Watch a video of Larry Wong performing with Leona Mitchell The Lyons Chamber Players seeks donations for a video of a unique arrangement from Camille Saint-Saens’ “Christmas Oratorio”. Larry Wong created this arrangement for a series of chamber music concerts in Los Angeles. His arrangement uses violin, horn, and cello instead of the usual vocal
The idea for the Lyons Chamber Players started years ago when I was playing principal horn with the Zagreb Philharmonic in Croatia. During that time I was asked to play some concerts and radio broadcasts with, i Solisti di Zagreb. This group used 13 strings and had an international reputation. It was led from the concertmaster chair by Tanko Ninic.
After returning to the U.S., from Zagreb, I moved to Los Angeles. There, I married a violinist who got her advanced training from a Russian husband and wife team. They produced many Tchaikovsky competition winners and concertmasters of major orchestras. I had told her for a number of years about the quality of i Solisti
With 13 players, the Lyons Chamber Players needed an intermediate sized venue with the right acoustics. This was proving difficult to find. It was also proving difficult. to find a convenient rehearsal time that worked for a group of busy free lancers. As it turned out, my friend, Neil Argo, got us our first job.