The La Mirada Symphony Journal
Liner Notes
Stories behind the music we play and the people who play it. A new piece arrives every week, and each one leads back to a free concert at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.
Latest story Program Notes
Putting the Opera Back in The Phantom of the Opera
Most scores for the 1925 Phantom of the Opera settle for spooky organ music. Composer Scott Lasky went back to the opera house instead, rebuilding the film’s soundtrack from silent-era stock cues and the Faust music the story demands.
Read the storyFeatures
The weekly deep dives. Big questions about music, answered with real reporting.
Why Does Music Give You Goosebumps?
Your arms figure it out before your brain can put it into words. Here is the science behind the shiver, and why it hits hardest when the orchestra is right there in…
Program Notes
What we are playing next, and why it is worth hearing live.
How Did a Russian Composer Make an Orchestra Sound Like Spain?
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov never set foot in Spain, yet his Capriccio Espagnol remains one of the most vivid Spanish-sounding pieces in the orchestral repertoire. Discover how a Russian composer turned castanets, folk melody,…
Musicians
The players on our stage, including the young artists just getting started.
Why Learning an Instrument Changes the Way a Child Hears the World
A child who picks up an instrument sets out to do one simple thing, make a sound. What follows, according to a growing body of research, is something far more interesting. The…
Community
Why free concerts matter, and the neighbors who make them happen.
America’s 250th Celebration June 6 at La Mirada Civic Center
City Event · Guest Performance La Mirada 250 Celebration Features La Mirada Symphony Musicians Five musicians from the La Mirada Symphony will perform as a chamber ensemble during the City of La…
From the Vault
Older stories that still hold up. This shelf reshuffles every day.
