• 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: Japanese Noh drama

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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.

Continue reading →

Categories

  • Alexander Goehr (1)
  • Alexandra du Bois (1)
  • Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin (17)
  • Anderson Valley (1)
  • Antoine’s (1)
  • Arnold Schoenberg (4)
  • Asam Laksa (3)
  • Austria (3)
  • Barcelona (3)
  • Batu Caves (1)
  • Bela Bartók (1)
  • Benet Casablancas (1)
  • Betty Freeman (3)
  • Big Sur (2)
  • Bogota (2)
  • Brennan’s (1)
  • Buddhism (9)
  • 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 (2)
  • Chichen Itza (3)
  • Christopher Isherwood (2)
  • Cobá (2)
  • Colombia (4)
  • Composers (73)
  • Cong Ca Phe (1)
  • Cong CaPhe (4)
  • Contemporary Music (90)
  • Coyoacan (2)
  • Diego Rivera (1)
  • Diplomacy (11)
  • Eastern and Oriental Hotel (2)
  • Education (8)
  • Elbphilharmonie (2)
  • Elliott Carter (13)
  • Evan Hughes (4)
  • Famous Father Girl (1)
  • Farmers Markets (1)
  • Food (69)
  • Frida Kahlo (1)
  • Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1)
  • Gabriela Ortiz (9)
  • Georgetown (5)
  • Halong Bay (4)
  • Hamburg (3)
  • Hanoi (31)
  • Hanoi New Music Ensemble (45)
  • Hanzhou (1)
  • Healdsburg (1)
  • Hermann Hesse (2)
  • Hoi An (1)
  • Hollywood (5)
  • Hong Kong (7)
  • Hong Kong New Music Ensemble (6)
  • Humphrey Bogart (1)
  • Igor Stravinsky (2)
  • Jacob Zeitlin (2)
  • Jamie Bernstein (1)
  • Japan (10)
  • John Cage (7)
  • Ken Burns (1)
  • Kent Nagano (5)
  • Kim Ngoc Tran (9)
  • 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)
  • Los Angeles (28)
  • Luang Prabang (6)
  • Malaysia (7)
  • Manzi Art Space (4)
  • Merida (2)
  • Mexico (23)
  • Minh Dam Quang (7)
  • Music (77)
  • New Orleans (1)
  • New York City (2)
  • Nguyen Minh Nhat (7)
  • Nguyen Thien Dao (5)
  • Nom Calligraphy (1)
  • Oliver Knussen (1)
  • Paris (9)
  • Paseo de Montejo (2)
  • Penang Island (5)
  • Perigueux (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)
  • Taipei (4)
  • Tambuco Percussion Ensemble (18)
  • Tanglewood (1)
  • Tea (2)
  • Ton That Tiet (2)
  • Toru Takemitsu (2)
  • Toshio Hosokawa (3)
  • Travel (97)
  • Tulum (2)
  • Uncategorized (118)
  • Uxmal (3)
  • UXO Removal (1)
  • Valladolid (2)
  • Vienna (5)
  • Vienna Philharmonic (2)
  • Vietnam (71)
  • Vu Nhat Tan (26)
  • W. Somerset Maugham (1)
  • Walt Disney Concert Hall (12)
  • Wat Xieng Thong (1)
  • William Kraft (2)
  • Woman in Gold (1)
  • Women's March (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.

Cancel