• About Jeff von der Schmidt, the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble & LA International New Music Festival

Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt

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Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt

Category Archives: Los Angeles

From 100 to 103: The Wisdom of Elliott Carter

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, Evan Hughes, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Music, New York City, REDCAT, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Walt Disney Concert Hall

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Abdiel Gonzalez, Betty Freeman, E.E. Cummings, Elissa Johnston, Elliott Carter, Ezra Pound, Jon Lee Keenan, LA International New Music Festival, Leonard Bernstein, Leonard Stein, Marianne Moore, Pierre Boulez, Strand Bookstore, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Wallace Stevens

Elliott Carter at work in his Greenwich Village apartment on W. 12th.

Elliott Carter at work in his Greenwich Village apartment on W. 12th Street.

Around 2:30 P.M. on the afternoon of June 7th, 2012 my wife Jan and I arrived at Elliott Carter’s apartment for what was to be our last meeting together.  With Jan’s family in Brooklyn and New Jersey, we’d drop in on Elliott every opportunity we could and have luckily lost count just how many times we’d visited.  As Elliott entered his late 90s, each meeting became a special occasion. He was 103 that final late spring day.

The days of lunches prepared by his wife Helen were long gone by that point, but we still remember her simple New England tomato soup, and often quietly wear the scarf she gave Jan or the tie she gave me. And Carter was not far, about a block down and over, from the apartment of Charles Ives, which we’d sometimes go and see after visiting with Carter.

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YOUNG RICE from Việt Nam arrives in Los Angeles July 9!

11 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Music, REDCAT, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall

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Ascending Dragon, Hanoi, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan, Water Puppets of Hanoi

The Water Puppet Theater in Hanoi, Vietnam

The Water Puppet Theater in Hà Nội, Việt Nnam.

The music and instruments of Việt Nam are captivating. As rich a tradition as any other country in Asia, Vietnamese is also a prestissimo language perfectly suited to the sounds of their evocative culture.

Our Los Angeles International New Music Festival program on July 9 at REDCAT will focus on old enemies and rivals being transformed through music. Cuba, Việt Nam, México and Japan. As Americans we have had complicated relations with all of them, and it often can seem like some of the problems are ongoing.

As Ricardo Gallardo and I kept discussing ideas for this festival, we agreed that music can often succeed where business and politics stumble, and hit upon this concert to open new friendship between old adversaries.

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Toshio Hosokawa’s THE RAVEN receives West Coast Premiere July 9 with Laura Mercado-Wright

04 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Contemporary Music, Japan, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Laura Mercado-Wright, Los Angeles, REDCAT, Southwest Chamber Music, Toshio Hosokawa, Walt Disney Concert Hall

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Asia, Claude Debussy, Edgar Allan Poe, Gustave Dore, Japan, Japanese Noh drama, LA International New Music Festival, Laura Mercado-Wright, REDCAT at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Toru Takemitsu, Toshio Hosokawa

Laura Mercad0-Wright is The Raven on July 9.

Laura Mercado-Wright is The Raven on July 9.

Sometimes ideas are obvious, a favorite theme of mine. On first glance the idea of a Japanese composer setting the iconic poem The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe seemed to approach hubris. Really, a Japanese composer taking on one of the most famous American poems? But I was curious about Toshio Hosokawa, an important Japanese composer I’d been hearing about from friends Kent Nagano, Momo Kodama and Ichiro and Tami Nodaira, and asked for a perusal score from his publisher, Yuki Yokota at Schott Japan.

Fortunately Hosokawa’s score appeared in a timely way in my mailbox from Tokyo a few months ago. I started reading the piece and rereading the poem. I got hooked, very hooked, in a matter of hours, and started to grasp the obvious. And I heard the voice of my good friend Laura Mercado-Wright after the first few bars.

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Complete Programs for the July 2015 LA International New Music Festival at REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall

21 Thursday May 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, Japan, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, REDCAT, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall

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Alejandro Cardona, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, Gerardo Gandini, Hebert Vazquez, Javier Alvarez, Jorge Camiruaga, Leopoldo Novoa, Masamichi Kinoshita, Mesias Maiahuasca, Takumi Ikeda, Tomoko Momiyama, Toshio Hosokawa, Toshiya Watanabe, Vu Nhat Tan

REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall is the new home of the LA International New Music Festival.

REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall is the new home of the LA International New Music Festival.

Time to order your tickets for the 2015 LA International New Music Festival at REDCAT Theater in Walt Disney Concert Hall!

I am happy to announce the complete programs for all five concerts between July 7 and July 15. All concerts begin at 8:30 PM with a pre-concert talk at 8 PM.  My ensemble, Southwest Chamber Music, will be joined by our old friends from Mexico, the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, new friends here in Los Angeles, the Eclipse String Quartet, and vocal soloists Ayana Haviv, Laura Mercado-Wright, Elissa Johnston, Jon Lee Keenan and Abdiel Gonzalez. Have a good look at the concerts, and you’ll find the ticket information easily!

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2015 Los Angeles International New Music Festival at REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall, July 7-15

02 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, Japan, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, REDCAT, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Woman in Gold

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Abdiel Gonzalez, Ayana Haviv, Chichen Itza, Day of the Dead, Elissa Johnston, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, Japan Prize, Jon Lee Keenan, LA International New Music Festival, REDCAT Theater, Southwest Chamber Music, Strand Bookstore, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Walt Disney Concert Hall

REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall is the new home of the LA International New Music Festival.

REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall is the new home of the Los Angeles International New Music Festival.

I am happy to announce the 2015 Los Angeles International New Music Festival will take place at the REDCAT Theater in Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. Make your plans now to attend!

Between July 7th and 15th we’re offering five programs contributing to the hard to deny fact that Los Angeles is a leading force moving the classical music world forward in the 21st century, and doing it at top speed. And here’s hoping that many of the 8,000 devoted readers of my blog in over 115 countries might use our festival as a catalyst to visit southern California!

Read on for my July 2015 LA International New Music overview!

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Sound Dreams of Mexico City

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Carlos Chavez, Composers, Contemporary Music, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized

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Alejandro Escuer, Alex Ross, Ana Lara, Carlos Chavez, Gabriela Ortiz, Imperial Palace Tokyo, Japan Prize, Latin Grammy Awards, Ricardo Gallardo, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, The Rest is Noise, UNAM

The alebrijes workshop of Jacopo Angeles in Oaxaca.

The magical alebrijes workshop of Jacopo Angeles in Oaxaca.

“Jeff, have you read this book The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross that everyone says is so important? Do you know my reaction being from Mexico? Not ONE single composer from all of Latin America is even mentioned. Not one. So I guess we just don’t even EXIST for this powerful gringo critic?”

My friend composer Gabriela Ortiz wasn’t making a point, she was issuing an indictment about a blind and ruthless expression of cultural superiority, her declaration worthy of the El Grito of Padre Hidalgo. But my answer would throw another log on the fire. I delivered my response nonchalantly as we ordered another drink. “That’s not all – no composer from Asia has a defining role in that book either. It’s all about Europe and America, and it’s all about men leading the charge.”

“Exactamente, amigo,” lamented Gabriela into her tequila. Ouch, Mr. Ross.

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Finding Stravinksy, Ho Chi Minh and Rue Victor Hugo in Biarritz

11 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Amitav Ghosh, Armagnac, Biarritz, Cheese, Deng Xiaoping, Embers of War by Frederik Logevall, Ezra Vogel, France, Hannah Pakula, Ho Chi MInh, Igor Stravinksy, Jung Chang & Jon Halliday, Les noces, Octet, San Sebastián, Stanley Karnow, The Glass Palace, The Last Empress, West Hollywood, William Kraft

Igor Stravinsky.

Igor Stravinsky, who shaped many of my teachers in Los Angeles.

I’ve always thought that to understand history, you need to experience the locations that can bring a story to life. Being born in Los Angeles, my life as a musician is anchored by Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky, both living for many years off of Sunset Boulevard. These two hometown heroes, current academic giant killing be damned, were formative influences on many of the teachers and musicians who shaped my thoughts and ideas. That’s a genuine tradition in my book. Looking back, I realize what a wonderful crucible for music they created in the City of Angels.

Jan and I spent a delightful time in San Sebastian, in Spanish Basque Country, this October, celebrating her 60th birthday. She’d always wanted to experience the legendary pintxos eating and experience first hand what all the gastronomic fuss was about. It didn’t disappoint.

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A Hollywood Tour: Laurel & Hardy, Into The Woods & A Golden Goose

30 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, Hollywood, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Music, Silverlake, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel

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Craftsman Era, Into the Woods, Laurel and Hardy, Milton Babbitt, Musso and Frank, Pasadena, Silent Era Hollywood, Silverlake, Stephen Sondheim, Sunset Junction, The Music Box, Vista Theater

The magic of Silent Era Hollywood.

You can still find the magic of Silent Era Hollywood.

Happy Holidays! I hope all my readers in 101 countries around the world are having a wonderful year end break as New Year’s Day approaches – and welcome to my new readers in Paraguay. Going into Capricorn always changes the tempo at this time of year, and hopefully you have enjoyed  some time for family and friends after coping all year with life’s persistent obligations.

This is a time to recharge, reflect and relax. And for me that means visiting some Old Hollywood haunts.

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Lucky Sundays in Los Angeles

18 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, Evan Hughes, Food, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Vietnam

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Alhambra, Chengdu Taste, Elliott Carter, Evan Hughes, Festival de Mexico, Hollywood Farmers Market, Joan Huang, Los Angeles International New Music Festival, Martin Perlich, Song Hong Ensemble of Hanoi, Venice Beach Walkway, William Kraft

Nu Pham Son and Jan at Venice Beach on Lucky Sunday.

Nhu Pham Son and Jan at Venice Beach on Lucky Sunday.

Everyone needs a Lucky Sunday.

Though I still have a few months to go before announcing my 2015 Los Angeles International New Music Festival, there have been a lot of behind the scenes developments that are beginning to shape next steps. It’s a process of reconnecting with old friends, bumping into to new ones (from Hanoi of all places), and planning for important trips to New York City, Carnegie Hall, Mexico City and the Festival de Mexico in the New Year.

Living in Los Angeles grounds my love for seeing, hearing and tasting the world. And my friends in Los Angeles ground my vision for next steps. We’ve reconnected with two of the inspirations of our life, composer William Kraft and author/broadcaster Martin Perlich, caught up with bass-baritone Evan Hughes at Walt Disney Concert Hall, had a visit from Virgil Blackwell (Elliott Carter’s assistant for over 20 years), and by chance bumped into new friends from Hanoi, Thuy Thu Thuy and her daughter, Nhu Pham.

Everyone needs a Lucky Sunday.

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A Barcelona Diary

11 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Arnold Schoenberg, Barcelona, Benet Casablancas, Catalonia, Composers, Contemporary Music, Education, Food, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized, Vienna

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Antoni Gaudi, Arnold Schoenberg, Barcelona, Benet Casablancas, Domenech i Montaner, Frank Gehry, Girona, La Pedrera, Liceu, Montserrat, Morton Subotnick, Moses und Aron, Palau de la Musica, Park Guell, Rafael Moneo, Richard Meier, Sagrada Familia, San Sebastián

A majestic sky over Barcelona.

A majestic sky over Barcelona.

Dreams often get tucked away – but hopefully not forgotten.

From a youthful spark of excitement their inspiration often takes years to become reality. And after visiting Barcelona, I know that dreams in my family now have a new home in a Catalan city we intend to visit as often as possible.

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