Culture Clash's Richard Montoya Explores Chavez Ravine History with LA Chamber Orchestra

Culture Clash
satirist/comedian Richard Montoya explores the controversial history of Chavez
Ravine at Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s (LACO) WESTSIDE CONNECTIONS chamber
music series on Thursday, April 3, 2014, 7:30 pm, at the Moss Theater in Santa
Monica.  The three-part series, with “LA
Influential” as this year's thematic twist, examines the impact our diverse
city has had on arts and culture through the eyes of distinguished guest artists and
speakers.  LACO Concertmaster and series curator Margaret Batjer has programmed
evenings that showcase the virtuosic artistry of LACO musicians in chamber
masterpieces, reflecting the compelling LA connections and inspirations that
have deeply influenced the series' special guests.

Providing a
thought-provoking musical context for Montoya’s penetrating political and
cultural musings, LACO
artists perform Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 12, “American”;
String Quartet by mercurial Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, and two works
by Revueltas’s contemporary, Carlos Chávez, a cultural force who synthesized
elements of Mexican, Indian and Spanish-Mexican influence in his Trio for Harp,
Flute and Viola; and Sonatina for Violin and Piano.

Montoya, who
calls himself a “Chicano” and draws on real-life experiences, has been addressing
racial issues with humor and satire with the performance troupe Culture Class
since 1984.  Critics proclaim, “His
thought-provoking performances…have
cracked up audiences, and changed some minds” (National
Public Radio) with their “deadly serious message” (The New York Times).  Having lived in Los Angeles for more than two
decades, Montoya says, “There’s
a constant soundtrack, always in my head. 
Music has inspired me and comforted me (because) to be a political
artist is kind of a lonely thing.”

Westside
Connections, now in its sixth season, concludes on May 15 with John Rubinstein,
the prolific
film, stage and television artist who is the son of legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein.  The series opener in February featured Arnold
Steinhart, acclaimed first violin of the illustrious Guarneri Quartet.

Los Angeles Chamber
Orchestra is considered one of the world’s premier chamber orchestras as well
as a leader in presenting wide-ranging repertoire and adventurous
commissions.  Its 2013-14 season, the
Orchestra's 45th, features a compelling mix of beloved masterpieces and
genre-defying premieres from firmly established and notable up-and-coming
composers programmed by Jeffrey Kahane, one of the world’s foremost conductors
and pianists, who marks his 17th season as LACO’s music director. 

Tickets (beginning at $50) are available online at laco.org, by calling LACO at 213
622 7001, or at the venue box office on the night of the
concert, if tickets remain.  Student rush
tickets ($10), based on availability, may be purchased at the box office one
hour before the concert.  Also available
for college students is the $25 “Campus to Concert Hall All Access Pass” – good
for LACO’s three Westside Connections concerts at the Moss Theater, seven
Orchestral Series concerts at either the Alex Theatre or UCLA’s Royce Hall and
Discover Beethoven’s Eroica at Ambassador Auditorium.  Discounted tickets are also available by
phone for groups of 12 or more.  The Moss
Theater at New Roads School is located at 3131 Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica,
CA, 90404.