Symphony magazine has published an excellent account of the impact of the disaster on hard-woriing musicians – some well-known, like the conductor Ludovic Morlot who lost his entire musical archive – others working at every level of classical music life in the shadow of the dream factories.
Tim Griving writes:
Contrary to popular opinion, not everyone who lives in Pacific Palisades is rich; many artists inherited homes from their parents or grandparents, the legacy of an era when the chic neighborhood was within reach of the working class. Altadena, particularly, had accrued a reputation as a quirky, supportive enclave for professional musicians.
“So many of our musician friends were there, urging us to move there,” says Joel Pargman, a violin teacher, studio musician, and member of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. “It is the greatest community of people I’ve ever lived in…”
Beyond the instruments, homes, and studios of musicians, the fires have destroyed the homes of patrons and donors of orchestras—many of whom live in the Palisades and Altadena regions.
Los Angeles Chamber Oorchestra reports that most of the 28 Palisades households of people who regularly attend their galas were incinerated. Two board members in Altadena also lost homes. The same for two board members with the Pasadena Symphony, one former board member, and “countless donors,” according to the orchestra’s director of marketing and public relations, Marisa McCarthy…
Salastina ensemble pianist HyeJin Kim, who just got married and moved into her first house in the Palisades, says, ‘there was a clear pattern in everyone that I spoke to, which was that they were like: ‘I can’t feel too sorry for myself, because the outpouring of support that I’ve received is so life-affirming and heartening.’’ Most of her musician friends sound resolved to stay here and rebuild.
Read full article here.
pictured: Cellist David Low beside the ruins of his house.
The post Musicians who lost everything in the Los Angeles fires appeared first on Slippedisc.
