Meredith Crawford is a distinguished violist known for her captivating performances and contributions to contemporary and classical music. With a rich background in chamber music, she has participated in notable productions such as Schubert's Trout Quintet, where she showcased her artistry alongside a world premiere by Israeli composer Avner Dorman. This performance, inspired by the poetry of Nathaniel Bellows, highlighted her ability to convey deep emotional narratives through music. Additionally, Crawford has performed Ravel's Piano Trio, a piece celebrated for its vibrant colors and intricate textures, further demonstrating her versatility and skill. Her repertoire also includes works by renowned composers like Bohuslav Martinů, where she explored the dynamic interplay between flute and viola. As she continues to evolve as an artist, Crawford is set to engage audiences with upcoming projects that promise to blend her classical roots with innovative contemporary works, solidifying her position as a prominent figure in the music community.

Violist

Experience the shadowy allure of Halloween and surrender to the cinematic frights and delights of “Devil’s Dance,” written by the greatest film composer of our lifetimes. Revel in the mystical thrills of Bunch’s The Devil’s Box with virtuoso Meredith Crawford on amplified viola, and let Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique cast a spell over you with its haunting narrative and chilling melodies. A concert that promises a spine-tingling blend of musical sorcery and symphonic spectacle—it’s a bewitching evening.

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Classical Spooktacular

Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall

Among the greatest achievements of the Baroque era, Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos employ varied instrumentation that highlights the virtuosity of each musician. How did these familiar 300-year-old tunes become favorites in the classical music canon? Los Angeles Times writer Mark Swed puts it best, “The concertos don’t have anything to do with anything, other than being a demonstration of Bach’s amazing ingenuity and his inordinate ability to delight.”

Laco At The Ventura Music Festival

Ventura Music Festival

If you love dead, white, male German composers as much as we do – and are not (yet!) familiar with the greatness of Johann Nepomuk Hummel – this concert exploring the arbitrariness of fame is for you. In 1819, Hummel organized a concert for the world-premiere performance of one of his works; for the occasion, Schubert wrote the Trout Quintet for the same combination of instruments. Guess which piece is all anyone remembers? Salastina recreates this concert – so that you can be the judge of whether or not posterity was fair to jettison a composer with a name as awesome as “Nepomuk.” Wine and munchies reception to follow.

Main Series No. 5: Schubert And The Pummel Of Hummel

Pasadena Conservatory of Music

Join Salastina for an unforgettable evening of classical music with "Main Series No. 5: Schubert and the Pummel of Hummel," a concert that promises to explore the arbitrariness of fame through the lens of two iconic composers. This unique event is set to take place on Friday, June 14, 2024, at 8:00 PM, and will continue through Sunday, June 16, 2024, with performances across various prestigious venues in West LA, Pasadena, and Orange County.

Dive into the historical rivalry between Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Franz Schubert, as Salastina recreates the famous 1819 concert where Hummel's world-premiere performance was overshadowed by Schubert's now-celebrated Trout Quintet. This concert is not just a musical journey but also a reflection on how history remembers art and artists. The program will feature Hummel's Piano Quintet Op. 87 and Schubert's Piano Quintet D 667 "The Trout," among other pieces, allowing the audience to judge for themselves the fairness of posterity.

The talented ensemble for the evening includes Salastina's Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, alongside Resident Artists Meredith Crawford (Viola), Yoshika Masuda (Cello), HyeJin Kim (Piano), Benjamin Smolen (Flute), and Brian Lauritzen (Host). 

The event will also offer a wine and munchies reception, providing a perfect opportunity for mingling and discussion among classical music enthusiasts. For those unable to attend in person, Salastina Members may enjoy a free livestream of the concert in the Members-Only Lounge, ensuring no one misses out on this extraordinary musical experience.

Tickets are available for both in-person attendance and livestream viewing. Mark your calendars for a night of exquisite music that questions the legacy of two of classical music's giants, all set against the backdrop of Southern California's vibrant cultural scene.

Main Series No. 5: Schubert and the Pummel of Hummel

Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center

Chamber Music | OC

Each year, Salastina selects up to 10 young composers worldwide to take part in its Sounds Promising Young Composers Program. The program is zero-cost for all participants, and has resulted in “life-changing” (their words, not ours!) professional development – and even high-profile commissions. Last year, we pledged to commission one participant from each year’s cohort. This concert includes world premieres by 2021 Sounds Promising Young Composer Kian Ravaei and a 2023 participant to be determined. Each composer will pen a piece for our entire ensemble – piano, string quartet, and flute – taking inspiration from Bach’s Chaconne. Resident Pianist HyeJin Kim opens the program with Busoni’s arrangement of the same work. Wine and munchies reception to follow.

Main Series No. 4: Youth at the Altar

Discover a world of incredible music with the Café Ludwig season finale featuring Enescu's hauntingly beautiful Légende for Trumpet and Piano, Dayton's tender and moving Fantasy for Viola and Piano, Smit's intricate and thrilling Piano Trio, and Hailstork's powerful and universal Variations for Trumpet. Experience the innovative and masterful compositions of Ligeti with Selections from 6 Bagatelles and Musica Ricercata and Poulenc's charmingly witty Sextet for Piano and Woodwind Quintet. Experience the depth, complexity, and beauty of these incredible masterworks by some of the greatest composers of the 20th century.

Tribulations & Triumphs

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

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. Mimosa and pastry reception to follow.

Happy Hour No. 121: Sounds Mysterious with Brian Lauritzen

Happy Hour No. 121: Sounds Mysterious With Brian Lauritzen

What happens when a symphonist writes for 5 instruments? In this case, a masterpiece for the ages. Brian Lauritzen dissects what makes Brahms’ Piano Quintet such a perfect piece of music before a full performance of the work. Mimosa and munchies reception to follow.

Main Series No. 3: Brahms’ Piano Quintet Sounds Genius

What happens when a symphonist writes for 5 instruments? In this case, a masterpiece for the ages. Brian Lauritzen dissects what makes Brahms’ Piano Quintet such a perfect piece of music before a full performance of the work. Mimosa and pastry reception to follow.

Main Series No. 3: Sounds Genius Brahms' Piano Quintet

Slow your heartbeat and set it aflutter with a selection of soul-soothing and soul-stirring Romantic fare. Featuring world-premiere arrangements by Salastina’s Resident Violist, Meredith Crawford.

A Salastina.calm Valentine's Day

Beautycon

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. Mimosa and pastry reception to follow. 

Happy Hour No. 120: The Sacred Veil with Eric Whitacre

Mountain View Mausoleum

Celebrate the season with the king of instruments! Enjoy a magnitude of musical splendors with world-class organist Todd Wilson and members of Pacific Symphony performing a delightful mix of sacred and holiday music. Favorite Christmas carols share the bill with traditional organ works that highlight the 4,322-pipe William J. Gillespie Concert Organ.

Holiday Organ Spectacular

Celebrate the season with the king of instruments! Enjoy a magnitude of musical splendors with world-class organist Todd Wilson and members of Pacific Symphony performing a delightful mix of sacred and holiday music. Favorite Christmas carols share the bill with traditional organ works that highlight the 4,322-pipe William J. Gillespie Concert Organ

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.

Sounds Delicious: A Gilded Christmas Brunch

Mount Saint Mary's University

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. Mulled wine reception to follow.

Main Series No. 2: Handel's Messiah

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. Wine reception, replete with Indian munchies, to follow.

Salastina x The California Festival: Encounters with Beauty feat. Leela Dance Collective

Our multi-year cycle of the complete works of Dmitri Shostakovich – otherwise known as the BFF of Mieczysław Weinberg – continues with his first and ninth string quartets and his Sonata for Viola and Piano. Wine and munchies reception to follow.

Main Series No. 1: The Shostakovich Cycle Continues

The Broad Stage - The Edye

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.

Happy Hour No. 118: Shostakovich's BFF, in Macro and Miniature: The Flute Works of Mieczysław Weinberg

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

Happy Hour No. 118: The Flute Concerti Of Mieczysław Weinberg

The core of chamber music is the string quartet—a medium and format in which the history of music—going back to the era of Mozart—is expressed. Mendelsohn and Schubert bring lyricism and soul, while the Late Romantic Schoenberg barely foretells the immense legacy of this and the last century. Will a mystery quartet drink from these fresh waters? You have to be there to find out.

Music Box 2023

One California Plaza

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

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde

The Huntington

Say Salastinaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah as we envelop you in a stunning musical playlist specifically designed to bring on a healing ugly cry. Reception to follow.

Salastina.calm

When your Resident Artists are this good, you owe it to everyone to shine a giant spotlight on them once in a while. Meredith’s luscious tone and keen sense of beauty shine in Vaughan Williams’ Suite for Viola. And Schumann’s Cello Concerto, arranged for chamber ensemble, has been on Yoshi’s wishlist for years. Who needs orchestral accompaniment when your chamber music friends have your back?

Resident Artist Showcase: Meredith and Yoshi

California has been blessed with an abundance of great composers. The film industry has magnetized many European emigres to resettle in the Golden State. Composers Miklós Rósza (Hungary) and Alexandre Tansman (Poland) were both Jewish and escaped Europe as the Second World War was brewing. They both benefitted from work in Hollywood. John Williams and Danny Elfman are both prolific film composers. Los Angeles-born Viet Cuong, who now resides in Orange County, is Pacific Symphony’s composer-in-residence.
Enjoy delightful chamber music with host and pianist Orli Shaham and principal musicians of Pacific Symphony in the coffee-house atmosphere of the Samueli Theater.

California Connections

Celebrate the season with the king of instruments! Enjoy a magnitude of musical splendors with world-class organist Todd Wilson and members of Pacific Symphony performing a delightful mix of sacred and holiday music. Favorite Christmas carols share the bill with traditional organ works that highlight the 4,322-pipe William J. Gillespie Concert Organ. Principal Trumpet Barry Perkins will be your host for the evening.

Sometimes, we can’t resist cutting our teeth on music that is incomparably gratifying and cleansing to play. This program is the sorbetto to Shostakovich’s borscht.

Salastina Goes for Baroque

We’d planned on starting a multi-year cycle of the complete chamber works of Dmitri Shostakovich back in March of 2020. This intense music is all the more cathartic now in light of not only the ongoing war in Ukraine, but also the broader political and existential fatigue in which we all find ourselves. Explore three of Shostakovich’s seminal works with us, written at the beginning, middle, and end of his life.

Shostakovich Cycle

Pasadena Playhouse

Salastina’s own Kevin Kumar (Co-Artistic Director and Violinist) and Meredith Crawford (Resident Violist) recorded many of the Vitamin String Quartet pop song arrangements that feature prominently in Bridgerton's original soundtrack. Hear them play the same tunes live as you enjoy Chef Becky Brown’s delicious 4-course meal.

Sounds Delicious: Bridgerton

Salastina

The “OC” of OC fan tutte is - you guessed it - Orange County. Once among the most conservative areas of the U.S, the OC is now undergoing rapid demographic and cultural change. This makes it the perfect setting for our drama. Diving right into the widening gulf between right and left, OC fan tutte brings humor and irreverence to the culture wars.
Mozart’s two young couples are now fundamentalist Christians. They're hell-bent on proving their moral superiority to social justice warriors… who have a righteous agenda of their own.

Season Finale OC fan tutte

The Broad Stage

Season Finale : OC fan tutte

Colburn School

Mozart's music for Così fan tutte has stood the test of time for hundreds of years. Its plot, however, hasn't aged quite so gracefully.
Librettist Vid Guerrerio's OC fan tutte leaves every note of Così fan tutte intact -- and hits refresh on the plot. Set in the Culture Wars battleground that is Orange County today, OC fan tutte replaces Così's 18th-century misogyny with current issues of gender equality and marriage rights.

Season Finale: OC fan tutte

Caltech's Athenaeum

French Impressionism caps off this delightful afternoon with Ravel’s colorful and climatic piano trio. Before that, music by the Hungarian composer, Ernst von Dohnányi treats you to shifting chromatic tonality while Czech composer, Bohuslav Martinů, explores virtuosity between flute and viola. 

Ravel's Piano Trio

Inspired by the poetry of Nathaniel Bellows, Snider’s “The Currents” puts Shaham’s complete skills as a formidable pianist on display; it’s expressive, poetic and lyrical, telling a story of both innocence and coping with an unpredictable world. Next, experience a world premiere from Israeli composer Avner Dorman who draws on cultural and historical influences in his music. And finally, Schubert’s atypical chamber instrumentation for his “Trout” quintet; a work featuring beloved melodies from his song.  Enjoy coffee, tea and pastries in the intimate coffee-house atmosphere of the Samueli Theater.

Schubert's "Trout" Quintet

Celebrate the season with the king of instruments! Enjoy a magnitude of musical splendors with world-class organist Todd Wilson and members of Pacific Symphony performing a delightful mix of sacred and holiday music. Favorite Christmas carols share the bill with traditional organ works that highlight the 4,322-pipe, $3.1 million William J. Gillespie Concert Organ.

Meredith Crawford

Violist

Events

Past events

17 - 19 Oct, 2024

Classical Spooktacular · Pacific Symphony

Jul 26, 2024

Laco At The Ventura Music Festival · Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Viola in Three Madrigals by Martinů

Pacific Symphony

Viola in * World Premiere for Trumpet, Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass and Piano by Dorman

Pacific Symphony

About

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