Save the date - April 9th!

Our April Night  

Music & Art + potluck party    

Save the date!  

Monday, April 9th, 2018    

Look for the email invitation on Wednesday,  

    

                                      

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CU: RSVP now for February 26th Music and Art in the Studio

Online RSVP are now closed.

February Night!  

this coming Monday, the 26th @ 8 p.m. 
Music & Arts in the Studio  

@ Alexey Steele Grand Atelier

Special thanks to our unwavering founding patron
Rand Resources, LLC.      

 

We return from a brief winter break to find... it's still winter! Well, the groundhog did see his shadow this year.  As we are still having chilly nights, it may be chilly in the studio, so please dress warmly!  

 

To heat things up, the glowing sound of the City of Angels Saxophone Quartet returns to Classical Underground, performing works specifically composed for their combination: the delightful Petit Quatour pour saxophones by Jean Francaix, and "Addis Ababa" and "Montevideo" from Guillermo Lago's intriguing Ciudades.
    

 

Rising Los Angeles opera, film, and rock composer Brooke deRosa brings a group of her songs, performed by mezzo soprano Nandani Sinha, who previously sang at CU as part of a Long Beach Opera preview.  Brooke (a fine soprano herself) will accompany Nandani on piano in Art Songs, Chances, Day follows Day, Goodbye Lullaby, and True Love.

 

And two of our stellar CU favorites, pianist Steven Vanhauwaert and cellist Evgeny Tonkha, will each take solo turns with works to be announced.

CU SHOWCASE 

ALEXEY STEELE: Love My Neighbor public art project

 

  Alexey Steele:  "Mr. Lipsey." Sepia on fabriano  paper

 

Working on the "Love My Neighbor" public art project in the City of Carson's most difficult neighborhood, the notorious Scottsdale, is turning out to be one of my most rewarding artistic journeys.  The richness, authenticity and depth of the citizen models is a uniquely powerful foundation for the work of  my series.  It is amazing to see that I am virtually retracing the steps of my late father, the great Socialist Realist painter Leonid Steele.  What he was doing in the remote villages of Ukraine and cities of Russia in the days of the Soviet Union, I am doing today in contemporary America.   

 

I am also learning a lot.  Classical Underground is our 10 year exploration in the idea of Art which is based on clarity of intent: we do Art simply because we believe in it, and not for any other reason.  With my public art project in Carson, I am testing how this clarity of intent can become a tool of social action.  I am proud to see that in Scottsdale, Art is becoming a vital tool of the community's own turnaround effort, as opposed to being an agent of gentrification as we so often see.  

 

Here is the study for my new painting from the series.  Mr. Lipsey is from Mississippi.  He is 77.  He came to LA in 1972.  When he was just 6 years old, his Dad went to get food for him in pouring rain, got drenched and died of double pneumonia.  As Mr. Lipsey puts it, in 1947 Mississippi "antibiotics were too good for blacks." He recounted memories of segregation and brutal racism, including when Emmett Till's body was pulled out of the Tallahatchie River.  

 

Remarkable in his observations, as I began to develop the drawing at the middle of the last session Mr. Lipsey told me, "It's the first time I am seeing the real me." 

 

For more on the Love My Neighbor public art project check out our site: 

www.lovemyneighbor.us 

*****

 
 As always - bring your spirits, food and drink for you and your friends to enjoy.   






 Please RSVP via Paypal through our website by clicking on the button on the top of this post.  Online RSVP are now closed.

We are most grateful to our supportive friends at

 Steinway Piano Gallery Los Angeles  

 

for graciously providing us with their incomparable instrument

 

   

    We are grateful for a continuous support of our founding patron 

RAND RESOURCES, LLC.

 

In Art we Trust!

 

20795 Main St. Carson, Ca 90745
Doors open at 7 p.m. No assigned seats - first come-first served. Potluck. Entrance from the parking lot.  Free parking.   

 

 

 

RSVP now for December 18th Holiday Event and Toy Drive

Online reservations are now closed.

  
 
December Holiday Night!  

this coming Monday, the 18h @ 8 p.m. 

Toy Drive and Holiday Potluck!
Music & Arts in the Studio  

@ Alexey Steele Grand Atelier 

  

Special thanks to our unwavering founding patron
Rand Resources, LLC.     

     
If smoky skies, relentless winds, and depressing fire reports have put a damper on your holiday cheer, come join us for our December Classical Underground program!  We promise it will warm your heart, but come dressed for a chilly December evening, even if it feels like summer in the daytime.

If you think you've seen pianist Alex Slobodyanik somewhere besides his appearances at CU, maybe you've been watching the latest season of The Americans.  As if it weren't enough to be a world class pianist, Alex has also been gaining recognition as an actor and filmmaker.  On this program he'll be performing a beautiful selection of Chopin etudes.

Los Angeles has been lucky to hang on to Roberto Cani, a wonderful violinist with top soloist and orchestral credits with leading orchestras around the world.  He came to LA to study with Abram Shtern at USC and stayed to become the concertmaster of the LA Opera. It's always a special occasion when he returns to Classical Underground.

The delightful soprano Jennifer Lindsay will sing a trio of stellar arias, accompanied by Mary Au on piano: Puccini's "Mi chiamano Mimi" from La Boheme, Verdi's "O patria mia" Aida, and Rossini "Bel raggio lusinghier" from Semiramide.

And our resident supervirtuoso Harout Senekeremian tackles the bluesy and rhythmically dynamic Nikolai Kapustin Sonata #12.

Happy holidays, everyone!

        

 
         Roberto Cani   
 

         Alex Slobodyanik

 
Harout Senekeremian
 

                 Jennifer Lindsay           Mary Au

                    

CLASSICAL UNDERGROUND SHOWCASE:

Peter Adams 

 

California occupies a special place within the contemporary realist movement in American Art. One of the fortunate reasons converging around the Southland is its venerable plein air tradition. Giving impulse to study the impact of color and light, it greatly expanded the palette of California representational artists, refreshing and modernizing the feel of their work. A uniquely Californian voice shaped by its plein air tradition is the artist Peter Adams.

His prolonged interest in mystical sensation delivered through expressive use of color gives his works a thoroughly individual and authentic presence, while making his landscapes in particular distinctly personal.

Peter also dedicated almost two decades of his life to raising the profile of the California Art Club, and as its president built it into one of the leading organizations dedicated to the support of representational art in the US.

We are very happy to showcase Peter's new work "Copper Canyon Falls; San Gabriel Mts."

    Peter Adams "Copper Canyon Falls; San Gabriel Mts." 48" x 36" oil on panel  

 As always - bring your spirits, food and drink for you and your friends to enjoy.   

Please RSVP via Paypal through our website by clicking on the button above 

  

******

We are most grateful to our supportive friends at

 Steinway Piano Gallery Los Angeles  

for graciously providing us with their incomparable instrument

   

 

   

    We are grateful for a continuous support of our founding patron 

RAND RESOURCES, LLC.

   

in ART we trust!

*******

20795 Main St. Carson, Ca 90745
Doors open at 7 p.m. No assigned seats - first come-first served. Potluck. Entrance from the parking lot.  Free parking.  

 

For more information on the event please go to classicalunderground.com

RSVP now for the Opening Night - October 9th!

Online reservations are now closed. 
  

October Night!
The 10th Season Opening!!!   

this coming Monday, the 9th @ 8 p.m. 

Music & Arts in the Studio  

@ Alexey Steele Grand Atelier 

   

Special thanks to our unwavering founding patron
Rand Resources, LLC.     

  

The tenth anniversary season of Classical Underground is here!   Thank you to all the musicians, artists, our sponsors Steinway and Rick Rand, and especially you, the audience, for making our monthly celebration of music and art possible.

We are pleased to welcome the distinguished Portuguese pianist Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro in his debut appearance at Classical Underground, performing Mussorgsky's monumental piano suite, "Pictures at an Exhibition."  Conceived as musical illustrations of works featured in a memorial exhibition of the composer's dear artist friend Viktor Hartmann, who died suddenly at the age of 39 in 1873, perhaps no work better exemplifies the inspirational cross-pollination of music and art that we aspire to at CU.

 

Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro

 

                                                      Elena Mindlina

Also appearing for the first time at CU is Russian-born American-trained soprano Elena Mindlina along with our friend from CSUN, pianist Dmitry Rachmanov, performing beautiful romances.  In a recent review Elena was praised for her "sophisticated musicality, and outstanding artistic talent that transformed each song into a dramatic scene." 

Our dear friend Eduardo Delgado is barely in town for long these days, having just returned from a summer of festivals in Italy and about to depart for concerts in Japan and China and overseeing a piano competition in Thailand... luckily he has just enough time to stop by the studio to share Schumann's Fantasiestucke, op. 12.

Violinist Philip Vaiman makes a long overdue return visit to perform Astor Piazzolla's "Histoire du Tango" with guitarist Kenton Youngstrom.

And to cap things off, more Piazzolla with CU favorites Evgeny Tonkha on cello, Anton Smirnov on piano, and CU newcomer David Lisker on violin, performing "The Seasons."

                    

CLASSICAL UNDERGROUND SHOWCASE: 

Patricia Watwood 

Flowers, 2016, oil on linen, 22 x 20

It is a special pleasure to showcase at the opening of our 10th CU season Patricia Watwood. Based in Brooklyn, NY, Patty is one of the nation's landmark artists of the contemporary classical movement. Her subjects are primarily women and figures, often using allegory and mythic imagery depicting timeless human essence within the contemporary experience. 

Patty's work has been exhibited at the Beijing World Art Museum, The Butler Museum, St. Louis University Museum of Art, The New Britain Museum of American Art, and the Forbes Galleries, among others. She has produced instructional DVDs including "Creating Portraits from Life," with Streamline Art Video, and is a featured art instructor with Craftsy.com. She has an MFA from New York Academy of Art, and was a founding member of the Water Street Atelier. 

More info at patriciawatwood.com 

FB https://www.facebook.com/patricia.watwood 

IG https://www.instagram.com/patriciawatwood/

  

 As always - bring your spirits, food and drink for you and your friends to enjoy.   

 

Online reservations are now closed.  

  

******

We are most grateful to our supportive friends at

 Steinway Piano Gallery Los Angeles  

for graciously providing us with their incomparable instrument

   

 

   

    We are grateful for a continuous support of our founding patron 

RAND RESOURCES, LLC.

   

in ART we trust!

 

  

*******

20795 Main St. Carson, Ca 90745

Doors open at 7 p.m. No assigned seats - first come-first served. Potluck. 

Entrance from the parking lot.  Free parking.  

Save the date: October 9th - Opening Night - 10th Season!

Opening Night - 10th Season! 

Music & Art + potluck party  

Save the date!  

 

Monday, October 9th, 2017   

Look for the email invitation next week,  

or check back our website at that time 

www.classicalunderground.com 

    

 

                           

Please also check your bulk folder, as many of you reported that you are not getting our emails.  We email everyone on the list!

Sponsored by:  

 

 

in ART we trust!

CU June 5th - RSVP now for Season's Finale!

Suddenly June has arrived and with it the last program of our 10th season, featuring a double dose of industrial strength Brahms...bring plenty of bratwurst, potato salad and beer for the potluck!

The end of the season always marks the happy return of our dear friend Jura Margulis, who will play young Brahms'  magnificent, symphonic Brahms Piano Sonata #3 in F minor, Op. 5.

 

Then virtuoso violinist Robert Cani will perform late Brahms in the form of his Violin Sonata #3 in D minor, Op. 108, with Mitsuko Morikawa on piano.

 

Delayed from our last program, the ever-tantalizing tenor Timur Bekbosunov and pianist Dzovig Markarian present Russian composer Sergei Slonimisky's "Six Romances on Poems of Osip Mandelstam,"which Timur sang to high acclaim in its U.S. premiere in Washington, DC last year.

 

And for a lighter dessert, the multi-gifted CU regular Georgi Slavchev will play a couple of his latest piano compositions, "This We Have Now" and "A Good Piano Day."

        

 

                                   
          

 

See you on Monday!  As always - bring your spirits food and drink for you and your friends to enjoy. WE ARE SOLD OUT!

    

 

   ******

STEINWAY PIANO DEBUT - a brand new CD 287!

We are most grateful to our supportive friends at

 Steinway Piano Gallery Los Angeles  

for graciously providing us with their incomparable instrument

   

 

   

 

    We are grateful for a continuous support of our founding patron 

RAND RESOURCES, LLC

   

in ART we trust! 

   

 

*******

20795 Main St. Carson, Ca 90745
Doors open at 7 p.m.

 

 

 

 

   

 

   

 

 

 

Save the date June 5th Season's Finale

Save the date! 
Season's Finale! 

 

Monday, June 5th, 2017   

Look for the email invitation next week,  

or check back our website at that time 

www.classicalunderground.com 

  

             

 

in art we trust!

 

 

*******