Free Admission
GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS
Every First & Third Wednesday at 12:10-12:40 pm,
has returned to live performances
in the Sanctuary of Glendale City Church!
RELAX DURING YOUR LUNCH HOUR WITH LIVE MUSIC
On Wednesday JANUARY 21, 2026
at 12:10 -12:40 pm PT
the Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts program
will be performed live in the Sanctuary of Glendale City Church.
610 E. California Ave Glendale, CA 91206
PARKING INFO:
https://glendalecitychurch.org/location
Glendale Noon Concerts
Wednesday JANUARY 21, 2026 at 12:10-12:40 pm PT
Kirstin Fife– violin, composer
Brendan White– piano
The theme of the January 21 concert is "Queens and Kings". "The Tarot Project" is a cycle of 78 pieces of music for violin and piano composed by Kirstin Fife. Every piece is a musical representation of each card in the Tarot Deck. While the ultimate performance is a musical tarot reading achieved by pulling random cards from the deck, for this performance we have curated a series of pieces by pre-selecting the Queens and Kings cards.
One of Wands (Creation)
………………………….………….………Kirstin Fife
Queens of “The Minor
Arcana”………………………………………Kirstin Fife
1.
Queen of Coins (Spirituality)
2.
Queen of Cups (Sensitivity)
3.
Queen of Swords (Honesty)
4.
Queen of Wands (Self Worth)
Kings of “The Minor Arcana”
……………………..…………….…..Kirstin Fife
1.
King of Swords (Intellect)
2.
King of Coins (Accomplishment)
3.
King of Cups (Maturity…or not)
4.
King of Wands (Power)
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE ARTIST BI0s &PROGRAM NOTES:STILL AVAILABLE! Watch
previous Glendale Noon Concerts streamed concerts
(April 2020-February 1, 2023):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oAfaPgGGMw&list=PLms1LJpnTpJzK7Yf6ryh2zyFMlkl7qC2z
Read about the previous programs:
http://glendalenoonconcerts.blogspot.com
Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1373504333843451
Preview of the next concert:
Wednesday FEBRUARY 4, 2026 at 12:10-12:40 pm
ARTIST BIOS:
Kirstin Fife is a violinist, performer, composer and teacher. As a composer/arranger/orchestrator, she has had several of her chamber works performed in Southern California, including “Dali Pieces” at the Newport Beach Library Concert Series, “Cornicopia” at the Glendale Noon Concerts, “Hair Pieces” at South Pasadena Presbyterian Church Concerts, and “The Major Arcana” at Sun Space. In April 2019, she was invited by Doug Tornquist to speak at USC about her “Tuba Sonatina.” Also, several tuba players worldwide, have performed her work for tuba and piano, “Basso Bossa”. In the fall of 2020, Santa Barbara Symphony presented a movement from her duo for flute and viola, “Indoor Games”. Most recently “Quintet for Flute and Strings” was premiered at the Glendale Noon Concerts in August of 2023. Other notable performances of Ms. Fife’s music at Glendale Noon Concerts include the “Sonata for Violin and Piano”, “Tango Johana” for violin and piano and “Charites” for solo Viola D’Amore. She was thrilled to have “Quintet for Clarinet and Strings” premiered by the Avanti Ensemble. Also, she and pianist Albert Wood Potts premiered her fourteen movement suite “Cups” last October at a private home recital. The Glendale Noon Concert on September 18, 2024 is the first time that six of the movements will be performed, publicly.
As a freelance violinist, she has released two solo CD’s “Pieces of My Heart” and “Czechmate”. As a session violinist, she has recorded extensively for movies, TV and records. She has performed on several award shows, including the Grammy Awards, Academy Awards and Emmy Awards. Most recently , (2023) she served as concertmaster for the Pasadena Playhouse’s production of ”A Little Night Music.” In addition, Kirstin has always maintained a private violin/viola teaching studio.
Kirstin Fife holds degrees from Yale University (MM) and USC (BM).
Brendan White is a Grammy-award-winning artist whose performances feature a wide range of classical and contemporary piano repertoire. Brendan is based in the L.A. area, where he collaborates with orchestras, chamber ensembles, and solo artists. He is a featured musician on Danaë Vlasse’s Grammy Award-winning album, 'Mythologies'. Brendan performs solo recitals celebrating new composers and historically overlooked masterpieces. His collaborations include performances with with the Eastman School’s Musica Nova, Vicente Chamber Orchestra, Global Harmony Symphony, Jackson Symphony, Symphony of the Verdugos, and more. As one of Piano Sphere's Emerging Artists, he has worked with notable composers and conductors including Thomas Adès, Alma Deutscher, Alan Pierson, Donald Crockett, and Steven Stucky.
A Tennessee native, Brendan studied at the Eastman School of Music and University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. In addition to his performance career, Brendan is passionate about music education and teaches students of all ages. He is an original member of the annual Sunset Chamberfest in Los Angeles, which features the work of young composers in Southern California.
PROGRAM NOTES:
The tarot is a deck of 78 cards originally used for
games, later used by gypsies for fortunetelling, and still later, Carl Jung as
a kind of Rorschach test. Each card has its own meaning, lesson, parable
or story. The deck is divided into two parts, the Major Arcana (22
cards) , and the Minor Arcana (56 cards). The word “arcana”
means “secret”.
I composed “The Major Arcana” a
cycle of 22 pieces for violin and piano, from 2013-2017. Each of the 22
movements corresponds to one of the fate cards in the Major Arcana. As in
a tarot reading, I would mix up the cards and then play the pieces in that
order: a musical representation of a tarot reading. The performance is
random and therefore always fresh. I gave several performances of this
piece through 2019, but I did not imagine that I would tackle “The
Minor Arcana” portion of the deck, as 56 cards seemed
daunting.
Enter the pandemic. Stuck at home, I composed
music for the 14 card suit of Cups. Cups is the emotional component of
the Minor Arcana, signifying matters of the heart. The energy of this
card is water. The fourteen cards are mini lessons or advice numbering from 1
to 10 and then four face cards (Page, Knight, Queen, King). Each piece begins
with a short poem describing aspects of the lesson. They are two stanzas
long, the first stanza represents the meaning of a card dealt in an upright
position and the second stanza represents a card dealt upside down, as the
direction of the card alters the meaning.
After finishing Cups, still stuck at home, I started
on pieces for the other suits, Wands (realm of creativity and energy - fire),
Swords (realm of the intellect - air) and Coins (matters of commerce -
earth). I composed the last of these pieces in early 2025. In
October 2025, with the help of Brendan, I workshopped the entire Minor Arcana
56 card suit, pulling cards randomly and performing those drawn.
As I can hardly expect anyone to sit through 4 plus
hours of music, this afternoon’s performance is curated from the cards of “The
Minor Arcana” into an “Overture” a Suite of “Queens”,
and a Suite of “Kings”. Queens represent the feminine
qualities of leadership, while Kings, also leadership cards, represent the end
of a cycle: the completion of the suit. The first card of each suit signifies a
new beginning. It seems appropriate to choose “One of Wands -
Creativity” to begin this afternoon’s recital.
