Tag Archives: Los Angeles International New Music Festival

The Obama Combo: Bún Chả Hương Liên in Hà Nội’s French Quarter

22 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by in Cong CaPhe, Contemporary Music, Diplomacy, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Where to order the Obama Combo.

Where to find the Obama Combo in Hà Nội’s French Quarter.

“Jeff,” texted my friend Vũ Nhật Tân, “I want to take you and Jan for Obama bún chả in French Quarter, not far from where you stay. They are now so busy that we should meet at 10:30 AM for early early lunch or 5 PM for early early dinner. OK?”

That’s a text message that was easy to answer!

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A Malaysian Tropical Spice Garden Party for William Kraft & Friends

01 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by in Composers, Food, Georgetown, LA International New Music Festival, Malaysia, Penang Island, Travel, Uncategorized

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A late summer lunch with Jan and friends Heidi Lesemann, Bill Kraft and Joan Huang.

A late summer beef rendang lunch with Jan, Heidi Lesemann, Bill Kraft and Joan Huang.

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. Mae West

If I had to define patriotism, it would be the tastes of your childhood. If I sample a mixture of brown sugar and butter, I can go all Proust on myself and remember my mother’s cookies. And if I had to define maturity, it would be the evolution of taste acquired over time and exposure to many different cuisines.

Which is another way to say that I didn’t grow up on the Malay specialty of beef rendang!

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My Journey to the East: In Search of Hermann Hesse, W. Somerset Maugham & The Singapore Sling

17 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by in Eastern and Oriental Hotel, Food, Georgetown, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hermann Hesse, Jacob Zeitlin, LA International New Music Festival, Malaysia, Penang Island, Singapore, Uncategorized, W. Somerset Maugham

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A puppet shop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A puppet shop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I do not bring back from a journey quite the same self that I took. W. Somerset Maugham The Gentleman in the Parlour

I can now easily locate my fascination with Asia when I remember certain events and people of my childhood. I’ve already written about Harry Woo of Hong Kong, who worked for my parents, reading to me in Chinese while pointing to his calligraphy. My first memory of a world outside of my family is of being taken to Chinatown for dinner in Los Angeles. I doubt I’ve ever forgotten the blue silk dress and lavish blue mascara of the server. And my pediatrician’s nurse was Japanese and the kindest soul on earth to me whenever I was a sick child.

At least I now recognize that these memories help me piece together those now far away moments of Asian awakenings, creating a map of my life and the new decisions that shape its events.

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And The River Sings of Eternity: From Huế to Paris for Tôn Thất Tiết

30 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by in Composers, Contemporary Music, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, LA International New Music Festival, Music, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Sunset in Paris on the Seine from the Pont des Arts.

My friend Tôn Thất Tiết, who I would describe as a hybrid Vietnamese French composer who is fundamentally Vietnamese, writes the most patient music I’ve ever encountered. Poised from years of Buddhist thought and traditions, his command of stillness inspires me. And like the metaphor of water he often invokes, his music conceals endless energy underneath a calm surface.

Tiết was born in Huế, Việt Nam in 1933, went to Paris in 1958, studied with Messiaen’s friend André Jolivet and became a French citizen in 1971. In 1993 he founded the France-Việt Nam Music Association to promote the development of traditional music in Việt Nam.

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Los Angeles International New Music Festival Plans: Pasadena Meetings

20 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by 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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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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An Old Quarter Debut for the Hanoi New Music Ensemble

06 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by in Composers, Cong CaPhe, Contemporary Music, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kim Ngoc Tran, LA International New Music Festival, Manzi Art Space, Music, Song Hong Ensemble, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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A typical Old Quarter transaction.

A typical Old Quarter transaction.

If I were asked to put my impressions of the Vietnamese on the back of a business card, I’d probably settle on “the most resourceful people on Earth.” My friends there have a way of tunneling under, going around, slicing through, or soaring above any and all situations life throws in their way. Sometimes they do these things simultaneously, which makes working in Vietnam always interesting.

Before I was approached to be an official artistic advisor and conductor to the Hanoi New Music Ensemble, I was made aware of many new developments in the performing arts infrastructure in Hanoi. But one report, of a new cultural center smack in the heart of the intoxicating Old Quarter, helped me go from interested to YES!

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Sound Ideas and Food Dreams from Mexico City

06 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by in Food, Gabriela Ortiz, LA International New Music Festival, Mexico, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble

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Chicharron in the Mercado Medillin in Mexico City.

Chicharron in the Mercado Medellin in Mexico City.

If you are what you eat then Mexico is probably already in your system. At least UNESCO agrees, inscribing Mexican cuisine in 2010 as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It’s a long overdue recognition, but at least from here on there is no argument about the prestige of one of the great cuisines on Planet Earth.

A little comparison is in order. Were Mexico superimposed against the map of Europe, it would span from Greece to the United Kingdom, absorbing the Balkans, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, a good part of Northern Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, eventually reaching a good bottle of Scotch in the UK.

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Lucky Sundays in Los Angeles

18 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, Evan Hughes, Food, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Vietnam

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Nu Pham Son and Jan at Venice Beach on Lucky Sunday.

Nhu Pham Son and Jan at Venice Beach on Lucky Sunday.

Everyone needs a Lucky Sunday.

Though I still have a few months to go before announcing my 2015 Los Angeles International New Music Festival, there have been a lot of behind the scenes developments that are beginning to shape next steps. It’s a process of reconnecting with old friends, bumping into to new ones (from Hanoi of all places), and planning for important trips to New York City, Carnegie Hall, Mexico City and the Festival de Mexico in the New Year.

Living in Los Angeles grounds my love for seeing, hearing and tasting the world. And my friends in Los Angeles ground my vision for next steps. We’ve reconnected with two of the inspirations of our life, composer William Kraft and author/broadcaster Martin Perlich, caught up with bass-baritone Evan Hughes at Walt Disney Concert Hall, had a visit from Virgil Blackwell (Elliott Carter’s assistant for over 20 years), and by chance bumped into new friends from Hanoi, Thuy Thu Thuy and her daughter, Nhu Pham.

Everyone needs a Lucky Sunday.

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A Dream Window With My Japanese Friends

23 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, Kyoto, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Music, Travel, Uncategorized

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At Saihoji Temple in Kyoto.

At Saiho-ji Temple in Kyoto.

“With all the changes in the world, the world never changes.” Toru Takemitsu

As Autumn begins, I’ve been thinking of Japan, our friends here in California and over the Pacific in Japan.  Though I’m at home in Pasadena, I’ve wanted to share with you a tour that Jan and I experienced in 2013 at Saiho-ji Temple in Kyoto, I hope a good introduction to our reunion with friends in San Francisco a few weeks ago as I’ll toggle locations in this post.

Home to hundreds of varieties of moss, Saiho-ji was the favorite Zen garden of Toru Takemitsu and inspired his Dream/Window of 1985. Let’s have a look….

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Happy Anniversary!

17 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by 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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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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