• 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: LA International New Music Festival

Welcome to Sound Travels!

28 Monday Aug 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Contemporary Music, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, LA International New Music Festival, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Anthony Bourdain, Bill Clinton, Chasen's Restaurant, Food, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Jeff von der Schmidt, Julia Child, Kaiseki, LA International New Music Festival, Tambuco Ensemble, Tomasso Restaurant, Travel

2017-05-24 10.34.42

A big thank you to all my blog readers around the world!

Thanks to everyone who reads my blog, all 22,347 of you, from every continent on Planet Earth!

Let me start my post with gratitude to my Top Ten Countries, grouping them in a geographical if not statistical order. Those readers start, naturally close to home since I live in California, with the United States and Canada. Southeast Asian friends and travelers to Việt Nam, Singapore and Malaysia are big readers and then, perhaps, journey to the inspiring Old World of England, Germany and France (which is becoming new again in the 21st century), looking for tips and ideas from my posts. People interested in the vibrant life colors of Latin America join in from Brazil and México. All in all, our readership is in over 150 countries from every continent around the globe.

After almost four years and 115 posts, it’s time for a little upkeep. Let’s welcome my new blog name of Sound Travels!

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In the Land of the Jaguar: My Mayan Diary of the Yucatán

22 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Chichen Itza, Contemporary Music, Gabriela Ortiz, LA International New Music Festival, Mexico, Music, Sian Ka'an, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Tulum, Uncategorized, Uxmal, Yucatan

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Cancun, Chichen Itza, Cobá, Ek Balam, Gabriela Ortiz, Javier Alvarez, LA International New Music Festival, Mayan Pyramids, Merida, Mexico, Playa del Carmen, Ricardo Gallardo, Sian Ka'an, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Tulum, Uxmal, Valladolid, Yucatan

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The Pyramid of Kulkulkan at Chichén Itzá.

“Trust me, you will find your life divided,” predicted my best friend Ricardo Gallardo, director of the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble in México City. “There will be your life before the Yucatán, and then your life after the Yucatán.”

And Ricardo was right. After experiencing the vanished myths blending with the contemporary reality of the Maya Empire for the first time, a world that still spreads itself from Chiapas and the Yucatán Peninsula in México south to Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador in Central America, I am forever changed.

A visit to the birthplace of the sky? You can find it in the Yucatán.

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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 Circle of Trust: the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble Season Begins Sunday October 23

19 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Diplomacy, Education, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kim Ngoc Tran, LA International New Music Festival, Music, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Asia, Didier Latroupe, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Igor Stravinsky, Kim Ngoc Tran, LA International New Music Festival, Nguyen Minh Nhat, Nguyen Thien Dao, Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez, Ton That Tiet, Vietnam War, Vu Nhat Tan

Working on every detail with Vu Khanh Linh and Giang Dương.

Working on every detail with Vũ Khánh Linh and Giang Dương.

Being creative is like riding a bicycle: either you keep going forward or you fall off. – Pierre Boulez

Sunday night at 8 PM the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble begins its second season at L’espace, sponsored by the l’Institut français du Việt Nam-Hà Nội. A group whose time is long overdue, I’m honored to be to help these hard working Vietnamese musicians as their artistic advisor and conductor.

A triangle of countries, France, Việt Nam and the United States, blends with a triangle of cities, Paris, Hà Nội and Los Angeles, for this second season opener. The new music world potential for my friends is vast, but much hard work has to come first. Excepting the usual suspects of classical music, you name the 20th century composer and you might be leading a Vietnamese premiere!

Looking over the horizon, I predict you will see a new music wave in the next few years cresting in Southeast Asia with the emergence of the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble!

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Permanent Residents of Paris and A Homage to Nguyễn Thiện Đạo

27 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, LA International New Music Festival, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Cafe Louise, George Bizet, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hector Berlioz, LA International New Music Festival, Le sacre du printemps, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Montmartre, Montmartre Cemetery, Nguyen Thien Dao, Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Romeo & Juliet, St. Germain, Theatre Des Champs Elysses, Ton That Tiet

The Theatre de Champs Elysses which hosted the riotous premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.

The Théâtre des Champs Élysées in Paris, home to the riotous premiere of Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps.

Paris seems much larger than it really is because of the infinite number of mirrors that duplicate its true space. Carlos Fuentes Terra Nostra

Mirrors and circles come to my mind when I think of my love for Paris. Reflections of the city are found all over the world and, like the circular arrangement of its arrondissements, Paris always returns. Whoever said that all roads lead to Rome must have known that Paris wouldn’t need any help.

My position as artistic advisor to the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble gave me the opportunity to return to Paris in May. The purpose of the trip was to lay the foundation for long term French alliances for the new music wave I’m leading out of Việt Nam. As you’ll see in the next few years, the trip was a big success, and I’ll be posting more about various aspects of these meetings this summer.

But my wife Jan and I also needed to pay an important visit to an iconic Paris location that we’d never managed to find time to visit on other trips. Quarreling with fate is never productive. And when dealing with Việt Nam, Paris is never far away.

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French Connections and A Favorite Paris Restaurant of Pierre Boulez

23 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Contemporary Music, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kent Nagano, Kyoto, LA International New Music Festival, Music, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Ambassade d'Auvergne, Gilbert Nouno, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kent Nagano, LA International New Music Festival, Le Grand Comptoirs d'Anvers, Mari Kodama, Momo Kodama, Montmartre, Nguyen Thien Dao, Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez, Restaurant Nansouty, Rue du Buci, Ton That Tiet, Vietnam

A glass of Lillet on Rue du Buci in St. Germain.

A glass of Lillet on Rue du Buci in St. Germain.

Paris is always a good idea. Audrey Hepburn

If there was an Academy Award for the most influential city in the world, Paris would probably win hands down. It’s certainly played a leading role in the world of music, art, literature, cuisine, fashion, history, colonialism, architecture, poetry, sculpture, science, film, romance, photography, you name it and Paris has had a starring part.

My wife Jan and I went to Paris in May to create French connections for the Hanoi New Music Ensemble and the Los Angeles International New Music Festival. It’s not coincidental but my next concert in October is hosted by the Alliance Française in Hanoi. We realized that as Americans in Paris we’d be able to build bridges for the French music community back to their former colony and formidable enemy in Southeast Asia.

I like a good story and this is one of the best!

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Love & Food in the Time of Cartagena

16 Saturday Apr 2016

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Cartagena, Colombia, Food, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, LA International New Music Festival, Travel, Uncategorized

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Aguardiente, Caribbean Sea, Carlos Fuentes, Cartagena, Colombia, El Boliche, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, James Joyce, John Cage, KGB Coffee, La Cevicheria, LA International New Music Festival, La Mulatta, Love and Other Demons, Love in the Time of Cholera, Milagros Dulces, Plaza Simon Bolivar

 

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A lavender door in Cartagena, a UNESCO World Heritage City.

“The very life of the colonial city was an illusion of memory.” Gabriel García Márquez Love in the Time of Cholera.

My first impression of Cartagena de Indias was of its doors. Some were closed, others open, but they were all beautiful, redolent of a deceased Spanish power that was ultimately unable to control the collision of races and cultures populating its New World and that still search for ways to share life together. In Cartagena, Beethoven’s Fate slams on doors with weighty brass knockers, ancient Janus opens both ways, while Márquez’s dogmatic Bishop in Love and Other Demons conducts his exorcisms with the eternal pounding of sinister fear.

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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: More from Bogotá

31 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Bogota, Colombia, Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Mexico, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel, Uncategorized

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Alberto Ginastera, Beatriz Elena Martinez, Bogota, Colombia, El Candelario Restaurant, Ensamble CG, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gustavo Dudamel, La Candelaria, LA International New Music Festival, Latin America, Martin Perlich, Ricardo Rozental, Rodolfo Acosta, Simon Bolivar, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Usaquen, Vanessa Villages

The Santa Clara Convent in Bogota's La Candelaria.

The Santa Clara Convent in Bogotá’s La Candelaria District.

My last post contained a vibrant dose of Colombian energy, demonstrated by the opening citywide parade in Bogotá announcing the XV Iberoamerican Festival. As I’m beginning to process the impact visiting Colombia is exerting on my imagination (which kicked into high gear yesterday as we finally saw Ciro Guerra’s extraordinary Academy Award nominated film Embrace the Serpent) I’m reminded of one of the first conversations we had in Bogotá.

“Let me try to explain the situation of identity in Colombia for you,” said our new friend composer Rodolfo Acosta, the protagonist of contemporary music in Bogotá.

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Los Angeles International New Music Festival Plans: Bogotá Meetings

23 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Bogota, Cartagena, Colombia, Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, Gabriela Ortiz, LA International New Music Festival, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel, Uncategorized

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Battle of Boyaca, Bogota, Cartagena, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gabriela Ortiz, Gaston Alzate, La Canedlaria, LA International New Music Festival, La Puerta Falsa, Leopoldo Novoa, Paola Marin, Plaza Simon Bolivar, Ricardo Gallardo, Ricardo Rozental, Rodolfo Acosta, Simon Bolivar, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, XV Iberoamerican Festival

Morning light on Santa Fe de Bogota's cathedral.

Morning light on Bogotá’s cathedral in Plaza Bolívar.

I’ve just returned from my first trip to Colombia, where Jan and I visited the cities of Cartagena and Bogotá for a series of meetings for the next Los Angeles International New Music Festival. We decided on going to our American neighbor for two reasons. One was the encouragement of Tambuco’s director, Ricardo Gallardo, who has been helping us get a handle on the new music and cultural scene of Latin America and urged us to begin with Colombia.

The other reason was our hunch that the achievement of Gabriel García Márquez was not a fluke. Behind such impressively great literature had to be a deep well of culture.

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