LW Orchestra holiday concert with ….

LW Orchestra holiday concert with special guests is Dec. 13

See page 14 LW Orchestra trombonist is 'ginger-tecture' master

by William Thompson

LW contributor

You really can’t describe what Andy Black creates as a gingerbread house. His works, from storybook recreations to huge cathedrals, are really gingerbread edifices.

So when Black, an internationally traveled Ritz-Carlton chef, reveals he is constructing a not-yet-revealed Leisure World-themed gingerbread edifice to display at the LW Orchestra’s Dec. 13 concert, you wait in excited anticipation.

Black, who plays trombone in the orchestra, studied in an intensive culinary arts program immediately after graduating from Long Beach Polytechnic High School. He then spent most of his career in Ritz-Carlton’s kitchens in both the United States and Australia. His ginger-tecture dates from the late 1980s, and some, complete with lights, take up to eight days to construct.

But like many LW Orchestra members, his musical schooling predates his career training. Black played the cello for a single year, but in his desire for “more volume,” he switched to studying trumpet from grade school into his early 20s. A fullblown culinary career, which consumed every holiday and Friday and Saturday night and often distanced him from his bandmates, forced him to pause his musical interests.

Black joined the LW Orchestra in March, and the upcoming holiday concert marks his second LW Orchestra concert appearance. In a group with an outstanding trumpet section, Black transferred to the trombone for the group’s Dec. 13 performance. Black will join the orchestra’s 50 musicians to perform generous helpings of winter-themed music by Handel, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, and well as familiar Christmas standards and Hanukah tunes.

The concert will also feature duets with Leisure World pianist Yuri Lotakov and Armen Anassian, who was the conductor during two of New Age musician Yanni’s world tours. The Leisure World Korean Community Church Choir will sing “Hallelujah” chorus from “Messiah” and be joined by guest soprano Carol Winston for an audience singalong of traditional Christmas hymns.

The LW Orchestra’s holiday concert will be held Saturday, Dec. 13, in Clubhouse 2 at 1 p.m. The event is free and open to residents and the public. Black’s gingerbread creation will be displayed in the clubhouse lobby prior to the concert.