Mark Swed has been the classical music critic of the Los Angeles Times since 1996. Before that, he was a music critic for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and the Wall Street Journal and has written extensively for international publications. Swed is the author of the book-length text to the best-selling iPad app, “The Orchestra,” and is a former editor of the Musical Quarterly. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist in criticism, honored in 2021 and 2007.
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Whether visiting a gallery or attending a theater, dance or music performance, the fall is packed with arts events that brim with community and camaraderie.
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Chris Thile performs his song cycle for “extroverted mandolinist” and orchestra with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by Teddy Abrams, at the Hollywood Bowl.
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Conductor Anthony Parnther, who has worked on hundreds of film TV scores, proves as at home in Koreatown as at Montecito’s elite Music Academy of the West.
July 14, 2023
Gustavo Dudamel opens the L.A. Phil Hollywood Bowl season with favorites by Ravel, Falla, Mussorgsky and ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’
July 9, 2023
The San Francisco Symphony’s performance of Busoni’s massive Piano Concerto confirms his forgotten and important influence on the city.
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The Pacific Symphony gives the world premiere of James MacMillan’s magnificent ‘Fiat Lux,’ commissioned for the consecration of the refurbished Christ Cathedral.
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Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s luminosity changed the whole notion of what music can represent and also indelibly illuminated 21st century opera.
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