About The Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew's
The Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew's was
formed in 1985 as a resident professional ensemble at St.
Matthew's Episcopal Church in Pacific Palisades, California.
Counting among its members some of the
finest professional freelance musicians in Los Angeles, the fully-professional, thirty-five member ensemble
has received critical acclaim for its stylish performances of music from
all periods and has been referred to as "a
jewell in Westside [L.A.] musical life".
During its twenty-five year residence at St. Matthew's
Church, the orchestra and it's parent organization, St. Matthew's Music
Guild, has presented over 200 concerts, featuring some of the most outstanding
national and international artists on today's musical stage. Of equal
importance, the orchestra frequently features its own members as soloists
and, on occasion, enjoys performing music by member-composers
such as Benedikt Brydern.
The orchestra and St. Matthew's Music Guild are particularly
proud of the more than 25 world premieres that have taken place over
the years – many of which were of works commissioned by or for the Music
Guild.
In its Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Season, St. Matthew's Music
Guild commissioned six new works (listed below).
St. Matthew’s Music Guild's President, Fred Doering

Fred Doering
Fred Doering was elected President of the Music Guild in 2009. He received a BA degree from Harvard University in economics and a Master's Degree in Communications from Northwestern University. Following executive positions in the metals industry, Fred founded Fred Doering Associates, a multimedia training and communication firm. He innovated new approaches to electronically mediated corporate education, focusing on industries that were generally late adapters of technology, enabling the difficult transition by proving both the economic and learning advantages of adaptive instruction.
His programs have included award winning pioneering interactive initiatives in a variety of industries including Distribution, Financial Services, Manufacturing and Telecommunications. He has written extensively on communication effectiveness, and his academic interests include creative narrative as a vehicle for increasing effectiveness and the measurement of potential through situational adaptability.
Fred has been involved with instrumental and choral music since early childhood. At the Choate School he was president of the Glee Club and the Mayeros, a twelve-man a cappella group, and at Harvard he was a member of the Glee Club and the Dunster Dunces. He has been a member of choirs in Shaker Heights, Chicago, and Pacific Palisades. He served on the advisory board of Music of the Baroque in Chicago.
Fred and his wife, Sarah, live in Malibu with their dog Thelma, who has a tremendous sense of entitlement.
Commissions and Repertoire
Hear some excerpts from pieces we have commissioned over the past several seasons.
Dwayne Milburn: Four Water Scenes for Clarinet
and Orchestra (Music Guild Commission) MP3
Marc Falcone: Bells (Organ and Orchestra)
MP3
Joseph Curiale: Four Encores (Trumpet,
English Horn, Clarinet, French Horn solos with Orchestra)
Roger Bourland: The Night Train (Flute,
Cello, Harp and Percussion solos and Orchestra) MP3
Paul Chihara: Magnificat (Vocal Ensemble
and Orchestra) MP3
Gerald Near: Apostrophe to the Celestial
Spheres: The Spacious Firmament on High (Choir and Organ) MP3
Selected Repertoire, 1984-2007
Adams: Voyage
J. S. Bach: Brandenburg Concertos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Christmas Oratorio
- Cantatas 37, 53, 82, 140, 147, 172, 189
- Concerto in C minor for Violin & Oboe
- Concerto for Two Harpsichords
- Magnificat
- Motet: Der Geist hilft
- St. John Passion
- Overtures Nr. 1, 2, 3
Barber: Capricorn Concerto
Bearer: Ultrasonics I (World Premiere, Music Guild
commission)
Beethoven: Choral Fantasy
- Creatures of Prometheus Overture
- Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2, 3
- Romance for Violin and Orchestra
- Symphonies 1 - 9
Berio: Folksongs
Berlioz: Nuit d'Ete
Bloch: Concerto Grosso
Boccherini: Cello Concerto in G
Bourland: The Night Train (World Premiere, Music Guild
Commission)
- Far into Night (Premiere, revised version)
Bright Sheng: Postcards
Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb
- Les Illumination
- Nocturne for Tenor, Strings & 7 Obbligato Instruments
- Serenade
- Simple Symphony
- Te Deum
Broughton: English Music
Bruch: Violin Concerto in G minor
Brydern: Three Songs for Mezzo and String Orchestra
Chihara: Magnificat (World Premiere, Music Guild Commission)
Copland: Appalacian Spring
- Clarinet Concerto
- Quiet City
- Theater Music
Corelli: Concerti Grossi
Curiale: Encores (World Premiere, Music Guild Commission)
- Passages (World Premiere)
Danzi: Konzertstück No. 2 in G minor
Davison: "From my Travels" for Flute and Orchestra Debussy: Dances sacrée et profane
Debussy/Schoenberg: Prèlude a l'Aprés-Midi
d'un Faune Delius: On hearing the first cuckoo in Spring; Summer
night on the river
Del Tredici: Dracula (West Coast Premiere)
Dupré: Poème Héroïque
Duruflé: Requiem
Dvorak: Serenade for Strings
- Serenade for Winds
- Waldesruhe
Eisler: Septett No. 2 (Zirkus)
Elgar: Serenade
Falcone: Elegy (U.S. Premiere)
- Sinfonia (World Premiere)
- Bells (World Premiere)
Farzinpour: Ich habe genug (World Premiere)
Faure: Pavanne; Masques et Bergamasques
Finzi: Five Bagatelles
Françaix: L'Horlogue de Flore
- Octour
- 7 Dances from the ballet "Les Malheurs de Sophie"
- String Symphony
Francescini: Concerto for Two Trumpets
Fussell: Being Music
Gershwin: Porgy & Bess (excerpts, concert performance)
- Lullaby for Strings
- Rhapsody in Blue (original dance band version)
Grieg: Holberg Suite
Handel: Concerti Grossi
- Concerto in C for Organ (Broadcast on Nat’l Public Radio)
- Coronation Anthems
- Messiah
- Roman Vespers
- Utrecht Te Deum
- Water Music
Harrison: Suite for Violin, Piano & Chamber Orchestra
Haydn: Concerto in C for Harpsichord and Strings
- Concerto in D for Trumpet (Broadcast on Nat’l Public Radio)
- Concerto in D for Cello
- Concerto in C for Violin
- Organ Concerto No. 1
- Harmoniemesse; Missa Cellensis; Mass in the Time of War
- Symphonies Nos. 45, 63, 83, 94, 96, 100, 101, 102
Honegger: Concerto da Camera
- Summer Pastorale
- Symphony No. 4
Ives: Symphony Nr. 2 & 3
- Three Places in New England (Chamber Orchestra version)
- Unanswered Question
Korngold: Suite from Much ado about Nothing
Lauridsen: Lux aeterna
Lutoslawski: Dance Preludes
Mahler: Kindertotenlieder (arranged for Chamber Orchestra)
Martin: Passacaglia
Martinu: Nonet
- Rhapsodie Concertante
- Sinfonia Giacosa
- Sinfonietta La Jolla
Matson: Range of Light (World Premiere)
Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night’s Dream (Suite)
- Symphony No. 4 (Italian)
- Violin Concerto
Milburn: Suite for Chamber Orchestra (World Premiere)
Moore: Ballad of Baby Doe (excerpts, concert version)
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for Violin & Viola
- Sinfonia Concertante for Winds
- Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 for Horn
- Concerto Nos. 2 & 4 for Violin
- Concerto for Bassoon; Concerto for Clarinet
- Concertos Nos. 14, 19 & 23 for Piano; Concerto for Two Pianos
- Coronation Mass, Missae brevis
- Magic Flute Overture
- Marriage of Figaro (concert performance)
- Posthorn Serenade
- Requiem
- Serenade in G (Eine kleine Nachtmusik)
- Serenades in C minor and E-flat major, for winds
- Symphonies 20, 27, 29, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41
- Vesperae Solennes de Confessore
Near: Apostrophe to the Celestial Spheres: The Spacious
Firmament on High (World Premiere)
Nielsen: Suite for Strings
Newman: Concerto gross
- Young Person’s Guide (World Premiere)
Newmark: High-strung Fun (World Premiere)
- New Dimension Overture (World Premiere)
Pärt: Fratres
Pasatieri: Serenade (World Premiere)
Pergolesi: La Serva padrona (concert version)
Phillips: Concertino (World Premiere)
- Harpsichord Concerto (World Premiere)
Pinkham: Christmas Cantata Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf
- Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Poulenc: Gloria
Ravel: Mother Goose Suite
- Pavanne
- Trois poemes de S. Mallarme
Respighi: Ancient Airs & Dances
- Il Tramonto
- Trittico Botticelliano
Rorem: Violin Concerto
Rossini: The Barber of Seville Overture
- The Italian Girl in Algiers Overture
Rozsa: Rhapsody for Violin (World Premiere)
Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals
- Introduction and Rondo; Havanaise
Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (String Orchestra
version)
Schnittke: Sonata for Violin & Chamber Orchestra
Schubert: Mass in C
Schumann: Piano Concerto
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2
Sibelius: Suite caracéristique
Stravinsky: Concerto “Dumbarton Oaks”
- L’Histoire du Soldat
- Pulcinella Suite
- Ragtime
- Danses concertantes
Takemitsu: Archipelago S.
Tavener: To a Child Dancing in the Wing
Tchaikovsky: Valse-Scherzo
Teleman: Don Quixote
Vaughan Williams: Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus
- The Lark Ascending
- Oboe Concerto
Vivaldi: Concerto for Four Violins
- Concerto for Two Cellos
- Concerto for Two Violins & Two Cellos
- Concerto for Piccolo
- Four Seasons
Wagner: Sigfried Idyll
Walton: Façade
Warlock: Capriol Suite
Weill: Suite from “Three-penny opera”
Wright: Four Talents (World Premiere)
- Concerto for Tenor Saxophone and Orchestra (World Premiere, Music
Guild Commission)
- Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra (World Premiere, Music Guild
Commission)
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