Spring recital raises funds for music program

HIGH NOTES-From left, host and parent volunteer Wei Wang, violinist Roberto Cani, pianist Randall Kerber, hostess and parent volunteer Ingrid Wang and cellist Andrew Shulman gather for the Calabasas High School Music Boosters spring recital. The professional musicians played at the Wangs' home for a benefit to provide music classes and programs for the school. World renowned musicians Andrew Shulman, Roberto Cani and Randall Kerber were featured at Calabasas High School's Grand Spring Recital.

School music boosters sponsored the event held last month at the Calabasas home of Ingrid and Wei Wang. Ingrid Wang is a parent volunteer at the school.

Siobhan Loftus, a representative for CHS Music Boosters, said the recital raised $3,000 which will be used to add music appreciation classes and launch a string section.

Shulman, a cellist and conductor, was the first British winner of the Piatigorsky Artist Award, a prestigious grant from the Gregor Piatigorsky Foundation. (The Russian-born Piatigorsky is considered one of the greatest contemporary cellists. He died in 1976, leaving provision for numerous awards, scholarships and honors throughout the country.)

Shulman was appointed in 1999 to first chair, cello, for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and has expanded his musical career into the television and movie industries. As a soloist, he has directed and performed at major cello concertos with orchestras throughout the world, said Loftus. He also appeared in recital at Wigmore Hall in London, the Royal Palace in Stockholm, and London's Buckingham Palace, where he performed "The Swan" with the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet. The prince of Wales was in attendance.

He performed solo cello on Elton John's 1997 "Candle in the Wind" tribute to Diana, princess of Wales. "Candle" holds the record for highest selling single of all time.

Cani is a world-class violinist from London. He has won numerous competitions, including the Paganini International Competition in Genoa and the Jeunesses Musicales International Competition in Belgrade, where he also captured the Minetti Prize, a special award for the best performance of a contemporary work.

A Los Angeles resident, Cani has performed worldwide. Notable appearances include his acclaimed performance of the first concerti of Paganini and Szymanowski in Italy and his premiere of a piece by Polish composer Gorecki for violin and piano.

Kerber, a Los Angeles native, started playing piano at age 6, studying mainly in Southern California. An active studio musician, he has recorded and arranged music for more than 1,000 motion pictures. He launched his studio career at 19 and has received many accolades, including an Academy Award nominaton for his composition on "The Color Purple," a Grammy nomination for his arrangement of Barbra Streisand's "Over the Rainbow One Voice" concert, and has produced an album for the legendary German chanteuse Ute Lemper.

He has orchestrated many films for James Horner, including the recent epic "Troy," and regularly works with famed Hollywood film composers including Horner, John Williams, Alan Silvestri, David Newman and James Newton Howard. Since 1989 he has worked for John Williams on his films, including the blockbuster "Star Wars" series (recorded in London) and all the Harry Potter movies, for which he performed "Hedwig's Theme."