Conductor Roger Kalia | Photo by Stan Sholik
Hit play below to listen to our extended Arts Alive feature with Roger Kalia.
Roger Kalia is a very busy young man, assistant conductor of Orange County’s Pacific Symphony, director of the annual Lake George Music Festival in upstate New York, popular guest conductor, and now music director of Orchestra Santa Monica.
Kalia has enjoyed great success with Pacific Symphony. His talent has also been recognized by the Solti Foundation, named for the celebrated conductor Sir Georg Solti. He’s a three-time recipient of the Foundation’s Career Assistance Award.
Kalia has a clear artistic vision for Orchestra Santa Monica and a strong commitment to community engagement. And during his summers, Kalia will continue as the director of the Lake George Music Festival in upstate New York.
Roger Kalia conducts his first concert with Orchestra Santa Monica at 2:30pm, Sunday, October 7, at the Moss Theater in Santa Monica. Tickets and information at orchestrasantamonica.org.
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Alan Chapman
Alan Chapman, in addition to his weekday morning program, is also the host and producer of two weekend programs: Modern Times and A Musical Offering.
After receiving his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he earned a Ph.D. in music theory from Yale University. He is currently a member of the music theory faculty of the Colburn Conservatory. He was a longtime member of the music faculty at Occidental College and has also been a visiting professor at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. His analytical work has appeared in the Journal of Music Theory and in The New Orpheus: Essays on Kurt Weill, winner of the Deems Taylor Award for excellence in writing on music.
Well known as a pre-concert lecturer, Alan has been a regular speaker on the L.A. Philharmonic's "Upbeat Live" series since its inception in 1984. He also works closely with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Pacific Symphony. His lectures have been presented by virtually every major performing organization in southern California. He has been heard globally as programmer and host of the inflight classical channel on Delta Airlines.
Alan is also active as a composer/lyricist. His songs have been performed and recorded by many artists around the world and have been honored by ASCAP, the Johnny Mercer Foundation, and the Manhattan Association of Cabarets. His children's opera Les Moose: The Operatic Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle was commissioned by LA Opera for its 1997-98 season. Alan frequently appears in cabaret evenings with his wife, soprano Karen Benjamin. They made their Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 and performed at Lincoln Center in 2006. Their recent CD, Que Será, Será: The Songs of Livingston and Evans, features the late Ray Evans telling the stories behind such beloved songs as "Mona Lisa" and "Silver Bells."
