The Palisades Symphony played to a full house.
Photo: RICH SCHMITT
The Palisades Symphony hosted a Fire Recovery Benefit Concert at the Westwood United Methodist Church located on Wilshire Boulevard on February 16. (The orchestra’s main venue Palisades Lutheran Church, survived the fire, but the surrounding area needs to be remediated.)
It was a heartfelt evening as musicians and audience members supported neighbors recovering from the devastating fires.
Some Palisades Symphony members lost their homes, which made this concert especially meaningful. The Symphony is conducted by Maxim Kuzin.
The audience was treated to Mykola Lysenko “Taras Bulba Overture.” Alexander Wasserman played Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor and the program concluded with Symphony in D Minor by Cesar Franck.
Wasserman donated his performance to the cause and played on a grand piano generously provided by Kawai. Wasserman, a Los Angeles native, is a leading chamber musician, concerto soloist and educator. After beginning formal piano studies as a child, he received degrees from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. More recently, he has completed the Doctor of Musical Arts program in Piano Performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music
Wasserman has performed with the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra, Thousand Oaks Philharmonic (CA), New Valley Symphony (CA), Suburban Symphony (OH), Santa Barbara Choral Society and Orchestra (CA), The DeKalb Symphony (GA), The Rome Symphony (GA), Reinhardt Symphony, Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra, and Parma Symphonia as a concerto soloist performing the works of Beethoven, Mozart and Tchaikovsky.
The spirit and quality of the performances was heartwarming. Photo: RICH SCHMITT
Although the concert was free, donations were welcomed and will go to help musicians, singers, and organizations affected by the fire as “we aim to bring hope and healing through music.”
The Palisades Symphony is a community orchestra that performs and rehearses in the Pacific Palisades district of Los Angeles. It was founded in 1966 by Joel B. Lish in order “to foster, promote and increase the musical knowledge and appreciation of the public; to provide qualified musicians with a venue to perform; and to afford contemporary composers an opportunity to have their works performed and heard.” Visit: palisadessymphony.org
The audience enjoyed the exceptional program presented by Palisades Symphony.
Photo: RICH SCHMITT