Southwest Chamber Music Announces 

Summer Festival at The Huntington

  

Cookbook author Julia Child

 

Los Angeles, CA - The centenary of famous cookbook author Julia Child inspires Southwest Chamber Music's 2012 Summer Festival at The Huntington.  Child, born in Pasadena, California, spent a number of years post-WWII in Paris studying and savoring the cuisine which resulted in her cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.   

  

In eight concerts throughout July and August under the summer stars, the Grammy® Award-winning ensemble dishes up French Impressionist and French-influenced composers, and concert-goers are encouraged to exercise their inner foodie with their own Julia-like picnics on the lawn or dinner in The Huntington Tea room.

 

The music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel are featured on each program. Their fellow countrymen César Franck, Gabriel Fauré, André Jolivet, and Darius Milhaud also make significant contributions.  Programs include the string quartets of Ravel and Debussy, Franck's Quintet for Piano and Strings, and music from landmark ballets La création du monde and Le bœuf sur le toit of Milhaud. French-influenced (and former French colony) VietNam contributes Ascending Dragon by Pham Minh Thành. Composer and dan bau virtuoso Vân Ánh Vanessa Võ is heard in Ascending Dragon and her own work, Water Puppet Song. Soprano Elissa Johnston sings Ravel's Chanson madécasses,and Suzanna Guzmán ends the festival with a medley of Edith Piaf's signature songs arranged by Louiguy (Louis Guilielmi).  

  

Pre-concert dinners are available at an additional charge in the elegantly romantic Huntington Tea Room. The three-course menu is prepared by Jon Dubrick, Executive Chef at The Huntington Tea Room from Julia Child's recipes.  The dinners are available only by pre-order on the Southwest website www.swmusic.org or at (800) 726-7147 when you order your concert tickets.  To view the menus, click here .

 

Southwest musicians in concert on the Huntington Loggia.

 

"This is our 19th summer at The Huntington" said Southwest artistic director Jeff von der Schmidt.  "These summer concerts are now an expected summer tradition and are regarded by many as the most elegant and beautiful combination of music, location, dining or picnicking in southern California. This summer's program is perfect summer fare: luscious chamber works of French and French-influenced composers with a few surprises thrown in. Southwest makes the concerts enjoyable for both novice and aficionado."

 

  

Concerts and dinners begin Saturday and Sunday July 14 and 15 and continue every other weekend through August 25 and 26. Starting time is 7:30.  The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, just south of Pasadena and only 15 minutes from downtown Los Angeles. Entrance is on Allen Avenue, south of the Orlando Road gate. Parking is included in the price of admission.

Location 

All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. and take place at the Loggia at The Huntington Library.
No children under 8 years of age will be admitted. Handicapped access is available. A limited portion of the grounds adjacent to the Tea Room and Loggia are open for Summer Festival patrons before the concert.

Lawn ticket holders can bring their own picnic and enjoy it under the stars. Pre-concert
dinners at The Huntington Tea room are also available to concert-ticket holders only. Dinner reservations can be made online or phone 800-726-7147 through Southwest Chamber Music when tickets are purchased.
 

The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, just south of Pasadena and only 15 minutes from downtown Los Angeles. Entrance is on Allen Avenue, south of the Orlando Road gate.  

Tickets

Subscriptions to four concerts with Loggia Seating are $162 per person, a savings of 10% off the single ticket price. Single Loggia tickets are $45 per person. Subscriptions to four concerts with Lawn Admission are $100 per person, also a 10% savings off the single ticket price. Single Lawn tickets are $28 per person. Loggia and Lawn tickets are unreserved festival seating. Lawn admission ticket holders must provide own blanket or lawn chair for seating. Student Rush lawn admission tickets are available on the day of the concert for only $10.

  

For more information, www.swmusic.org or call 1-800-726-7147 

Performers for the 2012 Summer Festival at The Huntington include:  Alison Bjorkedal, harp; Jim Foschia, clarinet; Lorenz Gamma, violin; Suzanna Guzmán, soprano; Peter Jacobson, cello; Elissa Johnston, soprano; Larry Kaplan, flute; Jan Karlin, viola; Genevieve Lee, piano; Tom Peters, double bass; Ming Tsu, piano; Lynn Vartan, percussion; Shalini Vijayan, violin; Vân Ánh Vanessa Võ, dan bau; Jeff von der Schmidt, conductor. For biographies of the performers, please visit www.swmusic.org/about_us/musicians.