Paper (Clip) Confetti for the New Year - 21 Collections at the Central Library

A recent visit to the downtown Central Library included seeing 21 Collections:  Every Object Has a Story, one of the library's free exhibitions, on view in the Getty Gallery until Sunday, January 27, 2019. 

"21 Collections" has inspired this blogger to introduce one of her own, unintended collections.

21 Collections:  Every Object Has a Story

As the webpage conveys, the exhibit examines how these private collections contribute "in telling our stories and those of our communities and Los Angeles at large."

Favorites include actor Tom Hanks' typewriters, Karen Collins' miniatures depicting African American history, Barry Harrison's photographs of men in rows, and Darlene Lacey's candy wrappers.

Paper Clips from the Seaver Center for Western History Research

The following fascinating fasteners were collected in the course of processing archival papers and photographs in the last eleven years or so at the Seaver Center - collections often created by individuals and donated to the Natural History Museum, which is the home for the Seaver Center.

The "processing" work usually involves transferring items into acid-free folders and boxes, following the removal of metal paper clips and other fasteners that may be rusted or have the capability to transfer rust onto the papers in need of preservation.

These clips were extracted from materials probably compiled between the 1890s to mid 1950s.

To learn more about the history of paper clips, visit the Early Office Museum.

Video Showcase on "The Streets of Los Angeles: a Brief Look at the People Behind the Street Names"

Los Angeles did not just happen.  It was built by real people - and they were as diverse as today's populace.

Combining a blend of historic photographs from the Seaver Center for Western History Research along with contemporary images, the following video is an homage to our everyday street names in Los Angeles and the people behind them.

There are many poignant stories about those pictured in the video, more than the short video can express - among images of families, couples, and single men in the once dusty, remote city.  Further below is a description guide to the people portraits in the video.

Music credit to the song "Time and Space," goes to Darryl Holter, singer, songwriter, and historian.

Apologies that the video resolution is poor on the big screen!  BlogSpot can only handle a small video file.

A Guide to the People Portraits From the Video

John Gately Downey, an Irishman, was California governor during the Civil War.  There was once but no longer, Downey Avenue, in the city.  Today there is Downey Road in East Los Angeles, and there is the city of Downey named after him.  His wife Maria Jesus Guirado was a Californio.  She died tragically in a train crash in the Tehachapi Mountains in 1883 after married for 31 years.

Pio de Jesus Pico is today remembered as the last governor of Alta California, during the time when the region was a part of Mexico.  His country estate, El Ranchito, was located in present day Whittier, not far from much of the properties owned by John Downey.  Pictured are his wife, Maria Ignacia Alvarado along with her niece by her side, Maria Anita Alvarado.  Next to Pico is his niece (his sister's daughter) Trinidad Ortega, for whom Spring Street was named.  Here is an earlier post about Pico and also the mothers of Pico.

Ferdinand Vignes and his family, shown about 1890.  Ferdinand was a nephew to Jean-Louis Vignes, the pioneering French settler.  Ferdinand's uncle was one of the earliest and most prolific in California viticulture.  The Vignes property included Vignes Street, named in 1874.  The second photo above is dated about 1870 of Louis and Ferdinand Vignes.

Horace Bell was probably as gruff in manner as was his appearance in the above photo, but he tussled with the city streets committee to retain his dear wife's complete street name "Georgia Bell," and to prevent it from being changed to Nevada Street.  Today Georgia Street remains in the lively L.A. Live area in Downtown.  Read more in the L.A. Convention Center blog post.

Prudent Beaudry, originally from Quebec, Canada, served as mayor of Los Angeles from 1874 to 1876.  He is best known for developing the once residential Bunker Hill.  Streets associated with him and his brother Victor, include Beaudry, Bellevue, Victor, and Mignonette.  More about Prudent Beaudry at an earlier post.

Lieutenant Edward Otho Cresap Ord gave the city its first American land survey.  Ord Street was named for him in 1890.  Read more here.

New Mexican Julian Chavez settled in the hills later known as Quarry Hills and Elysian Hills.  Chavez was a member of the newly formed L.A. County Board of Supervisors in 1852.

Jose Dolores Sepulveda and his wife Louisa with daughter, were among a whole bunch of Sepulveda's active in the region, prompting the naming of Sepulveda Boulevard.  More on Jose and Louisa having lived on Date Street - a part of the Macy Street neighborhood blog post.

Shown above are Rafaela Cota de Temple, Gregorio Ajuria, and John (Juan) Temple.  John Temple was a very early foreigner from Massachusetts to settle in Mexican Los Angeles.  Temple Street came up for a street name change five times between 1921 and 1953.

Juan Resurrecion Ramirez (1839-1922) was a third generation Californian.  Ramirez Street was the subject of an earlier blog post.

Third-generation Californian Arcadia Bandini de Stearns de Baker married Abel Stearns (she was 14, he was 43), and the couple hosted many parties at their home, El Palacio.  Arcadia Street runs near their former place of residence.  Following Abel's death, she remarried to Robert Baker.  With Baker she co-founded the city of Santa Monica.  Abel Stearns was a highly successful cattle baron.  He also held title to Rancho Los Alamitos, which is why there is Stearns Street in nearby Long Beach.

Bearded Antonio Franco Coronel was married to Mariana Coronel, although the lady seated by him does not resemble her.  The power couple hosted writer Helen Hunt Jackson in her travels to southern California which led Jackson to complete her novel Ramona.  Coronel was city mayor, state treasurer and a forward-thinking individual.  Much of the papers, photographs and material artifacts collected by the Coronels are today housed in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.  Coronel Street, located at the base of Elysian Park, was named in 1887, while the yard pictured above may have been his home at 8th and Alameda.  Read more here.

This endearing portrait of Mrs. Stoneman (Mary Oliver Hardisty from Baltimore) and Governor George Stoneman was taken about the time of their marriage.  He had served in the Mexican War and the Civil War and was a California governor from 1883 to 1887.  Stoneman Avenue in Alhambra is named for him.

At first glance one might guess the photo above to be of a father and child.  The man was Romulo Pico, son of Andres Pico (and nephew to Pio Pico).  The girl was Catalina (or Catarina), a ward of Andres Pico, and later was married to Romulo.

Trinidad Ortega, mentioned earlier above in the Pio Pico family portrait, appears in this later full-length photograph.  She was the "primavera" for which Spring Street was named.

Ygnacio Del Valle was a member of the family that operated Rancho San Francisco that straddled today's Los Angeles and Ventura counties.  Unclear whether he was a son of the patriarch with the same name.  Another family member, Reginaldo, is better remembered for being one of the founders of UCLA.

Actress Mabel Normand at the site of the very early Biograph motion picture studio at Pico and Georgia Streets near today's L.A. Live.

Mr. and Mrs. William Marcus Moore of Pasadena.  He was a tailor, and she worked as a nurse.

Mrs. Soo Hoo Mon Sing, pictured above in a Christmastime portrait, 1908.  She was an affluent Chinese woman in early Los Angeles, with a complete family.  She was profiled in this blog post.

The unidentified Chinese man in the foreground, donning a western-style boaters hat, had a weary, forlorn expression.  He quite possibly had a wife and family back in China.

Members of the Dominguez family with friends.

Hometown Proud: on L.A.'s Gary Leonard

To those not familiar with photographer Gary Leonard, you must be new in town. Welcome to L.A.

His accomplishments are incomparable.

And for forty years his photos must have been preparing Angelenos for the invention of the Selfie.

Early L.A. Punk Music

The momentum to monumentally document Los Angeles for Gary perhaps started with the L.A. punk music scene, reflected in his select photo contributions to the 1997 book Make the Music Go Bang! edited by Don Snowden.  Most of his shots contained there date from 1980 and 1981.  In recollecting those years to this blogger, Gary was not an outsider looking in – he said “the point is that I was not just studying the natives, I am a native.” 

The man behind the camera never stood the chance to remain facelessly anonymous.  Though one could not call him greGaryous, his omnipresence and mindful manner has made him a friend to many.

His job assignments at the local papers send him to the heart of the action, such as by his current employers, Los Angeles Downtown News and the online LA Observed.  The latter provides a regular "Take My Picture Gary Leonard" web feature for his takeaways from the streets and people of the city.  "Take My Picture Gary Leonard" had been featured too at previous papers, L.A. Reader and L.A. New Times. 

Gary Sees Us Equally, Honestly

He wrote in the introduction of his 2003 book Symphony in Steel:  Walt Disney Concert Hall Goes Up “…I’ve shot upwards of a million images of my hometown.  My archives are filled with politicians, punk rockers, groundbreakings, cult conventions, political conventions, the famous, infamous and un-famous…”

A chapter in Make the Music Go Bang! provided this observation from musician Exene Cervenkova:  “Gary Leonard took the photos back then the same way he does now.  He sees something and becomes instantly connected to it.”  “And this is the best thing left from those days; because these pictures and some big black records you probably haven’t heard are honest.  Honest, faithful and endowed with the lives that are gone.”

City of the Angels

In recent years, Gary has put angels back in the city name.

(This photo and all images below taken by E. Uyeda unless otherwise noted)

An Interview Via Email

Q:  During the 1992 L.A. Riots, you were out there documenting those tense days.  Many of your photos appear to be taken from the street, such as among moving cars.  Were you mostly shooting while in a vehicle?
GL:  I did much of the shooting while standing up through the sunroof in a late model Volvo Sedan.

Q:  So you were driving the Volvo, or you had a driver?
GL:  Anne Stein drove her Volvo while me and my 15 year old son took pictures.

Q:  Were you apprehensive about the state of volatility, that someone might be ticked off feeling exploited by a stranger pointing a camera?
GL:  No. My thoughts were all about getting the shots.

Q:  This may sound like a police interrogation, but nearly six years earlier, where were you the morning of April 29th, 1986, when the fire broke out at the Los Angeles Central Library?
GL:  I was having breakfast at Millie’s diner on Sunset in Silverlake.

Q:  Was 1986 a different mindset - we didn't have instantaneous communications - you were not aware of it?  You did not take any photos of the fire then?
GL:  I did not photograph the library.

Q:  You have donated thousands of your photographs to the Los Angeles Public Library.  You once said that you wanted to give back to the institution that you greatly benefited.  Can you elaborate on what the library has meant to you?
GL:  studying the photo collection, meeting and getting to know the Librarian Carolyn Kozo Cole put me on the path. Here was a place for me to add photographs from my time for the future generations interested in times gone by here in L A.

Q:  Is there a meaning for your signature on your photographs “X:  Gary Leonard”?
GL:  it’s my trademark. It means “product of”.

Q:  Who was the first person you photographed with the angel wings?
GL:  my friend Francisco Siqueiros. He is an Artist and master printer. His shop, El Nopal, is at 109 West 5th.

Q:  At sports events you have been inspired by the energy of the crowds, such as photographing the spectators as they sang the national anthem.  How do you personally feel about Randy Newman’s song “I Love L.A.”?
GL:  I like how it’s a native view.

Q:  Have you photographed Dodgers fans specifically when that song is played?
GL:  that’s a good idea but the thing about the national Anthem is you can see it because people have their hands over their hearts.


"Los Angeles Town"

It seemed appropriate to ask Gary (who apparently loves L.A.) about the Randy Newman song.  “I Love L.A.” was released in 1983, and then the next year the Summer Olympics arrived in Los Angeles. 

Newman’s songwriting genius tapped into something intangible for a hometown pride song, though the requisite allusions are there - car culture, the boulevards, the Beach Boys, the geography, the girls.  But, in Newman fashion, he hinted at the dismal also, perhaps of urban socioeconomic ills.

The song became bigger than Newman in more recent years when sports stadiums adopted its cheerful connotations and used it to inspire rousing crowds as their teams scored big.

Several years early, in 1981, there was another city song to commemorate the bicentennial celebration ringing in 200 years since the founding of L.A. in September, 1781.  “Los Angeles Town,” by Oklahoma-born, Florida-based Watie Riley Pickens and Bobby Lee Cude, may have gotten some mileage through middle and high school bands when the duo sponsored a school district (LAUSD) competition.

As in "I Love L.A." the Pickens-Cude song also references a street, “Figueroa’s never shut down.” It also touts “see where millions come to play, see why they all love L.A.” “You ain’t seen nothin, they all say! Not until you’ve seen L.A.”  Archival materials about this song's undertaking can be researched at the Seaver Center for Western History Research at the Natural History Museum.

Archivally Speaking

Discussing archival collections in the 

Seaver Center for Western History Research, which happens

to be the oldest, publicly accessible historical archive in the city,
located in the Natural History Museum.
Pictured with Gary are staff archivists Brent Riggs and John Cahoon.

Some of Gary's stuff in his own archival space

L.A. Central Library

October 13th, Tom LaBonge and Gary
at the 25th anniversary of the reopening of the Central Library

Former city councilman Tom LaBonge and Gary are both active donors of their own photographs to the L.A. Public Library's photo collection.

As Gary revealed in the Q&A above, it was from learning about the work of Carolyn Kozo Cole at the library that led him to be "photo-anthropic."  Librarians enlisted the community to delve into their private family photograph archives and donate copies.  The 1991 Shades of L.A. project grew out of an awareness that there existed a large void in the visual record of the lives of ordinary citizens in a diversely inhabited region.

Photographing GARY LEONARD Photographing

Capturing the conversations with Monsignor Francis J. Weber

March, 16, 2018

A visit to the Seaver Center June 12, 2018

A three-camera-toting assignment at the Mark Taper Auditorium 
featuring author Stephen Gee and architect Norman Pfeiffer.  
October 13, 2018, 25th anniversary of the reopening of the Central Library

(Click on image for enlargement)

Bukowski Photographing

German-born poet and writer Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) lived most of his life in Los Angeles. His body of work, like Gary's, was honest and shaped by the city. Bukowski credited his creative streaks to wine, beer and solitude.

But his mention here also offers a contrast to Gary Leonard's impulses, in that Gary's art has been achieved by solidarity.

And Gary's portraits and visual compositions provide a means for a more tolerant Los Angeles.

Courtesy PBA Galleries Auctioneers & Appraisers

In Closing

A two-camera day visiting the Archival Center for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
at Mission San Fernando, March 2018

Update 11.9.2024:  check out Gary's pet project in documenting the construction of the 6th Street Bridge (Viaduct).

Roland Kato on the Road with John Denver - the 1975 Spring Concert Tour

On this anniversary of singer and superstar John Denver's death in 1997, Los Angeles Revisited presents a guest post by fellow Angeleno Roland Kato, who was a member of JD's orchestra during a nationwide tour in 1975.

Roland is pictured in the Kent Twitchell mural, "Harbor Freeway Overture" in downtown L.A., as seen below in a couple of photos taken years apart by this blogger while inching up the northbound 110 Harbor Freeway. 

What is his association with this mural?  Roland explains his lifelong "occu-passion" with music, being a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, crossing paths with the likes of Tim Burton, David Hasselhoff, Pee Wee Herman, Yo-Yo Ma...and importantly, his connection to John Denver.  Even the late Jonathan Gold gave a nod to Roland while introducing a restaurant in a 2017 review.  Also more on the mural later down this post:



Three-panel mural of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra,
created between 1991 and 1994

Roland is positioned in the rear of the group,

to your right of the person standing furthest back

My First Big Gig

I was born in East L.A. at the Japanese American Hospital in the suburb of Boyle Heights on February 15, 1953 to parents Hideo and Masaye (Sato) Kato.

Because my sister, Terri, had already started taking violin lessons, that meant I also had to, didn’t it? I posthumously thank my parents for being so accommodating. I first started on violin in the 4th grade at Lockwood Ave. Elementary School, and after a very memorable field trip to the Shrine Auditorium in the 5th grade to hear an excerpted performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute, my fate as a musician was forever sealed. This was the first time I heard a beautiful, live and lush symphonic orchestra!

I attended Thomas Starr King Jr. High (here I switched from violin to viola), then John Marshall High, during which time I was also enrolled in the High School of the Arts program at the California Institute of the Arts (or CalArts, the brainchild of Walt Disney). It was at CalArts where I received my first intensive exposure to orchestral and chamber music and music theory. In 1970, I was accepted into the college-level program and was granted a full scholarship to study privately with renowned violist David Schwartz of the Yale Quartet earning my BFA and MFA degrees.




John Marshall High School Promotional Piece, 1971

As a side note, I brushed elbows with some now-notable schoolmates or “CalArtians,” like Ed Harris, Tim Burton, John Lasseter, Don Cheadle, and even David Hasselhoff; however, one in particular stands out: Paul Rubens, who often stood guard in front of the CalArts cafeteria and absolutely loved taunting onlookers. It was a first for me to be taunted by any negligée-clad person for just rolling my eyes. Who would have known he would later hone his theatre craft into the memorable character, Pee Wee Herman?

But I digress! To say CalArts was an eye-opening experience for the uninitiated is putting it mildly. It seems my life path was steered towards people in high places and especially Rocky-Mountain-High places, when I was allowed to leave school to tour with John Denver in 1975 on his 6-week Spring Tour through the U.S.

Because I was living the secluded college life of a poor student way out in what was once a very desolate Newhall, with its onion farms and long stretches of nothing but the Saugus Café, Tip’s Coffee Shop, and no car nor TV, I hadn’t a clue who John Denver was. All that changed when I was selected as one of a 5-member core of principal players, whose duty it was to oversee our own musicians du jour throughout this 28-city adventure. I met so many wonderful people on this tour and am sorry I haven’t stayed connected to them.

Our tour started in Mobile, Alabama and after a few of the concerts, I could understand why John Denver had such captive audiences. His natural abilities of musicianship, technique and earnestness won him many fans who would crowd the large college venues or stadiums to capacity.

Our tour transport was very special. We flew on a private jet (a Boeing 720 called The Starship) owned by singer Bobby Sherman and his manager. This jet was not configured like your normal jet. All the seating in the front were long sofas (with seat belts!) along the walls of the plane and in the rear were two small bedrooms with fake fireplaces! I loved all the catered meals we had onboard! Quality food for this college student was a rare commodity, so please excuse my food-centric tendencies.

My fellow tour colleague Phil Ayling recounts a story told to him by Bianca (one of our three flight attendants), regarding a near disaster while flying on this jet with Led Zeppelin, “Their drummer John Bonham (who died in his early 30’s) had tried to open the plane door while they were in flight. He was completely loaded, and it took both stewardesses to restrain him. She said that the other band members were also loaded and were just laughing, but if one of them had decided to help John open the plane door, they would have been in real trouble!”

I’m happy to report we did not experience any craziness like that on our flights! The only terrible incident I recall was a very turbulent entry into Minneapolis, where our jet made sudden rollercoaster-like dives and jolts during an epic thunderstorm. For a first-time flying experience it certainly was initiation by fright. To my knowledge, no one lost their cookies!

This grueling tour wasn’t all hard work! When we arrived in Arizona, about six days before the tour’s end, John D. arranged to rent a go-cart track for the entire touring entourage! It appears this event was well-planned and we even got blue souvenir T-shirts that read, “John Denver 1st Annual Phoenix 100”. John loved fast moving things like cars and planes and so it was expected that his competitive spirit would surface. I think I managed to get his adrenaline going when the two of us were neck in neck for the finish line at one point during the afternoon. It was a great way to let off a little stress! (By the way, I let him win, ha-ha.) This was a wonderful social event where I got a chance to meet the infamous Annie (his wife) and their baby son Zack.

For every performance, the opening act for JD was a six-member group called Liberty. I’m not certain, but I think they were based in Canada. The only member of the group with whom I had conversations was bass and dobro player Larry Gottlieb who was the son of a very famous couple, (in L.A. classical music circles) violinist, Eudice Shapiro and cellist, Victor Gottlieb. Eudice was for many years a soloist at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado & later the first woman to perform as concertmaster in a major movie studio, RKO. She occupied that position for 23 years until she became a respected professor of the string faculty of the University of So. Ca. for 50 years. Her husband (who died too early, age 42) was an extremely gifted cellist and principal of the Aspen Festival cello section. He also performed as principal cello of the RKO studio orchestra. Unfortunately, I’m sorry to say that Larry’s band Liberty, had a short shelf life for reasons I do not know.

Liberty's sole LP from Roland's Collection

Some of the notable studio musicians who joined the Los Angeles portion of the tour were very active members of what was familiarly known by some in Hollywood as The Wrecking Crew (coined by drummer Hal Blaine). This group of accomplished and unrecognized musicians was memorialized in a recent movie documenting their innumerable and dedicated backup for many rock-and-roll groups during the 50’s-70’s. The three Crew members I vividly remember from our tour were bassist Dick Kniss, and drummers-percussionists Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer.

Our “fearless leader,” well-known conductor, composer, and arranger Lee Holdridge couldn’t have been a nicer guy. His beautiful arrangements were fun to play, and during the course of the tour he often revised some of our parts by adding little solos (probably to keep us engaged)! I really appreciated that. The other four musicians in our core group of five were violinist Elliot Fisher, cellist Dana Reese, woodwind doubler Phil Ayling, and french hornist Jim Atkinson. Sadly, I believe Elliot died in an auto accident while on vacation in Europe and I have not heard hide nor hair of Dana; however, I have occasionally seen Phil and Jim over the past 43 (e-gad!) years since our tour! Time certainly flies when you’re having a good time!


Roland has generously shared the amazing, rare photographs below, in which he says he likely took using a 35mm German-made Kodak Retina camera.  Sometime after reading an earlier post about JD on this blog, Roland remembered the photos he snapped from that year:




A portion of a typical audience seen here, stage right

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

Conductor Lee Holdridge waiting to do a sound check
(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

Over the past 40 years, Roland has played on various sessions that Lee scored.

Lee Holdridge before the downbeat

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

Bassist Dick Kniss

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

Drummer Earl Palmer; guitarist, possibly John Sommers; percussionist Hal Blaine

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

The five core orchestra people on this Spring tour also played on subsequent recording sessions at the RCA studio on Sunset & Wilcox (that building is now the L.A. School of Film) of the new material played on the tour. Those recordings which were probably made in ’75-76 may have ended up on later albums. 

Drummer Earl Palmer between tunes

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

Cellist Dana Reese
(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

The view from Roland's stand of JD talking to the audience

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)



JD boarding a bus

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

Lee Holdridge and concertmaster Elliot Fisher
(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

JD leaving a hotel

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

A Ping Pong Break Between Concerts

Earl Palmer in a game of ping pong

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

Dick Kniss during a match

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

Percussionist, Hal Blaine and woodwind doubler, Phil Ayling
(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

JD playing ping pong

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

JD victorious?  Or defeated?

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

Go-Carting in Phoenix

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

JD raring to go

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)



(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

JD (white T-shirt), Hornist Jim Atkinson (sunglasses dark T-shirt), woodwind player,
Phil Ayling (far right). Unidentified are three men talking to JD
(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

JD and his infant son Zack, resting after go-carting

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

Annie at the go-cart track

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

Baby Zack & JD (Annie is out of the photo frame)

(Photo courtesy of Roland Kato)

Roland's Career with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

(Photo courtesy of Dana Ross)

The following run-down of his career was compiled by Roland himself.  But this blogger will first mention something else - in 2017 the late Times food critic Jonathan Gold reviewed a Sawtelle district restaurant "Kato" this way:  "The restaurant is named for the Green Hornet sidekick played by Bruce Lee in the '60s TV series, although I was kind of hoping that it was named for the Los Angeles viola virtuoso Roland Kato."


Described by the Los Angeles Times as “a brilliant virtuoso, playing with the perfect combination of energy and eloquence,” internationally acclaimed viola recitalist and soloist Roland Kato has been a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 1976 with Sir Neville Marriner. He was appointed principal viola by lona Brown in 1987. He has also held the principal position in many orchestras including the L.A. Opera Orchestra, the Pasadena Symphony, the California Chamber Symphony and the Pasadena Chamber Orchestra.

A sought-after chamber musician, Roland participates in many chamber series in Los Angeles. He plays with the Santa Clarita Chamber Players and performed with Pacific Serenades in that ensemble’s Carnegie Hall debut. He was invited to appear as guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has also performed with the New York New Music Ensemble. He was honored to join Yo-Yo Ma in a chamber music concert benefiting cancer research.

Roland has appeared as soloist/recitalist on both viola and viola d’amore throughout the United States and abroad for LACO. In November 2002, Roland and LACO concertmaster Margaret Batjer performed the West Coast premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Double Concerto in B minor for Violin and Viola. Internationally, he has appeared at the Festival Casals in Puerto Rico; Festival Internacional de Musica in Costa Rica and the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival in Bonefro, Italy. His festival appearances in the US include the Grand Canyon Chamber Music, Oregon Bach, Carmel Bach and San Luis Obispo Mozart festivals; the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego; Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon, the Strings in the Mountains Festival in Colorado, Sitka, AK; and the Garth Newel Festival in Hot Springs, VA.

Roland produced the first-ever recording of Telemann’s Quatrieme Livre de Quatours, a collection of six chamber pieces performed by the period instrument ensemble American Baroque, on the Koch Classics International label. This Grammy-nominated recording has just been re-released on the Music and Arts label. His discography also includes recordings alongside Ransom Wilson and Marni Nixon, and recordings of music by Tania French and Mark Carlson. The Carlson recording, Hall of Mirrors, was awarded the Chamber Music America/WQXR Record Award for 2001. In 2003, Carlson dedicated his viola sonata, On the Coming of War to Roland and Pianist Joanne Pearce Martin. It was subsequently recorded in 2011.

Roland’s arrangements and transcriptions have been performed worldwide. His transcription of Prokofiev’s Music For Children was recently given its New York premiere, and his arrangement of Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite was premiered at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC by the New Hampshire-based Apple Hill Chamber Players. The Washington Post wrote, “[Kato] surprisingly caught the subtleties of the composer’s sparely tinted orchestral brush strokes and poetic watercolor depictions of the five fairy tales.” This arrangement received its European premiere in Ireland and has subsequently been performed worldwide.

As a musical representative of the United States, Roland has twice joined with principals and members of the Berlin Philharmonic to play symphonic music in European capitals under the sponsorship of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Most recently, the musicians donated their services for the performances of the Verdi Requiem in Paris and Berlin to benefit orphans of the war in Bosnia.

In 2016, after being a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for 40 years Roland decided to call it quits. Two years prior he had stopped doing any and all commercial work which spanned 1,000’s of motion picture scores, TV shows, commercial spots and rock and roll sessions. Sadly, it became too painful to play because of his osteoarthritis. He doesn’t miss most of the music making, but he does miss playing chamber music. He’s not down and out completely though. He does still enjoy his music arranging and has gotten back into that a bit and can’t wait to pursue another fine restaurant that’s either around the corner or in some exotic city far away. Any interest in hearing about his travel and scrumptious foodie experiences from around the world?


The Public Mural "Harbor Freeway Overture"

Roland kindly obliged this blogger's request to identify the individuals on the mural.

He explained that the mural was funded by ANA Airlines. Their CEO, Tachi Kiuchi was also a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra board in 1991 when it was painted by muralist Kent Twitchell. After 27 years, Roland says Julie Gigante is the only remaining person in the mural who is still in the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

As an interesting side note, Roland's cousin Waynna Kato is in another early mural painted by Mr. Twitchell depicting notable Otis art students. Roland has never seen it in the flesh, but believes the mural is in Torrance.

Torrance mural

Visit the earlier posts on JD:  John Denver in L.A. and YouTube and The Sixties and John Denver at the Grammy Museum Los Angeles.