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Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt

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Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt

Tag Archives: Tambuco Percussion Ensemble

The Story of Gaspar Yanga: Gabriela Ortiz, Tambuco, & Gustavo Dudamel at Disney Hall on Sunday October 27

17 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Coyoacan, Gabriela Ortiz, Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Mexico, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Uncategorized, William Kraft

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007 Spectre, Alejandro Escuer, Ayana Haviv, Conquest by Hugh Thomas, Coyoacan, Eclipse Quartet, Gabriela Ortiz, Gaspar Yanga, Gustavo Dudamel, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Jonathan Gold, Jordi Savall, Leopoldo Novoa, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mexico City, Sergio Vela, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Verzcruz, Yanga City

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Jan Karlin & Gabriela Ortiz discussing Gaspar Yanga in Coyoacán April 2015.

There is only one good way to respond to a great idea coming your way.

Just say “Yes.” And this next step is essential, say that “yes” with immediate enthusiasm. The devilish details will come, one way or the other, as the project develops, but avoid resolving all those difficulties. Focus on saying “yes.”

The challenge? You need to have the experience to be able to distinguish between just a good idea and a truly great idea. Or in the more colorful words of Frank Zappa, “Most people wouldn’t know a great idea if it walked up and bit ‘em on the ass.”

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The 25th Anniversary of the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble in México City

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Carlos Chavez, Colombia, Composers, Contemporary Music, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Japan, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Mexico, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Uncategorized, William Kraft

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Alfredo Bringas, Ana Gabriela Fernández, Barbara Scales, Cafe Tacuba, Carlos Chavez, Gabriela Ortiz, James Bond SPECTRE, Mario Lavista, Masako Okamura, Mexico, Mexico City, Miguel Zaragoza, Palacio de Belles Artes, Raul Tudon, Ricardo Gallardo, Ricardo Rozental, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, William Kraft

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Tambuco celebrates 25 years, with guest pianist Ana Gabriela Fernández.

“The spirit of percussion opens everything, even what was, so to speak, completely closed.” – John Cage

Ricardo Gallardo and I have been partners in new music projects for a long time. We got started because of an introduction by American icon William Kraft, have received four Grammy nominations for our collaborative CD recordings, Southwest Chamber Music toured México multiple times, at UNAM and in Guadalajara, Tambuco has come to Los Angeles multiple times, to both Herbert Zipper Hall at the Colburn School and REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall.

We’ve even tracked each other down in Japan!

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Forest Chants & Mountain Walks With New & Old Friends in Kyoto

21 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Buddhism, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Japan, Kyoto, Music, Travel, Uncategorized

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Buddhism, Enrakuji Temple, Gregorian Chant, Guanyin, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine, Kyoto, Maki Takafuji, Mt. Wu Tai, Ohara, Sanzen-in Temple, Seiryu-den Observation Deck, Shogun-Zuka Temple, Shomyo Buddhist Chanting, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel, Walking Meditation

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Meeting Maki Takafuji for the first time at Seiryu-den in Kyoto.

The city of Kyoto can be a paradox. The functional train station, workaday streets and boulevards, the normal comings and goings of its citizens, the overall grey quality of most of the recent architecture, all can elicit a potentially ambivalent response. Kyoto is a UNESCO World Heritage City with an extraordinary endowment of timeless shrines, temples, mind boggling handicrafts, legendary ceramics, world class tea and sake production, the legendary home of Noh and Kabuki, and maintains all the splendor of the once ancient capital of Japan. At first appearance, however, these wonders seem very hidden, as if the greatness of Kyoto is itself wrapped in a confusing furoshiki of the modern world.

But whereas the Vatican in Rome is housed in the magisterial architecture of the Renaissance, the sibling city for Buddhism in Kyoto is an ongoing interaction with nature. You will experience more open doors framing a view of nature in a Zen Temple in Kyoto than any Catholic Church in Rome.

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Finding Tambuco in Japan: “Are Those Bamboo Gamelans I Hear, Mr. Bond?”

12 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Buddhism, Contemporary Music, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Japan, Kyoto, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Uncategorized

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007 Spectre, Art Curator Japan, David Newman, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Indonesia, John Harris, Kyoto, Maki Takafuji, Nagoya Marimbas, Naoko Minami, New Music Gathering Asia, Onjuku, Sam Mendes, Sanzen-in Temple, Shogun-zuka, Shomyo Chanting, Steve Reich, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Toru Takemitsu

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With Maki Takafuji at Sanzen-in Temple in Ohara.

”Jeff, it’s interesting, after all our projects together, that we are now talking here about music and culture in Onjuku, Japan,” said my friend Ricardo Gallardo of the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble during an early morning coffee looking out on the Pacific Ocean.

“You and Jan must meet my friend Maki Takafuji when you go to Kyoto. She lives there, teaches in Nagoya and is a great advocate for new music, and she commissioned Steve Reich for the famous Nagoya Marimbas.”

But before we get to Kyoto, I should to tell you about why Ricardo and I were talking on the Pacific coast of Japan in Onjuku.

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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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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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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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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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The Gin Party!

24 Monday Aug 2015

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

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Abdiel Gonzalez, Beefeater Gin, Bombay Sapphire East, Dutch Genever Gin, Elissa Jonhston, Elliott Carter, Gabriel Boudin Saffron Gin, Hanoi, Jacques Pepin, Jon Lee Keenan, LA International New Music Festival, Plymouth Sloe Gin, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Vietnam

From left to right Amanda Aachen, Jon Lee Keenan, Abdiel Gonzalez and Elissa Johnston.

From left to right Amanda Aachen, Jon Lee Keenan, Abdiel Gonzalez and Elissa Johnston.

I hope you’re hungry and thirsty when you read this post!

It’s funny how celebrations come together. When I planned an all Elliott  Carter concert for our recently completed Los Angeles International New Music Festival at REDCAT, I didn’t give the idea the green light until I got positive responses from Jon Lee Keenan, Abdiel Gonzalez and Elissa Johnston. And all three were concert ready from the very first note, impressive to say the least

At the first rehearsal at my house, well ahead of getting together with the ensemble, Abdiel and I got to talking, as he had just returned from a tour to Ireland. Whiskey tastings had started around 10 AM. How about a true cocktail party to celebrate the Carter concert?

And so The Gin Party was born! Continue reading →

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