Concert ideal way to decompress

DOWNEY - December holidays got you bushed? Tired of hustling the malls, too much television, too many cookies, too many decorations wrestled into storage again? Need to mellow out?How about your New Year's celebrations? Feeling over-hyped on the same old, same old stuff? Need to mellow out? There's a Saturday evening performance coming to the Downey theatre Jan. 28 that will do the trick. It's called "Strings Spectacular," and mellowness is guaranteed, along with fun and good energy and forget-your-troubles, because you'll hear the highly praised string section of the Downey Symphony in a ravishing program of the best in music. If you already know these names - Mozart, Vivaldi, Dvorak - you understand you're in for a treat. If you don't know music by these guys, come to this concert and discover why they have been inspiring the human spirit, in people exactly like us, for centuries. The program, under Music Director Sharon Lavery, begins at 8 p.m., with a pre-concert discussion at 7:15. The featured soloist is South Korean violinist Youjin Lee, winner of this year's Young Artist Competition. Tickets at $30 and $25, $10 for students, are available through the theater box office, (562) 861-8211. The theater is at 8435 Firestone Blvd., with free parking. And do visit the orchestra website, downeysymphony.org. On Jan. 28, we look forward to sending a lot of stressed-out people back into the world, happy and very mellow.

********** Published: January 12, 2012 - Volume 10 - Issue 39