Rodney Punt, 12/06/12

Music and Performing Arts

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra sported something of a British accent at its latest mid-November outing. The evening had begun with Sir Edward Elgar's "Introduction and Allegro for Strings" and concluded

George Heymont, 12/06/12

San Francisco-based arts critic

Most audiences for major symphony orchestras are accustomed to guest conductors appearing on the podium at various times during the year. It's assumed that while new faces may come and go, the basic orchestra remains intact. That's not the case at music conservatories.

Tara Solomon, 12/06/12

Miami-based writer and pop-culturist

Who knew that Calder did eye patches? This was one of the quirky gems we discovered at Vernissage, the holy grail of art parties, which opened the Miami Beach Convention Center's consortium of gallery offerings Wednesday night.

J. Michael Welton, 12/06/12

Editor and Publisher, ArchitectsAndArtisans.com

Muñoz is a self-described designer, social activist, opinion leader and philanthropist who notes that Los Angeles is the second largest Mexican City in the world, following Mexico City and surpassing Monterey below the border.

Carmen Zella, 12/06/12

Artist and curator

Kirsten Chilstrom, 12/06/12

Fashion and Style Writer

The exhibit, which meticulously and beautifully displays the trajectory of Valentino's success spanning over five decades, is planned to run through March 2013.

Tracey Harnish, 12/06/12

Los Angeles artist and arts blogger

A trifecta of cinema-inspired exhibitions is now playing at LACMA. Now showing: a post-renaissance painter, an iconic film director and a pop art master.

Derek Beres, 12/06/12

Words, Beats, Postures

New York City-based vocalist Morley has long employed various modalities of yoga technique and philosophy in her music and lifestyle -- as a hospice worker, for at-risk youth, in her role as a social activist, teacher and yoga instructor, and as one of the fiercest female musicians around.

Andrew Lam, 12/06/12

Author and editor, New America Media

Perhaps the biggest result in the changes in San Francisco is this: Asian children growing up in the Bay Area these days do not see themselves as a minority. If anything, they see themselves playing a central role.

Adam Goldberg, 12/05/12

Front Page Editor at The Huffington Post

Thriller turned 30 a few days ago. This album is beyond compare. It's not pop music. It's Michael's music. This album doesn't pander, it brings joy. Pure and simple.

Edward Goldman, 12/06/12

Art Critic, KCRW 89.9 FM

With all the exhibitions up during the holiday season, I like to think of L.A. as a sort of sprawling Christmas tree with the art as its bright sparkling ornaments.

John Lee, 12/06/12

Media tracker, Irish Media Nation

Traditional Irish music legend, folklorist and a man who earned his cross-cultural cred staging a show called "If It Wasn't for the Irish and the Jews," Mick Moloney has built a program around an eclectic mix of tunes ranging from the traditional to the contemporary.

Mark Juddery, 12/05/12

Author, commentator and film journalist

Currently a movie is in pre-production called The Fifth Beatle. It's a familiar phrase, which is generally used to describe... well, just about anyone.

Peter Clothier, 12/05/12

Author and Blogger, The Buddha Diaries

As anyone knows who has followed its fortunes over the past few decades, the story of contemporary art in Los Angeles has been a peripatetic one.

Jordan Mainzer, 12/05/12

Editor, DRA; Writer, Frontier Psychiatrist

The tension in Stott's music yields diversity and means that whether in headphones or in the club, Stott's music ominously pacifies.

Jesse Rosen, 12/05/12

President & CEO, League of American Orchestras

I am hopeful that over the remaining weeks of 2012 a compromise can be reached that advances the cause of national economic stability without inflicting needless pain on our nation's nonprofits and, most importantly, the people that depend on and benefit from our integrated services.

David Galenson, 12/06/12

Professor of Economics, University of Chicago

In 2003, the critic Martin Gayford began sitting for a portrait by Lucian Freud. In 2010, Gayford published his journal of the sittings as a book. Among his reflections, we get glimpses of Freud's attitudes and methods that create a portrait of a great experimental artist at work.