• 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: Los Angeles

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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Los Angeles International New Music Festival Plans: Tokyo Meetings

10 Wednesday Feb 2016

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Japan, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, REDCAT, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall

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Asia, Bunraku, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Ichiro Nodaira, Japan, Kent Nagano, LA International New Music Festival, Laura Mercado-Wright, Los Angeles, Masako Okamura, Masamichi Kinoshita, Pierre Boulez, Takumi Ikeda, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Tomoko Momiyama, Toru Takemitsu, Toshiya Watanabe, Vietnam

With Ricardo Gallardo in his Coyoacan home August 2015.

Dreams and celebrations for the LA International New Music Festival with Ricardo Gallardo in his Mexico City home.

After my busy autumn in Asia, the next Los Angeles International New Music Festival is in the planning stages. We hope to build on the success we enjoyed at REDCAT Theater in Walt Disney Concert Hall this past July.

I’m casting a wide net for the next festival. Thirty years of experience has taught me to carefully plan, plan, plan. And then plan some more. In baseball terms, I’m not swinging at the first pitch but rather patiently waiting for the pitch that I know I can crush out of the park!

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A 2015 LA International New Music Festival Photo Album

31 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, Japan, LA International New Music Festival, Laura Mercado-Wright, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, REDCAT, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Toshio Hosokawa, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall

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Abdiel Gonzalez, Ayana Haviv, Eclipse Quartet, Elissa Johnston, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, Javier Alvarez, Jon Lee Keenan, Jordi Savall, LA International New Music Festival, Laura Mercado-Wright, Leopoldo Novoa, Los Angeles, Mexico, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Tembembe Ensemble, Toshio Hosokawa, Vu Nhat Tan

A good reason for smiles with Tambuco at REDCAT.

A good reason for smiles from Jan Karlin and Tambuco at REDCAT.

My friend Ricardo Gallardo, director of the magnificent Tambuco Percussion Ensemble of Mexico City, said it best at the conclusion of our third Los Angeles International New Music Festival. “We are just getting started!” 17 composers from Mexico, Japan, Vietnam, Cuba, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Brazil and the United States in 23 works in 5 concerts performed by 45 musicians at REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall played to over 1,000 appreciative audience members. Let’s not leave out 10 U.S. premieres and 5 here on the West Coast, as well as hosting composers Gabriela Ortiz from Mexico and Leopoldo Novoa of Colombia.

We have some exciting photos so let’s take a look at the concerts and the people who made this a not to be forgotten festival.

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The Tambuco Studio in Xalapa: “Are Those Marimbas I Hear, Mr. Bond?”

05 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, Hollywood, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, REDCAT, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel

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Day of the Dead, James Bond SPECTRE, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble

A Day of the Dead Parade opens SPECTRE, the next James Bond film.

A Day of the Dead Parade opens SPECTRE, the next James Bond film.

Here’s a Fun LA International New Music Festival Fact: Tambuco is part of the soundtrack of SPECTRE and the largest opening sequence in the history of the James Bond films set for release this November. To Tambuco’s surprise, director Sam Mendes is a huge fan of their work (via YouTube clips) and sent composer Thomas Newman to Mexico City to work on the score with them prior to shooting. Prepare for a percussive opening, that’s for sure!

This gargantuan opening sequence shut down the main square of Mexico City for about a week with thousands of extras, elaborately face painted and costumed for a Day of the Dead chase scene. Newman’s music is performed by Tambuco, who are also on camera during the sequence. We couldn’t be more proud of Tambuco!

“Are those marimbas I hear in Xalapa, Mr. Bond?”

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YOUNG RICE from Việt Nam arrives in Los Angeles July 9!

11 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Music, REDCAT, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall

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Ascending Dragon, Hanoi, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan, Water Puppets of Hanoi

The Water Puppet Theater in Hanoi, Vietnam

The Water Puppet Theater in Hà Nội, Việt Nnam.

The music and instruments of Việt Nam are captivating. As rich a tradition as any other country in Asia, Vietnamese is also a prestissimo language perfectly suited to the sounds of their evocative culture.

Our Los Angeles International New Music Festival program on July 9 at REDCAT will focus on old enemies and rivals being transformed through music. Cuba, Việt Nam, México and Japan. As Americans we have had complicated relations with all of them, and it often can seem like some of the problems are ongoing.

As Ricardo Gallardo and I kept discussing ideas for this festival, we agreed that music can often succeed where business and politics stumble, and hit upon this concert to open new friendship between old adversaries.

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The Magical California Roads of Santa Barbara Wine Country

13 Tuesday May 2014

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

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Au Bon Climat, Bedford Winery, Brophy's in Santa Barbara, Cambria, Carharrt Winery, Foxen Canyon Road, Foxen Winery, Julia Child, Longoria Winery, Los Alamos, Los Angeles, Los Olivos, Michael Jackson, Moonstone Beach, Panino's, Qupe Winery, Ronald Reagan, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria BBQ

Santa Barbara from Stearn's Wharf.

Santa Barbara from Stearn’s Wharf.

I’ve never met a big city that doesn’t have a great reason for being built. Though the old adage for success in business – “location, location, location” – always plays a role in any city’s importance, the urban density, its excitement and endless opportunity, are only one part of a larger picture.

Los Angeles has a big personality profile. And there are two LA’s. One is the City and the other is the County. The County is vast and makes everyone and everyplace for miles around lay claim to being LA. Los Angeles (the City) is Hollywood, no doubt about it, but it’s also the important port of San Pedro, it’s Abbot Kinney’s Venice Beach, it’s LAX Airport, the major hub between Asia and Latin America, it’s still Vin Scully of the LA Dodgers, it’s Disney Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.

But what is the most exciting part of living here is that when all of LA’s environs are  taken together (aka the County), you’re living in the second capitol cities of numerous countries around the globe. China, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam (though that is shifting to Louisiana a little), Cambodia, the Philippines, South Korea (Koreatown is in the middle of LA the City), Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, El Salvador, Peru, Armenia, Lebanon, Iran (their nickname for LA is Tehrangeles) and I’ll bet there’s more.

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Hanoi in Hollywood 4: Venice Beach

06 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Abbot Kinney, Black Angels, Charlie Chaplin, Collis P. Huntington, Doge's Palace, Fig Tree Cafe, Indigenous, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Santa Monica Pier, Song Hong Ensemble of Hanoi, Venice Beach

Venice Beach Easter with Jan Karlin & Do Huong Tra My.

Venice Beach with Jan Karlin & Do Huong Tra My.

Timing is everything.

Mae West was right. You only live once, but if you do it right, once should be enough.

So after hard work, it’s time to enjoy life on a holiday. It was Easter Sunday in LA, and my friends from Hanoi had naturally not had a lot of time to see things. And it’s important to see what any city has that is only found in that city. One of those unique places for Los Angeles is what I call The End of the Western World.

The Venice Beach Walkway. In all its bizarre glory…….

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Hanoi in Hollywood 3

01 Thursday May 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Betty Freeman, Composers, Contemporary Music, John Cage, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Betty Freeman, Bruce Weigl, Claude Debussy, Elliott Carter, Emperor Bao Dai, Hanoi, Igor Stravinsky, LA International New Music Festival, Leonard Bernstein, Los Angeles, Mark Swed, Paris, Song Hong Ensemble of Hanoi, Ton That Tiet, Venice Beach Walkway, Vu Nhat Tan, Walt Disney Concert Hall

 

Song Hong selfie going up Bunker Hill to Disney Hall.

Song Hong selfie going up Bunker Hill to Disney Hall.

I’ve always thought of Los Angeles as the New Vienna of classical music. Because if you care about the 20th century story of classical music, the chapters about LA are page turners.

Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky for monumental starters. Martha Graham is from Santa Barbara cutting her teeth here as a young woman. John Cage is born here in 1912 (and Merce Cunningham dances in the world premiere of Appalachian Spring, which was composed mostly when Copland was at MGM). Erich Wolfgang Korngold establishes the film score and let’s be culturally honest and admit that movies have had an influence on the world. Pierre Boulez conducts his American debut at the Monday Evening Concerts, the oldest continuing series of new music in the world. And the LA Philharmonic’s Minimalist Jukebox Festival this season proves that a big institution can move forward.

And God bless Betty Freeman, who commissioned everybody and took pictures of them all (mine with Elliott Carter and Oliver Knussen are great lifetime memories). Driving past Hillcrest Dr. in Beverly Hills where she lived, just up the road from where I grew up in West Hollywood, never feels the same anymore……

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Hanoi in Hollywood 2

29 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Food, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Cafecito Organico, Cong Caphe, Drake Farms, Hanoi, Hollywood Farmers Market, La Golondrina Restaurant, Los Angeles, Peter Drucker, Phillip King, Rancho La Vina Walnuts, Song Hong Ensemble of Hanoi, Underwood Farms

Got romanesco? Phan Thi To Trinh and Quynh Trang Phamat at Underwood Farms at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

Got Romanesco? Phan Thi To Trinh and Quynh Trang Pham admiring produce at Underwood Farms at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

My Aunt Lorraine lived to be 100. My father never lost a word until the day he died, which was at 95. My mom didn’t like getting older so after her 90th birthday she quipped on her deathbed “Somebody’s gotta go first!”

Their secret to longevity?

There was no secret except that they grew up on family farms in Minnesota (mom) or Kansas (dad). They never saw a can or box or package needing a label listing chemical ingredients until the Great Depression morphed into World War II. Cutting off the head of a chicken for Sunday dinner, butchering pigs and cows in a freezing December, ice fishing, soup from garden cabbage and pole beans and apple cider from trees and water from a well was their supermarket.

No wonder my mother loved Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony!

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Hanoi in Hollywood!

25 Friday Apr 2014

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

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Arnold Schoenberg, Ascending Dragon, E. Randol Schoenberg, Hanoi, Helen Mirren, Hollywood Farmers Market, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Pie 'N Burger, Ryan Reynolds, Song Hong Ensemble of Hanoi, The Woman in Gold, Ton That Tiet, Venice Beach Walkway, Vu Nhat Tan

Song Hong Ensemble violinists Son and To Trinh at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

Song Hong Ensemble violinists Phan Thi To Trinh and Pham Truong Son at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

I began blogging about my LA International New Music Festival on September 17, 2013. What jumpstarted my story telling was a return trip to Vietnam, my fifth, to reconnect with old friends in Hanoi and see what new developments were underway in their one-of-a-one city, a fascinating burg if there ever was one.

My blog is now read in 78 countries with 3600 readers, so a short recapitulation is in order. My attraction for Vietnam is guided by two of the most important people in my life, my trusted acupuncturist Loi Trinh Le and my mother Louise. You can read about Trinh (her English name) in my second post from September. And that September 17th date when I started my blog?

That auspicious date would be my mother’s birthday. She’s brought me plenty of good luck hovering like an angel over all of my work in Vietnam. And mom would be thrilled about the recent visit to LA from our friends in Hanoi, the Song Hong Ensemble!

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