We would like to invite you to experience some of the most glorious and notable music of Hollywood and explore with us the interconnectedness of and relationships between some of the most fascinating and colorful characters of the 20th Century music scene in California.

You most likely have heard their music but you might not (yet) be familiar with their names: Ernst Wolfgang Korngold, Ernst Krenek, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Felix Waxman, Alexandre Tansman, Bernhard Herrmann, and Kurt Weill.

All of these musicians, and many more, escaped the terror of fascism in Europe and were able to find a safe haven in the United States of America. They settled in the Los Angeles area and worked as composers, conductors, and pianists in the Hollywood movie studios.

Our theme for this set of concerts is “Escape to Hollywood: from Europe Across the Sea”.

This year, 2025, is also the birth and death anniversary of the Nobel Prize winning author Thomas Mann, who lived from 1875 to 1955.  Mann resettled from Nazi Germany to the Pacific Palisades outside of Hollywood and was well acquainted with and good friends of many of the composers being presented in these concerts. Interspersed between the musical selections will be readings, excerpts from diaries, and letters written by some of these composers and Thomas Mann.

We had organized the theme of this program before the devastating wildfires occurred in the Los Angeles area in January. A very large amount of historical documents, artifacts, and important records were destroyed or irreparably damaged in the fires and more than 200 musicians were adversely affected, losing their homes, instruments, music, and everything else.  A portion of the proceeds of these concerts will be donated to charity to help support the recovery of these musicians.

We hope you will be able to join us for the following four concerts throughout California.

All of our Musica Viva concerts are FREE OF CHARGE and all are welcome. Please feel free to bring your family, a colleague, a friend, or a few friends.