St. Matthew’s Music Guild April 19 Concert to Feature LA Phil Principal Clarinetist

By LILY TINOCO | Assistant Editor 

St. Matthew’s Music Guild is set to continue its 39th season on Friday, April 19, with a concert beginning at 8 p.m.

The program will feature Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Principal Clarinetist Boris Allakhverdyan, who is joining the Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s to present Wolfgang Mozart’s “Clarinet Concerto.”

“The spirit of Mozart bookends this sparkling program,” according to Music Guild’s website. “Beginning with Marianna Martinez’s sparkling ‘Sinfonia in C,’ we’ll continue with David Diamond’s brilliant ‘Concerto for Small Orchestra.’ A contemporary—and competitor—of Aaron Copland, the concerto is one of many works by Diamond making their long overdue appearances on American concert stages.”

Allakhverdyan has appeared as a soloist with orchestras across the world, including the United States, Canada, South Korea, Dubai, Armenia and Kazakhstan. He is also a winner of the Rimsky-Korsakov International Woodwind Competition, Hellam Concerto Competition, and the Tuesday Musical and the Oberlin Concerto competitions.

Allakhverdyan was appointed principal clarinet of Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2016, having previously been principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Allakhverdyan currently serves on the faculty at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and California State University, Fullerton.

St. Matthew’s Music Guild’s current season will come to a close on Friday, May 31, with its season finale.

“The Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s and Choir and Soloists of St. Matthew’s Parish conclude the 2023-24 season in grand style, with one of Mozart’s greatest choral works, the ‘Solemn Vespers,’” according to Music Guild. “Our season finale opens with Copland’s ‘Music for Movies.’ Drawn from his soundtracks for ‘The City,’ ‘Our Town,’ and ‘Of Mice and Men,’ the suite is a quintessential example of Copland’s ‘Americana’ style.”

St. Matthew’s Music Guild wrote that it was “thrilled” to feature Concertmaster YuEun Gemma Kim in Felix Mendelssohn’s “Concerto for Violin in D minor.”

The April 19 concert will take place at St. Matthew’s Church in Pacific Palisades, located at 1031 Bienveneda Avenue. A pre-concert lecture will be offered by Music Guild President Tom Neenan, beginning at 7:10 p.m.

Tickets for the show are $45, and season passes for the remaining concerts are available for $165.

For tickets, season subscriptions or additional information, visit musicguildonline.org or call 310-573-7422.