Part of the 2017 Laguna Beach Music Festival

Festival Artistic Director
Johannes Moser, cello
Stephanie Cheng Smith, sound installation

Festival Underwriter: Judith and Howard Jelinek
Concert Sponsor: Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting

BACH: Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat major, BWV 1010
REID: Stellar Remnants (for solo cello and electronics) (world premiere)*
HINDEMITH: Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 25, No. 3

*Ellen Reid commission sponsored by Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting

Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as "one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists," German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser is gaining increasing renown for his efforts to expand the reach of the classical genre, as well as his passionate focus on new music. Johannes Moser was a recipient of the prestigious 2014 Brahms prize, and his recordings have earned him two ECHO Klassik awards and the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.

Opening night at the Laguna Playhouse will showcase Artistic Director Johannes Moser in an evening of music for solo cello. His searching intellect and intensity as a performer will be on display in J.S. Bach’s beautiful Cello Suite No. 4 and in the world premiere of Stellar Remnants, a new work for cello and electronics by the innovative, L.A. and New York-based composer Ellen Reid. Reid’s new work will combine the sounds of the cello with the ethereal sound world of an interactive musical sculpture by artist Stephanie Cheng Smith that will be installed on-site at the Playhouse during the Festival.