early access at 10:00 AM. As always, Salastina Members may watch the livestream free in our Members-Only Lounge.


Program:
Impromptuno
Colombia Andante
Lacrimoson
Mountain King Cha Cha
Beethoven In Havana
Rumba Prelude

Artists:
Joachim Horsley, Guest Pianist and Composer
Yonathan “Morocho” Gavidia, Guest Hand Percussionist
Luca Alemanno, Guest Double and Electric Bassist
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Hanbyul Jang Lash, Guest Violist
Ben Lash, Guest Cellist
Ben Smolen, Resident Flutist

Joining us tomorrow? Click here for more info.