Pittance Chamber Music Presents EVENSONG WITH JAMES ONSTAD

Pittance Chamber Music, known for featuring the extraordinary resident artists of the Los Angeles Opera pit and stage, presents Evensong with James Onstad, an evening offering of beloved works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Johannes Brahms, as part of Pittance Chamber Music's 5th Anniversary Season. The concert takes place in Barrett Hall at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music on March 31, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.

The program features American tenor James Onstad, pianist Paul Floyd and members of the GRAMMY-winning LA Opera Orchestra: violinists Ana Landauer and Grace Oh, violists Shawn Mann and Alma Fernandez, and cellist Rowena Hammill. The program will include Vaughan Williams' Phantasy Quintet and Four Hymns for Tenor, Viola and Piano; and Brahms' String Quintet in G major, Op. 111.

Hailed as "sensitive and precise" and "hauntingly beautiful" (New Classic LA), American tenor James Onstad is an exciting new presence on the concert and operatic stage. Recent performances include debuts with the Chicago Symphony (in Bernstein's Mass) and the Los Angeles Philharmonic (in John Cage's sprawling operatic epic Europeras - a co-production of the LA Philharmonic and The Industry). In August and September of 2018 Onstad appeared in title role of Leonard Bernstein's Candide in a co-production with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and the Clarence Brown Theater, described by Hedy Weiss of WTTW Chicago as "beautifully sung, emotionally true."

A versatile artist, Onstad enjoys performing a wide range of repertoire from classical masters to modern-day innovators. An ardent advocate of new music, he is a regular performer with The Industry, and has collaborated closely with MacArthur Genius Award recipient Matthew Aucoin, singing in Aucoin's opera Crossing with the American Repertory Theater (in 2015) and at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music (in 2017), as well as premiering the role of Jake in Aucoin's Second Nature with Chicago Lyric Opera Unlimited.

A native of Santa Fe, Onstad graduated cum laude from Harvard University where he majored in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in French. He holds a Master of Music degree in vocal performance from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.

It was previously announced that Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist tenor Joshua Wheeker would be featured, however he recently became a Western Region finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the finals of which take place in New York and coincide with our program. We wish Joshua the very best of luck!

Among the most extraordinary musicians in the world are those you seldom see - the musicians of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. Founder and Artistic Director Lisa Sutton, who is the Assistant Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, formed Pittance Chamber Music in 2013 to shine the spotlight on these remarkable yet invisible artists, bringing them from the pit to the stage to perform in small ensembles, hence the name Pittance. Pittance Chamber Music showcases a roster of artists drawn from a large pool of talent including members of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra as well as Los Angeles Opera resident vocalists, resulting in a unique variety of repertoire not often heard together in one program.

The next program during Pittance Chamber Music's 5th Anniversary season - A Tale of Two Émigrés with James Conlon - takes place on Saturday, June 15 at 3:00 p.m. at Zipper Hall, Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles. LA Opera Music Director James Conlon curates and conducts a special and unique program that tells the tale of Jewish émigré composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Arnold Schoenberg, who left their homelands and ultimately settled in Los Angeles as a result of the Nazi's rise to power. The program will include a talk by Maestro Conlon, who will also conduct Korngold's Sextet, Op. 10 and Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony #1, Op. 9, performed by members of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra.

Single tickets for Evensong with James Onstad are $35; Seniors $20; Student Rush $10 (at the door only). Tickets are available online at PittanceChamberMusic.org or at the venue on the day of the concert if tickets remain. The Pasadena Conservatory of Music is located at 100 North Hill Avenue in Pasadena, California 91106.

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