I’ll bet you weren’t there Saturday night! Only about 150-200 people showed up at the Wild Beast music venue at CalArts for the first in a series of four FREE concerts. I was there with my family and it was a wonderful evening of classical music.

This was all right here in the Santa Clarita Valley for free and it was disappointing that the weather did not cooperate. As it has been for several days, the skies were over cast and it was a cool evening which was reinforced by the fact that most who attended were bundled in blankets. That and nice bottle of wine kept many warm!

The program was Strauss, Mozart and Gabrielli under the stars and it was nothing short of spectacular. The music was preformed by the CalArts Orchestra and Soloists which was made up of special guests, alumni and faculty participants. It was as good as anything you might see at Royce Hall, REDCAT or, dare I say The Hollywood Bowl.

As the program pointed out; “This “Under the Stars” program is classical music selected from across the ages that has in common the idea of entertaining an audience in the outdoors, where the primary expressive idea is to charm, delight, and enjoy the way our beloved musical traditions may interact with the (hopefully gentle) sounds of the surrounding nature, including the listening humans…” And so it was a wonderful selection of pieces that resonated out of the Wild Beast.

The concert started with Battaglia by Andrea Gabrieli and was followed by Sonata pian’ e forte and the Sonata for 3 Violins both by Giovanni Gabrieli. Next up was the Serenade op. 7 by Richard Strauss and then there was a short intermission.

During the intermission David Rosenboom, Dean of the CalArts Music School, spoke about the concert series and acknowledged the presenting sponsor, Levitt Pavilions, which is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire and strengthen communities through free live outdoor music experiences. The Levitt Pavilions motto is “Community through Music.” Mr. Rosenboom then introduced Sharon Yazowski the Executive Director of Levitt Pavilions who reiterated the mission of the foundation in the creation, development and support of Levitt pavilions as community gathering spaces.

Also present was Elizabeth Levitt Hirsch the woman behind the Levitt Pavilions and as her business card lists is “Venture Philanthropy, Mortimer Levitt Foundation.” Mortimer Levitt, her father, had built a nationwide haberdashery empire known as the Custom Shop Shirt makers. In 1997 he had sold the business “which had more than 60 branches across the country, mostly in high-end malls, and its top-line shirts sold for $100 or more” according to his New York Times obituary. Mr. Levitt passed away in 2005 at the age of 98.

Elizabeth Levitt or “Liz” was a delightful lady who was quite enthusiastic about her mission of giving families entertainment to enjoy together while making the arts accessible to all as well as showing children cultures from around the world. We chatted for quite a while and plan on getting together soon to discuss more opportunities in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Having Levitt Pavilions as the sponsor for The Wild Beast concert series at CalArts is not just a wonderful addition to our community but it has elevated the level of local entertainment immensely. The greater SCV community now has a wider range of quality outdoor music concerts to chose from and to attend with there friends and families.  

The next concert in the series will be on Sunday, November 7, 2010 with the West Coast premiere of Oresteia. This is being presented in conjunction with the opening of MOCA’s exhibition of pioneering musician and architect Iannis Xenakis. This opera will be performed by CalArts students, faculty and alumni with 58 people performing, including choruses roaming the Wild Beast space as the setting sun creates a hopefully evocative backdrop of this timeless masterwork. Mark your calendars now as you don’t want to miss this performance!

Personally I am thrilled that the West Ranch Beacon will be a media sponsor for this concert series and proud to be associated with my alma mater, not just as an alumna but also as a trustee of this jewel of an arts institution. This world renowned art school is an amazing center of creativity and it is magnificent that our community is being invited in to see such a quality performances at a concert series for free.

Dave Bossert- Commentary

Dave Bossert is a community volunteer who serves on a number of boards and councils. His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon.