• 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: William Kraft

The Story of Gaspar Yanga: Gabriela Ortiz, Tambuco, & Gustavo Dudamel at Disney Hall on Sunday October 27

17 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Coyoacan, Gabriela Ortiz, Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Mexico, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Uncategorized, William Kraft

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

007 Spectre, Alejandro Escuer, Ayana Haviv, Conquest by Hugh Thomas, Coyoacan, Eclipse Quartet, Gabriela Ortiz, Gaspar Yanga, Gustavo Dudamel, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Jonathan Gold, Jordi Savall, Leopoldo Novoa, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mexico City, Sergio Vela, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Verzcruz, Yanga City

82E81AE4-2B5A-47B2-A54B-9401362B7263

Jan Karlin & Gabriela Ortiz discussing Gaspar Yanga in Coyoacán April 2015.

There is only one good way to respond to a great idea coming your way.

Just say “Yes.” And this next step is essential, say that “yes” with immediate enthusiasm. The devilish details will come, one way or the other, as the project develops, but avoid resolving all those difficulties. Focus on saying “yes.”

The challenge? You need to have the experience to be able to distinguish between just a good idea and a truly great idea. Or in the more colorful words of Frank Zappa, “Most people wouldn’t know a great idea if it walked up and bit ‘em on the ass.”

Continue reading →

A New Generation: From Hamburg to Hà Nội with Lương Huệ Trinh

07 Thursday Mar 2019

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Arnold Schoenberg, Composers, Contemporary Music, Elbphilharmonie, Gurrelieder, Hamburg, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, John Cage, Kent Nagano, Kim Ngoc Tran, Minh Dam Quang, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Nguyen Thien Dao, Ton That Tiet, Toru Takemitsu, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan, William Kraft

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Elbphilharmonie, Georg Hajdu, Gurrelieder, Hamburg, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kent Nagano, Luong Hue Trinh, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Nguyen Thien Dao, Nicholas Isherwood, Vu Nhat Tan, William Kraft

492487DA-11A4-4AA8-A39A-53814F1E5F77

Our first meeting at Public Coffee in the Neustadt District of Hamburg.

Nothing is random. In June of 2017, on our way to take in the conclusion of the opening season of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg with Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder conducted by our friend of over forty years, Kent Nagano, I noticed a Facebook post of a young Vietnamese student who was part of a team contributing a technology component to a Hamburg Staatsoper production of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Æneas.

That got my attention for all types of reasons! 

Continue reading →

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

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt 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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Alfredo Bringas, Ana Gabriela Fernández, Barbara Scales, Cafe Tacuba, Carlos Chavez, Gabriela Ortiz, James Bond SPECTRE, Mario Lavista, Masako Okamura, Mexico, Mexico City, Miguel Zaragoza, Palacio de Belles Artes, Raul Tudon, Ricardo Gallardo, Ricardo Rozental, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, William Kraft

F47BAC8B-207D-4ADA-AD4A-297798353A6D

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!

Continue reading →

A Question of Continuity for the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble

12 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt 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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Arnold Schoenberg, Asia, Bela Bartók, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Lehner, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Igor Stravinsky, Kate Akos, Kolisch Quartet, Meryl Streep, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Nguyen Thien Dao, Tam Coc, Ton That Tiet, Vietnam, Vietnam War, Walt Disney Concert Hall, William Kraft

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.

Continue reading →

Categories

  • Alexander Goehr (1)
  • Alexandra du Bois (1)
  • Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin (23)
  • Anderson Valley (1)
  • Antoine’s (1)
  • Arditti Quartet (1)
  • Arnold Schoenberg (5)
  • Asam Laksa (3)
  • Austria (3)
  • Bangkok (1)
  • Barcelona (3)
  • Batu Caves (1)
  • Bela Bartók (1)
  • Benet Casablancas (1)
  • Betty Freeman (3)
  • Big Sur (2)
  • Bogota (2)
  • Brennan’s (1)
  • Buddhism (10)
  • Café Giang (1)
  • California wine (6)
  • Cambodia (2)
  • Carlos Chavez (5)
  • Carlos Fuentes (1)
  • Cartagena (2)
  • Cat Ba Island (2)
  • Catalonia (3)
  • Central Coast of California (1)
  • Chasen's (3)
  • Chichen Itza (3)
  • Christopher Isherwood (2)
  • Cobá (2)
  • Colombia (4)
  • Composers (77)
  • Cong Ca Phe (1)
  • Cong CaPhe (4)
  • Contemporary Music (95)
  • Coyoacan (3)
  • Dalton Trumbo (1)
  • Diego Rivera (1)
  • Diplomacy (11)
  • Eastern and Oriental Hotel (2)
  • Education (8)
  • Elbphilharmonie (3)
  • Elliott Carter (13)
  • Ensemble Modern (1)
  • Evan Hughes (4)
  • Famous Father Girl (1)
  • Farmers Markets (1)
  • Food (70)
  • Frida Kahlo (1)
  • Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1)
  • Gabriela Ortiz (10)
  • Georgetown (5)
  • Gurrelieder (1)
  • Gustavo Dudamel (1)
  • Halong Bay (4)
  • Hamburg (5)
  • Hanoi (37)
  • Hanoi New Music Ensemble (54)
  • Hanoi Social Club (1)
  • Hanzhou (1)
  • Healdsburg (1)
  • Hermann Hesse (2)
  • Hoi An (1)
  • Hollywood (6)
  • Hong Kong (7)
  • Hong Kong New Music Ensemble (9)
  • Humphrey Bogart (1)
  • Igor Stravinsky (2)
  • Jacob Zeitlin (2)
  • Jamie Bernstein (1)
  • Japan (10)
  • John Cage (8)
  • Jonas Baes (1)
  • Jorg Widmann (1)
  • Jose Maceda (1)
  • Ken Burns (1)
  • Kent Nagano (6)
  • Kim Ngoc Tran (10)
  • Kuala Lumpur (2)
  • Kurt Rohde (1)
  • Kyoto (8)
  • LA International New Music Festival (95)
  • Laos (5)
  • Latin Grammy Awards (15)
  • Laura Mercado-Wright (3)
  • Lauren Bacall (1)
  • Leon Trotsky (1)
  • Leonard Bernstein (1)
  • Loading T Coffee (1)
  • Los Angeles (28)
  • Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (1)
  • Luang Prabang (6)
  • Lucas Fels (1)
  • Malaysia (7)
  • Manila Composers Lab (1)
  • Manzi Art Space (4)
  • Merida (2)
  • Mexico (24)
  • Minh Dam Quang (11)
  • Music (80)
  • New Jogjakarta Contemporary Ensemble (1)
  • New Orleans (1)
  • New York City (2)
  • Nguyen Minh Nhat (9)
  • Nguyen Thien Dao (9)
  • Nina Janssen-Deinzer (1)
  • Nom Calligraphy (2)
  • Oliver Knussen (1)
  • Pang Vongtaradon (1)
  • Paris (9)
  • Paseo de Montejo (2)
  • Penang Island (5)
  • Perigueux (1)
  • Phillipines (1)
  • Ramon Santas (1)
  • REDCAT (12)
  • Ripieno Ensemble, Manila (2)
  • Russian River (1)
  • San Francisco (3)
  • Secret War in Laos (1)
  • Sian Ka'an (1)
  • Silverlake (2)
  • Singapore (3)
  • Song Hong Ensemble (4)
  • Southwest Chamber Music (71)
  • Spartacus (1)
  • Stanley Kubrick (1)
  • Taipei (4)
  • Tambuco Percussion Ensemble (19)
  • Tanglewood (1)
  • Tea (2)
  • Tet Lunar New Year (1)
  • Tetsuji Honna (1)
  • Thailand (1)
  • Ton That Tiet (3)
  • Toru Takemitsu (3)
  • Toshio Hosokawa (3)
  • Travel (97)
  • Tulum (2)
  • Uncategorized (129)
  • Uxmal (3)
  • UXO Removal (1)
  • Valladolid (2)
  • Vienna (5)
  • Vienna Philharmonic (2)
  • Vietnam (78)
  • Vietnamese Cuisine (3)
  • Vietnamese Egg Coffee (1)
  • Vu Nhat Tan (34)
  • W. Somerset Maugham (1)
  • Walt Disney Concert Hall (12)
  • Wat Xieng Thong (1)
  • West’s Hollywood (1)
  • William Kraft (4)
  • Woman in Gold (1)
  • Women's March (1)
  • Yogyakarta, Indonesia (1)
  • Yucatan (3)
Follow Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt on WordPress.com

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Archives

Translate

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt
    • Join 73 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...