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The latest from the New West Symphony

JOSHUA RANZ: ‘It all comes back to singing’

There is, says Joshua Ranz, a key to playing Mozart well. It’s called singing. “There is a grace and a nuance to Mozart,” says Josh, principal clarinet for New West Symphony who will perform Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto during NWS’ “Binging on Mozart” concerts April 15...

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Cedric Berry: ‘Enjoy the experience’

Cedric Berry has sung everything from classic opera to modern opera, and sung it well. But regardless of what he’s singing, this Midwest-raised, Los Angeles-based baritone keeps one thought at the front of his mind: Enjoy what you’re doing.“That’s what I share with...

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Enluis Montes Olivar: Living the Dream, and More

At age 6, Enluis Montes Olivar attended his first concert in his native Venezuela and was immediately enthralled, particularly by the percussion instruments — tympani, cymbals, all of it.
But when he was asked, “What instrument would you like to play?”, Enluis had a much different answer: “I want to conduct!”

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Masters of Melody | Program Notes: American Songbook

The years around 1850 that brought California into the Union were also a time of burgeoning American musical identity. The “melting pot effect” that permeated most aspects of American life had an equally powerful impact on the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic qualities of American Song. The emergence of ragtime, the blues and jazz in the late 1800s into the twentieth century became national obsessions and forever changed America’s musical landscape.

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