PACIFIC SYMPHONY AND LONG BEACH OPERA JOIN FORCES FOR PHILIP GLASS FESTIVAL,\u201d FEATURING OPERA, CONCERTS, PIANO RECITAL, FILMS, LECTURES, MORE\u2014FEB. 27-MARCH 27<\/p>\n
LBO\u2019s Glass programs and Symphony\u2019s 11th American Composers Festival\u2014\u201cThe Passion of Philip Glass\u201d\u2014together explore in-depth one of today\u2019s most influential and fascinating composers and his music Heart of the Festival includes Symphony\u2019s concerts featuring \u201cThe Passion of Ramakrishna\u201d and LBO\u2019s opera, \u201cAkhnaten\u201d Ancillary events include Symphony\u2019s piano recital, \u201cGlass Plays Glass\u201d; LBO\u2019s presentations of the Qatsi Film Trilogy and \u201cAn Afternoon with Philip Glass\u201d in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Symphony\u2019s \u201cBehind the Score: The Illusionist,\u201d in collaboration with Newport Beach Film Festival, featuring a discussion with the composer; plus lectures and discussions<\/p>\n
One of America\u2019s most fascinating and pre-eminent living composers\u2014Philip Glass\u2014goes under the microscope when Pacific Symphony partners with Long Beach Opera (LBO) to present the first-ever Southern California Philip Glass Festival. Both the Symphony\u2019s 11th American Composers Festival (ACF)\u2014\u201cThe Passion of Philip Glass\u201d\u2014and LBO\u2019s production of the Glass opera \u201cAkhnaten,\u201d and accompanying events (films, lectures, discussions) probe deeply into the man and his music. There are myriad reasons for choosing Glass as a subject worthy of so much attention, beginning with the fact that the composer has made a tremendous impact on the American musical vocabulary. And while this prolific composer\u2019s music is most closely associated with the Minimalist school, he has written in numerous different genres, drawing inspiration from a multitude of sources, while retaining an immediately identifiable style. For information on the festival, visit: PhilipGlassFestival.com.<\/p>\n
In addition to LBO\u2019s production of the opera, \u201cAkhnaten,\u201d and the Symphony\u2019s main concerts featuring \u201cThe Passion of Ramakrishna,\u201d the Glass Festival includes the Symphony\u2019s solo piano recital \u201cGlass Plays Glass\u201d; films scored by Glass: \u201cKoyaanisqatsi,\u201d \u201cPowaqqatsi,\u201d and \u201cNaqoyqatsi,\u201d presented by LBO, and \u201cThe Illusionist,\u201d presented by the Symphony in collaboration with Newport Beach Film Festival. LBO also offers a lecture on \u201cAkhnaten and his World\u201d at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and \u201cAn Afternoon with Philip Glass\u201d exploring the opera \u201cAkhnaten\u201d at the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art (LACMA). A number of the events include an in-person discussion with the composer.<\/p>\n
For tickets or more information on the Symphony\u2019s ACF 2011 featuring Glass, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org\/ACF; for tickets or more information on LBO\u2019s Glass opera and events: call (562) 432-5934 or LongBeachOpera.org<\/p>\n
American Composers Festival<\/p>\n
The unifying theme for the Symphony\u2019s 2011 ACF, led by St.Clair, is the influence that India\u2019s music and philosophy have had on Glass. The Festival focuses on the composer\u2019s collaborations with Indian sitar master Ravi Shankar, whom Glass first met in India in 1965. In 2006, Pacific Symphony co-commissioned with the Nashville Symphony a work from Glass for orchestra and chorus, \u201cThe Passion of Ramakrishna,\u201d which received its world premiere at the gala opening of the Symphony\u2019s home, the Ren\u00e9e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. This year\u2019s ACF revisits this momentous work and presents complementary works from Glass\u2019s oeuvre, with the goal of bringing this modern master to the greater attention of music patrons in Southern California.<\/p>\n
Mixing Eastern and Western traditions, Glass\u2019 heroic musical homage to a simple Hindu holy man paints an exquisite symphonic and choral picture of India emerging from centuries of foreign domination. Glass\u2019s concerto for saxophone quartet and orchestra rounds out this south Asian odyssey. ACF 2011 is sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Aaron Copland Fund for Music.<\/p>\n
ACF\u2019s Programming<\/p>\n
The Symphony\u2019s ACF begins March 10-12, 8 p.m., in the Ren\u00e9e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, with St.Clair conducting \u201cThe Passion of Philip Glass,\u201d a concert featuring Christ\u00f3pheren Nomura, baritone; Prism Quartet, saxophones; Janice Chandler-Eteme, soprano; and Kevin Deas, bass-baritone. The concert begins with an excerpt from \u201cMeetings Along the Edge\u201d from \u201cPassages,\u201d a 1990 collaboration between Glass and Shankar, with each having written arrangements around themes created by the other. The program also includes one of Glass\u2019 most performed concertos, for saxophone quartet and orchestra, composed for the Rascher Saxophone Quartet in 1995. The concert rounds out with Glass\u2019s epic \u201cThe Passion of Ramakrishna,\u201d and includes pre- and post-concert talks with Glass and St.Clair.<\/p>\n
Glass, who spent a great deal of time traveling in India during the middle years of his life, says he had long known about the Gospel of Ramakrishna, which he calls \u201ca classic book, written in a beautiful style.\u201d Along with Nadia Boulanger, Glass claims that Ravi Shankar is the most important person he has ever worked with.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, March 13, at 3 p.m., in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, St.Clair and the orchestra further explore the \u201cThe Passion of Ramakrishna,\u201d Glass\u2019s symphonic tribute to the 19th century Indian spiritual leader, during Classical Connections, an informative and relaxed Sunday afternoon conversation and performance<\/p>\n
The ancillary event, \u201cGlass Plays Glass,\u201d takes place Monday, March 14, at 8 p.m. in the Samueli Theater, and features an evening of solo piano music composed and performed by Glass. The exact selections are not entirely known at this time, but Glass plans to include several movements of his \u00c9tudes for solo piano.<\/p>\n
ACF 2011 continues when the Symphony partners for a second time with Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) to present \u201cBehind the Score: The Illusionist.\u201d Glass provided the soundtrack for the 2006 mystery\/thriller, \u201cThe Illusionist,\u201d and this event features a screening of the film and panel discussion with the composer. The event takes place on Sunday, March 13, at 7 p.m. at the historic Regency Lido Theater in Newport Beach. A supernatural mystery that combines romance, politics and magic, \u201cThe Illusionist\u201d stars Academy-Award nominees Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti as two men pitted against each other in a battle of wits.<\/p>\n
Long Beach Opera: Focus on Glass<\/p>\n
Although in its 32nd season, LBO, the oldest opera company in the Los Angeles\/Orange County metropolitan area, enjoys staying young and current. LBO is known both nationally and internationally for going where others dare not go and the innovative company excels in taking its audiences on new musical adventures. One way for LBO to stay current is to present modern composers and newer works.<\/p>\n
Long Beach Opera Festival Programming<\/p>\n
LBO opens Philip Glass Festival events on Sunday, Feb. 27, with the screening of \u201cKoyaanisqatsi,\u201d followed by later screenings of \u201cPowaqqatsi\u201d and \u201cNaqoyqatsi.\u201d The three films form the Qatsi Trilogy, one of the world\u2019s most significant fusions of music and cinematography. With breathtakingly beautiful images and visually stimulating Glass scores, these magnificent films depict the world\u2019s harsh transition from the naturalism of the early 20th century to the technological advances of the 21st. Mitisek says, \u201cIn most other movies, the music simply \u2018underscores\u2019 the emotions, the story. In the Qatsi Trilogy, with only images and music\u2014there is no spoken dialogue, the scores become the emotional essence of the narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKoyaanisqatsi\u201d (1982), the Hopi word for \u201cLife Out of Balance,\u201d screens Sunday, Feb. 27, at 11 a.m., at the Art Theatre of Long Beach. The first film of the trilogy is an apocalyptic vision of the natural world on a collision course with modern technology and industrialization. Glass writes that the score \u201cgrew out of the instrumental style of keyboards, winds, and voice\u2026the movement of the film from the organic images of the American southwest to the hi-tech accelerated life of modern North American cities was reflected in my version of modern synthesized music.\u201d A winner of a Golden Globe Award, \u201cKoyaanisqatsi\u201d has been selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry for being\u00a0 culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant.\u00a0 Powaqqatsi\u201d (1988), the Hopi word for\u00a0 Life in Transformation,\u00a0 screens Sunday, March 6, at 11 a.m., at the Art Theatre of Long Beach. The film takes viewers on a journey through Third World cultures as their societies are progressively pushed towards and rapidly impacted by the technological advances of the industrial world.\u00a0 Life as War,\u00a0 screens Sunday, March 20, at 11 a.m., at the Art Theatre of Long Beach. In the final film of the trilogy, almost every frame is a computer-generated effect and audiences see the world through the lens of technology itself.<\/p>\n
Next, LBO in collaboration with UCLA Egyptology offers an archaeological overview of \u201cAkhnaten and His World,\u201d on Saturday, March 5, from 2-4:30 p.m., at UCLA\u2019s Lenart Auditorium, North Campus. Archaeologists have only recently solved some of the mysteries surrounding Pharaoh Akhnaten, the man who originated the idea of monotheism. New discoveries have shed light on his attempts to change the beliefs of his time in religion, politics, and art; the dire consequences of his actions; and his son and successor King Tutankhamun\u2019s return to traditional ways. The tumultuous period of Akhnaten\u2019s reign will be revealed in the afternoon\u2019s lectures: \u201cWho was Akhnaten?,\u201d \u201cDiscovering Akhnaten,\u201d Akhnaten\u2019s Religion,\u201d and \u201cArt and Akhnaten.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday, March 12, 2-4:30 p.m., LBO in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents \u201cAn Afternoon with Philip Glass\u201d at the Museum. LBO Director Mitisek and composer Philip Glass discuss the West Coast premiere of Glass\u2019 spectacular \u201cAkhnaten,\u201d and singers from the cast perform excerpts from the opera. An audience Q & A follows the discussion. In the second half of the program, concert pianist Michele Schumann performs a selection of Glass works.<\/p>\n
The long-awaited West Coast premiere of the fully staged and orchestrated opera, \u201cAkhnaten,\u201d takes place March 19, at 7:30 p.m. and March 27, at 2 p.m., at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach.<\/p>\n
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: PHILIP GLASS FESTIVAL 2011<\/p>\n
LBOpera Cinema \u2013 Part One of the Qatsi Trilogy
\nKOYAANISQATSI: LIFE OUT OF BALANCE
\nSunday, February 27, 11 a.m.
\nArt Theatre of Long Beach
\nMusic by Philip Glass
\nDirected by Godfrey Reggio<\/p>\n
Sweeping images of the natural environment colliding with the industrial world are fused with Glass\u2019 modern synthesized music leaving viewers breathlessly floating through time and space. The imbalance of Nature and modern society is reflected in a score of keyboards, winds, and voice.<\/p>\n
AKHNATEN AND HIS WORLD
\nLBO and UCLA Egyptology
\nSaturday, March 5, 2-4:15 p.m.
\nUCLA, Lenart Auditorium, North Campus<\/p>\n
The mysteries of Akhnaten and the society he tried to change are explained as professors and faculty from UCLA\u2019s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Culture (NELC)\/ Cotsen Institute of Archaeology present recently discovered information about this revolutionary man and his times.<\/p>\n
Who was Akhnaten? – Professor Kara Cooney
\nDiscovering Akhnaten – Professor Willeke
\nAkhnaten\u2019s Religion – Eric Wells
\nArt and Akhnaten – Anne Austin<\/p>\n
LBOpera Cinema \u2013 Part Two of the Qatsi Trilogy
\nPOWAQQATSI:LIFE IN TRANSITION
\nSunday, March 6, 11 a.m.
\nArt Theatre of Long Beach
\nMusic by Philip Glass
\nDirected by Godfrey Reggio<\/p>\n
A celebration of traditional culture, this moving film travels to Third World societies thrown into the path of industrialization and modern technology, forces which are forever transforming their ways of life. The score combines the sound of synthesizers with an orchestra while native instruments are heard throughout and human voices from the Third World rise in song.<\/p>\n
American Composer\u2019s Festival 2011
\nTHE PASSION OF PHILIP GLASS
\nThursday- Saturday, March 10-12, 8 p.m.
\nRen\u00e9e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall<\/p>\n
Mixing Eastern and Western traditions, Philip Glass\u2019 heroic musical homage to a simple Hindu holy man paints an exquisite symphonic and choral picture of India emerging from centuries of foreign domination. Glass saxophone concerto, as well as a piece co-composed by Glass and Ravi Shankar, fill out this south Asian odyssey.<\/p>\n
Carl St.Clair, conductor
\nPhilip Glass, composer
\nPrism Quartet, saxophone<\/p>\n
Janice Chandler Eteme, soprano
\nKevin Deas, baritone
\nChrist\u00f3pheren Nomura, baritone
\nPacific Chorale \u2014 John Alexander, artistic director<\/p>\n
Program includes:
\nGlass and Shankar: Meetings Along the Edge from \u201cPassages\u201d
\nGlass: Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra
\nGlass: The Passion of Ramakrishna<\/p>\n
AN AFTERNOON WITH PHILIP GLASS
\nLBO and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
\nSaturday, March 12, 2 – 4:30 p.m.
\nLos Angeles County Museum of Art<\/p>\n
LBO Director Andreas Mitisek and Philip Glass join in a lively discussion of the composer\u2019s spectacular opera, \u201cAkhnaten.\u201d Audience members are invited to participate with their own questions during a Q & A. Cast members sing selections from the opera and concert pianist Michelle Schumann plays Glass compositions.<\/p>\n
American Composers Festival 2011
\nTHE PASSION OF RAMAKRISHNA
\nSunday, March 13, 3 p.m.
\nRen\u00e9e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall<\/p>\n
Carl St.Clair, conductor and host
\nJanice Chandler-Eteme, soprano
\nChrist\u00f3pheren Nomura, baritone
\nKevin Deas, bass-baritone
\nPacific Chorale, John Alexander, artistic director<\/p>\n
Glass: The Passion of Ramakrishna<\/p>\n
Music Director Carl St.Clair further explores the \u201cThe Passion of Ramakrishna,\u201d Philip Glass\u2019s symphonic and choral tribute to the 19th century Indian spiritual leader, during Pacific Symphony\u2019s Classical Connections, an informative and relaxed Sunday afternoon conversation and performance.<\/p>\n
American Composers Festival 2011
\nGLASS PLAYS GLASS
\nMonday, March 14, 8 p.m.
\nSamueli Theater<\/p>\n
Philip Glass has had a long history of performing his own music, being among the first of a new generation of composer\/performers. To Glass, piano music is something intimate. His performances are not in the virtuoso concert-hall tradition of Liszt or Rachmaninoff. Rather, they might be viewed as part of the fading American tradition of the piano as a familiar, shared experience of simple, tuneful music.<\/p>\n
AKHNATEN, an opera in 3 acts
\nSaturday, March 19, 7:30 p.m.\u201310:30 p.m.
\nSunday, March 27, 2:00 p.m.\u20135:00 p.m.
\nTerrace Theater, Long Beach Performing Arts Center
\nMusic by Philip Glass
\nLibretto by Philip Glass in association with Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel, and Richard Riddell
\nSung in Egyptian, Akkadian, Hebrew, and English with English supertitles<\/p>\n
Completing the opera trilogy which began with \u201cEinstein on the Beach\u201d and \u201cSatyagraha,\u201d Glass explores the rise and fall of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhnaten and how his inner vision changed the world. The texts are drawn from ancient decrees, texts, and poems of the Amarna period sung in their original languages. Glass explains, \u201cIn Akhnaten, my emphasis is orchestral, with choral and solo voices sharing common ground with the orchestra.\u201d Director Mitisek gives a pre-opera talk one-hour before performances.<\/p>\n
American Composers Festival 2011
\nBEHIND THE SCORE: \u201cTHE ILLUSIONIST\u201d
\nPacific Symphony and Newport Beach Film Festival
\nSunday, March 13, 7 p.m.
\nRegency Lido Theater<\/p>\n
Pacific Symphony\u2019s American Composers Festival (ACF) in partnership with the Newport Beach Film Festival, presents: Behind the Score: \u201cThe Illusionist.\u201d This special screening of the Philip Glass-scored movie \u201cThe Illusionist\u201d includes an in-person Q & A with the film\u2019s composer Philip Glass.<\/p>\n
LBOpera Cinema – Part Three of the Qatsi Trilogy
\nNAQOYQATSI: LIFE AS WAR
\nSunday, March 20, 11 a.m.
\nArt Theatre of Long Beach
\nMusic by Philip Glass
\nDirected by Godfrey Reggio<\/p>\n
The aggressive pace of modern technology is depicted with enhanced imagery in what Director Reggio call \u201cvirtual cinema.\u201d According to Glass, \u201cThe \u2018civilized violence\u2019 in the narrative of this film goes beyond anything seen in the preceding two films\u2026\u201d The score balances the effect of the startling images with a \u201csound world of \u2018natural\u2019 timbres\u201d and features the superb cello of Yo-Yo Ma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PACIFIC SYMPHONY AND LONG BEACH OPERA JOIN FORCES FOR PHILIP GLASS FESTIVAL,\u201d FEATURING OPERA, CONCERTS, PIANO RECITAL, FILMS, LECTURES, MORE\u2014FEB. 27-MARCH 27 LBO\u2019s Glass programs and Symphony\u2019s 11th American Composers Festival\u2014\u201cThe Passion of Philip Glass\u201d\u2014together explore in-depth one of today\u2019s most influential and fascinating composers and his music Heart of the Festival includes Symphony\u2019s concerts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[71],"class_list":["post-124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-information","tag-philip-glass-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":635,"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions\/635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seecalifornia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}