About us.

Who are we?

Musica Transalpina is a professional ensemble dedicated to the research & historically-informed performance of baroque sacred music. We were founded as both a vocal and an instrumental group, which makes us unique in the United States. We began as the resident baroque ensemble of a working-class parish in south Los Angeles, bringing world-class performances to a demographic not typically exposed to classical music. The response from our community was so overwhelmingly enthusiastic that we decided to expand our vision to appeal to a broader classical music loving audience.

While the repertoire we focus on is presently obscure, we want to bring the forgotten masterpieces of the early baroque fully into the mainstream by presenting first-rate performances of large-scale liturgical music from the seventeenth century. Our mission is to cultivate local, Southern California-based talent to make Los Angeles the leading city for early music in the nation. We know this is possible due to our research capabilities and the robustness of our nation-wide network of elite musical talent.

Why church music?

Some of the most beautiful and historically important music of the 16th and 17th centuries was composed for the Church to reflect the piety, power, and prestige of the popes, emperors, and nobility who commissioned these magnificent works. While the bulk of the music from this time period was intended for the Church, the sacred repertoire of this period is performed with far less frequency than the secular music of this period, and it is practically unknown in America. Our diverse roster of musicians all agree on the importance of bringing these forgotten masterpieces back to life.

Meet our musicians

Bryan Roach

Musical Director

Bryan Roach is a Southern California native who studied choral & sacred music at USC’s Thornton School of Music. From a young age, he was immersed in the plainchant repertory of the Church, and as an undergraduate co-founded an ensemble dedicated to singing Tudor polyphony from the English choral tradition in its intended liturgical context.

Bryan is known for his impressive encyclopedic knowledge of the literature, his responsiveness, hard work, and his unwavering optimism, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable tasks. His strategic approach to rehearsals, uncompromising commitment to excellence, and absolute dedication to historical accuracy & authenticity have created relationships of trust.

His interest lies principally in the sacred repertoire of the seconda prattica, and he founded Musica Transalpina to explore the rich cultural exchange that occurred betweeen the Venteitian and Austrian schools of composition in the early seventeenth century. He is vice chairman of the USC Men’s Rowing alumni support board.

Noah Gladstone

Instrumental Lead

Noah Gladstone is an instrumental contractor and active performing musician, playing the trombone and other low brass instruments in the Los Angeles area. The staple of his musical work is in recording soundtracks for television, film, and video games, but he also performs with The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Chicago Symphony, and New West Symphony, to name a few. Mr. Gladstone is a graduate of USC’s Thornton School of Music (M. Mus. ’08), & is a founding member of Tesserae baroque ensemble.

NoahGladstone.com IMDB

Luc Kleiner

Vocal Lead

Luc Kleiner is a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator whose engagements with artists and ensembles span a broad array of media, styles, and traditions. Mr. Kleiner has been a member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale since 2014 and has traveled internationally, making music while maintaining faculty positions at several colleges around Los Angeles, currently sitting as adjunct professor of vocal pedagogy at Pomona College.

Luc Kleiner Biography

Get involved

We are constantly looking to add people to our mailing list and always welcome partnerships with those who would like to volunteer in an official capacity––such as by joining our Board of Directors––or in an unofficial capacity, such as helping with ticket sales or simply helping to spread the word about our project. Please do not hesitate to get in touch below.