Category Archives: LA International New Music Festival

The 25th Anniversary of the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble in México City

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by in Carlos Chavez, Colombia, Composers, Contemporary Music, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Japan, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Mexico, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Uncategorized, William Kraft

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Tambuco celebrates 25 years, with guest pianist Ana Gabriela Fernández.

“The spirit of percussion opens everything, even what was, so to speak, completely closed.” – John Cage

Ricardo Gallardo and I have been partners in new music projects for a long time. We got started because of an introduction by American icon William Kraft, have received four Grammy nominations for our collaborative CD recordings, Southwest Chamber Music toured México multiple times, at UNAM and in Guadalajara, Tambuco has come to Los Angeles multiple times, to both Herbert Zipper Hall at the Colburn School and REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall.

We’ve even tracked each other down in Japan!

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Opposites Attract: The Music of Alexandra du Bois and Vũ Nhật Tân

12 Saturday May 2018

Posted by in Alexandra du Bois, Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Composers, Contemporary Music, Diplomacy, Halong Bay, Hamburg, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kent Nagano, Kurt Rohde, LA International New Music Festival, Nguyen Thien Dao, Ton That Tiet, Uncategorized, Vu Nhat Tan

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Vũ Nhật Tân and Alexandra du Bois in Los Angeles in 2010.

I am very happy, as in a proud new music grandfather happy, that the Apollo Chamber Players in Houston, Texas are inspired by our 2010 Ascending Dragon Festival and Cultural Exchange, a landmark project that Jan Karlin and I were proud to produce for the U.S. State Department under Secretary Hillary Clinton. And we did indeed accomplish the goals of the Obama Administration, to establish long term cultural relationships between Việt Nam and the United States, a new 21st century chapter, but this time together as friends and not enemies.

In 2010, Ascending Dragon was a six week festival in both countries. In May of 2012, I brought Vũ Nhật Tân and Alexandra du Bois together again for our first Los Angeles International New Music Festival. Since October 2015, Jan and I have made a long term and ongoing commitment as the first Americans appointed as artistic advisors by the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture. Our mission is to guide and facilitate the international development of the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble. And now in 2018, Apollo Chamber Players is reuniting composers Vũ Nhật Tân and Alexandra du Bois, two of the Ascending Dragon composers-in-residence, with a concert sharing their music, deep in the heart of Texas.

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Welcome to Sound Travels!

28 Monday Aug 2017

Posted by in Contemporary Music, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, LA International New Music Festival, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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A big thank you to all my blog readers around the world!

Thanks to everyone who reads my blog, all 22,347 of you, from every continent on Planet Earth!

Let me start my post with gratitude to my Top Ten Countries, grouping them in a geographical if not statistical order. Those readers start, naturally close to home since I live in California, with the United States and Canada. Southeast Asian friends and travelers to Việt Nam, Singapore and Malaysia are big readers and then, perhaps, journey to the inspiring Old World of England, Germany and France (which is becoming new again in the 21st century), looking for tips and ideas from my posts. People interested in the vibrant life colors of Latin America join in from Brazil and México. All in all, our readership is in over 150 countries from every continent around the globe.

After almost four years and 115 posts, it’s time for a little upkeep. Let’s welcome my new blog name of Sound Travels!

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Who Knew? Chez Janou and 80 Types of Pastis in Paris

16 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Buddhism, Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Japan, Kim Ngoc Tran, Kyoto, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Minh Dam Quang, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Jan at Chez Janou.

Invariably, when one searches the internet for restaurant reviews of places to go in Paris, the general observation includes a few “rude service” comments. Personally, I’ve never experienced what they’re talking about, but that might be because I have a decent amount of French. I’ve always found Parisians pretty easy going if you just say “Bonjour” when you walk into a restaurant or a shop. You aren’t the first tourist they’ve ever seen. Smiles always help you.

Jan and I are in Europe for planning meetings for next steps for our Hà Nội New Music Ensemble in Việt Nam. Things are moving forward, for while we’re in Europe, my Vietnamese colleagues have concerts in Hà Nội with the directors of the Münchner Biennale and then tour to the Guangxi Festival in Nanning, China. By dividing our resources we’re getting ready for an ambitious future.

Allow me to share with you where a Parisian friend recommended we meet for dinner? And the staff is friendly and fantastic. Feel free to make your own reservation!

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In the Land of the Jaguar: My Mayan Diary of the Yucatán

22 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by in Chichen Itza, Contemporary Music, Gabriela Ortiz, LA International New Music Festival, Mexico, Music, Sian Ka'an, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Tulum, Uncategorized, Uxmal, Yucatan

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The Pyramid of Kulkulkan at Chichén Itzá.

“Trust me, you will find your life divided,” predicted my best friend Ricardo Gallardo, director of the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble in México City. “There will be your life before the Yucatán, and then your life after the Yucatán.”

And Ricardo was right. After experiencing the vanished myths blending with the contemporary reality of the Maya Empire for the first time, a world that still spreads itself from Chiapas and the Yucatán Peninsula in México south to Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador in Central America, I am forever changed.

A visit to the birthplace of the sky? You can find it in the Yucatán.

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A Question of Continuity for the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble

12 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in Arnold Schoenberg, Bela Bartók, Contemporary Music, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Igor Stravinsky, LA International New Music Festival, Music, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall, William Kraft

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Rehearsing a new quartet by 19 year old Nguyen Minh Nhat.

Rehearsing a new string quartet by 19 year old Nguyễn Minh Nhật.

The New York Times launched a series of articles the weekend of January 8 to focus attention on the Vietnam War, or from a different perspective, the American War we fought in Việt Nam. This season of bizarre political transition makes the series well timed for the American reader. The obligatory colon in the title sums it up. Vietnam: The War That Killed Trust. Before the first article begins, the editorial introduction states “the legacy of the war still shapes America, even if most of us are too young to remember it.”

And some us are old enough to remember it.

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In Việt Nam, Listening to the Past to Hear the Future

27 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Composers, Cong CaPhe, Contemporary Music, Diplomacy, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kim Ngoc Tran, LA International New Music Festival, Minh Dam Quang, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Violinist Vu Khanh Linh on her way to rehearse with the Ha Noi New Music Ensemble.

On the move: violinist Vũ Khánh Linh on her way to rehearsal with the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble.

Searching for a word or a phrase to describe the members of my Hà Nội New Music Ensemble is a rewarding thought experiment. Doing so back home in Los Angeles is a great cure for massive Southeast Asian jet lag (mixed often, I’m afraid, with a strong dose of post election California blues). Like Việt Nam itself, there are contradictions, aspirations, habits and desires to be understood in their makeup. But if pressed for a description, here’s my choice.

Energy. As in the monster capacity Vietnamese audiences we enjoyed together. And I have to force these players to take a rehearsal break. Or to stop celebrating!

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East Meets East: The Hà Nội New Music Ensemble and The Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin on November 4

26 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Composers, Contemporary Music, Diplomacy, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kim Ngoc Tran, LA International New Music Festival, Music, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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A handshake contract with my good friend Dam Quang Minh in Bac Ninh.

A handshake contract in Bằc Ninh with my good friend Đàm Quang Minh of the Ancient Music Ensemble of Tonkin.

I am happy to announce an important development for serious music in Việt Nam. On Friday November 4th at the second concert of the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble we will begin a long term collaboration with the Ancient Music Ensemble of Tonkin. As an American arts advisor to new music here, I’m proud to have been a catalyst for this long overdue fraternity of friends, and should you be in Hà Nội, make plans to join us at 8 PM in the Grand Hall of the Việt Nam National Academy of Music in a concert honoring the 60th anniversary of the Academy’s founding.

It’s been quite a busy time since I arrived in early September.  Not to mention the monster crowd that greeting our opening concert at L’espace on Sunday!

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A Circle of Trust: the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble Season Begins Sunday October 23

19 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by in Composers, Contemporary Music, Diplomacy, Education, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kim Ngoc Tran, LA International New Music Festival, Music, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Working on every detail with Vu Khanh Linh and Giang Dương.

Working on every detail with Vũ Khánh Linh and Giang Dương.

Being creative is like riding a bicycle: either you keep going forward or you fall off. – Pierre Boulez

Sunday night at 8 PM the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble begins its second season at L’espace, sponsored by the l’Institut français du Việt Nam-Hà Nội. A group whose time is long overdue, I’m honored to be to help these hard working Vietnamese musicians as their artistic advisor and conductor.

A triangle of countries, France, Việt Nam and the United States, blends with a triangle of cities, Paris, Hà Nội and Los Angeles, for this second season opener. The new music world potential for my friends is vast, but much hard work has to come first. Excepting the usual suspects of classical music, you name the 20th century composer and you might be leading a Vietnamese premiere!

Looking over the horizon, I predict you will see a new music wave in the next few years cresting in Southeast Asia with the emergence of the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble!

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A Pilgrimage to Chùa Dâu, the Oldest Buddhist Temple in Việt Nam

05 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, LA International New Music Festival, Minh Dam Quang, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Chua Dau, at 3000 years the oldest Buddhist temple in Viet Nam.

Chùa Dâu, at 3000 years the oldest Buddhist temple in Việt Nam.

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. Confucius

Rarely do I experience the guardian angels of my life coming back to Earth, encircling me with love, humility, thankfulness, generosity and, as I acknowledge the unavoidable fate of being human, life memory. As momentous as a baptism, wedding or funeral, these rare moments of spiritual contact leave a new connection, refreshing me for the next chapters of my life.

At Chùa Dâu, the oldest Buddhist temple in Việt Nam, I had one of those spiritual moments finding the guardian angel, the bodhisattva, of my work in Southeast Asia, Loi Trinh Le.

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