Led by American violinist Joshua Bell, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields wraps up the CAMA International Series at The Granada Theatre on Tuesday, April 2, with something extra-special in store.
Along with staple stuff of Brahms’s Violin Concerto in D (with cadenzas by Bell) and Schumann’s Second Symphony, this program includes a world premiere piece by the much-acclaimed composer-arranger Vince Mendoza. The new work, Flight of Moving Days, asserts a strong link to the mighty Marriner dynasty. Sir Neville Marriner, who was born 100 years ago this year and died in 2016, founded the orchestra in 1958 and boldly led it until 2011. His grandson Douglas Marriner is now a noted jazz percussionist and a spotlighted soloist, alongside Bell, in Mendoza’s ink-still-wet piece.
We recently checked in with Mendoza, based in Los Angeles when not working in Europe or elsewhere, to get intel from the source about his latest opus, life on the border of jazz and classical, and other matters at hand. He looks forward to heading up to Santa Barbara next week, noting, “I hear that the orchestra is rehearsing Flight as I write this. I will hear it for the first time the morning of the Santa Barbara concert.”
