2017 Events Archive Table |
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JULY 2017
World Heritage Sites Concert
Featuring the World Premiere of
The Tides of Mont Saint-Michel: A Montage
by Carol Worthey
Stanley Wong & Gary Ngan
Hosted by Stanley Wong
I'm immensely thrilled and honored that Concert Pianist
Stanley Wong
will premiere my piano suite that travels back in time to
an age of kings and saints, knights and ninja-like monks
protecting the coast of France, fierce and spiritual times
of the Age of Chivalry, on July 15th in Hong Kong.
The Tides of Mont Saint Michel: A Montage!
is a kind of TIME TRAVEL with these evocative movements:
The Bells of Time
Illumination
Battle Cry of St. Michael-in-Peril-of-The-Sea
Chant Angelicus
Chanson de Roland
Tides
Bells Echo through The Ages
Total duration of the suite: 21:35
The initial premiere was exceptionally well received and
Stanley Wong
is planning another performance this August!
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JUNE 2017
Wonderland
Audio CD Released
Piano/Toy Piano:
Stanley Wong
Narrators:
Sarah Martin,
Tsai Chih Fan,
Chaung Jing,
Christine Wan
Children's Chorus:
Taipei Young Singers
Chapter 9 Music by Carol Worthey
During the following concert, Maestro
Stanley Wong
presented the audience with the release of his new CD:
Concert:
From Shadow Box to French Chateax
featuring
The World Premiere of
The Tides of Mont Saint-Michel
(Les Marées de Mont Saint-Michel en Montage)
by Carol Worthey
and Release of "Wonderland CD"!
Stanley Wong Pianist & Recording Artist
July 15th, 2017,
Hong Kong City Hall Recital Hall
From Shadow Box to French Chateax
featuring
The World Premiere of
The Tides of Mont Saint-Michel
(Les Marées de Mont Saint-Michel en Montage)
by Carol Worthey
and Release of "Wonderland CD"!
Stanley Wong Pianist & Recording Artist
July 15th, 2017,
Hong Kong City Hall Recital Hall
At this concert
Stanley Wong
released his
"Wonderland" CD
, featuring recordings of his concerts in Hong Kong and
Taiwan in 2016, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the
iconic book
Alice in Wonderland
. Carol's piece
Recipe for Mock Turtle Soup
for Children's Chorus, Piano & Narrator, Words &
Music by
Carol Worthey
, was part of a concert featuring 14 composers from around
the world. Stanley reports he sold many CDs at this July
15th, 2017 concert. He sent a CD to Carol that arrived on
July 24th to her home — what a fun and engaging CD it
is!
Chapter 9:
Recipe for Mock Turtle Soup
- Carol Worthey (for Children's Chorus, Reciter & Piano)
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JUNE 2017
Renaissance Speakers
Toastmasters Club #2374 —
Officer Installation & Awards Event
In a special event held at the home of
Richard and Susan Stewart
in La Canada/Flintridge, both
Carol Worthey
and
Ray Korns
were awarded a special trophy by Outgoing
Renaissance Speakers
Club President
Serena McCullough
called the
Triple Crown Award.
To earn this, Carol and Ray had to achieve completions in
20 Speeches from an Advanced Toastmasster Manual and the
Basic Manual and the Competent Leader Manual!
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JUNE 2017
Renowned Writer & Art/Theatre Critic Ed Rubin Visits
Carol Worthey
in Los Angeles.
Carol Worthey
and her wonderful husband
Ray Korns
first met scintillating and supportive writer and
art/theatre critic
Ed Rubin
in Florence, Italy at the
2007 Biennale International Art Exhibit,
where he heard Carol's music
Fanfare for The New Renaissance
Opening Day and visited her painting exhibit.
Ed and Carol have corresponded since then and become fast
friends. Ed (known informally as "Fast Eddy" — he's
such a card!) hails from Manhattan, but came to Los Angeles
in May. Getting lost on the Freeway was no fun, but Carol
and Ray soothed his soul when we all enjoyed eating a fine
dinner at popular Emle's Restaurant in Northridge
California.
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JUNE 2017
Honorary Judge for
World Heritage Sites
Young Artists Competition
in Hong Kong
Stanley Wong , Sponsor
Carol Worthey
was thrilled to be one of three internationally-recognized
painters to be chosen as Art Judge for a truly mind-blowing
World Heritage Sites
Young Artists' Competition created by Concert Pianist and
Concept Originator
Stanley Wong
. Three age groups of young artists competed and their work
was amazing! The Kindergarten aged students competed via
clay arts, The Juniors were in the 4 to 8 year-old range,
and the Seniors were in the 13 to 17 year-old range. Each
group received a 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place award as well as
Honorable Mentions. What precocious talent, glowing beauty,
precision of design, and variety of sites chosen!!
And what a challenge to select winners in such a visual
feast. Each artist seemed to absorb not only the physical
look but the mood, history and very soul of their chosen
site, from the Eiffel Tower to Machu Pichu in the Andes, to
the endangered Australian Coral Reef. Let the works speak
for themselves:
World Heritage Sites Young Artists Competition
June 2017, Hong Kong, China
MAY 2017
Carol Worthey
Delivers a Speech
"The Wisdom of Voltaire"
Hollywood California
Having researched the life, wisdom and wit of Voltaire,
Carol Worthey
had great pleasure imparting some of his amazing quotes and
enlightening the Renaissance Spealers Toastmaster Club and
Guests, Hollyuwood, California about this indelible genius.
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MAY 2017
Locally Grown
Cello Music
Master Cellist Maksim Velichkin
Presents Los Angeles Composers' Works
Maksim Velishkin , Cello
Music by Carol Worthey
Once again, amazing cellist
Maksim Velichkin
honored
Carol Worthey
with another performance of her
Homage to Bach
poignant theme and variations in a concert featuring 12
contemporary living composers from Greater Los Angeles,
including
Nick Gianopoulous
.
The work was very well-received by the attending audience in
the charming recital hall of the Santa Monica public
library!
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APRIL 2017
Ice Cream Sweet!
A Tasty New Ballet Done with Grace and Style!
California Contemporary Ballet
performed by our
Youth Ballet Company
Choreography by Artistic Director
Aerin Holt
and
Lynn Bryson Pittenger
Carol Worthey
, Composer
Stanley Wong
, Piano
Composer
Carol Worthey
explains her inspiration:
"I
consider ice cream to be one of the greatest inventions in
human history! It certain makes people happy and it is
enjoyed everywhere on Earth in flavors that sometimes defy
the imagination. When Concert Pianist Stanley Wong asked me
to write a composition for him, I decided that it was about
time I portrayed in music some of these delicious
concoctions. I determined that each piece in it should flow
into the next with short promenades or marches and that the
variety of flavors that I described should not only be
distinctive, but that the whole work should function AS a
whole and flow together as seamlessly as possible."
Artistic Director
Aerin Holt
adds:
Aerin was drawn to the simplicity of the single piano recording, describing it as "a beautiful composition... enhanced by a certain romanticism. I felt the ballet should hold to an old-fashioned feel and intimacy, similar to a well worn photo of a couple in love or a child tasting her first cone at the parlor on a warm afternoon." For Ms. Holt, the richness of each flavor is expressed through both dramatic and subtle movement qualities.
"Carol
knew that whatever flavor she chose to depict, it would be
based on a kind of dance or music set-piece, such as a waltz
or nocturne (night-description) and knew that the work would
have to be very pianistic and evocative... and fun!"
Aerin was drawn to the simplicity of the single piano recording, describing it as "a beautiful composition... enhanced by a certain romanticism. I felt the ballet should hold to an old-fashioned feel and intimacy, similar to a well worn photo of a couple in love or a child tasting her first cone at the parlor on a warm afternoon." For Ms. Holt, the richness of each flavor is expressed through both dramatic and subtle movement qualities.
Lynn Pittenger
's choreography would draw from her experience with
Balanchine to create
Ginger,
renamed for the ballet as
Berry Sorbet,
and
The Romance of Coffee and Butter Pecan
created as a trio with the Ice Cream Man.
| Cast of Dancers: | |
| Ice Cream Man: | Harry Peterson |
| Parlor Girls: | Abigail Risdon, Sofia Farias, Angela Yedgarian |
| Vanilla Chorus: | Sara Zimmermann, Elle Peterson, Kate Bonham, Emily Truong |
| Berry Sorbet: | Kate Bonham |
| Chocolate: | Eleanor Squires |
| Double Fudge: | Sarai Golden-Krasner & Heather Eberhard |
| Mango: | Emily Truong |
| Butter Pecan: | Kate Bonham |
| Coffee: | Sara Zimmermann |
| Cherries Jubilee: | Elle Peterson |
| Mint & Chocolate Chips, Marshmallows, Cherry Cream: | Payson Dillon, Kaia Jacobson, Nadia Chung, Madison Ferren |
| Production, Direction, Sets, Website: | Aerin Holt |
| Costume Design & Construction: | Christine Morrison, Nancy Scott |
| Donated Costumes: | Lynn Pittenger |
| Light Designer: | Bosco Flanagan |
| Cover Art for Promotion, Poster & Program: | Carol Worthey |
Ice Cream Sweet
was commissioned and world-premiered by renowned Concert
Pianist
Stanley Wong
in Hong Kong 2015. He performed the music again
in 2017 to great acclaim... and an ice cream reception!
The
Ice Cream Sweet Ballet
was performed for a live studio audience to a pre-recorded
soundtrack recorded by
Stanley Wong
at a Hong Kong studio in 2017. Below you can listen to the
Full Performance.
Below you can listen individually to each ballet scene.
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Scene 7: The Romance of Coffee and Butter Pecan (Music Title: The Romance of Coffee & Butter Pecan) | |
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Ice Cream Sweet Ballet
22 April 2017, Los Angeles, California
Ice Cream Sweet Ballet
23 April 2017, Los Angeles, California
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MARCH 2017
Is Sixty Seconds Enough Time to Pay Homage to Bach?
No...
That's Why Carol Wrote A Longer Work
Maksim Velichkin , Cello
Music by Carol Worthey
Maksim Velichkin
presented a beautiful set of solo cello pieces, from
traditional to contemporary, including
Carol Worthey
's
Homage to Bach.
Maksim is a master of cello technique and expression, plus
an extraordinary improviser on piano and a "impresario" who
presides monthly over musical presentations at MiMoDa Cafe
& Dance Studio on Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles. He
has been most generous and encouraging to Carol about her
music ever since he premiered her
Russian Scenes
Cello Duo years earlier along with Cellist
Ruslan Biryukov.
In 2015
Maksim Velichkin
had invited
Carol Worthey
to participate in his creative concept
Homage to Bach,
part of the innovative and prestigious
Fifteen Minutes of Fame
Vox Novus project. Her sixty-second miniature entitled
Each Age Fades but Bach
(which used the notes E-A-C-F etc. mentioned in the
anagram-title) was selected. In May 2015 Maksim premiered
all fifteen works by contemporary composers at Brand Library
of Music and Art, Glendale California.
At the same time Carol had envisioned a more extended work
which she called
Homage to Bach,
originally commissioned by Cellist
Suzanne Mueller
as part of a longer work called
Solitaire.
It is this longer work
Homage to Bach
(not the 60-second piece) that Maksim performed at Edendale
Library. In this piece, Carol began with a poignant theme
that is part outcry , part lyricism, later enhancing it with
a set of variations in different moods which then return
returning to the initial theme. Maksim has performed this
longer work earlier at MiMoDa and at the Will & Ariel
Durant Library in Hollywood. Carol says,
"With a star cellist like Velichkin, I'm a very fortunate
camper."
She also feels that it is wonderful to know that libraries
around LA and the country are featuring outstanding
musicians in informal concerts for their public.
The audience gathered at Edendale Library thoroughly enjoyed
the presentation, which included a piece by
George N. Gianopoulos
and others.
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MARCH 2017
Happy Birthday Carol Worthey!
Studio and Balloons - what could be better?
Carol Worthey
celebrated her birthday with family and friends. They
provided food, drink, cake, candles and balloons. Carol's
husband provided a multi-media cinematic surround-sound
custom performance in a state-of-the-art studio (which he
provided thanks to PhotoShop, the Gimp and some tweaks
[grin]).
All in all, it was a great day!
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FEBRUARY 2017
A Musical Universe with A Perfect Landscape Enchants A Rapt Audience!
Windsong Players Chamber Ensemble
perform the
World-Premiere of
In My Perfect Landscape
for Soprano, Flute, Violin & Piano
perform the
World-Premiere of
In My Perfect Landscape
for Soprano, Flute, Violin & Piano
Veronica Bell, Soprano
Alice Pero, Flute
Shushan Hakobyan, Piano
Ruben Aghiyan, Violin
Words by Alice Pero, Music by Carol Worthey
A delightful concert from start to finish (music by Quantz,
Mozart, Copland, Schubert, Chopin, Ruben Aghiyan and ending
with
Carol Worthey
's new song setting of
In My Perfect Landscape
for Soprano (the charismatic
Veronica Bell
whose voice is rapturously beautiful and expressive), Flute
(ably performed—and commissioned—by
Alice Pero
, whose beautiful poem inspired Carol greatly),
Ruben Aghiyan
(excellent violinist and composer himself, who presented
his own composition
Heavenly Angel
for Violin & Piano, written in honor of his mother) and
Shushan Hakobyan
(a wizard on the piano, a true master and highly sensitive
artist with exceptional tone-color and fluidity).
A very attentive audience of music lovers, fellow
performers, families and children were entranced and stood
for a long Ovation at the end of the Premiere and Concert.
Praise from the performers is always extra-special, because
they are the ones who have to bring the music alive and
because they know their craft, their challenges and their
hard-work to learn the piece better than anyone. Here is
one such noteworthy comment:
"This is MY SONG! Even though I gave a whole Solo
Concert yesterday, I couldn't get your song out of my mind!
It stays with me! You really know how to write for the
voice, Carol! I can't wait to record this on a CD!"
Veronica Bell
,
Renowned Soprano, International Opera Singer, Teacher and Art Song Specialist
Renowned Soprano, International Opera Singer, Teacher and Art Song Specialist
And the Audience? Nearly every person there came up to the
performers and composer Carol Worthey with enthusiastic
praise! Here are just three of the raves:
"A truly divine finish to a heavenly afternoon. So
interesting to hear Alice's piece become song. It made the
poem not larger than itself but created a new universe right
beside it that was astonishing. Many congratulations Carol!"
Lois P. Jones
,
Renowned Poet, Co-Founder of Moonday Poetry Readings and Radio Host
Renowned Poet, Co-Founder of Moonday Poetry Readings and Radio Host
"You've outdone yourself! The song has a very special
peacefulness. I just loved it and so glad I came!"
"Congratulations, Carol, on a spectacular premiere! Your
piece was wonderful to close a concert by amazing
performers. There was something very special happening in
that church."
Jim Ellingson
,
fellow Toastmaster and knowledgeable Classical-Music Afficionado who regularly attends concerts with Carol Worthey's Music
fellow Toastmaster and knowledgeable Classical-Music Afficionado who regularly attends concerts with Carol Worthey's Music
"A beautiful song, one of your best works! I
particularly loved the way you completed each melodic phrase
[in the voice] with interweaving of the flute and violin!"
Naomi Conners
,
Toastmaster, who has attended—for twenty years or so—nearly every Southern California concert that has featured Carol Worthey's music
Toastmaster, who has attended—for twenty years or so—nearly every Southern California concert that has featured Carol Worthey's music
The venue deserves praise as well: Eagle Rock Covenant
Church is a lovely, lofty and serene space with perfect
acoustics, a good-sized stage, gently glowing stained-glass
windows, cushioned pews, an excellent piano (like Carol
Worthey's own piano, a George Steck!) and a very nice and
helpful church staff! Carol would like to thank Church
Board Member Leo and his wife for making the performers and
audience feel especially comfortable and welcome.
Here is Carol's Composer Preface to the music score (which
includes the beautiful poem by Alice Pero) to give you more
of an idea of the impact and vision that took hold of the
composer when creating
In My Perfect Landscape.
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JANUARY 2017
Creating A New Work Based on An Ancient and Magical Place!
At the start of the year Pianist
Stanley Wong
treated his beloved mom to a special trip to France all the
way from Hong Kong. His photos of French landmarks are full
of his admiration for the history, culture, food and warm
reception they received in France. Stanley has always been
so creative in arriving at exciting concepts for concerts
that often include participation by young performers and
visual artists — this concert (slated for August 2017)
was no exception (See June 2017 for news about Carol as Art
Judge for the
Young Artists Competition: World Heritage Sites
).
Accordingly (to Carol's delight) Stanley commissioned
Carol Worthey
to compose a special solo piano work evoking French
treasure and World Heritage Site, the island monastery Mont
Saint-Michel, which Carol herself had visited quite a few
years ago — an indelible memory. So during the week
of January 15th, Carol began composing what was to become
her 7-part suite
The Tides of Mont Saint-Michel.
Creating this work was truly a life-changing experience
for Carol — since every time she went to the piano to
compose or improvise, it felt like she was time-traveling
back-back-back to the age of Knights and Monks.
