The Music Series features virtuosos from Southern California performing repertoire favorites and music by living composers. The concert will take place in the Brand Library Recital Hall. Admission is free and seating is limited.
Sponsored by the Brand Associates. Please note: Music Series concerts will be held on Saturday afternoons.
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Date: Saturday, March 15, 2025
Time: 2:00pm
Location: Brand Library Recital Hall
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Shalini Vijayan - Violinist & Aron Kallay - piano
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​Program:
Music by Brahms, Satoh, Womack, Emma Lou Diemer, Elisenda Fabregas
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Violinist Shalini Vijayan, deemed “a vibrant violinist” by Mark Swed of the LA Times, is an established performer and collaborator on both coasts. Always an advocate for modern music, Ms. Vijayan was a founding member and Principal Second Violin of Kristjan Jarvi’s Absolute Ensemble, having recorded several albums with them including 2001 Grammy nominee, Absolution. In Los Angeles, Ms. Vijayan is a member of the Lyris Quartet, resident ensemble of the famed Jacaranda Series in Santa Monica. She is featured regularly with Grammy Award-winning Southwest Chamber Music. Most recently, she has been a featured soloist with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in Chinary Ung’s Spiral XII and Tan Dun’s Water Passion. Vijayan is also on the performance faculty of the Nirmita Composers Workshop in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
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Described as a “modern renaissance man,” (Over the Mountain Journal) Grammy® nominated pianist Aron Kallay’s playing has been called “exquisite…every sound sounded considered, alive, worthy of our wonder” (LA Times). Aron’s performances often integrate technology, video, and alternate tunings; Fanfare magazine described him as “a multiple threat: a great pianist, brainy tech wizard, and visionary promoter of a new musical practice.” Aron has performed throughout the US and abroad and is a fixture on the Los Angeles new-music scene. He is the co-founder and board president of People Inside Electronics (PIE), the managing director of MicroFest, and the co-director of the underground new-music concert series Tuesdays@MONK Space. He is also the co-director of MicroFest Records, whose first release, John Cage: The Ten Thousand Things, was nominated for a Grammy® award for Best Chamber Music Performance. In addition to his solo work, Aron is currently a member of the Pierrot + percussion ensemble Brightwork newmusic, the Varied Trio, and the Ray-Kallay Duo. He is on the faculty of Pomona College.
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Shalini Vijayan & Aron Kallay
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Date: Saturday, April 12, 2025
Time: 2:00pm
Location: Brand Library Recital Hall
​Misha Vayman, Juan-Salvador Carrasco, Nathan Ben-Yehuda & Michael Siess​
​Program:
The quartet collaboratively creates original compositions for two violins, cello, piano, synthesizer, and electronics.
Horizon - McCoy Tyner; Astor Piazzolla Superstar - Astor Piazzolla / Andrew Lloyd Webber; 7 Hellos - Astral Mixtape; Betafog - Astral Mixtape; The Lung - Hiatus Kaiyote / Elephant Ornament; Goddess Gardens - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov / Ralph Vaughan Williams / Kaija Saariaho / Sigur Rós; Best Part of Appalachian Spring - Daniel Caesar / Aaron Copland; Away From Here - Astral Mixtape; Knock - Astral Mixtape; Catavango - Astral Mixtape
Astral Mixtape​
Astral Mixtape is a band that creates groundbreaking original music with classical instruments and electronics. By combining their wide-ranging listening interests with a lifetime of classical training, they have created a personal musical language all their own. Their live performances synthesize the spectacle of pop, the spontaneity of jazz, and the experimentation of contemporary music. Winners of the 2023 Astral Artists Competition, and the 2024 Beverly Hills National Auditions, the band enjoys sharing their music in eclectic venues across the country. The have also performed as resident artists at summer festivals. As passionate educators, Astral Mixtape enjoys sharing music and recent educational residencies have included Idyllwild Arts Academy, University of Southern California, Pasadena City College, University of Nebraska, Depauw University, Pacific University, Pasadena City College, and numerous public schools throughout the country. Astral Mixtape currently partners with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for fiscal receivership. In March 2025, they will release an album of seven original works called Biolumy.
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Astral Mixtape
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Date: Saturday, June 21, 2025
Time: 2:00pm
Location: Brand Library Recital Hall
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Marina Grozdanovic - piano
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Program: Composed in France
Music by Rameau, Couperin, Chopin, Debussy and Ravel
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Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Marina Grozdanovic is an internationally acclaimed pianist, and some of her performance highlights include the Beverly Hills International Music Festival at Greystone Mansion in Los Angeles; the Ravinia Music Festival in Chicago; the Kolarac Music Hall in Belgrade, Serbia; the National Gallery in Oslo, Norway; Les Dimanches Musicaux and Atelier Concert Series in Paris; St. Olave’s Church and St. Mary Abbot’s Church in London; and performances with the Bombay Chamber Orchestra in India. Grozdanovic is a winner of the Pinault International Piano Competition, New York, the Ibla Grand Prize International Piano Competition, Italy, the Phi Beta National Professional Association for the Performing Arts Competition, Los Angeles, among others. She was recently showcased as a distinguished guest performer on Serbian national television, RTS.
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