Flutist

EPSG:4326

Echoes of Times

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

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

WHERE DOES CONTENTMENT LIE? Rejoice in the Baroque series featuring Concertmaster + Director of Chamber Music Margaret Batjer and bass-baritone Dashon Burton. This all-Bach lineup is helmed by the composer’s Ich Habe Genug (“I have enough”) cantata, a reflection on gratitude and the power of perspective.

Bach + Burton

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

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

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

Curated by Juan Pablo Contreras, Episode 6 celebrates composers from around the Americas who reside and work in the melting pot of the United States, while their musical influences and flavors originate from their native countries like Argentina, Mexico and Uruguay. Also featured is the world premiere of Juan Pablo’s “Mariachitlán” for Piano Four-Hands.

Contreras, del Águila + Jofre

Curated by LACO Principal Keyboard Patricia Mabee, Episode 1 explores Baroque works and Baroque-inspired composers originating from Bolivia, Mexico and Spain.

Flutist

Benjamin Smolen

Events

Past events

May 4, 2025

Echoes of Times · Pacific Symphony

Jun 15, 2024

Main Series No. 5: Schubert And The Pummel Of Hummel · Pasadena Conservatory of Music

Future and recently performed repertoire

Flute in The Light is the Same by Esmail

Pacific Symphony

Flute in Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp by Debussy

Pacific Symphony

About

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