• 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

Tag Archives: California

The Only Sign in Chinese: The Women’s March in Los Angeles with Joan Huang

22 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Uncategorized, Women's March

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Anthony Bourdain, Barack Obama, California, Cultural Revolution, Diane Feinstein, Hanoi, Joan Huang, Kamala Harris, LA International New Music Festival, London, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, Sir Ian McKellen, The Women's March

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The Sister Cities of Los Angeles by City Hall.

“I just wish more American’s had passports.” CNN’s Anthony Bourdain to President Barack Obama in Hà Nội, Việt Nam.

All of us in Los Angeles aren’t surprised that our City of Angels had one of the largest turnouts in the United States on Saturday January 21, 2017 for The Women’s March. Our County, which has a population larger that 42 states in our country, is represented by a female majority of Supervisors, effectively making them equal to many U.S. governors. Our State is represented in Washington D.C. by Senators Diane Feinstein and Kamala Harris, whose parents are Jamaican and Indian.

And if you thought Los Angeles only lives in its cars, you didn’t ride the Metro yesterday!

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A California Wine Drive on Hwy. 46 & Foxen Canyon Road

09 Saturday Apr 2016

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in California wine, Central Coast of California, Food, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kent Nagano, LA International New Music Festival, Travel, Uncategorized

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California, Cambria, Clarissa Nagy, Foxen Canyon Road, Foxen Winery, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Highway 46, Jerzy Grotowski, Kent Nagano, LA International New Music Festival, Los Olivos, Montreal Symphony, Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Riverbench Winery, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria Valley, Song Hong Ensemble of Hanoi

California spring scene in the Cetnral Coast wine country.

California spring scene in the Central Coast Wine Country.

I am grateful for a growing readership to my blog posts from around the world, which is approaching 150 countries and 14,000 readers. My blog is becoming a resource for many of you, for its new music reports, food ideas and travel, with almost every post being called up each month for reference. Thanks for reading!

Balancing the primary colors of Latin America, the endless pastels of Asia and the vintage black and white of Europe and the United States for our next Los Angeles International New Music Festival, my wife Jan and I are grounded when we are at home in California, a place that allows us to blend all of our loves from around the world.

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Los Angeles International New Music Festival Plans: Pasadena Meetings

20 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Austria, Composers, Contemporary Music, Coyoacan, Diplomacy, Food, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, REDCAT, Silverlake, Song Hong Ensemble, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel, Uncategorized, Vienna, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall

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Asia, California, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Javier Alvarez, L&E Oyster Bar, Larry d'Atillio, Los Angeles International New Music Festival, Mario Lavista, Martin Haselboeck, Ricardo Gallardo, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Ton That Tiet, Tuyet Trinh Dao, USC Pacific Asia Museum, Veracruz

Javier Alvarez Corazon de Metal with Tambuco and Southwest at REDCAT July 2015.

Javier Alvarez’s Metal de Corazones with Tambuco and Southwest at REDCAT July 2015.

“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca

My last post brought you up to date on December meetings we had in Tokyo about the Los Angeles International New Music Festival. Jan and I have had a lot of important visits from new and old friends during January and the first part of February here in our Pasadena home. We’re setting the stage to weave elements of Latin America, Asia, Europe and the U.S. together as I plan the next festival’s incarnation.

Let me take you behind the scenes. We’ve had a busy beginning to 2016!

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

01 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt 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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Asia, California, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, LA International New Music Festival, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Vietnam, 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.

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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Happy Anniversary!

17 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt 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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Africa, Asia, Auer Chocolates, California, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Latin Grammy, Los Angeles International New Music Festival, Mezcal, Middle East, North America, Song Hong Chamber Ensemble of Hanoi, South America, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel

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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The Magical California Roads of Paso Robles Wine Country

09 Friday May 2014

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

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California, Dunning Vineyards, Halter Ranch, Jack Creek Winery, Oso Libre Winery, Paso Robles Wine Country, Vineyard Dr.

Wine country road in Paso Robles.

Wine country road in Paso Robles.

If you’ve been following my posts, you know that we’ve enjoyed a tremendous visit in Los Angeles from the Song Hong Ensemble of Hanoi. There’s nothing like seeing where you live through the eyes off friends who come to visit from a far off land.

Curiosity. It’s the one trait that makes a big difference to me and I wish more people understood its rewards. To eat something you’ve never tried. To try to learn a foreign language. To read a map of a strange place and know that in reading that map you are no longer lost, anywhere in the world. To cook a meal you’ve never thought possible. To listen to music out of your comfort zone.

And when in Paso Robles, to take the roads less traveled and find a good bottle of wine.

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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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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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Paradise Found: The Kuang Si Falls in Luang Prabang, Laos

24 Thursday Oct 2013

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

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Asia, California, Kuang Si Fall, Lao, Luang Prabang, Mekong, Pak Ou Caves, Travel and Tourism

At the head of the Kuang Si Falls in Luang Prabang. Wish you were here...

At the head of the Kuang Si Falls in Luang Prabang. Wish you were here…

Though the photo above somewhat reveals the impact of the last of the numerous Kuang Si Falls outside of Luang Prabang in Laos, I am going to create a photo journey for you to share what is, for me, one of the most lovely places on Planet Earth I’ve seen.

If you’ve been searching, the Kuang Si Falls might be Shangri La.  Make that Shangri Laos…

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