Sounds of the World : Russian-Born Soprano Forms 46-Piece Orchestra, Schedules 1st Concert on Valentine’s Day

When Erica Tanenbaum left Leningrad for good and moved to Tarzana a decade ago, she noticed an incredible amount of musical talent in Los Angeles that seemed to go to waste.

Tanenbaum, a Russian-born coloratura soprano, loved to sing, but didn’t have an orchestra to sing with, as she’d had in her homeland. She missed her music. So, during the past three months, she formed the 46-piece Bel Canto Symphony Orchestra with international talent found mostly in the San Fernando Valley. Its first concert is today, Valentine’s Day.

“So much talent is right here, and so little is being utilized, it’s a shame,” Tanenbaum said. “Rather than wait for something to come along, I decided to organize it myself.”

She contacted friends, and their friends, and brought together an Israeli cello player, a Korean violinist, a Belgian harpist, players from the Moscow Conservancy, an El Salvadoran conductor and musicians from Belgium, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico and many other countries. Other small symphonies have been attempted locally before, but none have included singers, and none have boasted such an eclectic worldwide mix.

“We may not be able to understand each other, but when we play, we understand,” said Zinovy Goro, the lead clarinetist, who fled political strife in Kiev, now in Ukraine. Goro settled in Van Nuys 10 years ago and works as a studio engineer. “Everyone is sick and tired of synthesized music. They want live music again. A lot of kids here don’t know what a French horn even looks like.”

Principal French horn player Jon Titmus of Reseda is one of the few Los Angeles natives in the orchestra. He studied at Cal State Northridge, works as a studio musician and teacher, and performed for years in Mexico City.

“In Mexico, the audience would vocalize and shout down a singer if they didn’t like him,” Titmus said. “Something about opera gets the blood going.”

To draw a wide audience, their first show, “Heart of the Opera,” features a mix of popular and obscure love songs from operas such as “Samson and Delilah” by Saint-Saens, “La Boheme” by Puccini, “Rigoletto” by Verdi, “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss, “Carmen” by Bizet and “Thais” by Massenet. Future concerts will have cultural and political themes decided by the musicians themselves.

“I didn’t plan this ethnic mix,” said Tanenbaum, who studied in Russia, Israel and Austria, and who made her United States debut at Carnegie Hall. “I wanted an American orchestra, and truly this is American, because it’s people from all over the world coming together to make a richer, fresher music.”

Conductor Josef Doetsch, an El Salvadoran who now lives in Bakersfield, left his country and the Nicaraguan Symphony Orchestra because of political troubles.

“I am blessed to be working with all this talent. The Russians, everyone, is so good,” he said. He referred to concertmaster Abram Shtern, the first violinist, who was the former concertmaster of the Kiev Opera and Ballet Theater for 42 years and performed with Tanenbaum in the Ukraine Philharmonic.

“I want to promote the careers of great talent nobody knows we have, and the new talent who haven’t yet had a chance to be widely heard,” Tanenbaum said.

Burbank principal flutist Linda Kordek jumped at the chance to work with the group. After studying with a Norwegian teacher, traveling the world with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra and playing with a Mexican state symphony, she has missed the same opportunities here. Except for some appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and concerts in private homes, employment for musicians is limited.

“We need more,” Kordek said. “In Mexico City, when I was there, they had six full-time orchestras.”

Dominique Piana remembers watching symphonies in her hometown of Brussels and wanting to be a harpist. Now she lives in Redlands and hopes to inspire children in the same way. Like the other, musicians, she must work around the symphony rehearsals in her teaching and private performing.

“It’s nice to belong to a fraternity of musicians like this who want to play, who love to play,” she said.

Anaheim trumpeter David Washburn already had experience playing with people from different cultures in the Hong Kong Philharmonic, where, he said, you could hear the same Chinese word pronounced in seven different accents.

Timothy O. McAleer of Tarzana, music editor of the City Voice magazine in Encino, was so enthralled with the idea of the symphony that he volunteered to help in any way he can.

“I’m a common man who loves music, and I think this is just the idea that will bring something new and different to the L.A. cultural scene,” he said.

Tanenbaum is now looking for corporate sponsors for the symphony.

“There have been attempts at doing this before, but the enthusiasm from Erica is infectious,” said Dorothy-Jean Lloyd of Pasadena, a singer from Vancouver, Canada, who studied at Juilliard and who sang with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She plans to sing at the first concert with Alex Britton, Terry Hill, Evan Kent, Dennis McNeil, Julia Wade and Tanenbaum.

“People think sometimes you have to import classical music from elsewhere, but this will prove that it can be done from the people right here,” Lloyd said.

The Bel Canto Symphony Orchestra’s premiere concert “Heart of the Opera” begins at 8 tonight at the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, 4357 Wilshire Blvd. Tickets are $27.50, $22.50. $18.50 and $10 for students and seniors. They are sold after 11 a.m. on the day of the concert. Call: (818) 881-0162.