As a former staff member of Vox Femina Los Angeles, the premier women’s choral group of our fine city, I regularly attend the concerts by this wonderful group. But I know choral music can be a hard sell, especially in this town of a million things to do.
That said, my guests and I had such a wonderful time at the Vox performance tonight, I wanted to share some of the highlights so that anyone interested might decide to catch the (final) performance on Sunday afternoon. If you like music with a great beat, world music, or taiko (drumming), then you should definitely catch this concert. The women of Vox sounded amazing; their voices blended beautifully; sometimes they were the percussion section.
But the highlight of the performance was the Los Angeles based On (pronounced Ohn) Ensemble, a troupe of taiko drummers who bring a unique world fusion mix to the tradition of taiko. With musical experience ranging from centuries-old Kabuki music to jazz, rock and electronica, the On Ensemble features taiko drums in conjunction with turntable, western drum kit, bamboo flute, koto (Japanese zither), and Tuvan overtone singing.
That’s right. Turntable. And throat singing. By some really awesome taiko drummers. (Only in/from L.A.!)
I loved this performance not only because each ensemble was excellent in their individual sets, but because they came together at the end as two L.A.-based groups performing as one.
And you can still catch them downtown at Zipper Hall at the Colburn School of Performing Arts.
Rhythms of Life
Saturday November 3rd, 8:00pm
Sunday November 4th, 4:00pm
Zipper Concert Hall
Colburn School
200 S. Grand Avenue
Los Angeles 90012
$30 reserved seating, $25 general
Tickets available at the door
www.voxfeminala.org
