Ambassador to Open 14th Season on Sept. 17

The Ambassador International Cultural Foundation’s 14th season begins Sept. 17, with a concert by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra--celebrating its 20th anniversary and its 10th season at Ambassador Auditorium--conducted by Christof Perick. The concert will feature the premiere of a work by Stephen Hartke, and the Beaux Arts Trio as soloists in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.

The subsequent Saturday concerts of the LACO Connoisseur Series are Nov. 5 (Charles Mackerras conducting), Dec. 3 (led by music director Iona Brown), Jan. 21 (Brown), March 4 (Lawrence Foster, conductor) and April 29 (Brown). The Wednesday Baroque Series begins Nov. 16 with a performance conducted by Andrew Litton, and continues Jan. 11 (Brown), Feb. 1 (Helmuth Rilling), March 29 (Trevor Pinnock, soloist and director) and May 2 (Brown). The Tuesday concerts of the Anniversary Series--Nov. 15, Dec. 4, Jan. 12, Feb. 2, March 30--duplicate programs from the other two series.

The Great Performers Series begins Oct. 22 with the Julian Bream Consort. Soprano Leontyne Price appears Nov. 9, violinist Nathan Milstein Nov. 22, pianist Ivo Pogorelich Jan. 18, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Feb. 18, and guitarist John Williams April 8.

The Ballet Festival Series at Pasadena Civic Auditorium features the local debuts of the Moscow Classical Ballet--”Swan Lake” Oct. 12, “Romeo and Juliet” Oct. 15 and 16--and American Ballroom Theatre Jan. 11. Rudolf Nureyev and Friends is scheduled for Jan. 7 and 8, and Dance Theatre of Harlem appears May 27, 28 and 31.

One of the surprises of the season is that the Great Orchestras concerts will all be at Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The Moscow State Symphony plays Nov. 3 (Yevgeny Svetlanov, conductor; Oleg Kagan violin), the National Symphony Jan. 28 (Mstislav Rostropovich conducting; Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin), the Royal Philharmonic Feb. 16 (Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor), the London Symphony March 15 (Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor) and the Philadelphia Orchestra May 17 (Riccardo Muti, conductor).

Soviet-Armenian soprano Araxia Davtian opens the Stars of Opera Series, Oct. 18. Kiri Te Kanawa follows, Feb. 4 at the Civic; Montserrat Caballe sings March 23, back at Ambassador; Aprile Millo appears April 30. The series also includes a performance of “Die Zauberflote” by the Salzburg Marionette Theatre, Oct. 25.

The Festival of Early Music lists the Julian Bream Consort Oct. 23, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra Nov. 13, the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir Feb. 25, the Academy of Ancient Music March 22, and the Brueggen/Bylsma/Leonhardt Baroque Trio, April 27.

The Chamber Music Series brings to Ambassador the Guarneri Quartet (Nov. 10), the Los Angeles Piano Quartet (Dec. 6), the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Feb. 15), and the Beaux Arts Trio (April 6).

Alexander Slobodyanik begins the Piano Series Oct. 13 with his first U.S. appearance in 10 years. The series continues with Moura Lympany (Nov. 17), Jakob Gimpel (Dec. 1), Ivo Pogorelich (Jan. 17), Andras Schiff (Feb. 28), Andre Watts (April 26), Horacio Gutierrez (May 13), and the winner of the 1989 Van Cliburn Competition (June 22).

Solo recitals by Julian Bream (Oct. 19), Angel Romero (Nov. 30), Christopher Parkening (Feb. 9) and John Williams (April 9) make up the Guitar Series.

The Pasadena Civic Pops Series lists 10 events by such performers as Debbie Reynolds, the Chieftains, the Peking Acrobats and the Teatro de Danza Espanola. The Ambassador Pops series performers range from American Indian Dance Theatre to the King’s Singers.

Single tickets go on sale Sept. 6. Information: (818) 304-6166.