Chef Becky Brown, Experience Designer Mercedes Curran, and Salastina team up once more for the most opulent, decadent, nostalgic, immersive, and beautiful holiday event ever. The Da Camera Society again opens its doors to the stunning Doheny Mansion for the occasion.

Built in 1899, the Doheny Mansion’s Pompeian Room is replete with actual gilded details, colored marble floors, and a golden, ombre glass dome that is simply resplendent at midday. And naturally, it’ll be appropriately decked out for Christmas. Enjoy Becky’s 5-course gourmet holiday brunch while losing yourself in music composed when the venue was built.

The Yuletide Carolers musically greet you in Victorian garb. Come in costume yourself, if you wish!

NOTE: Ticket sales close FRIDAY AT NOON. Tickets are non-refundable. At checkout, you may choose either the standard or vegan menu. Substitutions politely declined.

Artists:
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Resident Violinists
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist Linnea Powell, Guest Violist Cristina Montes Mateo, Guest Harpist

Menu: First course
Standard: Smoked trout rillettes on brioche, celery leaf salad
Miso Deviled eggs with cured ikaru
Vegan: Caramelized Marsala mushrooms, white bean puree, garlic confit

Second course Standard: Red oak salad, citrus vinaigrette, oro blanco, aged Gouda 
Vegan: Red oak salad, citrus vinaigrette, oro blanco

Third course Standard: Scottish salmon, McGrath farms beet puree, brown butter, satsuma emulsion  Vegan: roasted beet medley, satsuma emulsion, cashew cheese, walnuts 

Fourth course:  Standard: New Zealand lamb chops, celery root, medjool date chutney, toasted pepitas, mint  Vegan: seared king oyster mushrooms, celery root puree, medjool date chutney, pepitas, fried sage 

Fifth course:  Standard: Pumpkin cheesecake, ginger cranberry jam, ginger snap crumble, chantilly cream
Vegan:  Ginger cranberry sorbet with olive oil 

Salastina proudly presents this performance in partnership with The Da Camera Society.

Begin your holiday season joyfully with a unique, bespoke wine and music experience supporting Salastina’s Vital Sounds Program.

Our colleague and friend Natalie Leggett, a beautiful violinist and wine expert, connects a sense of Home in music to that of terroir in wine. Each of our four wine and music pairings has a mutually-amplifying, beautiful story to savor. The musical program includes selections from Eric Whitacre's You Feel Like Home: Suite from The Sacred Veil, which Salastina premiered and recorded earlier this year, as well as “Going Home” From Antonin Dvorak’s beloved New World Symphony. Small plates will also be provided.

The Cellar in Old Town Pasadena is the perfect cozy, intimate spot to enjoy these inspired wine and music pairings.

All donations received through this event support Salastina's Vital Sounds Program. Vital Sounds provides free, virtual, one-on-one bedside concerts to critically ill patients at Huntington Health and UCLA Medical Center five days a week.

All proceeds benefit Salastina's Vital Sounds Program. Ticket costs are tax-deductible, less $246 per attendee, as allowed by law. If you attend with someone else, you’ll both qualify for a year of Digital Member Benefits.

Salastina thanks Board Member Dr. Nirav Kamdar for generously underwriting this event.

A few months ago, Salastina’s Resident Cellist Yoshika Masuda and Resident Pianist HyeJin Kim released Hidden Flame on Avie Records. The album contains music by Amy Beach, Clara Schumann, Rita Strohl, Nadia Boulanger, Maria Theresia Paradis, and a world-premiere by Reena Esmail. Yoshi described the album's purpose: “musicians and music lovers often feel confident that great works must already be a part of the standard repertoire. However, this album proves that there are hidden gems that deserve more recognition out there!" For this Happy Hour, audiences will be treated to Yoshi and HyeJin performing select works featured on the album live. Throughout, Co-Artistic Director Maia Jasper White hosts a conversation between Yoshi, HyeJin, and the audience about repertoire selection and the recording process as a whole.

Mimosa and pastry reception with the artists to follow.

Program:
Frédéric Chopin: Waltz in A minor (West Coast Premiere) Amy Beach: Romance Op. 23
Reena Esmail: one word makes a world
Rita Strohl: Great Dramatic Sonata, "Titus et Bérénice"

Artists:
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
HyeJin Kim, Resident Pianist

10 AM: Early Access for Members at the Supporter + Level

Inspired by a documentary, Salastina’s Resident Flutist Benjamin Smolen sought out and befriended Walter Arlen — an Austrian-born, gay Jewish composer who fled the Nazis, ultimately spending most of his life and career in Southern California.

Sadly, Ben did not have the chance to perform Walter’s music before the composer passed away last September at age 103.

Ben curates this posthumous celebration of the works and friendships of a man who continues to inspire him. 

Mimosa and pastry reception with the artists to follow.

Program:
Walter Arlen: Monotypes
Roy Harris: American Ballads
Hector Villa Lobos: Jet Whistle
Carlos Chavez: Lento from String Quartet No. 3
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Ein Quartett-Satz on the Name of Walter Arlen
Walter Arlen: Sonnett for Violin and Piano

Artists:
Benjamin Smolen, Resident Flutist
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Resident Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
HyeJin Kim, Resident Pianist

10 AM: Early Access for Members at the Supporter + Level

Join us for our virtual event for conversation with and world premieres from this year’s Sounds Promising cohort. This year’s young composers were based in New Zealand, Prague, Indiana, London, and both US Coasts. Featuring premieres by Mathis Saunier, Sydney Wang, Shane Scott Cook, Luca Pasquini, and Jackson A. Waters.

Read more about our Sounds Promising cohort here.

Join us for our virtual event for conversation with and world premieres from this year’s Sounds Promising cohort. This year’s young composers were based in New Zealand, Prague, Indiana, London, and both US Coasts. Featuring premieres by Yuxuan Lin, Benjamin Beckman, Kirsten Strom, Chloe Liuyan Liu, and Austin Ali.

Read more about our Sounds Promising cohort here.

Few musicians possess the cojones and humility to perform music blind. And by “blind,” we do NOT mean sightreading; the musicians have practiced and rehearsed!

Rather, we mean the musicians don’t know what they’re playing. Not the composer, the piece title, when and where it was written… nada.

Sounds Mysterious is a musical scavenger hunt in which the musicians and audience solve those mysteries together.

This time, all of Salastina’s Resident Artists have chosen a short piece to stump everyone else in the ensemble.

The music our Resident Artists have chosen is readily accessible, consummately listenable, and delightfully unexpected. We can't be more specific about the repertoire. But we can promise:

• laughter, collegiality, and plenty of razzing amongst the musicians

• ample opportunities to hear audience members’ intuitions and insights -- and share your own

• the joy of musical discovery

Mimosa and pastry reception with the artists to follow.

Artists:
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Resident Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
HyeJin Kim, Resident Pianist
Benjamin Smolen, Resident Flutist
Brian Lauritzen, Resident Host

Program:
Mystery Work for Flute, Violin, and Piano, chosen by Benjamin Smolen (Nino Rota Trio - I. Allegro non troppo)
Mystery Work for Flute, Violin, and Piano, chosen by HyeJin Kim (Mel Bonis Suite en trio, Op. 59 II. Pastorale)
Mystery Work for Violin and Viola, chosen by Brian Lauritzen (Courtney Bryan And What I Mean is This)
Mystery Work for Violin and Piano, chosen by Yoshika Masuda (Rita Strohl, Solitude)
Mystery Work for Cello and Piano, chosen by Maia Jasper White (Leone Sinigaglia 2 Stücke, Op. 16: II. Humoreske)
Mystery Work for Piano Trio, chosen by Meredith Crawford (Ludwig Philipp Schawenka Piano Trio No. 1 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 100: II. Allegro)
Mystery Work for Piano Quintet, chosen by Kevin Kumar (Jean Cras Piano Quintet: II. Calme et paisible)

Play with the pros in Co-Artistic Director Maia Jasper White’s living room.

Salastina’s roster of Resident Artists will play through any piece of your choosing with you, allowing for instrumentation. (Our forces: string quartet, piano, and flute.) Simply let us know what you’d like to play no later than three days before the event to give us time to locate the sheet music.

This event is free for Members. Non-members must become Members for the year to participate. Membership begins at $20/month and is fully tax-deductible.

The Music of the Spheres has never tasted so good.

Travel through the cosmos with space-themed musical selections in the otherworldly, intimate Revery LA. Enjoy Master Chef-alum Becky Brown's gourmet 4-course meal between pieces.

Stellar is the only way to describe the company we’ll keep at this event. Meet three astronomers and music lovers who’ll share “secrets of the universe” as well as the millenia-old kinship between music and astronomy.

NASA astronomer Steve Bryson, a man tasked with discovering how many Earth-like planets there are in the universe, performs the theremin alongside Salastina’s string quartet. He’ll also share a little about his scientific work. Two lovely French employees of LIGO let us in on their groundbreaking scientific work listening to the actual sounds of the universe to draw meaningful insights about its origins. (NBD: it won the Nobel Prize in 2017.)

Throughout the evening, try creating otherwordly sounds and alien voices at our “Theremin Petting Zoo.”

Theme Edit’s Mercedes Curran provides experience design for this immersive, fascinating, delicious event unlike any other in the universe.

Please note that you may choose either the complete vegan or regular menu. We cannot accommodate dish-by-dish substitutions or changes to your menu selection on-site. No further changes can be made after selecting your preferred menu at the time of ticket purchase. No other dietary restrictions or substitutions can be accommodated.

Artists:
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
Linnea Powell, Guest Violist
Steve Bryson, Guest Theremin Player and Speaker
Arnaud Pele and Marie Kasprczak, Guest Speakers
Becky Brown, Chef
Mercedes Curran, Experience Designer

Program:
Terry Riley: Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector
Carolina Eyck: Strange Birds and Ascent Descent
Chris Westlake: Selections from Star Trek: Lower Decks 
Hans Zimmer: Selections from Interstellar
John Williams: Selections from Star Wars

MENU
Welcome drink: Bantha Punch
Spirulina, coconut milk, pineapple, rum

First course: Beachside on an Alien World
Tai snapper crudo cured in kombu with shiso crema, wasabi flying fish roe, tapioca crisp
Vegan option: Shiso salad, pickled carrots, and daikon, thai basil, tapioca crisp

Second course: Extraterrestrial beet terrine
Amaranth, purple haze goat cheese, walnuts, pomegranate molasses
Vegan option: Amaranth, walnuts, pomegranate molasses

Third course: The infinity of space
Braised beef short rib, black forbidden rice, black sesame, black garlic
Vegan option: Braised King oyster mushroom, black forbidden rice, black sesame, black garlic

Fourth course: Nebula
Luminescent chocolate cake, white chocolate glaze, chocolate caramel mousse
Vegan option: “Celestial forms” chocolate sorbet

Ticket sales close Thursday, April 25th

Sounds Mysterious is a game in which Brian assigns us a piece of music that none of us recognize. He even redacts the composer’s name. We rehearse it, perform it, and attempt to guess the composer along with you. The delight of surprise and interactive “whodunnit” guessing game make for an engaging spin on the live concert experience.

Artists:
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
HyeJin Kim, Resident Pianist
Brian Lauritzen, Resident Host

Salastina Members may watch the livestream for free in our Members-Only Lounge.

Slow your heartbeat and set it aflutter with a selection of soul-soothing and soul-stirring Romantic, pop, classical, and movie score favorites. The intimate, vibe-y, chandelier-lit venue in the heart of Hollywood puts you up close to the performers: a string quartet, pianist, and flutist who've recorded your favorite film soundtracks. Enjoy complimentary wine and chocolate-covered strawberries upon arrival, and mingle with the artists after the show.

Artists:
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
HyeJin Kim, Resident Pianist
Ben Smolen, Resident Flutist


Please note tickets need to be purchased in advance; there are no door sales or livestream for this concert.

$20 Reserve parking is available for purchase below.

A contemplative Happy Hour exploring the porous boundary between mortality and the beyond. Musical selections include the slow movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet Opus 132 and the world-premiere instrumental-only chamber arrangement of Eric Whitacre’s profoundly moving choral work, The Sacred Veil. The setting – a marble sanctuary suffused with the rainbow light of hundreds of stained glass windows – sets the scene. Reception with the artists to follow. 

Program:
Juhi Bansal: Cathedral of Light
Olivier Messiaen: Louange from The Quartet for the End of Time
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 132, III "Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der Lydischen Tonart," Molto adagio – Andante
Eric Whitacre: You Feel Like Home: Suite from The Sacred Veil for Piano Quintet

Artists:
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist
HyeJin Kim, Resident Pianist
Eric Whitacre, Composer

Salastina Members may watch the livestream for free in our Members-Only Lounge.

Join us for a Virtual Watch Party of the newly-released film Maestro starring Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein. A free Zoom roundtable discussion immediately follows.

The film is 2 hours and 9 minutes long; we will begin our roundtable discussion on Zoom at 8:15.

How to watch:

• stream on Netflix (requires your own subscription)

You may either:

• Join us in our Zoom room at 6 PM PT, hit “play” on the film on your own device at the same time as everyone else, and use Zoom’s chat box as we watch the film together

• OR watch the film on your own ahead of time, joining us on Zoom for the Roundtable Discussion only at 8:15 PM PT

If you haven't received a Zoom room link, please click the registration link in your ticket email receipt.

Eat, drink, and dance the night away in support of Salastina's Vital Sounds Program, an initiative that provides the healing power of music to those who need it most.

Through Vital Sounds, Salastina provides free, one-on-one, virtual bedside concerts to patients in UCLA's intensive care unit. Vital Sounds concerts take place every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday — rain or shine, including holidays. Since May 2020, we've provided over 51,000 minutes of music to over 2,500 patients and their caregivers.

Salastina musicians are joined by special guests Joachim Horsley and Friends. For an idea of what to expect musically -- and what you'll be dancing to: imagine the answer to the question, "what if Beethoven lived in 20th century Havana?"

Enjoy La Puglia’s passed hors’d’oeuvres, buffet dinner (including vegetarian options), dessert, and wine and cocktails throughout.

Tickets are $250 per person. All proceeds benefit Salastina’s Vital Sounds Program. Ticket sales close December 15.

Salastina thanks Dr. Nirav Kamdar for underwriting the dinner, venue rental, and concert, and Philip and Kristan Swan for underwriting the event bar.

Sunday, December 3, 2023 @ 11 AM
Doheny Mansion at Mount Saint Mary’s University

As the holiday season approaches, immerse yourself in a late-19th-century musical, culinary, and generally Christmas-y explosion.

Enjoy a 5-course gourmet holiday brunch prepared by Master Chef alum Becky Brown. Travel back in time in the stunning period venue; built in 1899, the Doheny Mansion’s Pompeian Room is replete with actual gilded details, colored marble floors, and a golden, ombre glass dome that is simply resplendent at mid-day. And naturally, it’ll be appropriately decked out for Christmas.

The concert features The Yuletide Carolers, a festive a capella group dressed in the fashion of the time, as well as music composed during the turn of the last century.

Come in costume, if you wish. (We sure will!)

Salastina proudly presents this performance in partnership with The Da Camera Society in celebration of its 50th Anniversary Season.

NOTE: Tickets are non-refundable. At checkout, you may choose either the full regular or full vegan menu. Substitutions politely declined.

Artists:
Kevin Kumar, Co-Artistic Director and Violinist
Tereza Stanislav, Guest Violinist
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Charlie Tyler, Guest Cellist
Benjamin Smolen, Resident Flutist
Cristina Montes Mateo, Guest Harpist
The Yuletide Carolers

Musical and culinary menu:

Welcome
Welcome Carols: The Yuletide Carolers
Welcome cocktail: Cranberry orange mimosa with rosemary and sparkling wine 

First course
Harry & Rupert Gregson-Williams, arr. by James McMillen: The Gilded Age Medley
Food: Salmon tartine with sauce gribiche, mushroom blinis with shallot confit, tea sandwiches 
Vegan option: Mushroom blinis with shallot confit, tea sandwiches

Second course
Gabriel Fauré: Après un Reve
Food: Butternut squash “chowder,” spiced pepitas, herbs (gluten-free)
Vegan option: same as above

Third course 
Claude Debussy: Danse sacrée et danse profane
Food: Steelhead trout with lobster sauce américaine, asparagus
Vegan option: Cauliflower steak, zhoug, tahini garlic sauce, asparagus (gluten-free)

Fourth course
Max Bruch: Kol Nidrei
Food: Leg of lamb roulade, fried cumin and coriander, mint chutney, sunchokes (gluten-free)
Vegan option: Roasted sunchokes & maitake mushrooms, fried cumin and coriander, mint chutney, sunchoke purée (gluten-free)

Fifth course
Johann Strauss II: Wine, Women, and Song
Food: Eton mess with “exotic fruits,” lime curd, Chantilly cream 
Vegan option: “Exotic fruits” with sorbet (gluten-free)

*Ticket sales close Friday, December 1st at 12PM

Join us for our rescheduled Part 2 of our conversation with and world premieres from this year’s Sounds Promising cohort. The young composers featured in this Happy Hour: Mieke Doezama (Hawaii), William Jae (Rochester, NY), Zygmund de Somogyi (London, UK), Isaac Uria de Silva (Ecuador), and Aaron Israel Levin (New Haven, CT). Read more about our Sounds Promising cohort here.

Members Early-Access at 1:30 PM

Find the world premieres of our Sounds Promising composers below.

Join us for our rescheduled event in our virtual room for conversation with and world premieres from this year’s Sounds Promising cohort. The young composers featured in this Happy Hour: Riccardo Perugini (Florence, Italy), Jazreel Low (Singapore), Jonah Cohen (New York City), Celina Kintscher (Los Angeles), and Nicholas Ma (Montreal).

Read more about our Sounds Promising cohort here, and see the playlist of their world premieres below.

Members Early-Access at 1:30 PM

Find our Sounds Promising composers world premieres below.

Salastina Member’s are invited to be a fly of the wall for our 2023 Sounds Promising Composer Workshops.

Members can rewatch this workshop in the Members Lounge.

Salastina Member’s are invited to be a fly of the wall for our 2023 Sounds Promising Composer Workshops.

Members can rewatch this workshop in the Members Lounge.

Salastina Member’s are invited to be a fly of the wall for our 2023 Sounds Promising Composer Workshops.

Members can rewatch this workshop in the Members Lounge.

Salastina Member’s are invited to be a fly of the wall for our 2023 Sounds Promising Composer Workshops.

Members can rewatch this workshop in the Members Lounge.

Salastina Member’s are invited to be a fly of the wall for our 2023 Sounds Promising Composer Workshops.

Please join via the Zoom link in the Member’s Lounge.

Who is the Stradivarius of our time? Mario Miralles is one answer. His instruments are coveted by string players worldwide; you’ve heard them on all the world’s major stages. And his waiting list is miles long.

A wildly generous anonymous donor commissioned Mario to build a violin, viola, and cello for Salastina’s Resident Artists’ use. This is a gift beyond any of our wildest dreams, and the process has been riveting.

Yoshi’s cello is already finished; if you’ve been to any of our concerts this season, you’ve heard it! By the time of this event, Maia’s violin will be finished, and Meredith’s viola will be gestating. (If you’re wondering about Kevin: he already owns one, having purchased it several years ago.)

This event is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to hear about the different stages of a luthier’s process. The musicians for whom he’s building the instruments will speak to what the process is like from their perspective, and what they’re looking for in an instrument. Mario, a notoriously private figure, can then address how he translates those abstract artistic wishes into physical reality. And of course… you’ll hear them!

Join us for a stunning and colorful preview of our collaboration with Leela Dance Collective, a Hindustani Classical Dance troupe.

For this world premiere piece of choreography, Leela takes its inspiration from Derrick Skye's American Mirror, which weaves musical traditions from around the world into an multi-layered, opulent musical languages all its own.

The stunning venue, built in 1899, reflects this simpatico synergy of styles -- uniting Romantic Revival, Gothic, Chateauesqe, Moorish, and California Mission styles with light, color, and sheer luxury.

And as with all of our Happy Hours this season: enjoy music, mingling, mimosas, and Indian munchies. You won’t be sari you came!

Salastina Members may watch live for free in our Members-Only Lounge. Non-Members may purchase livestream tickets below. In-person tickets are currently SOLD OUT. Click below to join the waitlist.

Program:
Derrick Skye: American Mirror

Artists:
Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper White, Co-Artistic Directors and Violinists
Meredith Crawford, Resident Violist
Yoshika Masuda, Resident Cellist

Join us for a complete performance of Derrick Skye’s As I Heard When I Was Young before we record it in the studio. Derrick will be there to share his inspiration for the piece — and his warm and charismatic personality.

As with all of our Happy Hours this season: enjoy music, mingling, mimosas, and munchies.

Salastina Members may watch live for free in our Members-Only Lounge. Non-Members may purchase tickets below.

24/7 family time got you missing Zoom yet? If so, we're here to provide you with the perfect excuse to escape into cyberspace.

Cozy up with us from the comfort of your couch for a watch party and discussion of the Oscar-bait film TÁR.

TÁR is a 2022 psychological drama starring Cate Blanchett as Lydia Tár, a renowned composer-conductor. The subject of the film: her life and downfall.

Our musicians have LOTS of thoughts on how accurately (or not) the film portrayed both the psychology of classical musicians and classical music culture in general. This is an opportunity to share your own thoughts -- and ask us anything. Examples:

• "are all conductors that crazy?"

• "would something like that really ever happen at Juilliard, or in any educational setting?"

• "is that how artists 'get the gig' in the real world?"

• "how has #metoo played out, and how does it continue to play out, in the field of classical music?"

We are prepared to share war stories! 

Join us for the chat having seen the film -- or not, if you don't mind big-time spoilers. If you haven't seen it yet, you're welcome to either watch it ahead of time on your own OR join our Amazon Prime Watch Party.

Here is a link that includes all the ways you can watch the film ahead of time. It is currently $19.99 to watch on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

We invite Amazon Prime members to watch in real-time together by joining our Amazon Prime watch party. Here's how:

• First,  purchase the film on Amazon Prime for $19.99; we recommend doing this ahead of time

• To join the watch party, you must be logged in to your Amazon Prime account

• The watch party will begin at 6 PM PT

• If you'd like to join the watch party from your laptop, simply click here

• If  you'd like to watch on your TV, you can watch in either the Prime Video App or Firestick. Click "My Stuff," scroll down to "Watch Party" (the last option available), and enter the code 25115516

There is no cost to join us for the chat on Zoom at 8:30 PM PT.