The Valley Symphony Orchestra in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

is a community college symphonic

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

that is associated with

Los Angeles Valley College Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) is a public community college in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Los Angeles Community College District. The college is adjacent to Grant High School in the neighborhood of Valley Glen. Often call ...

(LAVC). The current music director of the orchestra is Michael H. Arshagouni, who assumed the helm of the orchestra for the 2009/10 season. Dr. Arshagouni is also the current chair of the LAVC Department of Music. The orchestra was founded in 1992 by Robert Chauls, a professor at LAVC to be a community orchestra of professionals and students. The regular performance venue is the Main stage Theatre at LAVC. Los Angeles Philharmonic cellist Stephen Custer and violinist Lawrence Sonderling have been regular guest performers. Lynn Angebranndt of the Kadima String Quartet is the principal cellist. The past

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

was Rochelle Abramson, a first

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. On October 13, 2007, guest

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Neil Galanter played the symphony's first concert of the 2007–2008 season.

Repertoire

The VSO's 2009/10 season included the following repertoire: * Beethoven - Symphony No.5 in c minor, Op.67 (1st movement) * Britten - Simple Symphony * Copland - Appalachian Spring: Ballet for Martha (original version for 13 instruments) * Elgar - Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Op.47 (Kadima String Quartet - soloists) * Fiala - Concertante in B-flat for Clarinet and English Horn (Julia Heinen clarinet; Richard Kravchak, English horn) * Handel - Concerto a due cori No.2 in F, HWV 333 * Haydn - Symphony No.94 "Surprise" (2nd movement) * Haydn - The Creation: Part 1 * Holst - St. Paul's Suite, Op.29 No.2 * Jenkins - '' Palladio'': Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra * Mendelssohn - Piano Concerto No.1 in g minor, Op.25 (W. Terrence Spiller, piano) * Mozart - Don Giovanni: "Overture" * Mozart - Piano Concerto No.24 in c minor, K.491 (3rd movement; Liya Melikyan, piano) * Mozart - Symphony No.35 in D, K.385 "Haffner" * Mysliviczek - Artaserse - selections (US Premiere) * Rossini - La Gazza Ladra: "Overture" * Smetana - Ma Vlast: Vltava (The Moldau) * Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on Greensleves * Warlock - Capriol: Suite for String Orchestra

References

External links

Valley Symphony Orchestra
(official site)
Los Angeles Valley College
Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 1992 Orchestras based in California {{US-orchestra-stub