Works & Process At The Guggenheim Presents LA Phil/Beth Morrison Projects: PLACE

Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, presents LA Phil/Beth Morrison Projects: PLACE on Monday, March 5, 2018 at 7:30pm.

Creators Ted Hearne, Patricia McGregor, and Saul Williams discuss their collaboration with moderators Chad Smith, Chief Operating Officer of the LA Phil and Beth Morrison, Creative Producer of Beth Morrison Projects and co-founding Director of the PROTOTYPE Festival. Performers Steven Bradshaw and Allison Semmes and a selection of New York's finest instrumentalists perform highlights prior to the premiere at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles (April 2018), Barbican Centre, London (May 2018), and in New York (Fall 2018).

Ted Hearne (Creator, Composer, Co-Librettist) is a Los Angeles-based composer, singer and bandleader noted for his "voracious curiosity" (NewMusicBox), "tough edge and wildness of spirit," and "fresh and muscular" music (The New York Times), who "writes with...technical assurance and imaginative scope" (San Francisco Chronicle). The New York Times included The Source on its list of the best classical vocal performances of 2014, and (along with The New Yorker and The Nation) of the best albums of 2015. Law of Mosaics, Hearne's 30-minute piece for string orchestra, was recently performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony, and was named one of The New Yorker's most notable albums of 2014 by Alex Ross.

Hearne performs with Philip White as the vocal-electronics duo R WE WHO R WE, belongs to the composer collective Sleeping Giant, and his most recent collaboration paired him with legendary musician Erykah Badu. An active recording artist, his albums Katrina Ballads, The Source and Outlanders are available on New Amsterdam Records. Sound From the Bench, his 40-minute cantata challenging the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, was recently released by Cantaloupe Music along with three other works performed by Donald Nally and The Crossing. Ted Hearne is the recipient of the Gaudeamus Prize and the New Voices Residency from Boosey and Hawkes. He recently joined the composition faculty at the University of Southern California. Recent and upcoming works include commissions from the LA Philharmonic, eighth blackbird, A Far Cry, Ensemble dal Niente, and Roomful of Teeth. www.tedhearne.com

Saul Williams (Creator and Co-Librettist) came to worldwide attention as a writer and performer with his debut film, SLAM (dir. Marc Levin) winning Sundance's Grand Jury Prize and Cannes Camera D'Or in 1998 introducing the world to the phenomenon of slam poetry competitions and Saul as a global ambassador of modern poetry. As a musician his albums, which have featured genre-bending collaborations with producers Rick Rubin & Trent Reznor, ushered in Brooklyn's Afro-Punk movement. Saul has also collaborated with Swiss composer Thomas Kessler on two symphonies based on two books of his poems and has performed as a poet and performer in over forty countries and hundreds of universities.

In 2013 Saul became the first African-American to win Best Actor in the largest and oldest African film festival FESPACO in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso for his work in the L'Etalon d'Or prize film TEY (dir. Alain Gomis). Saul is currently working on multi-media project surrounding his forthcoming graphic novel MartyrLoserKing.

Patricia McGregor (Creator and Director) is a director and writer from St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. She has twice been profiled by The New York Times for her direction of world premieres. Recent credits include the world premier of Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole (People's Light), Skeleton Crew (Studio Theater), the world premier of Good Grief (Center Theater Group), Measure for Measure (The Old Globe), The Parchman Hour (Guthrie Theater), Hamlet (The Public Theater), Ugly Lies the Bone (Roundabout Theatre Company), brownsville song (b-side for tray) (Lincoln Center Theater), the world premiere of Stagger Lee (Dallas Theater Center), and the world premiere of Hurt Village (Signature Theatre Company).

Her other credits include tour consultant for J Cole World Tour, Director of A Raisin in the Sun, The Winter's Tale,Spunk, Becky Shaw, Adoration of the Old Woman, Blood Dazzler, Holding It Down, Four Electric Ghosts, Nothing Personal, and The House That Will Not Stand. For several years she has directed the 24 Hour Plays on Broadway. She is a Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop, a co-founder of Angela's Pulse, and a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow at Yale School of Drama, where she also served as Artistic Director of the Yale Cabaret.

Beth Morrison Projects (co-producer) was founded in 2006 to support the work of living composers, artists, and their multi-media collaborators. Beth Morrison Projects encourages risk-taking, creating a structure for new work that is unique to the artist and allows them to feel safe to experiment and push boundaries. Noted as "the edge of innovation" (Opera News), Beth Morrison Projects is a "contemporary opera mastermind" (Los Angeles Times) and "its own genre" (Opera News). Projects have been performed in numerous premier venues around the world including BAM, Disney Hall, The Barbican, Lincoln Center, the Walker Art Center, Beijing Music Festival, Holland Festival, and more.

Current and upcoming projects include works by composers Mohammed Fairouz, Michael Gordon, Ted Hearne, Mikael Karlsson, David Lang, David T. Little, Keeril Makan, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Elvis Perkins, Paola Prestini, Ellen Reid, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Jeremy Schonfeld, and more, with directors Mallory Catlett, James Darrah, Rachel Dickstein, Lee Sunday Evans, Daniel Fish, Patricia McGregor, Kevin Newbury, Jay Scheib, and Ashley Tata. Beth Morrison Projects is co-founder of the PROTOTYPE Festival, which takes place in NYC each January.

BMP is generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, The Alice M. Ditson Fund for New Music, The Amphion Foundation, The Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, The Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation, The Cheswatyr Foundation, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Emma A. Sheafer Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, The Jana Foundation, Jean & Louis Dreyfus Foundation, The Howard and Sarah D. Solomon Foundation, MAP Fund/Creative Capital Foundation, The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The New England Foundation for the Arts, New Music USA, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, Opera America, and The Seniel Ostrow Foundation. www.bethmorrisonprojects.org

The Los Angeles Philharmonic (co-producer), under the vibrant leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, presents an inspiring array of music, through a commitment to foundational works and adventurous explorations. Both at home and abroad, the Philharmonic is leading the way in ground-breaking programming, both on stage and in the community, offering a diverse range of programs that reflect the orchestra's artistry and demonstrate its vision. 2017/18 marks the orchestra's 99th season.

More than 250 concerts are either performed or presented by the LA Phil at its two iconic venues: the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. The organization's commitment to the music of our time is evident throughout the season programming, as well as in the exhilarating Green Umbrella series and the LA Phil's extensive commissioning initiatives.

The orchestra's involvement with Los Angeles extends far beyond symphony concerts in a concert hall, with performances in schools, churches, and neighborhood centers of a vastly diverse community. Among its wide-ranging education initiatives is Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA). Inspired by Venezuela's revolutionary El Sistema, the LA Phil and its community partners provide free instruments, intensive music training, and leadership training to nearly 800 students from underserved neighborhoods. Leadership support for this Works & Process program provided by Monica Voldstad, with additional support from Judith M. Hoffman and Howard Paley.

Commissioning Credits Commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, The Barbican, Beth Morrison Projects, Lynn Loacker and Elizabeth & Justus Schlichting with additional commissioning support from Sue Bienkowski, Nancy & Barry Sanders and the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts. Developed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Beth Morrison Projects.