• 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: Tambuco Percussion Ensemble

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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2015 Los Angeles International New Music Festival Starts July 7 at REDCAT!

01 Wednesday Jul 2015

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

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Asia, California, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, LA International New Music Festival, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall is the new home of the LA International New Music Festival.

REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall is the new home of the LA International New Music Festival.

I love studying scores early in the morning. Maybe it’s because I was born around 8:20 A.M. – some say that’s a good indication of a morning person. Those early hours are undistracted and quiet for learning chords, orchestration, voicings, tempi, interpretation, making all the new details familiar like old friends.

My rule of thumb is to go to sleep each night truly putting the day’s work away. If I can remember everything clearly when I wake up the next morning, I’ve learned just a bit more for the coming performances and then know what to repeat and when to move forward. That makes the next early morning so important for my work habit. And I knew today I’m ready for our LA International New Music Festival starting at REDCAT next week on Tuesday July 7 at 8:30 P.M., with a pre-concert talk at 8 P.M.

Because this morning I got a visitor telling me that just the right energy is coming out of my study!

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From 100 to 103: The Wisdom of Elliott Carter

18 Thursday Jun 2015

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

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Abdiel Gonzalez, Betty Freeman, E.E. Cummings, Elissa Johnston, Elliott Carter, Ezra Pound, Jon Lee Keenan, LA International New Music Festival, Leonard Bernstein, Leonard Stein, Marianne Moore, Pierre Boulez, Strand Bookstore, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Wallace Stevens

Elliott Carter at work in his Greenwich Village apartment on W. 12th.

Elliott Carter at work in his Greenwich Village apartment on W. 12th Street.

Around 2:30 P.M. on the afternoon of June 7th, 2012 my wife Jan and I arrived at Elliott Carter’s apartment for what was to be our last meeting together.  With Jan’s family in Brooklyn and New Jersey, we’d drop in on Elliott every opportunity we could and have luckily lost count just how many times we’d visited.  As Elliott entered his late 90s, each meeting became a special occasion. He was 103 that final late spring day.

The days of lunches prepared by his wife Helen were long gone by that point, but we still remember her simple New England tomato soup, and often quietly wear the scarf she gave Jan or the tie she gave me. And Carter was not far, about a block down and over, from the apartment of Charles Ives, which we’d sometimes go and see after visiting with Carter.

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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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Sound Ideas and Food Dreams from Mexico City

06 Wednesday May 2015

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

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Alex Ross, Barack Obama, Carlos Chavez, Condesa, Coyoacan, El Parnita, Los Angeles International New Music Festival, Mercado Medellin, Mercado Roma, Mexico City, Panaderia by Rosetta, REDCAT at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Rick Bayless, Roma, Tacos Hola!, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, UNAM

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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2015 Los Angeles International New Music Festival at REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall, July 7-15

02 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, Japan, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, REDCAT, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Woman in Gold

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Abdiel Gonzalez, Ayana Haviv, Chichen Itza, Day of the Dead, Elissa Johnston, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, Japan Prize, Jon Lee Keenan, LA International New Music Festival, REDCAT Theater, Southwest Chamber Music, Strand Bookstore, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Walt Disney Concert Hall

REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall is the new home of the LA International New Music Festival.

REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall is the new home of the Los Angeles International New Music Festival.

I am happy to announce the 2015 Los Angeles International New Music Festival will take place at the REDCAT Theater in Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. Make your plans now to attend!

Between July 7th and 15th we’re offering five programs contributing to the hard to deny fact that Los Angeles is a leading force moving the classical music world forward in the 21st century, and doing it at top speed. And here’s hoping that many of the 8,000 devoted readers of my blog in over 115 countries might use our festival as a catalyst to visit southern California!

Read on for my July 2015 LA International New Music overview!

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Sound Dreams of Mexico City

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Carlos Chavez, Composers, Contemporary Music, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized

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Alejandro Escuer, Alex Ross, Ana Lara, Carlos Chavez, Gabriela Ortiz, Imperial Palace Tokyo, Japan Prize, Latin Grammy Awards, Ricardo Gallardo, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, The Rest is Noise, UNAM

The alebrijes workshop of Jacopo Angeles in Oaxaca.

The magical alebrijes workshop of Jacopo Angeles in Oaxaca.

“Jeff, have you read this book The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross that everyone says is so important? Do you know my reaction being from Mexico? Not ONE single composer from all of Latin America is even mentioned. Not one. So I guess we just don’t even EXIST for this powerful gringo critic?”

My friend composer Gabriela Ortiz wasn’t making a point, she was issuing an indictment about a blind and ruthless expression of cultural superiority, her declaration worthy of the El Grito of Padre Hidalgo. But my answer would throw another log on the fire. I delivered my response nonchalantly as we ordered another drink. “That’s not all – no composer from Asia has a defining role in that book either. It’s all about Europe and America, and it’s all about men leading the charge.”

“Exactamente, amigo,” lamented Gabriela into her tequila. Ouch, Mr. Ross.

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Happy Anniversary!

17 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt 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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Africa, Asia, Auer Chocolates, California, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Latin Grammy, Los Angeles International New Music Festival, Mezcal, Middle East, North America, Song Hong Chamber Ensemble of Hanoi, South America, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Travel

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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Sound Dreams in Los Angeles

16 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Cambodia, Carlos Chavez, Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, Evan Hughes, John Cage, Kyoto, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

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Bruce Weigl, Cambodia, Carlos Chavez, David Letterman, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, Grammy Awards, John Cage, LA International New Music Festival, Mineko Grimmer, Nieuw Ensemble, Song Hong Ensemble, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Unsuk Chin, Vietnam War, Vu Nhat Tan, William Kraft

East meets West in Los Angeles.

East meets West in Los Angeles as violist Do Huong Tra My of Hanoi tries Cafecito Organico at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

David Letterman, the revered American comic who has been keeping us up late at night for over 30 years here in the United States, revealed the two components of a good joke. To be funny the joke has to be 1) Obvious and 2) Stupid. Say all the words right and you can cue laughter.

If you are already one of my 4500 blog readers in 80 countries, you know I don’t see my LA International New Music Festival as an independent endeavor. So many ideas go into artistic decisions that adopting a single viewpoint is at the least annoying and at the worst dishonest. My thoughts and plots for the 2015 Festival continue apace, but for this post I thought I’d create an exposition of idea and concept behind the next installment.

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