Music

What is Mindulful Awareness?  And how do you do it?

Right now my brain thinking of a way to describe this new-age, medical concept while sending signals to the muscles in my fingers in order to type out, letter by letter, the words and eventual sentences to communicate this notion to an imagined, future audience.  Oh, and I’m hungry.  That’s Mindful Awareness: the “moment-by-moment process of actively and openly observing one’s physical, mental and emotional experiences.”

To hear more specific information about the proven health benefits of such exercises, as well as how to do them, head to the Hammer Museum at 12:30 PM this Thursday for their free weekly “drop in” session.  Leading the discussion is the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center’s Director of Mindfulness Education, Diana Winston, alongside Dr. Marvin Belzer, an expert practitioner of Mindful Awareness.

What is Gesamtkunstwerk?  And how do you sing it?

Well, Gesamtkunstwerk, pronounced ‘guess-amt-kunst-verk,’ is a term made famous by German composer, conductor, director, anti-Semite, and writer Wilhelm Richard Wagner, and it’s usually translated to mean “total artwork.”  Wagner, in all his “Ride of the Valkyries” gusto, had a vision of a kind of ‘future art,’  in which the end-result would be a synthesis for every art-form known to man (i.e. music, performance, drama, architecture, poetry, etc.).  It’s debatable whether or not Wagner actually achieved a true Gesamtkunstwerk in his work, but his deep influence and brilliance as a composer/writer of opera is hard to match, let alone perform.

At 7:00 PM on Thursday night at the Hammer Museum, Wagnerian singers Linda Watson and John Treleavan of the on-going Ring Festival LA (an enormous cultural compilation of lectures, exhibitions, shows, and conferences revolving around the first-ever Los Angeles performance of Wagner’s four-opera masterpiece, The Ring of the Nibelung) will discuss the intricacies of belting out complex tonal and chromatic changes, while still remaining a simple piece of the overall Gesamtkunstwerk.

What is the connection?  And why would you attend both lectures?

Besides the obvious similarity in setting, there does seem to be a thematic crossover between these two programs.  Both attempt to explain the whole in terms of its parts, and those parts in terms of their smaller parts, and so on.  This mode of thinking assumes there’s a greater organism at work, spinning wheels inside wheels, and what better way to get lost inside these rotations than to spend a day at the Hammer?  Either that, or write an opera.

“Mindful Awareness” starts at 12:30 PM on Thursday, March 11.  “Ring Festival: The Challenges of Singing Wagner” begins at 7:00 PM.  Both programs are free of admission, and take place at The Hammer Museum, located at 10899 Wilshire Blvd.  For more information, please call (310) 433-7000, or visit hammer.ucla.edu.

In an obvious turn of events, considering the children are the future, youth orchestras in Los Angeles have a chance to give the LA Philharmonic a run for their money own their own home court.  This Saturday at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, three youth orchestras have been invited to participate in the LA Phil’s Youth Orchestra Festival Day.  The Renaissance Arts Academy Orchestra, Korean American Youth Symphony, and the Santa Monica High School Orchestra will all take the stage to perform Mozart, Bizet, Tchaikosvky, Dvorak, and Bernstein in concerts set to last all day.

The Youth Orchestra Partners Program has six total participants that are presented with free concert tickets, master classes with LA Phil musicians, and this kind of opportunity to perform on stage at Disney Hall during their two year run in the program.  It is the Philharmonic’s way of making sure, six schools at a time, that classical music programs and youth orchestras are nurtured as they should be and are made to feel like valued parts of our local arts community.

Saturdays performances are set to provide us all with a marvelous perspective on what high school students are capable of when they have the right instruments in their hands.  From 1 – 1:45pm, the Renaissance Academy will delight with compositions by Holst, Bizet, Mozart, Adamis, and Orff.  Run off, have a snack at the café on the Music Center campus across the street.  Come back from 2:30pm – 3:15pm for the Korean American Youth Symphony’s take on works by Suppe, Saint-Saens, and Dvorak – a very enticing combination, if you think about it.

Run off again for a coffee, and jet back to your seats to finish off your day of discovering classical music with the Santa Monica High School Orchestra’s performance of works by Bernstein, Tchaikovsky, and Saint-Saens from 4 – 4:45pm.

You’ll discover that children are, indeed, the future and so is classical music.

The Youth Orchestra Festival Day performances will be held on Saturday, March 13 from 1pm – 4:45pm at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Click here or call (213) 972-3454 for more information.

With “See the Music, Hear the Dance,” an evening of three challenging choreographies by George Balanchine at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse, the Los Angeles Ballet has reaffirmed its ascendance as the ballet company for which Los Angeles has waited decades.

Chosen from the vast catalogue of works from Balanchine’s prodigiously long career, the LAB premieres of “Kammermusik No. 2” and “Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2,” and reprise of “Serenade” from Season 1, give audiences a glimpse into the limitless creativity of the greatest of 20th century choreographers.

As usual, Co-Artistic Directors Colleen Neary and Thordal Christensen greeted the packed auditorium. After a brief description of the dances and a couple of anecdotes about Neary’s work with Balanchine, the curtain rose on “Serenade” – the first of Balanchine’s creations after arriving in America in 1933. The perfection of the pale blue tableau of the women in the corps de ballet elicited spontaneous applause from the audience. With its kaleidoscope patterns of razor-straight lines melting into liquid curves, the piece showcases what has been perceived as LABs greatest strength – the flawless precision of their women’s ensemble.

With “Kammermusik No. 2,” the company has takes another huge step forward. The dance features two couples backed by an eight-man ensemble. In last year’s Prodigal Son, though the men’s corps showed their technical proficiency and strength, they had not quite homogenized their collective ears to Prokofiev’s score, such that they could dance together with absolute precision. But what a difference a year has made. The Hindemith piano/chamber ensemble opus is very difficult – but the group’s solid, cohesive musicianship allowed them to move as one through the avant garde combinations.
Unleashing powerful, lightning-fast athleticism coupled with uncanny fluidity, Melissa Barak commands the stage. There is, apparently, nothing she can’t do. She is squarely in her element in this piece. Her partner, the long-limbed and majestic Andrew Brader, is a perfect foil for Barak’s abandon. His stunning lifts break laws of gravity. Shadowing Barak is exuberant gamin Grace McLoughlin, who danced an endearing Effie in last year’s “La Sylphide.” Her diminutive size belies a large personality, and she expertly “works the room” for laughs during a series of Charleston-on-steroids maneuvers. Rounding out the quartet of soloists, Drew Grant’s guides his compact frame through the blazing pace with confidence and discipline.

The final work, “Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2,” is Balanchine’s 1973 revision of his “Ballet Imperial” from 1941, and utilizes every resource available to dazzle and astonish.  Monica Pelfrey shines in this very classical Balanchine homage to Petipa. Grand breadth of gesture and superb balance distinguish her dancing. New to LAB, one is confident that she will adapt her ‘English Royal Ballet’ style as she relaxes into this very American company. Also new to the company, Zheng Hua Li is a pleasant surprise as the romantic cavalier.  His beautiful, expressive face is no small asset, and his feet are about as perfect as feet get. The audience rewarded his clean execution of double tours-en-l’air and big, floating jetee’s with enthusiastic applause. As were the prolonged standing ovations that required multiple curtain calls.

By Penny Orloff

“Balanchine – ‘See the Music, Hear the Dance,’” has one last performance… Tonight! Head to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center for the 7:30pm performance. Click here or call (310) 998-7782 for more information.

Have you ever wondered what a fight for equal rights looks like through our contemporary artistic minds?  Forget what it looks like when Anderson Cooper discusses the issue and interviews the experts on CNN.  Nevermind what it looks like when thousands of angry protesters come together on the street waving signs telling passing cars to honk if they agree with the cause.  What does the fight for an equal rights issue look like through a painter’s eyes, a photographers eyes, and what does it sound like when a DJ spins a soundtrack to it all?

If you’ve recently wondered just what a group of the most talented and relevant artists in our time think when it comes to the issue of equal marriage rights, now is the time to make your way to 1341 Vine St. in Hollywood – The Manifest Equality Gallery.  To be frank, the collection of artwork is not an abstract, nor a complex look at the issue so much as it is a blunt and to-the-point reflection of what’s wrong with the fact that equal marriage rights are still not availed to any and all that want them.  Artists represented in the big, warehouse-like group show, set up in the former Big Lots! space include Shepard Fairey, Gary Baseman, Robbie Conal, and Bary McGee.  Their work is an amalgam of mediums, focal points, and aesthetic styles that all fit under the umbrella issue of once and for all supporting equal marriage rights for gay couples.

A DJ spins accompanying tunes during the day as locals, tourists, and curious passersby wander through the space taking a look at pieces of art and memorabilia that speaks to this no longer just grassroots movement.  The gallery will be open through this Sunday, March 7 at 10pm and it’s really worth shifting some plans around to make even a quick run through of the space.

The Manifest Equality Gallery is located at 1341 Vine St in Hollywood and will be open through March 7 at 10pm.  It’s open from 10am – 10pm through then – Hollywood, here you come! Click here for more information.

The last time the Dirty Projectors played in Los Angeles was on Halloween at the Jensen Recreation Center in Echo Park, where frontman David Longstreth wore a ten-gallon foam cowboy hat and his upside-down guitar with the confidence of a newly minted visionary. Fans of the Projectors’ odd, brilliant, shimmering music had been waiting for the band to play at Disney Hall since November, anticipating their breakout hit, 2009’s Bitte Orca, amplified by a lush string section.

But on Saturday night, Longstreth looked small and befuddled on the Disney Hall stage, fiddling with the tuning of his guitars for a half an hour during intermission. Longstreth is 28, with the refractory brain of a brilliant twelve-year-old with attention deficit disorder and the composing abilities of Mozart on mushrooms in Africa. After Saturday night, the audience learned his musical influences include Ligeti, Wagner, Ravel, and Don Henley.

Don Henley might seem like an odd choice. The program notes include an earnest letter Longstreth sent Henley in 2005, accompanying a free copy of The Getty Address, Longstreth’s 2005 opera about materialism, the homogenization of FM radio, and Sacagewea, or something like that. “I have included a copy of it here for you,” Longstreth wrote to Henley. “The album examines the question of what is wilderness in a world completely circumscribed by highways, once Manifest Destiny has no place to go- but in the end it is a love story.” Clearly, this makes sense to only one person: Longstreth himself.

The program was divided into three parts: the Philharmonic playing alone, the Projectors playing The Getty Address along with the ensemble Alarm Will Sound, and the Projectors playing alone. The program began with selections Longstreth hand-picked for the Philharmonic. Highlights included Ligeti’s Etude No. 13, played by gray-haired John Orge, who lingered on the piano keys after the last high notes for a long, indulgent silence, and Ravel’s beautifully orchestrated Mother Goose Suite. After a long intermission, the Projectors emerged, wearing color-coordinated hooded jackets, to play The Getty Address in its entirety. And here is where the problems began.

Truthfully, the opera is an indulgent college project from a very, very talented student, with glimpses of the Projectors’ current, much more successful musical incarnation nestled in like raisins studded into a very wobbly gray oatmeal. In the first song (er, movement), “I Sit on the Ridge at Dusk,” the beat kicked in, and the Projectorettes (Amber Coffman, Haley Dekle, and Angel Deradoorian) wailed “got a world of trouble on my mind,” in an indistinct language, moving very slightly from side to side, like shy sirens. But momentum was lost on the second song, and the album is so complex, the time signatures so twisted, it seemed that no amount of practice could have nailed it down. It didn’t help that Alarm Will Sound had some spotty synchronicity and tuning moments. The long, drifting passages on “But in the Headlights” and “Gilt Gold Scabs” sounded misguided and naked, as though a player were missing. Some members played on wine bottles, and a base flute was involved, as well as lots of gratuitous hand-clapping, which sounded messy at times, perhaps on purpose. Many in the audience began to get restless, but the ensemble soldiered on to no avail.

After the opera finally ended, the Projectors (minus their drummer) took the stage for three songs: a very slow cover of Dylan’s “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine,” as well as their own “Temecula Sunrise” and “Cannibal Resource” from Bitte Orca. They sounded good, and Longstreth’s singing sounded much more comfortable, but the band would have sounded much better with a whole orchestra backing them up. None of the women got to sing lead on any song, though Angel Deradoorian singing “Two Doves” would have sounded lovely in this acoustic setting.

All in all, the event demonstrated what the Projectors are capable of musically. It also showed that some misguided musical experiments are better laid to rest, no matter how brilliant their 23-year-old composer may be. As the Eagles said, “And I don’t want to hear any more/ No, no, baby/ I don’t want to hear any more.” Here’s hoping the Projectors stick to Bitte Orca from now on.

By Cassandra McGrath of CWG Magazine

The Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles.  For more information on upcoming shows, please call (213) 972-7211, or visit www.laphil.com.

It’s hard to say exactly why, but art heists are so much more enticing and glamorous than regular heists.  Even jewelry thieves don’t hold a candle to the crazy men and women behind the greatest art heists of all time.

This film, which chronicles the scandal of the Barnes Foundation in Pennsylvania, is about an art heist of a different ilk.  Check out the trailer below and scour the internet for showtimes in your area!

Anyone who’s spent even a small amount of time on the African continent has a good idea of what people mean when they use the phrase “African nostalgia.”  Even if you haven’t traveled there, it’s easy to get a back-to-our-roots sense from the culture, art, music, and design available to us in the US.  Everything from HBO’s “No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” to Youssou Ndour’s documentary I Bring What I Love shows this simple side of life, but not in a melancholy way.  Instead, we see this beautiful, rhythmic, traditional lifestyle in which tribal differences are as often respected as they are fought over.  A primary part of what we know, culturally, about the continent is the music of Angelique Kidjo – a singer who hails from Benin and whose voice sooths as it entices.

With formal jazz music training from the CIM in Paris, Kidjo performed last March at USC’s Bovard Auditorium and has worked with some of music’s greatest performers including Carlos Santana, Ziggy Marley, and Peter Garbiel on her recent album Djin Djin.  Her music will, we have no doubt, be of the strength and soul that it will fill the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Sunday evening (February 28) during her solo performance.  To make sure that we’re all on the same page with this brand of “African nostalgia,” we’re giving away tickets for Kidjo’s Sunday evening performance!

This is, indeed, an Extra! Extra! giveaway – a reluctant one, since we wanted to keep this tickets for our greedy little selves.  Just keep in mind that by entering into this giveaway, you’re automatically entered into the next three we agree to giveaway.  All we need is your first name, last name, and your email address and voila – you’ll feel like you’re picking through markets in Dakar in no time.

(Click here if the nostalgia is all too much and you’d rather buy your own tickets.)

One of Los Angeles’ most talented groups of classical musicians is also one of it’s most playful.  For people with very serious job descriptions that celebrate the world’s most revered classical composers, the members of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra are borderline goofy.  They’re also incredibly knowledgeable and are interested in telling Los Angeles (and the world beyond) what makes chamber music so unique and exciting.

In an effort to reach everyone, they perform at venues all across this sprawling metropolis and even perform in a series of half-concert-half-lectures to bring everyone in the audience up to speed on how instruments have changed since the days when Bach, for example, was composing.  These aren’t, to be clear, the kind of lectures you avoided in college – these redefine what you know about lectures and they come with live music.

Performing February 20 and 21 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale and Royce Hall, respectively, the LA Chamber Orchestra are exploring the world of Baroque music with a concert that includes compositions by Purcell, Vivaldi, Bach, and Mendelssohn.  We caught up with Assistant Concertmaster Tereza Stanislav and got to chat with her about Baroque music, playing violin, and her favorite place in Los Angeles. (See? Serious job description. Smiling, giggling interview. Go figure.)

Not only did we get a chance to talk to them and get some insider info, we also begged and pleaded for some tickets to give to our readers for the February 20 performance at the Alex Theatre.  Check out our video interview and enter this installment of our Extra! Extra! giveaway!

Some details you’ll want to remember: by entering into this giveaway, you’re automatically entered into the next three we’ve got going on.  All we need is your first name, last name, and email address and voila – you’re headed downtown for a first class look at LA’s most charismatic orchestra.  Just make sure you’re on your best behavior – no fooling around.

(Click here if you’d rather buy your own tickets – it’s not worth the risk!)

If you’re like me and already dreading the mere idea of Valentine’s Day (and this dread may or may not have anything to do with your relationship status on Facebook), then it’s best to stop ignoring the inevitable, hunker down, and fight back!  Bill O’Reilly once coined the phrase “war on Christmas.”  Well I’m declaring a war on Valentine’s Day, and in the spirit of modern, American warfare, it’s going to be a preemptive attack.

Thursday, February 11th – 2000 Military Time – Largo at the Coronet:

One of Valentine’s Day’s strongest and most enduring weapons is music.  It could be Bryan Adams, it could be Ryan Adams; either way, there’s nothing more debilitating than hearing that one song on the radio at 2:00 AM, and having to pull over the car to wipe away the tears.  Fortunately, Richard Thompson never plays those kinds of songs.  His eerie and oft-imitated guitar noodling, along with the deep, British hymn-like vocals can definitely be depressing, but depressing in the kind of way that a dark, full glass of Guinness is depressing.  So head down to the Largo this Thursday at 8:00 PM for a special performance from Thompson and his band, order a glass of something thick, and drink in the wounds English-pub-style with one of the true greats of folk-rock music.

Friday, February 12th – 2000 Military Time – Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre:

Earlier this year, actress/comedienne/song-and-dance-woman Charlyne Yi made a romantic quasi-documentary with her ex-boyfriend Michael Cera called Paper Heart.  I hate this film, and for no other reason than it’s the one I took my ex to see on our first date (the Valentine’s Day WMD: Women’s Movie Date).  But 8:00 PM this Friday at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre, Charlyne smashes those bitter memories to the stage with her live show, World of Pain (a Very Masculine Play), co-written by Yi and the hilarious, unknown Allan McLeod.  Choc-full of videos, comedians, and silly music, this Valentine’s weekend installment of her monthly UCB gigs might just be the scissors to Charlyne’s paper…heart.

Saturday, February 13th – 0000 Military Time – New Beverly Cinema:

Did you know Quentin Tarantino owns The New Beverly Cinema?  Explains a lot about their choice of films, and why it may just be the destination for a perfect Valentine’s Day Eve destruction.  They’re showing The Last American Virgin, the 1982 teen sex-comedy that puts American Pie, Knocked Up, and Juno to shame, if only for being more shocking than all three put together, and at least two decades ahead. After the ending of this movie rolls to credits…well, let’s just say ‘mission accomplished.’

Come Sunday, if Valentine’s Day isn’t buried as far into the ground as Saint Valentine himself was on this day back in the year 270 AD, then we may have been defeated once again.  There’s always next year.  That is, unless you meet someone special on one these preemptive outings, and per chance switch sides on the whole matter.  In which case… well, good luck.

For more information on venues, please visit www.largo-la.com, www.ucbtheatre.com, or www.newbevcinema.com.

All photos can be sent as e-cards from this genius website.  Send them to someone special… or not.

It’s pretty safe to say at this point in Beethoven’s posthumous career, that the man was not a one hit wonder.  Sure, we’re more familiar with some of his works than others, but generally speaking – he’s a heavy hitter.  His Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” is considered one of the most magical and beautiful pieces amidst the enormous anthology of his compositions – it has a sort of romance and familiarity that is sweeter than Moonlight Sonata and less intense or dramatic than his famed Fifth Symphony.

Then there’s his Symphony No. 7.  It has an almost dancing rhythm, with plenty of drama, fantasy, and familiar melodies hidden within an abundance of brass and string instruments doing what they do best.  Perhaps the most recognizable movement of Symphony No. 7 is the Allegro con Brio.

While we’re on the subject of classical musicians who are worth their salt, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, performing on Wednesday, February 17 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, is the oldest civic concert orchestra in the world.  Founded in 1743, the Gewandhaus Orchestra is no stranger to performing Beethoven – they performed all of his symphonies during his lifetime.  For those who are skimming, that was during his lifetime.  We love our LA Philharmonic just as much as Gustavo Dudamel likely does, but even they can’t boast having played all of a composer’s works during his lifetime.  (Maybe we can accomplish this with Esa-Pekka Salonen’s compositions? Hint, hint!)

Because there is absolutely nothing like seeing the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor,” and his Symphony No. 7 with Riccardo Chailly at the conductor’s stand and guest pianist Louis Lortie gracing the stage, we’re actually giving away the pair of tickets hidden behind our backs for the performance on February 17 at 8:00pm.  It’s the kind of thing we’d normally just keep for ourselves.

Here are some Extra! Extra! details you’ll want to keep in mind: by entering into this giveaway, you’re also entered into the next three giveaways! All we need is your first name, last name, and email address and voila – you’re reminiscing about the days of yore when Beethoven was just a young man and a gewandhaus was just a meetinghouse for textile merchants.  Ah, the good old days.

(Click here if you’d rather not risk it and you’d like to buy your own tickets.)