Sisters of the Garden is an exploration of the bonds between two pairs of sisters from remarkable musical families: Fanny & Rebekka Mendelssohn, and Nadia & Lili Boulanger. Using historical documents, letters, memoirs and personal recollections, words and music are woven together to create a portrait of the people who created some of our most beloved music. Sisters of the Garden shows us the four sisters at different times in their lives – Fanny at age 41 in Berlin; Lili at age 24 in Paris; Rebekka at age 36 in Berlin; and, Nadia at age 92 in Paris. The Boulangers’ and Mendelssohns’ lives never intersected— they were separated by time and place. The connective thread is neither Berlin nor Paris, but Rome’s Villa Medici, and the strongest ties are the gorgeous works for piano, voice and cello by Fanny, Lili and Nadia.

Harry Clark wrote this piece, a true tour de force for an actress in 2005. It was created for the late Lynn Redgrave who gave the world performance and subsequently toured Connecticut with the work.

Actor to be announced
Sisters Boulanger & Mendelssohn their stories and their music

Astor Piazzolla is best known for being the father and inventor of Tango Nuevo – a revolutionary new genre in which jazz rhythms and classical music were infused into tango. Tango Nuevo, at first, was strongly rejected in his home country Argentina, but eventually was appreciated and celebrated for the genius it was throughout the world. For more on Piazzolla click here.

Making his debut  in Tucson is the legendary Coco Trivisonno.          

As a child in his native Rosario – Argentina, Coco studied the Bandoneón, first with his father and then with the prestigious maestro Julio Barboza, with whom he developed a very expressive strength, which allowed him to form good orchestral groups. Coco finished his musical studies at Cuyo National University, complementing this education by learning to play the oboe.

Coco has accompanied and recorded with notable artists such as Herb Alpert, Stanley Clark, Placido Domingo, Alberto Cortez, Roberto Carlo, Armando Manzanero, Maurice Gainen, Huecco, Guillermo Bodarampe, Jacopierce, Miguel Mateos, Ana Gazzola, Carlos Cuevas, Valeria Linch, and many others.

Additional Performances: Friday, February 15 at 7:30 and Saturday, February 16 at 7:30
World premiere in partnership with the Tucson Desert Song Festival & Ballet Tucson

Astor Piazzolla is best known for being the father and inventor of Tango Nuevo – a revolutionary new genre in which jazz rhythms and classical music were infused into tango. Tango Nuevo, at first, was strongly rejected in his home country Argentina, but eventually was appreciated and celebrated for the genius it was throughout the world. For more on Piazzolla click here.

Making his debut  in Tucson is the legendary Coco Trivisonno.          

As a child in his native Rosario – Argentina, Coco studied the Bandoneón, first with his father and then with the prestigious maestro Julio Barboza, with whom he developed a very expressive strength, which allowed him to form good orchestral groups. Coco finished his musical studies at Cuyo National University, complementing this education by learning to play the oboe.

Coco has accompanied and recorded with notable artists such as Herb Alpert, Stanley Clark, Placido Domingo, Alberto Cortez, Roberto Carlo, Armando Manzanero, Maurice Gainen, Huecco, Guillermo Bodarampe, Jacopierce, Miguel Mateos, Ana Gazzola, Carlos Cuevas, Valeria Linch, and many others.

Additional Performances: Friday, February 15 at 7:30 and Sunday, February 17 at 1:00 & 5:00 PM
World premiere, in partnership with the Tucson Desert Song Festival & Ballet Tucson

Astor Piazzolla is best known for being the father and inventor of Tango Nuevo – a revolutionary new genre in which jazz rhythms and classical music were infused into tango. Tango Nuevo, at first, was strongly rejected in his home country Argentina, but eventually was appreciated and celebrated for the genius it was throughout the world. For more on Piazzolla click here.

Making his debut in Tucson is the legendary Coco Trivisonno.

As a child in his native Rosario – Argentina, Coco studied the Bandoneón, first with his father and then with the prestigious maestro Julio Barboza, with whom he developed a very expressive strength, which allowed him to form good orchestral groups. Coco finished his musical studies at Cuyo National University, complementing this education by learning to play  the oboe.

Coco has accompanied and recorded with notable artists such as Herb Alpert, Stanley Clark, Placido Domingo, Alberto Cortez, Roberto Carlo, Armando Manzanero, Maurice Gainen, Huecco, Guillermo Bodarampe, Jacopierce, Miguel Mateos, Ana Gazzola, Carlos Cuevas, Valeria Linch, and many others.

Additional Performances: Saturday, February 16 at 7:30 and Sunday, February 17 at 1:00 & 5:00 PM

World premiere, in partnership with the Tucson Desert Song Festival & Ballet Tucson

“It is impossible to describe the impression your work made on me, for several days I was as one in a delirium from which I could not emerge.”

~ Nadejda von Meck to Chaikovski

“Without exaggeration I can say that you saved me, that I would surely have gone mad and perished had you not come forward with your friendship and sympathy.”

~ Chaikovski to Nadejda von Meck

Agreeing never to meet in-person, Chaikovski and his patron, Nadejda von Meck, exchanged over 1,200 letters between 1877 and 1890.  In musical history’s most extraordinary correspondence the pair reveal their love of art, love of family, and in a tragic conclusion, love of one another.

Appearing for the first time on Rhythms of LIFE series is Richard Thomas. He was seven when he made his first Broadway appearance in Sunrise at Campobello (1958). The wide-eyed, mole-cheeked, sensitive-looking Thomas soon found himself very much in demand for television roles. He was seen in the distinguished company of Julie Harris,Christopher Plummer and Hume Cronyn in a 1959 TV presentation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, worked as a regular on the daytime soap operas As the World Turns and Flame in the Wind, and co-starred with Today Show announcer Jack Lescoulie in the captivating 1961 Sunday-afternoon “edutainment” series 1-2-3 Go. While attending Columbia University, Thomas made his theatrical-film debut in Downhill Racer, then settled into a series of unpleasant, psychologically disturbed characters in films like You’ll Like My Mother (1971) and such TV series as Bracken’s World. In 1971, Thomas was cast as John-Boy Walton in the Earl Hamner-scripted TV movie The Homecoming. Though there would be a number of cast changes before The Homecoming metamorphosed into the weekly series The Waltons in 1972, Thomas was retained as John-Boy, earning a 1973 Emmy for his performance and remaining in the role until only a few months before the series’ cancellation in 1981. During the Waltons years, Thomas starred in several well-mounted TV movies, including the 1979 remake of All Quiet on the Western Front. Ever seeking opportunities to expand his range, Thomas has sunk his teeth into such roles as the self-destructive title character in Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story (1983) and the amusingly sanctimonious Rev. Bobby Joe in the satirical Glory! Glory!. In 1980, Thomas made his first Broadway appearance in over two decades as the paralyzed protagonist of Whose Life is It Anyway. Working through his own Melpomene Productions, Thomas has continued seeking out creative challenges into the 1990s. Richard Thomas has also served as national chairman of the Better Hearing Institute.  We are thrilled to have him grace the stage at the Berger.

Making her third appearance with Chamber Music PLUS is four-time Best Actress Emmy Award winner Michael Learned.  Ms. Learned and Mr Thomas will be working together for the first time since the Waltons.

Michael Learned was born on April 9, 1939 in Washington, D.C. The oldest of six daughters of a U.S. State Department employee, she was raised on her family’s farm in Connecticut. The family moved to Austria when she was age 11, and it was while attending boarding school in England that she fell in love with the theater and decided to become an actress.

Learned married Oscar winner Robert Donat’s nephew Peter Donat, a Canadian citizen, when she was 17 years old, a marriage that lasted 17 years and produced three sons. She learned her craft while acting for the Shakespeare Festivals in both Canada and the U.S. while simultaneously raising a family. She and her husband Peter acted together with San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in the early 1970s. Her breakthrough came when she was appearing in an ACT production of Noel Coward’s “Private Lives”, where she was spotted by producer Lee Rich, who cast her as Olivia Walton in his new television series about a Depression era family, “The Waltons” (1971).

Learned won three Emmy Awards playing the role, and another Emmy for her next foray into series TV, “Nurse” (1981). She escaped typecasting as Olivia Walton (although she re-prised the role that made her famous in a 1995 TV-movie reunion) while appearing on numerous shows and TV movies, including top-drawer, made-for-TV specials such as the 1986 adaptation of Arthur Miller’s “American Playhouse: All My Sons (1987) with co-star James Whitmore.

All music by Chaikovski

SPECIAL EVENT: Bob Clendenin stars in John Cage @ The Cabaret

Celebrating Cage’s 100th birthday

“If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all.” –John Cage.

“The first question I ask myself when something doesn’t seem to be beautiful is why do I think it’s not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.” –John Cage.

“Which is more musical: a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?” –John Cage

Interview with John Cage

This marks the third appearance  for Bob Clendenin with Chamber Music PLUS. Bob emigrated to Australia with his parents in the early 70′s but returned to the United States to attend Cornell University where he barely earned a B.Sc. in Engineering in 1986. Knowing the world would be safer if he was not designing bridges, Bob went on to Penn State where he received an MFA in acting. After several years in regional theatre he came to Los Angeles in 1992.

The fish didn’t bite immediately and Bob survived with one job teaching an SAT prep class and another job that involved wearing a hairnet. This went on far too long, but after a long series of demeaning auditions for horrible projects, Bob booked a demeaning role in a horrible project and his career was off and running. Since then he has done over seventy TV guest appearances, a dozen studio films, and numerous commercials. Being a character actor often leads to interesting character names. Bob’s favorites: Slow Roger, Mr. Giggles, Plumber Dave, Louis the Stalker, Doofus, and most recently Bob the Demon.”

Bob is proud of many things. He’s proud of his flourishing vegetable garden, he’s proud of his portrayal of the semi-retarded shop teacher on “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper”, and he is most proud to be a co-founder of Circle X Theatre Company. Although they don’t let him act much anymore, he still sits on their Board of Directors and plays 1st Base for their championship softball team.

He lives in Burbank with his wife, two sons, and a pug named “Helmut”.

SPECIAL EVENT: Bob Clendenin stars in John Cage @ The Cabaret          

Celebrating Cage’s 100th Birthday

“If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all.” –John Cage.

“The first question I ask myself when something doesn’t seem to be beautiful is why do I think it’s not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.” –

John Cage.

“Which is more musical: a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?” –John Cage

Interview with John Cage

This marks the third appearance  for Bob Clendnin with Chamber Music PLUS. Bob emigrated to Australia with his parents in the early 70′s but returned to the United States to attend Cornell University where he barely earned a B.Sc. in Engineering in 1986. Knowing the world would be safer if he was not designing bridges, Bob went on to Penn State where he received an MFA in acting. After several years in regional theatre he came to Los Angeles in 1992.

The fish didn’t bite immediately and Bob survived with one job teaching an SAT prep class and another job that involved wearing a hairnet. This went on far too long, but after a long series of demeaning auditions for horrible projects, Bob booked a demeaning role in a horrible project and his career was off and running. Since then he has done over seventy TV guest appearances, a dozen studio films, and numerous commercials. Being a character actor often leads to interesting character names. Bob’s favorites: Slow Roger, Mr. Giggles, Plumber Dave, Louis the Stalker, Doofus, and most recently Bob the Demon.”

Bob is proud of many things. He’s proud of his flourishing vegetable garden, he’s proud of his portrayal of the semi-retarded shop teacher on “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper”, and he is most proud to be a co-founder of Circle X Theatre Company. Although they don’t let him act much anymore, he still sits on their Board of Directors and plays 1st Base for their championship softball team.

He lives in Burbank with his wife, two sons, and a pug named “Helmut”.

SPECIAL EVENT: Bob Clendenin stars in John Cage @ The Cabaret

Celebrating Cage’s 100th Birthday

“If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all.” –John Cage.

“The first question I ask myself when something doesn’t seem to be beautiful is why do I think it’s not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.” –

John Cage.

“Which is more musical: a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?” –John Cage

Interview with John Cage

This marks the third appearance  for Bob Clendnin with Chamber Music PLUS. Bob emigrated to Australia with his parents in the early 70′s but returned to the United States to attend Cornell University where he barely earned a B.Sc. in Engineering in 1986. Knowing the world would be safer if he was not designing bridges, Bob went on to Penn State where he received an MFA in acting. After several years in regional theatre he came to Los Angeles in 1992.

The fish didn’t bite immediately and Bob survived with one job teaching an SAT prep class and another job that involved wearing a hairnet. This went on far too long, but after a long series of demeaning auditions for horrible projects, Bob booked a demeaning role in a horrible project and his career was off and running. Since then he has done over seventy TV guest appearances, a dozen studio films, and numerous commercials. Being a character actor often leads to interesting character names. Bob’s favorites: Slow Roger, Mr. Giggles, Plumber Dave, Louis the Stalker, Doofus, and most recently Bob the Demon.”

Bob is proud of many things. He’s proud of his flourishing vegetable garden, he’s proud of his portrayal of the semi-retarded shop teacher on “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper”, and he is most proud to be a co-founder of Circle X Theatre Company. Although they don’t let him act much anymore, he still sits on their Board of Directors and plays 1st Base for their championship softball team.

He lives in Burbank with his wife, two sons, and a pug named “Helmut”.

“The trouble with music appreciation in general is that people are taught to have too much respect for music they should be taught to love instead.”  Igor Stravinsky

Harry and Sanda will open the 2012-13 Season with some of their favorite works. They are known to be  bold adapters of great music for their respective instruments and the program will include an abundant number of transcriptions- some original by the composers, and some, by Harry and Sanda. We intend to feast on Couperin, Dvorak, Schubert, Piazzolla and a surprise or two!

~Sergei Rachmaninoff

The last great romantic composer left his native Russia in 1917 never to return. Rachmaninoff Remembered reveals the composer, the pianist, the husband, the father, his great triumphs tinged with the nostalgia for his never forgotten muse—his native soil.