News Release | PCMC Concert - Oct. 10, 2007

October 10, 2007

Note to editors and news directors:

Rehearsal photos–showing the convergence of composers’ minds–are available here, with captions: www.calstatela.edu/univ/ppa/SCpcmcrehearsal/

To arrange an interview with composers Antoine Bonnet and John M. Kennedy or others involved in the melding of modern French and American music, call Cal State L.A. Public Affairs at (323) 343-3050.

A rendezvous of French, American modern music

Works by Bonnet, Kennedy to premiere at Cal State L.A. Nov. 10

 

Los Angeles, CA – Celebrating the mutual influences of French and American music from the early 20th to the early 21st century, the Pacific Contemporary Music Center (PCMC) at Cal State L.A. presents “Musical Alliances Musicales” on Saturday, Nov. 10, 7 p.m., at Cal State L.A.’s Luckman Theatre.

The concert will premiere two brilliantly composed masterpieces: Antoine Bonnet’s “Fugues, échos, fragments,” commissioned by the PCMC and performed by a CSULA faculty chamber ensemble, and John M. Kennedy’s “Desde el Balcón,” peformed by internationally acclaimed baritone Nicholas Isherwood and Geneva Prize-winner and Naxos recording artist, violist Hong Mei Xiao.

The evening will also feature vocal and instrumental works by Francis Poulenc, Claude Debussy, Steve Reich, Charles Ives and George Crumb.

The music of Antoine Bonnet has been called ”evocative” and characterized as “a synthesis of organic sound, shaped by his use of acoustic instrumentation and computer enhancement.” Bonnet’s musical works and his writings, soon to be combined and published by Art edition, have been underwritten by the SACEM-Dugardin prize and the “Villa Medicis (ex mural)” awards. A CD of his work has been published on Accord with Pierre Boulez and David Robertson conducting the ensemble Intercontemporain. He is a professor at l’Universite Rennes 2 and director of the laboratory for Music and Images: Analysis and Creation, where he continues to work in the collaborative world of computer interactive systems.

John M. Kennedy’s music has been described as a “meeting of creative output” stemming from his “roots as a self-taught rock and jazz bassist.” His compositions have been performed at major festival and venues throughout the U.S., Europe, Canada, Korea and Argentina, including a performance during the 1989 Salzburg Festival at the Mozarteum. His work can be heard on Vienna Modern Masters (VMM 3032) and is available from ILC Publishing, Los Angeles. He has been called upon to conduct new works including pieces by Leslie Bassett, Henry Brant, William Kraft, and Chinary Ung. Kennedy is a professor of music at Cal State L.A.

In commemoration of PCMC’s 20th anniversary, the day’s program will include a 3 p.m. special recital of French songs by Cal State L.A. students and recent alums. A buffet dinner at 4:30 p.m. will follow with a pre-concert talk with Antoine Bonnet at 6 p.m.

To purchase individual tickets for the Nov. 10 event, please contact the Luckman Complex box office at (323) 343-6600. For tickets to the concert, recital and buffet dinner, call the College of Arts and Letters at Cal State L.A., (323) 343-4001. For other details, go to /centers/PCMC/bonnet.htm.

 


CALENDAR LISTING:

Music Alliances Musicales Concert
When: Saturday, November 10, 7 p.m.
Tickets: General admission, $20; students with valid ID, $12

Recital of French Songs
When: Saturday, November 10, 3 p.m.
Tickets: General admission, $15; students with valid ID, $8

Buffet Dinner
When: Saturday, November 10, 4:30 p.m.
Tickets: General admission, $10; students with valid ID, $7

Meet the Composer
When: Saturday, November 10, 6 p.m.
Admission: Free to the public.

Where: Luckman Theatre, California State University, Los Angeles.
Parking: Public dispenser parking is available at the upper level of Parking Structure C.
Details: (323) 343-4001 or /centers/PCMC/bonnet.htm

Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 200,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Among programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu

 

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