Jan Barry Baker will open the St. Matthew’s Music Guild Season.
The St. Matthew’s Music Guild season opens on September 27 with renowned saxophonist Jan Berry Baker performing Jacque Ibert’s sparkling Concertino da Camera and William Grant Still’s Romance for alto saxophone and strings.
The concert, with the Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s, under the direction of Dwayne S. Milburn, is at 8 p.m. on September 27 at St. Matthew’s Church, 1031 Bienveneda Avenue.
Baker is Professor of Saxophone and Head of Woodwinds at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and performs regularly with the LA Philharmonic, Chicago and Atlanta symphonies and a variety of new music ensembles throughout the U.S. and Europe.
The program will also features a new Music Guild commission, Celebration Triptych, by Dwayne Milburn, composed for the occasion.
Milburn promises a sonic spectacular that will fill every corner of St. Matthew’s stunning interior space as members of the brass and woodwind sections perform from various locations around the church. They will be joined by the church’s 2000-pipe C.B. Fisk pipe organ, also celebrating its 40th anniversary season. The program concludes with one of the most beloved symphonies in the repertoire, Felix Mendelssohn’s vivacious Italian Symphony.
The Chamber Orchestra and Music Guild began in 1985 when a group of professional musicians came together to play in the newly erected St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Pacific Palisades.
Realizing that the building, by famed architect Charles Moore, was both visually striking and acoustically ideal for music, concerts began to attract a larger audience and soon a subscription season was offered. The Music Guild boasts more than 135 subscribing households and is recognized as one of the premiere music organizations in Los Angeles.
Tickets for individual concerts are $45. A Music Guild Season pass for all eight concerts are available for as little as $285. For complete information, reserved tickets and season passes visit MusicGuildOnline.org or call (310) 573-7422.