For Season Premiere, Beethoven’s Hard to Beat

Of the various composers in the New West Symphony’s programming so far, Beethoven has proved to be a timeless staple.

So this weekend’s New West program, opening its spring season, kicks off with an all-Beethoven evening, and who’s complaining? Maestro Boris Brott has shown a special richness and flair on this venerable turf, coaxing the orchestra into handsome readings. We expect the same from this weekend’s performances of the “Leonore” Overture, No. 3, and the immortally beloved Fifth Symphony.

To help the cause, Brott, a Canadian, has called on a gifted countryman, pianist Anton Kuerti, who is originally from Austria. Kuerti, who last appeared with the New West five years ago, comes equipped for the task of soloing on the Fourth Piano Concerto. He has burrowed into Beethoven-mania, having performed all five concertos in single evenings at Manhattan’s 92nd Street Y in 1997 and again in 1999.

As for the symphonic warhorse of the concert’s second half, the question arises: Can we take yet another performance of the Fifth Symphony? Without a doubt. Hearing any masterpiece, and this one in particular, played live with purpose and wisdom is an experience always deserving an encore. A good performance of the Fifth Symphony is a fine argument for the grandeur of the orchestral tradition and the importance of its preservation.

DETAILS

New West Symphony at 8 tonight at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, 800 Hobson Way, and Saturday at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Tickets are $8 to $67; 449-2787.

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Orchestral Notes: A new orchestra kicks off this Sunday afternoon, with a special emphasis on student forces. Educator Edward Francis, whose young students often show up as soloists in the New West Symphony’s annual Discovery Concerts, is launching an ambitious organization called Concertos with Orchestras, aka CWOTO (check out https://www.cwoto.org).

“Concerto” is the key word, as also indicated in the ensemble’s title, Conejo Concerto Orchestra, making its debut at Newbury Park High School on Sunday. For his new ensemble, Francis gathered talent from the sizable pool of professional musicians in the county, but the focus is less on the orchestral ranks than on the fledgling concerto soloists, ranging in age from 12 to 17.

The young soloists on this first program--playing movements from concertos by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn and yes, Beethoven--are Lydia Lo, Jonathan Chew, Niccole Modell, Jean Yeh, Edward Hurdie, Nathan Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Chin. Chin, a 17-year-old pianist, will tackle the Fifth Concerto, “Emperor,” completing the weekend’s Beethovenian feast.

DETAILS

The Conejo Concerto Orchestra at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Newbury Park High School Performing Arts Theater, 456 N. Reino Road. Tickets are $7; 498-7594.

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Worldly Groove: World music sneaks in and out of the area with irregularity, and sometimes in surprising venues. Tonight, for instance, the place for world music fans to be is the new Border’s in Goleta, in the Camino Real Marketplace by UC Santa Barbara. There, a new series of world music performances kicks off with the noted Egyptian pop singer Hakim.

A charismatic star in the Cairo-based dance style of shaa’bi, a blend of contemporary dance sounds and traditional Middle Eastern music, Hakim is a million-seller in his homeland.

His popular album “Yaho” was released domestically on the Mondo Melodia label just last fall, and he is poised to make a mark on the American world music scene. The local connection comes courtesy of Dawn Elder, a longtime area music promoter, who recently became a vice president at the label.

Hakim’s North American tour continues with dates in Los Angeles, New York, Montreal and Toronto. But he can be heard tonight, in beautiful downtown Goleta, for the price of a coffee. Or less.

DETAILS

Hakim at 7 tonight at Border’s, 7000 Marketplace Dr. in Goleta; free; 968-1370.

Josef Woodard, who writes about art and music, can be reached by e-mail at joeinfo@aol.com