Hallucination - Jacaranda's Concert of Stockhausen & Xenakis

Jacaranda, the series of intimate
concert adventures into the realm of new and rarely heard classical music
presents “Hallucination,” featuring
the music of avant-garde composers Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis on Saturday,
January 25, 2014 at 8 p.m. at
the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica, 1220 2nd Street,
Santa Monica, 90401. Tickets are $45
general admission and $20 for students. There is also a pre-concert talk at 7pm. For more information
and tickets please visit www.JacarandaMusic.org or call (213) 483-0216.  

Stockhausen’s 70-minute
masterpiece “Stimmung” (“Tuning/mood/atmosphere”),
for six amplified voices, will be performed
by VOXNOVA Italia, which is making its international debut with this concert.
Founded 22 years ago in France as VOXNOVA, the widely
acclaimed European vocal ensemble will be reincarnated in 2014 with five
Italian contemporary vocal music specialists under the direction of founder, bass baritone Nicholas
Isherwood. The American-born singer, a protégé of the late
composer, recently moved from Berlin to Rome. VOXNOVA Italia, he says, has
“cracked the code” of Stockhausen’s score by producing the harmonic balances
asked for by the composer. Described as
a trance-like stream of consciousness, “Stimmung” was inspired by walking
among the ancient pyramids of Mexico, as well as by the spirit of free love
permeating the period. The work’s steamy erotic poetry, usually performed in
German, will be heard in English. 

Opening
this concert, which recalls the “summer of
love” and impossible dreams of the late 1960s,
cellist Timothy Loo will provide a point of departure with “Nomos
Alpha” (1966) by Xenakis. The highly complex 15-minute work is considered
impossible to perform as written. Loo will employ innovative new technology to
completely render the work. 

- Iannis Xenakis:  Nomos
Alpha (solo cello, 1966)          

- Karlheinz Stockhausen: Stimmung (1968)

Wednesday, January 22, 8
p.m., MARY MEETS KARLHEINZ, Villa Aurora



Isherwood, who created the role of “Lucifer” in
three of the operas making up Stockhausen’s massive cycle “Licht,” will perform
“Capricorn” for singer and electronics, tailored to his voice by the composer.
Isherwood will wear the original 1974 costume designed by Bauermeister. This
performance will follow a rare performance of “Kontakte,” a seminal electronic
work, in a new high-def digital restoration courtesy of Los Angeles-based
composer Jennifer Logan and L.A.’s Occidental College. The 1960 premiere of the
30-minute work was also the occasion in which Stockhausen met visual artist and
Fluxus catalyst Bauermeister, who will be present at this concert. Villa
Aurora, 520 Paseo Miramar, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272; Shuttle starts at 7pm; Tickets:
$25/$15 students. 

- Karlheinz Stockhausen: Kontakte
(4-channels, 1960)           

- Stockhausen: Capricorn (singer &
4-channels, 1974) from Tierkreis (Zodiac)

Sunday,
January 26, 3 p.m., MARY ELECTRIFRIES, Goethe Institute, Los Angeles



The 80th birthday tribute to
Bauermeister, the second of Stockhausen’s four wives, will conclude with an
afternoon event devoted to her life and work. Reading in English from her new
memoir, published in her native German, Bauermeister will discuss the ideas,
both musical and visual, that were
exchanged by the couple. Samples of elaborately embellished letters and musical
diagrams, as well as her impromptu “altar” to Stockhausen will be
on view. A nine-minute animated film, “Tribute to Mary Bauermeister,” in which she
appears with such cultural icons as John Cage, Yoko Ono and Nam June Paik, will
be screened. Goethe Institute, 5750 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA
90036; Free admission; Online RSVP requested.

- Mary
Bauermeister Reading, screening and improvisation with Nicholas Isherwood

For tickets and more
information on all three programs, please visit www.JacarandaMusic.org or call (213)
483-0216.  

About Jacaranda: Jacaranda, with a motto of “music at the edge,” is a
series of intimate concert adventures into the realm of new and rarely heard
classical music designed to awaken curiosity, passion and discovery in diverse
audiences. Founded in 2003 by arts impresario Patrick Scott and
conductor/organist Mark Alan Hilt, Jacaranda produces a series (eight concerts
this season) that features current and rising stars in the world of classical
music performance. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2013-14,
Jacaranda’s full 2013-14 season information is available at www.JacarandaMusic.org. Most concerts are held at First Presbyterian Church of
Santa Monica, 1220 Second Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401.