summary
California Music Studios students and teacher are featured – the Le Van Family Musicians of Anaheim Hills, California recently performed at the 26th Annual Jazz Festival in Munster, France. The acclaimed event spotlights top jazz performers worldwide and this year the three siblings and their father were featured as the opening act.
Continue reading
prREACH
Jul 26, 2013 /prREACH/ -- The Le Van Family Musicians of Anaheim Hills, California recently performed at the 26th Annual Jazz Festival in Munster, France. The acclaimed event spotlights top jazz performers worldwide and this year the three siblings and their father were featured as the opening act.
Sarah, 17, Solene, 15, and Sean Le Van, 12, are multitalented students of California Music Studios, headquartered in Encinitas, California. Their father, Eric, a renowned concert pianist, is a teacher associated with the company, which matches private music teachers with students throughout Southern California.
Sarah sings, plays violin and harp; Solene sings, plays violin, piano, mandolin and guitar; and Sean, who plays piano and violin is also a composer who has written 10 original pieces. In addition to being proficient on many instruments, the Le Vans are stylistically, with their repertoire ranging from jazz to bluegrass, from ragtime to opera.
While this marks the group’s first appearance at the festival, the Le Vans have given over 700 concerts at venues worldwide. They have appeared on television, acted in films, produced a series of DVDs and can be seen on YouTube.
The siblings believe their training with California Music Studios (CMS) and their performance experiences have helped them improve their craft. Sean says he enjoys the frequent CMS recitals, which allow students from throughout Southern California to perform together. “It gives us the opportunity to listen to other students and see what they have learned,” he said.
“Music training touches many aspects of life,” said Eric. “It builds character and a sense of pride. There’s no instant gratification; you learn that you work to reach goals over a period of time and it contributes to your success.”
As the opening act of the Munster festival, the Le Vans performed with the Michel Hausser Trio. Hausser is a celebrated French jazz vibraphonist and directed the event. A longtime friend of Eric, he invited the Le Vans to perform after hearing them play during a family trip to France last year. “It was an impromptu performance,” said Eric, “but I knew he was kind of auditioning the family.” The following day, they were invited to the festival.
“We received three standing ovations during our performance,” said Solene. “Michel got calls for days about how much people enjoyed it.”