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

Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt

~ A blog about new music, travel and food

Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt

Category Archives: Southwest Chamber Music

Hanoi in Hollywood 2

29 Tuesday Apr 2014

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

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Cafecito Organico, Cong Caphe, Drake Farms, Hanoi, Hollywood Farmers Market, La Golondrina Restaurant, Los Angeles, Peter Drucker, Phillip King, Rancho La Vina Walnuts, Song Hong Ensemble of Hanoi, Underwood Farms

Got romanesco? Phan Thi To Trinh and Quynh Trang Phamat at Underwood Farms at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

Got Romanesco? Phan Thi To Trinh and Quynh Trang Pham admiring produce at Underwood Farms at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

My Aunt Lorraine lived to be 100. My father never lost a word until the day he died, which was at 95. My mom didn’t like getting older so after her 90th birthday she quipped on her deathbed “Somebody’s gotta go first!”

Their secret to longevity?

There was no secret except that they grew up on family farms in Minnesota (mom) or Kansas (dad). They never saw a can or box or package needing a label listing chemical ingredients until the Great Depression morphed into World War II. Cutting off the head of a chicken for Sunday dinner, butchering pigs and cows in a freezing December, ice fishing, soup from garden cabbage and pole beans and apple cider from trees and water from a well was their supermarket.

No wonder my mother loved Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony!

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Hanoi in Hollywood!

25 Friday Apr 2014

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

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Arnold Schoenberg, Ascending Dragon, E. Randol Schoenberg, Hanoi, Helen Mirren, Hollywood Farmers Market, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Pie 'N Burger, Ryan Reynolds, Song Hong Ensemble of Hanoi, The Woman in Gold, Ton That Tiet, Venice Beach Walkway, Vu Nhat Tan

Song Hong Ensemble violinists Son and To Trinh at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

Song Hong Ensemble violinists Phan Thi To Trinh and Pham Truong Son at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

I began blogging about my LA International New Music Festival on September 17, 2013. What jumpstarted my story telling was a return trip to Vietnam, my fifth, to reconnect with old friends in Hanoi and see what new developments were underway in their one-of-a-one city, a fascinating burg if there ever was one.

My blog is now read in 78 countries with 3600 readers, so a short recapitulation is in order. My attraction for Vietnam is guided by two of the most important people in my life, my trusted acupuncturist Loi Trinh Le and my mother Louise. You can read about Trinh (her English name) in my second post from September. And that September 17th date when I started my blog?

That auspicious date would be my mother’s birthday. She’s brought me plenty of good luck hovering like an angel over all of my work in Vietnam. And mom would be thrilled about the recent visit to LA from our friends in Hanoi, the Song Hong Ensemble!

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Who Needs Paris? The Restaurants and Bars of San Francisco

08 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Food, John Cage, LA International New Music Festival, San Francisco, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized

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Burma Star, Cafe Jaqueline, Cafe Tosca, Caffe Trieste, Finnegans Wake, Francis Ford Coppola, Kent Nagano, Marlon Brando, Mission District, Molinari's, North Beach, San Francisco, Tadich Grill, The Godfather, Tommaso's, Vesuvio Bar, Women's Building on 18th St

At home in San Francisco.

A nice first course in San Francisco’s Mission District.

I’ve been pulled back in my memory to my Aunt Lorraine today. With the news of the passing of Mickey Rooney, I’ve day dreamed of old stories she told me of her waitress years in Hollywood. She’d worked at Armstrong Schroeder’s on Wilshire Boulevard. It was THE all night haunt of Golden Era Hollywood.

She enjoyed telling me that Mickey and Judy Garland would flip an order of mashed potatoes onto the ceiling using long teaspoons at 3 AM. But she loved him as a customer and he was a generous tipper (yes, Jack Benny was cheap).

So I’ve been dreaming of restaurant memories with her and my parents. Which brings me to the Old School places of San Francisco.

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Spring in Napa Valley: Olives, Wine, Rauschenberg & Wisteria

26 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Food, LA International New Music Festival, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized

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Anselm Kiefer, California, Heitz Cellars, Hess Collection, Honig Winery, Napa Valley, Paso Robles, Robert Rauschenberg, San Francisco, St. Helena Olive Oil Co., Wisteria

The Napa Valley.

The Napa Valley.

California anchors the world. As the home of two of the most important developments of the 20th century – film and technology – discovering the Golden State is important for everybody.

Anchoring California is a natural landscape of ocean to desert to mountain ranges. And vineyards. In 1973 Chateau Montelena in Napa Valley put California on the international wine map when even the French agreed the wine was great (though a blind tasting didn’t hurt). I’d not been here for over 20 years and was overdue for another visit.

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One Ocean, Two Coasts: The Dragon Bridge of Taiwan and the Bixby Bridge of Big Sur

17 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Big Sur, Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, LA International New Music Festival, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Taipei, Travel, Uncategorized

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Asia, Baxian Caves, Big Sur, East Coast of Taiwan, Elliott Carter, Henry Miller, Highway 1, LA International New Music Festival, Pt. Lobos, San Francisco, Sanxiantai Bridge, Toru Takemitsu

The Pacific Ocean touching Big Sur.

The Pacific Ocean touching Big Sur.

A few weeks before he passed away, Toru Takemitsu wrote postcards to his friends with a poignant message concerning his approaching reincarnation.

“I’d like to become a whale that swims in an ocean that knows no east nor west.”

I’ve reflected on this idea often since my friend Peter Grilli made me aware of Takemitsu’s last thoughts.  As you know, I’ve been traveling up Highway 1 from Santa Barbara to Big Sur for an important meeting about the next LA International New Music Festival. Jan and I have been talking about Elliott Carter with his friend Virgil Blackwell near Pt. Lobos and Big Sur. Composing brilliantly until 103, Carter is one of the greats. There is a sage wisdom in all the late works waiting to be explored. And we will be doing just that as part of future festivals.

Finding Carter in Big Sur and Pt. Lobos felt just right.

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On the Road to Big Sur: California Dreaming on a Cold Winter’s Day

05 Wednesday Mar 2014

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

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Ascending Dragon, Big Sur, California, Cambria, Elliott Carter, Evan Hughes, Grateful Dead, Moonstone Beach, Phil Lesh, Piedras Blancas, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Valley, Virgil Blackwell

Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA.

Moonstone Beach in Cambria, CA.

Sooner or later this was bound to happen….

We have an important meeting in Big Sur about our next LA International New Music Festival. Our friend Virgil Blackwell has relocated from New York City to Highway One on the Pacific Coast after taking care of Elliott Carter during his final years. 

Since my blog is now read in 74 countries and has 3,100 followers, I’m looking forward to sharing tips about the Golden State in numerous blog posts as we go “on the road” to Big Sur. Wineries. Landscapes. Seacapes. Rock formations. Farmer’s markets, more wineries, restaurants and a few days in San Francisco.

Wish you were here…..

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For John Cage & Betty Freeman in Los Angeles: Yoga from India & Zen from Japan

08 Saturday Feb 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Betty Freeman, Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, John Cage, Kyoto, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Uncategorized

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Betty Freeman, Cage 2012, HInduism, John Cage, Los Angeles, Mineko Grimmer, Robert Rauschenberg, Roland Berger, Shalini Vijayan, Vienna Philharmonic, Yoga, Zen Buddhism

Cage looking for his childhood home in Los Angeles (photo by Betty Freeman).

John Cage looking for his childhood home in Los Angeles in 1987 (photo by Betty Freeman).

Though I’ve spent time writing about Southeast Asia, Mexico and our recent Latin Grammy nomination with Gabriela Ortiz, my blog is rooted in my LA International New Music Festival. I am very grateful that since September I’ve acquired over 2,900 readers in 73 countries. My posts will continue to cast a wide net describing the personality of my programming. But with this blog I now want to spend time here at home.

No, I’m not moving to Southeast Asia or Mexico. I don’t need to because I live in LA.

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Bangkok in Los Angeles: Glass Noodles & Green Curry

28 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, LA International New Music Festival, Laos, Luang Prabang, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized

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Fish Sauce, Grand Palace of Bangkok, Luang Prabang, Meditation, Tamarind Restaurant, Thai Food, Thailand, Wat Po, Yoga

Reclining Buddha in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

Reclining Buddha in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

Last post I promised to devote my next chapter to the meal prepared in my home by Thai massage-yoga-guru Lawan and her cousin Supapan. I often think that cooking is the root of successful relationships. Jan and I are a summer Tanglewood romance that is still going strong and we love to cook together. The performing arts demand physical stamina so paying attention to your health is part of your job.

And how your body is functioning cannot be separated from how your mind is functioning. Separating the two is, for me, one of the big blind spots of Western culture. To change how you think, change how you eat.

Before I take you through our Thai meal in my Pasadena home (for my many international readers we live just a few miles from downtown Los Angeles), memorize these five words:

Sweet. Sour. Spicy. Salty. Bitter.

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On The Sugar White Elephant Mountain: Journeys in Thailand

22 Wednesday Jan 2014

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

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Chad Cannon, Chen Yi, Chiang Mai, Indian Ocean Tsunami, John Cage, Midori, Morton Feldman, Narong Prangcharoen, Peter Drucker, Phil Jackson, Thailand, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

Faith moving mountains in Thailand...

Faith moving mountains in Thailand as a little boy prays for his entire country.

It was around 6:30 A.M. on the morning of December 26, 2004 in California. My wife Jan and I were boarding a flight at the Burbank Airport to San Francisco to proceed on to Bangkok (via Seoul) beginning a long awaited trip to Thailand. Frequent flier mile tickets often route you in strange ways but the price of free airfare is hard to turn down. We were gearing up for a long flight and a little sleepy because of the hour. Over the CNN television monitor we didn’t really notice anything alarming regarding Thailand.

“We have news just in of a major earthquake around the island of Sumatra. More details as they become available.”

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

08 Wednesday Jan 2014

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

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Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Carlos Santana, Gabriela Ortiz, Las Vegas, Latin Grammy, Mexico, Miguel Bose, Natalie Cole, Ricky Martin

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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