Southwest Chamber Music                   

Press Release                                              

2013 LA INTERNATIONAL NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL  

Begins January 26 at The Colburn School

Festival includes commissions, premieres and international guest artists 

Los Angeles - The LA International New Music Festival, presented by Southwest Chamber Music, begins January 26 at 8:00 pm at The Colburn School across from the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The concert is preceded at 7:00 p.m. by a discussion with visiting composer Lei Liang from UC San Diego moderated by legendary radio personality Martin Perlich.

January 26 concert

The concert begins with Bryce, a mystical work by Toru Takemitsu, one of the foremost 20th century composers. It will be performed by Larry Kaplan, flute; David Johnson and Dave Gerhart, percussion; Alison Bjorkedal and Allison Allport, harps; and Jeff von der Schmidt, conductor. Listening to Blossoms by Lei Liang will receive its world premiere. The work was commissioned for the 25th anniversary of Southwest Chamber Music by The James Irvine Foundation, and will be performed by flutist Kaplan; Bjorkedal, harp; Ming Tsu, piano; Shalini Vijayan, violin; Luke Maurer, viola; Tom Peters, double bass; and von der Schmidt, conductor.

Elliott Carter's Luimen, in its west coast premiere, was composed for the Nieuw Ensemble, Amsterdam. Two of their members, Helenus de Rijke, guitar, and Hans Wesseling, mandolin, will join Southwest players Tony Ellis, trumpet; Al Veeh, trombone; Bjorkedal, harp; Gerhart, vibraphone, for the premiere which will be conducted by von der Schmidt. The performance is an homage to the great American composer who passed away last November.

Venezuelan composer Adina Izarra's Oratorio Profano will be heard in its U.S. premiere. Based on texts by the Venezuelan writer Fernando Fernández, the work will be performed by mezzo-soprano Laura Mercado Wright and baritone Abdiel Gonzalez with de Rijke and members of Southwest Chamber Music conducted by von der Schmidt.

Closing the program, Korean-Berliner Unsuk Chin's cosmigimmicks receives its first performance in the U.S. Commissioned for the 25th anniversary of Southwest by Susan Bienkowski and Wang Chung Lee, the work is a co-commission with the Nieuw Ensemble and the Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik. It will be performed by de Rijke and Wesseling in addition to Ellis, Johnson, Bjorkedal, Tsu, Vijayan and von der Schmidt.

February 2 concert

The next concert of the LA International New Music Festival is February 2, also at 8:00 p.m. at The Colburn School. Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz will join Perlich and von der Schmidt in the pre-concert discussion at 7:00 p.m. This performance of her Elegia for four sopranos and chamber ensemble, a U.S. premiere, is sponsored in part by FONCA, the national Mexican arts council, which supports Southwest's upcoming recording of the work. Elegia is based on the Requiem liturgy and is dedicated to the memory of the composer's mother.

Other works on the program include Peter Maxwell Davies' Lux in Tenebris with Tom Peters, double bass, and Davies' arrangement of John Dowland's Farewell -- A Fancye for chamber ensemble. Peters also plays Hans Werner Henze's S. Biagio 9 Agosto Ore 1207 programmed in memory of Henze who passed away last October. Charles Wuorinen's It Happens Like This was co-commissioned by Southwest, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and conductor James Levine. It will receive its west coast premiere. Composed for vocal quartet and large chamber ensemble, the work is based on texts by James Tate's 2004 book Return to the City of White Donkeys. The singers -- Sharon Harms, soprano; Laura Mercado Wright, mezzo-soprano; Steven Brennfleck, tenor; and Douglas Williams, bass, performed the world premiere at Tanglewood as well as the New York premiere.

For interviews or photos, please contact Heidi Lesemann at (626)685-4455 or heidi@swmusic.org.

Concert Information and Listing  

2013 LA International New Music Festival 

Saturday, January 26

Saturday, February 2

Saturday, February 23

Festival package:  30% off regular ticket prices!

4 concerts: $105 general; $75 seniors; $25 students with full time I.D.

Single Tickets: $38 general admission, $28 seniors over 65, and 

$10 student admission (student I.D. required at the door)

For tickets or information: 1.800.726.7147 or www.swmusic.org  

Saturday, February 2

Peter Maxwell Davies             Lux in Tenebris

John Dowland/Davies             Farewell - a Fancye

Hans Wener Henze                S. Biagio 9 Agosto Ore 1207

Gabriela Ortiz                         Elegía (U.S. Premiere)

Charles Wuorinen                  It Happens Like This (West Coast Premiere)*

Saturday, February 23

Karlheinz Stockhausen           Nebadon aus KLANG (U.S. Premiere)

John Cage                              Muoyce II: Writing Through "Ulysses" (West Coast Premiere)

Saturday, March 2

Carlos Chávez                        Invención III

Alberto Ginastera                   Serenata on Poems of Pablo Neruda

Anne LeBaron                        Some Things Should Not Move (World Premiere)*

Roger Reynolds                      Positings (World Premiere)*

*Commission or co-commission of Southwest Chamber Music

Programs and artists are subject to change.

Top L to R: Composers Unsuk Chin, Elliott Carter, Lei Liang, Peter Maxwell Davies, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Anne LeBaron, Charles Wuorinen; Bottom L to R: Gabriela Ortiz, John Cage, Toru Takemitsu, Alberto Ginastera, Roger Reynolds, Adina Izarra