• 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: Travel

The Silence of Nôm Calligraphy: Memories of the Tết Lunar New Year

24 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Nom Calligraphy, Tet Lunar New Year, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vietnamese Cuisine, Vu Nhat Tan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Ancient Music Ensemble of Tonkin, Bamboo House Hanoi, Banh Chung, Buddhism, Food, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hanoi Old Quarter, Nom Calligraphy, Poetry, Temple of Literature, Tet Lunar New Year 2018, Tet Markets, Travel, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

A7A3D7E8-1F03-43D4-B2EE-985404ECE96D

Craftsman Era sunset glows on “Good Health” our Nôm calligraphy scroll.

As we say a “good riddance” to the chaotic Year of the Boar and as the more hopeful Year of the Mouse approaches on Saturday January 25, 2020, my thoughts and dreams return easily to 2018. That was the year I experienced my first Vietnamese Tết Lunar New Year in Hà Nội, the Year of the Dog.

“Anh Jeff, we want to show you and chị Jan the real Việt Nam!” said our good friends.

Continue reading →

“The Ancient is New & The New is Ancient” at L’espace in Hà Nội

26 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Buddhism, Contemporary Music, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Japan, Minh Dam Quang, Nguyen Thien Dao, Toru Takemitsu, Uncategorized, Vietnam

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Buddhism, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Institut Francais-Hanoi, Karlheinz Stockhausen, L’espace, Luong Hue Trinh, Minh Dam Quang, Ngo Tra My, Nguyen Thien Dao, Nicholas Isherwood, Olivier Messiaen, Pham Tra My, Travel

146FCB75-9BB0-4459-9FDE-0409E95CD5E5

A silhouette of my friend Hương Lan in Huế.

“I have been trying not to view Japan as an absolute but as a duality, otherwise the tradition does not come alive but remains an unavoidable antique.”

In 1989 Toru Takemitsu wrote for me an essential article, Sound of East, Sound of West. His perspective gives the serious reader a magnetic compass for navigating the shifting soundscapes of our musical world. And like any map locating an unknown destination, my dog eared copy of this East Meets West article, a transcription of a lecture Takemitsu delivered at Columbia University in New York City, has been read and re-read more times than I can count.

On Saturday night December 1st, 2018 at 20h00, the Institut-Français Hà Nội sponsors the ongoing collaboration of the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble and the Đông Kinh Cổ Nhạc/Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin at L’espace at 24-26 Tràng Tiền near the Hà Nội Opera House in the Hoàn Kiếm District. Thank you, France!

Continue reading →

Sazeracs and Green Grasshoppers: The Old Tastes of New Orleans

21 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Antoine’s, Brennan’s, Chasen's, Food, New Orleans, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Acme Oyster House, Antoine’s, Brennan’s, Cafe du Monde, Commander’s Palace, Green Grasshopper, Magazine Street, Marlon Brando, New Orleans, Sazerac, Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams, Travel, Tujague’s

C707D533-AE91-4C9F-A909-6C4C5D7E95E2

A pyrotechnic tableside flambé of Bananas Foster at Brennan’s.

“America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland.” Tennessee Williams

I have old school restaurants in my DNA. My family had deep roots in the Golden Era eateries of Hollywood, from the Hollywood legend that was Chasen’s at Beverly and Doheny to Armstrong Schroeder on Santa Monica Boulevard. You can add the House of Murphy on San Vicente to the endless lunches my mom and my two aunts served at the 20th Century Fox commissary. Mom’s best friend was busy in Culver City at MGM. And all of this poured into our family restaurant at 2601 W. Sixth St. in Los Angeles.

I’m no stranger to the type of place where jacket and tie are mandatory.

Continue reading →

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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

27B08F87-51A0-462D-BF9E-59CE4D700E18

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.

Continue reading →

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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!

Continue reading →

Périgueux & A Most Beautiful Farmers Market in France

25 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Food, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Music, Paris, Perigueux, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam

≈ Comments Off on Périgueux & A Most Beautiful Farmers Market in France

Tags

Cezanne, Chasen's Restaurant, Dalton Trumbo, Dordgogne, Food, French Food, Gregory Peck, Hector Berlioz, Humphrey Bogart, In Search of Lost Time, L'Essentiel Restaurant, Lauren Bacall, Marlon Brando, Perigueux, Proust, Travel, Truffles

2017-05-27 10.18.45

The delicious red strawberries at the Saturday Farmers Market of Périgueux.

With an apple I will astonish Paris. Paul Cézanne

The impressions of the sights and smells of cuisine, of tea, of sweet and warm baked madeleines, of savory asparagus, permeate the towering pages of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. The still life paintings of Paul Cézanne helped shift perception in the visual arts to a new way of geometric seeing, the French translation of still life, nature morte, a telling Gallic metaphor for a symbolic death. The musical fruits of Erik Satie would astonish a dismissive public when he wrote Trois morceaux en forme de poire.

Cuisine, with all its timeworn clichés, still defines France.

Continue reading →

A Few Berlin Stories & A New Hall for Pierre Boulez

13 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Arnold Schoenberg, Christopher Isherwood, Composers, Contemporary Music, Diplomacy, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kent Nagano, Music, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized, Vienna, Vietnam

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Arnold Schoenberg, Berlin, Caspar David Frierich, Checkpoint Charlie, Christopher Isherwood, Daniel Barenboim, Daniel Liebeskind, Edward Said, Frank Gehry, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Holocuast Memorial Berlin, Kent Nagano, Pierre Boulez, Pierre Boulez Saal, Reichstag, Silke Hilger, Travel, Universal Music, West-Divan Orchestra, Yasuhisa Toyota

2017-06-07 16.49.00

Enjoying Caspar David Friedrich in Berlin

Berliners love to talk – with a blunt directness which is both rude and friendly – and even in their grumbling there is a note of pleasure. Christopher Isherwood

I’ve benefited from a good dose of internal California breathing space after visiting Berlin last month. The city was long overdue for me to experience and this was my first chance. And my lasting impression is not of monuments, museums, concerts or one of the best bus systems on the planet. No, my memory remains fixed on one thing.

Charming, grumbling, and usually laughing Berliners!

Continue reading →

The Hamburg Elbphilharmonie & Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder

27 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Arnold Schoenberg, Composers, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Kent Nagano, Music, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Alan Gilbert, Anja Silja, Arnold Schoenberg, Elbphilharmonie, Gurrelieder, Hamburg, Hamburg Staatskapelle, Hamburg Staatsoper, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Johannes Brahms, Kent Nagano, Leonard Bernstein, Mari Kodama, Pierre Boulez, St. Michael's Church, Travel

2017-06-18 15.11.00

The shining new Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.

If you’re curious why Alan Gilbert is leaving the New York Philharmonic for Hamburg’s NDR Elbphilharmonie, here’s a statistic for you. My friend Kent Nagano’s entire ten concert season at the shining new hall with his Hamburg Staatsorchester is already completely sold out. How long did it take? One hour.

Welcome to Hamburg!

Continue reading →

Who Knew? Chez Janou and 80 Types of Pastis in Paris

16 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Buddhism, Composers, Contemporary Music, Food, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Japan, Kim Ngoc Tran, Kyoto, LA International New Music Festival, Los Angeles, Minh Dam Quang, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Asia, Buddhism, Chez Janou, Dam Quang MInh, Food, French Food, Gilbert Nouno, Guangxi Arts Festival, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, India, IRCAM, Munich Biennale, Paris, Pastis, Pierre Boulez, Travel, Vietnam

IMG_7335

Jan at Chez Janou.

Invariably, when one searches the internet for restaurant reviews of places to go in Paris, the general observation includes a few “rude service” comments. Personally, I’ve never experienced what they’re talking about, but that might be because I have a decent amount of French. I’ve always found Parisians pretty easy going if you just say “Bonjour” when you walk into a restaurant or a shop. You aren’t the first tourist they’ve ever seen. Smiles always help you.

Jan and I are in Europe for planning meetings for next steps for our Hà Nội New Music Ensemble in Việt Nam. Things are moving forward, for while we’re in Europe, my Vietnamese colleagues have concerts in Hà Nội with the directors of the Münchner Biennale and then tour to the Guangxi Festival in Nanning, China. By dividing our resources we’re getting ready for an ambitious future.

Allow me to share with you where a Parisian friend recommended we meet for dinner? And the staff is friendly and fantastic. Feel free to make your own reservation!

Continue reading →

The Markets of Mérida and Valladolid with a Glass of Xtabentún

11 Tuesday Apr 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Chichen Itza, Cobá, Food, Merida, Mexico, Music, Paseo de Montejo, Travel, Tulum, Uncategorized, Uxmal, Valladolid, Yucatan

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Achiote, Apoala, Casa de Los Venados, Food, La Chaya Maya, Merida, Mexican cheese, Mexico, Sosa Xtabentun, The Coffee Bike Station, Travel, Valladolid, Xtabentun

2017-02-12 11.39.38

Happy to meet the owner of Pescaderia La Tempesta in Mérida.

“…poor México, poor United States, so far from God, so near to each other.” Carlos Fuentes The Crystal Frontier

“Hola, amigo gringo!” The friendly fishmonger of Pescaderia La Tempesta looked at me kindly as I was admiring his catch of the day at the Mercado Lucas de Gálvez in downtown Mérida, the capitol city of the Mayan Yucatan.

“I’ll hire gringo immigrants when La Naranja finally drives you loco! Come here, put on an apron and visit my shop.” Little did my new friend know that I’d grown up in a white apron, working for my parents in our family restaurant. I was not a fish out of water.

Continue reading →

← Older posts

Categories

  • Alexander Goehr (1)
  • Alexandra du Bois (1)
  • Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin (23)
  • Anderson Valley (1)
  • Antoine’s (1)
  • Arditti Quartet (1)
  • Arnold Schoenberg (5)
  • Asam Laksa (3)
  • Austria (3)
  • Bangkok (1)
  • Barcelona (3)
  • Batu Caves (1)
  • Bela Bartók (1)
  • Benet Casablancas (1)
  • Betty Freeman (3)
  • Big Sur (2)
  • Bogota (2)
  • Brennan’s (1)
  • Buddhism (10)
  • Café Giang (1)
  • California wine (6)
  • Cambodia (2)
  • Carlos Chavez (5)
  • Carlos Fuentes (1)
  • Cartagena (2)
  • Cat Ba Island (2)
  • Catalonia (3)
  • Central Coast of California (1)
  • Chasen's (3)
  • Chichen Itza (3)
  • Christopher Isherwood (2)
  • Cobá (2)
  • Colombia (4)
  • Composers (77)
  • Cong Ca Phe (1)
  • Cong CaPhe (4)
  • Contemporary Music (95)
  • Coyoacan (3)
  • Dalton Trumbo (1)
  • Diego Rivera (1)
  • Diplomacy (11)
  • Eastern and Oriental Hotel (2)
  • Education (8)
  • Elbphilharmonie (3)
  • Elliott Carter (13)
  • Ensemble Modern (1)
  • Evan Hughes (4)
  • Famous Father Girl (1)
  • Farmers Markets (1)
  • Food (70)
  • Frida Kahlo (1)
  • Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1)
  • Gabriela Ortiz (10)
  • Georgetown (5)
  • Gurrelieder (1)
  • Gustavo Dudamel (1)
  • Halong Bay (4)
  • Hamburg (5)
  • Hanoi (37)
  • Hanoi New Music Ensemble (54)
  • Hanoi Social Club (1)
  • Hanzhou (1)
  • Healdsburg (1)
  • Hermann Hesse (2)
  • Hoi An (1)
  • Hollywood (6)
  • Hong Kong (7)
  • Hong Kong New Music Ensemble (9)
  • Humphrey Bogart (1)
  • Igor Stravinsky (2)
  • Jacob Zeitlin (2)
  • Jamie Bernstein (1)
  • Japan (10)
  • John Cage (8)
  • Jonas Baes (1)
  • Jorg Widmann (1)
  • Jose Maceda (1)
  • Ken Burns (1)
  • Kent Nagano (6)
  • Kim Ngoc Tran (10)
  • Kuala Lumpur (2)
  • Kurt Rohde (1)
  • Kyoto (8)
  • LA International New Music Festival (95)
  • Laos (5)
  • Latin Grammy Awards (15)
  • Laura Mercado-Wright (3)
  • Lauren Bacall (1)
  • Leon Trotsky (1)
  • Leonard Bernstein (1)
  • Loading T Coffee (1)
  • Los Angeles (28)
  • Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (1)
  • Luang Prabang (6)
  • Lucas Fels (1)
  • Malaysia (7)
  • Manila Composers Lab (1)
  • Manzi Art Space (4)
  • Merida (2)
  • Mexico (24)
  • Minh Dam Quang (11)
  • Music (80)
  • New Jogjakarta Contemporary Ensemble (1)
  • New Orleans (1)
  • New York City (2)
  • Nguyen Minh Nhat (9)
  • Nguyen Thien Dao (9)
  • Nina Janssen-Deinzer (1)
  • Nom Calligraphy (2)
  • Oliver Knussen (1)
  • Pang Vongtaradon (1)
  • Paris (9)
  • Paseo de Montejo (2)
  • Penang Island (5)
  • Perigueux (1)
  • Phillipines (1)
  • Ramon Santas (1)
  • REDCAT (12)
  • Ripieno Ensemble, Manila (2)
  • Russian River (1)
  • San Francisco (3)
  • Secret War in Laos (1)
  • Sian Ka'an (1)
  • Silverlake (2)
  • Singapore (3)
  • Song Hong Ensemble (4)
  • Southwest Chamber Music (71)
  • Spartacus (1)
  • Stanley Kubrick (1)
  • Taipei (4)
  • Tambuco Percussion Ensemble (19)
  • Tanglewood (1)
  • Tea (2)
  • Tet Lunar New Year (1)
  • Tetsuji Honna (1)
  • Thailand (1)
  • Ton That Tiet (3)
  • Toru Takemitsu (3)
  • Toshio Hosokawa (3)
  • Travel (97)
  • Tulum (2)
  • Uncategorized (129)
  • Uxmal (3)
  • UXO Removal (1)
  • Valladolid (2)
  • Vienna (5)
  • Vienna Philharmonic (2)
  • Vietnam (78)
  • Vietnamese Cuisine (3)
  • Vietnamese Egg Coffee (1)
  • Vu Nhat Tan (34)
  • W. Somerset Maugham (1)
  • Walt Disney Concert Hall (12)
  • Wat Xieng Thong (1)
  • West’s Hollywood (1)
  • William Kraft (4)
  • Woman in Gold (1)
  • Women's March (1)
  • Yogyakarta, Indonesia (1)
  • Yucatan (3)
Follow Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt on WordPress.com

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Archives

Translate

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt
    • Join 73 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...