5:15-6:15pm Docents available at the Marion Davies Guest House to discuss the site
6:30-8:00pm Concert

*This concert is at capacity and our waitlist is now full. First choice of seats in the adjacent spillover room will go to those on the waitlist, then if there is room, to walk up guests. Depending on weather we may open the screen doors in the concert hall, in which case the concert can be experienced from outside.

Experience treasures from the Gershwin songbook, including selections from Porgy and Bess, with pianists and commentators Victoria Kirsch and Alan Chapman and vocalists Karen Benjamin, Shana Blake Hill, Cedric Berry and Haqumai Sharpe.

Alan Chapman (pianist, musicologist) is well known to southern California music lovers as a host on Classical KUSC (91.5 FM) and a ubiquitous preconcert lecturer. A member of the music theory faculty of the Colburn Conservatory, he is also a composer, lyricist and pianist. His analytical work has appeared in the Journal of Music Theory and in The New Orpheus: Essays on Kurt Weill, winner of thealan Deems Taylor Award for excellence in writing on music. Chapman 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, Los Angeles Opera and Pacific Symphony. Chapman is also active as a composer/lyricist, and his songs 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."

Victoria Kirsch (pianist) creates and performs innovative programs combining music, spoken word and the visual arts: current projects include a series of exhibition-based programs at local museums. She opened the Beach=Culture series in June of 2009 with WR and Daisy (Glenn Paxton’s musical about W.R. Hearst and Marion Davies) and appeared most recently at the Beach House as music director for a Valentine-themed operatic program last February 14. She also serves as music director of Opera Arts, which presents opera-related events in the Palm Springs region. Kirsch’s longtime association with celebrated soprano Julia Migenes has led to collaborations on Diva on the Verge, Franz Schubert and Bernstein on Broadway at venues throughout the world.

Karen Benjamin (soprano) has over twenty years of performing experience in musical theatre, opera, and cabaret. Among many musical theatre credits, Benjamin was an original cast member of the Los Angeles production of Phantom of the Opera starring Michael Crawford.  She has sung French cabaret songs at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, starred in a Stephen Sondheim tribute with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, performed the songs of Kurt Weill with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber Society and appeared as an orchestral soloist with major orchestras. With her husband, classical radio announcer Alan Chapman, she has appeared widely in cabaret evenings of Chapman’s original songs, as well as concerts dedicated to preserving the American Songbook, in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Town Hall, Los Angeles Music Center, Geffen Theatre, Ford Amphitheatre, Broad Stage, Dallas Museum of Art, and many other venues across the United States

Shana Blake Hill (soprano) continues to excite audiences and critics alike as she proves herself a multifaceted performer in both operatic and orchestral repertoires. Opera News recently hailed Hill’s Cincinnati Opera debut of Rosalba in Florencia en el Amazonas and her performance in composer Bright Sheng’s The Phoenix with the Philadelphia Orchestra was acclaimed in The Saratogan. She has appeared as a principal artist with such opera companies as: The Los Angeles Opera, Savonlinna Festival Opera (Finland), Long Beach Opera, Santa Barbara Opera, San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival Opera, Berkshire Opera and Opera Nova. She has also been featured as a solo artist with orchestras such as; The Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic, Naples Philharmonic, Pasadena Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, and The Colorado Symphony.

Cedric Berry (bass baritone) received his music diploma from Interlochen Arts Academy and both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Southern California. He has performed a variety of operatic roles including the title role in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust, Falstaff in Nicoli's Merry Wives, Lepporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflote, Collatinus in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia and Schaunard in Puccini’s La Boheme. Berry made his first European stage appearances in Spain, as Jake, in a concert version of Gershwin's Porgy & Bess. He appeared with LA Opera at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Savonlinna, Finland and sang a concert in tribute to Paul Robeson for the Banlieurs Bleues festival in Paris, France. He has been the recipient of several awards including first place in the Metropolitan Opera Western Region Competition.

H. Waring Sharpe (tenor): hailed by opera legends such as Mignon Dunn, Florence Quivar and the late William Warfield as “one of the most promising young American tenors”, Sharpe, a Chicago native, received his Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance from Butler University, and continued his graduate studies in vocal arts at the University of Southern California. Sharpe was a Western Regional Finalist in the Met National Council Auditions, a finalist in the Opera Guild of Palm Springs Competition and a 2008 finalist in the Loren Zachary National Voice Competition. He has performed for Opera Pacific, Utah Opera Festival and San Diego State University where he is currently in collaboration of singing the title role in the highly anticipated opera of Paul Laurence Dunbar. He has also appeared with the Fresno Grand Opera, Westchester Symphony, Culver City Symphony, the Torrance Symphony Orchestra and the Redlands Bowl.

Stop by early for information on the Beach House and Guest House tours by docents from the Santa Monica Conservancy before every Beach=Culture evening, from 11am-2pm and 5:15-6:15pm.

Tickets are free but seating is limited and reservations are required. If you would like to attend, please reserve online. Please plan to arrive by 6:15pm to retain your reservation. Late seating, even for reservation-holders, is not guaranteed. To adjust or cancel your reservation for this event, email beachhouse@smgov.net. We appreciate your keeping in touch!

Directions: The Beach House is located at 415 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica, CA 90402 on the west side of Pacific Coast Highway, a half mile north of the California Incline and a half mile south of Chautauqua Blvd. Plenty of public parking is available - enter off PCH at the Beach House Way traffic light. The facility is easily accessible by foot or bike from the beach bike path, although the Beach closes at sunset. There is ample bike parking at racks throughout the site - remember to bring your own lock.

Parking: There is an hourly/daily parking charge at the park and pay machines available in three areas of the ACBH parking lot. Weekday fees are $4/hr and 8/day; plan to pay for two hours and please check the website for details.

Other events: To view & make reservations for future free Beach=Culture events, check http://annenbergbeachhouse.com/beachculture.

General Info: For hours, events and more, visit http://www.annenbergbeachhouse.com, or call 310-458-4904. Back on the Beach Café is open until 8pm daily.