VOICES

943 East Altadena Drive,Altadena CA 91001

20 November, 2022

Description

An afternoon of glorious vocal singing, featuring the Pasadena Chorale, conducted by Jeffrey Bernstein and accompanied by Shawn Kirschner, with Jazz, Pop, R&B and Gospel Musician Mona Litza. Jeffrey Bernstein Biography:Known for his ability to inspire musicians and audiences alike, Jeffrey Bernstein is one of Southern California's pre-eminent choral conductors. He is the founding Artistic and Executive director of the Pasadena Chorale and artistic director of the Los Angeles Daiku. Trained at Harvard, Yale, and UCLA, Bernstein was Director of Choral Music at Occidental College in Los Angeles for eleven years before founding the Pasadena Chorale. He has led choirs on fourteen tours of four continents and traveled extensively as a guest conductor, leading choirs and orchestras in Europe, Japan, and throughout the United States. Highlights include conducting the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in Life of Mozart, an concert he created for young people, becoming the first American to lead the annual concert of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Naruto, Japan, the city where the work was first heard in Asia, and conducting over 300 performers in an all-Beethoven program in the Walt Disney Concert Hall. ​An active composer Bernstein was awarded second place in the American Prize in Choral Composition for 21st Century 23rd Psalm and honorable mention for The Human Journey. The symphonic poem Dreams of Japan, composed for the Tokushima Symphony, was premiered by that orchestra and subsequently performed in Los Angeles. Fukushima Requiem, composed in response to the Tohoku tsunami disaster has been performed several times in America and Japan. Bernstein has composed and premiered dozens of other concert works including orchestra pieces, choral-orchestral works, solo songs, chamber music, and over thirty works for chorus. Bernstein has released four albums of improvised piano music, PianoJournals, Clear Mind Calm Water, The Desert House, and Pianoasis. He is the songwriter for the PBS Kids show “Let’s Go Luna” starring Judy Greer. ​A committed educator and advocate for children, Bernstein teaches at the Pasadena Waldorf School. He makes his home in Altadena, California. Shawn Kirschner Biography: *Shawn Kirchner *is a composer/arranger/songwriter, singer, and pianist based in Los Angeles whose choral works are performed throughout the world. A member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale since 2001, Kirchner has enjoyed an enduring creative relationship with music director Grant Gershon, culminating in his tenure as the LAMC’s Swan Family Composer-in-Residence from 2012-2015. Kirchner has also collaborated with such leading ensembles as Conspirare, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Lorelei Ensemble, San Diego Master Chorale, Los Robles Master Chorale, Coro Allegro, Atlanta Master Chorale, and Tonality. Kirchner’s creativity is driven by his passion for songwriting, folk/carol traditions, and poetry – but fused with the improvisatory virtuosity of Baroque and bluegrass instrumental traditions. Best-known for his setting of the Kenyan song *Wana Baraka* and for *Heavenly Home: Three American Songs* – praised by the LA Times as “arranged with mastery” – Kirchner has also composed deeply expressive cycles on the poetry of Neruda, Plath, Hopkins, Blake, and the Psalms (*Songs of Ascent*). His original songwriting ranges in style from jazz and gospel to folk and bluegrass, the latter featured on his CD *Meet Me on the Mountain*.Kirchner’s music is published by Boosey & Hawkes, Oxford, Santa Barbara, and his own company at ShawnKirchner.com. MONA LITZA Biography: Natalie Cadet AKA “Mona Litza” began her music career early on at age 4 in the heart of the church. She was a child prodigy discovering her gifts and love for music. She started playing piano by ear and singing publicly with her family of five sisters, billed as the Cadet Sisters. Litza's illustrious musical growth and development began there and would eventually catapult to where she is today, being a songwriter, singer, producer, and musical arrangers' degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Oakwood University in Alabama and then later earn her Master's degree in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory in Massachusetts. Litza has since applied her formal education and training to the professional world of music. Her consummate ability and talent in performance and creativity have opened doors to the unimaginable. In 2016, she recorded and released an album entitled My Journey. In the following years, Litza recorded an additional six singles. Litza has been consumed in various projects that have provided experience and music credits by working with artists such as Juan Gabriel on the album, Los Dios. She also did the musical arrangement and the vocal performance on Lisa Dondlinger’s album Movies & Masters. Other credits to note are Litza’s work as an instructor at Musician’s Institute, and her budding role as composer for TV and Film. ​Litza continuously works to explore opportunities that expand and develop her music experience. Her talent has been recognized and garnered the attention from producers such as Carl Gustafson, of Blinddog Smokin, who's behind the upcoming epic Moja, a Music Saga. Litza thrived in her role as one of the principal songwriters, co-producer, and arranger, demonstrating her skills by collaborating and writing over 50 songs for over 500 musicians worldwide, including many Grammy winners and nominees. The genres represented in her arrangements were diverse which comprise of Negro spirituals, blues, jazz, R&B, funk, and Hip Hop, blue grass, and many more. With a variety of songs being recorded, it was the universal language being represented as a coalition of influences from Africa, Cuba, and England and the USA. Celebrities and artists on this gigantic international project involved Basekou Kouyate, Tata Vega, Take 6, Bobby Rush, Darius and DJ McCrary, Mark Kibble, Pedrito Martinez, Shelea, Weedie Braimah, Safi, Magatte Sow, and many more. Also, worth noting that among thirty-one engineers on this project were New York’s Grammy winning engineer, David Kahne and LA’s Tony Shepperd. Litza continues to be active in the music community as she has established membership with Alliance for Women Film Composers (AWFC) in L.A. Her ability to compose original lyrics and music makes Litza a talent with the options to be the creative singer, songwriter, and arranger as she develops a business model for success. Natalie Litza Cadet is destined for greatness. ​Cadét holds a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Oakwood University and a Master’s degree in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory of Music. Cadét's vocal artistry and songwriting skills transitioned from Gospel Christian into jazz and pop compositions with a hint of R&B. Cadét is a soprano, and her vocal range spans three octaves. Cadét's vocal dexterity is displayed in the 5 to 6-part background vocals that she performs.