Category Archives: Mexico

2015 Los Angeles International New Music Festival Starts July 7 at REDCAT!

01 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by in Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, Hong Kong, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Laura Mercado-Wright, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, REDCAT, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Toshio Hosokawa, Travel, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall

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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.

I love studying scores early in the morning. Maybe it’s because I was born around 8:20 A.M. – some say that’s a good indication of a morning person. Those early hours are undistracted and quiet for learning chords, orchestration, voicings, tempi, interpretation, making all the new details familiar like old friends.

My rule of thumb is to go to sleep each night truly putting the day’s work away. If I can remember everything clearly when I wake up the next morning, I’ve learned just a bit more for the coming performances and then know what to repeat and when to move forward. That makes the next early morning so important for my work habit. And I knew today I’m ready for our LA International New Music Festival starting at REDCAT next week on Tuesday July 7 at 8:30 P.M., with a pre-concert talk at 8 P.M.

Because this morning I got a visitor telling me that just the right energy is coming out of my study!

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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 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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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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Sound Ideas and Food Dreams from Mexico City

06 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by in Food, Gabriela Ortiz, LA International New Music Festival, Mexico, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble

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Chicharron in the Mercado Medillin in Mexico City.

Chicharron in the Mercado Medellin in Mexico City.

If you are what you eat then Mexico is probably already in your system. At least UNESCO agrees, inscribing Mexican cuisine in 2010 as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It’s a long overdue recognition, but at least from here on there is no argument about the prestige of one of the great cuisines on Planet Earth.

A little comparison is in order. Were Mexico superimposed against the map of Europe, it would span from Greece to the United Kingdom, absorbing the Balkans, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, a good part of Northern Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, eventually reaching a good bottle of Scotch in the UK.

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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 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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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 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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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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Lucky Sundays in Los Angeles

18 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by 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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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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The Best Chocolate in Barcelona

21 Friday Nov 2014

Posted by in Barcelona, Catalonia, Contemporary Music, Food, LA International New Music Festival, Mexico, Music, San Francisco, Travel, Uncategorized

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Got Jamon Iberico?

Got Jamon Iberico?

Since our American holiday of Thanksgiving is around the corner next week I thought the obvious thing to do would be to focus upcoming holiday posts on the markets, tapas bars, restaurants, meals, chocolate shops, produce, pinxtos, wine and you name it about the world of food in the Catalan capitol city of Barcelona and the Basque dream city of San Sebastián. Two tastes emerged that still linger as personal favorites, both enhanced by an excellent flute of Cava. Jamon Iberico and chocolate.

There are a lot of food posts to come so let’s get started!

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Happy Anniversary!

17 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in California wine, Food, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Los Angeles, Luang Prabang, Mexico, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Thanks to our readers!

Thanks to my global readers!

Today is the first anniversary of my LA International New Music Festival blog. What a rewarding journey thus far – I’m making a great meal tonight to celebrate, as your encouraging readership is the best surprise imaginable!

88 countries around the globe. 5300 readers for 49 posts. 20 countries from Asia, 16 from the Americas (North, Central and South), 31 from Europe, 8 from Africa, and 5 from the Middle East. But let’s not stop there. God bless the island countries of Planet Earth for adding 8 more locations from Mayotte to Jamaica, Cape Verde to Mauritius. I should have started this sooner!

A big THANK YOU to all my readers!

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Sound Dreams in Los Angeles

16 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by in Cambodia, Carlos Chavez, Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, Evan Hughes, John Cage, Kyoto, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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East meets West in Los Angeles.

East meets West in Los Angeles as violist Do Huong Tra My of Hanoi tries Cafecito Organico at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

David Letterman, the revered American comic who has been keeping us up late at night for over 30 years here in the United States, revealed the two components of a good joke. To be funny the joke has to be 1) Obvious and 2) Stupid. Say all the words right and you can cue laughter.

If you are already one of my 4500 blog readers in 80 countries, you know I don’t see my LA International New Music Festival as an independent endeavor. So many ideas go into artistic decisions that adopting a single viewpoint is at the least annoying and at the worst dishonest. My thoughts and plots for the 2015 Festival continue apace, but for this post I thought I’d create an exposition of idea and concept behind the next installment.

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“Gabriela! Gabriela! Gabriela!” A Latin Grammy Keepsake

08 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Mexico, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized

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Latin Grammy 2013 in Las Vegas.

Latin Grammy 2013 in Las Vegas.

My recent posts have spent a lot of time with Asia and tea, but I want this new post from the Latin side of my LA life. I’ve got a strong readership in Mexico and Brazil. In fact all of South America except Uruguay and Paraguay follows my blog.

And a trip to Latin Grammy events will be a great reconnecting point for us all. There’s lots to tell and so I’ll get started with this hymn to two of my favorite people: my wife Jan Karlin and composer Gabriela Ortiz.

They made quite a combo at Latin Grammy!

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