Tuesday (3/2) on the Los Angeles Times blog Culture Monster, David Ng writes, “A new piece by Esa-Pekka Salonen will have its world premiere in Los Angeles this month as part of the current season of the new-music group Piano Spheres. But the composition arrives on a note of sadness because it was composed in honor of Steven Witser, the principal trombonist of the L.A. Philharmonic who died of a heart attack last April. Salonen’s ‘Pavane in Memory of Steve’ will be performed on March 16 at the Colburn School’s Zipper Concert Hall in downtown L.A. The piece is part of a concert featuring Joanne Pearce Martin, the principal keyboardist for the Philharmonic. Pearce Martin said Salonen’s new composition is a work for solo piano. … Salonen stepped down as music director of the L.A. Philharmonic at the end of the 2008-09 season. Witser joined the orchestra as principal trombonist at the beginning of the 2007-08 season. He had previously served as acting principal trombonist of the Cleveland Orchestra, which he joined in 1989.”
Posted March 4, 2010
