Mark Swed has been the classical music critic of the Los Angeles Times since 1996. Before that, he was a music critic for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and the Wall Street Journal and has written extensively for international publications. Swed is the author of the book-length text to the best-selling iPad app, “The Orchestra,” and is a former editor of the Musical Quarterly. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist in criticism, honored in 2021 and 2007.
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Fireworks, holiday museum openings, Rolling Stones and the best of L.A.’s art and culture this week.
While there are plenty of reasons to go outside today and look up at the fireworks, there’s just as many reasons to go out and enjoy the freedom of expression created by L.A.’s most amazing creative minds.
July 4, 2024
Concerts by the New Hollywood String Quartet and Tesserae Baroque show how Hollywood studio musicians can be uniquely qualified for chamber music.
July 3, 2024
A seismic shift in San Francisco’s classical music mirrors change afoot in L.A. With leadership turnover, could existential changes alter the city’s cultural life?
June 27, 2024
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Yuval Sharon’s ‘The Comet / Poppea’ is as an experimental dialogue with history in a way that only opera, with its capacity to worm its way inside the minds of characters, might attempt.
June 20, 2024
With summer officially upon us, we break down the best, the brightest and the hottest of what L.A. culture has to offer this week
June 20, 2024
Whether it’s a new gallery exhibit, a show at your favorite playhouse or a must-see Juneteenth celebration this weekend, we’ve got you covered.
June 13, 2024
At this year’s Ojai Festival, with pianist Michiko Uchida as music director, Mozart meets the modernism of legendary L.A. modernism of Schoenberg and Cage.
June 12, 2024
The opera world is turning its attention to L.A. with World Opera Forum and Opera America conferences, but they’re missing much of the city’s best work.
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