MUSE/IQUE, known for counter-conventional presentations that feel more like parties than formal concerts, announces its 2013-14 season featuring inspired live performances in surprising locations that connect master artists with new voices across a limitless range of musical styles.
A total of nine musical events are slated, reflecting MUSE/IQUE's growth in the two years since it was founded by Artistic Director Rachael Worby, including a free family hip-hop dance party launching the season, five concerts in the adventurous "Uncorked" series, three outdoor concerts in MUSE/IQUE's popular "Summer of Sound" series at Caltech's Beckman Mall, and its first major fundraiser, "RAIL-BOUND SOUND!," a musical rail-bound adventure from Pasadena to LA's Union Station. The programs, which link musicians with great thinkers and compelling visual, cinematic and dance artists, are curated by Worby, who has been hailed for her programming style bringing "eclectic ideas" together with "erudite commentary." MUSE/IQUE also continues KIDSIQUE!, its ongoing interactive music outreach program for San Gabriel Valley's network of foster care services. MUSE/IQUE, founded in 2011, has expanded from one performance with a handful of devoted followers to a major cultural presence that reaches large audiences.
"Uncorked" evenings, in venues accommodating 200 to 400 people, spotlight the Beatles' White Album, "Girl" bands, mid-century country music, Aaron Copland, and Beatbox-accented string music, and they take place in such improvised Pasadena "concert halls" as a lumber yard, the Jacob Maarse Flower Warehouse, the Rose Palace float decorating warehouse and Pasadena's A Noise Within Theatre. "Summer of Sound" performances, which attract 1,100+ audience members who picnic at tables under the stars to savor a diverse range of music enhanced by the site's clear acoustics, features top artists and unexpected twists.
"We constantly challenge ourselves to consider music in new ways," Worby explains. "MUSE/IQUE is about finding connections and exploring music and its relationship to the broader world in rule-breaking ways with fearless artists who are excited about departing from the norm."
The season launches with "Free For All," a free family concert in which hip hop and orchestral music collide for a rocking dance party sponsored by Parsons Corporation on Friday, October 11, 2013, 6 pm, on the plaza of the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. It features the divergent talents of members of the MUSE/IQUE orchestra and the daKAH Hip Hop Orchestra, a genre-bending, culture-blending "United Nations of music," led by Geoff Gallegos (Double G). This concert is held in conjunction with "ArtNight Pasadena," a city-wide arts celebration.
Next, MUSE/IQUE takes to the rails with "RAIL-BOUND SOUND: The Gold Line Gala," an exclusive gala- the organization's first - combining movement, music, spirits and supper, on Sunday, October 20, 2013, 4 pm. Limited to 100 people, guests enjoy cocktails, music and designer "nibbles" on a Pasadena train platform before being whisked off in a private metro car on a rail adventure to LA's Union Station, where supper and a pop-up music performance are served at the historic Fred Harvey House. Designed by architect Mary Colter and built in 1939, the venue is the last in businessman Fred Harvey's chain of 84 railway restaurants stretching from Kansas to California. Proceeds benefit MUSE/IQUE's community outreach programs.
The season's core "Uncorked" series opens Monday, October 14, 2013, 7 pm, with "Self/Titled: The Beatles' The White Album,'" featuring members of the MUSE/IQUE orchestra led by Worby performing iconic music of the Fab Four from what critics consider to be one of the greatest albums of all time. Staged at the Pasadena's
Phoenix Decorating's Rose Palace, where looming floats-in-progress enliven the environment, the program includes such hits from the album as Back in the USSR, Rocky Raccoon, Blackbird and Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da. The White Album, the Beatles' ninth, has sold more than 20 million copies since the double album was released in 1968 when the British pop group was at the pinnacle of its global influence.
"Uncorked" continues on Monday, November 11 2013, 7 pm, when MUSE/IQUE turns the spotlight on "Girl/Band," at a pop-up venue in an industrial Pasadena warehouse. The program opens with a screening of the acclaimed award-winning documentary film Girls in the Band, directed by Judy Chaikin, which traces the history of all-girl bands from the 1930s through present day, exposing sexism and racism faced by the immensely talented women who have broken through primarily male music bastions. A performance of leading female jazz artists caps the program.
Aaron Copland's 1944 Pulitzer Prize-winning Appalachian Spring headlines "Spring/Within," the third of MUSE/IQUE's five "Uncorked" concerts, on Monday, February 24, 2014, 7 pm, at A Noise Within's celebrated Mid-Century Modern Pasadena theatre. Worby leads members of the MUSE/IQUE orchestra in the original 13-piece arrangement of Copland's ground breaking composition, described by National Public Radio as "one of the most inspiring and symbolic works of the century," capturing "the essence of an ideal America, one of open fields and endless possibilities." Actors from A Noise Within add readings from the era as well as some unexpected dramatic flourishes.
The sublime folk harmonies of mid-century country and rock reverberate at the next "Uncorked" concert in March 2014 (date TBA), set in the urban timber landscape of a Pasadena lumber yard, providing the perfect setting for a contemporary take on vintage sounds. Members of the MUSE/IQUE orchestra enliven the program with their warm tones.
"Beatbox/Bloom" concludes MUSE/IQUE's "Uncorked" series with the Beatbox-accented string music of the Doric String Quartet, which performs with "spirit, wit and sophistication" (The Sunday Telegraph), April 7, 2014, 7 pm, at the bloom-filled Jacob Maarse Flower
Warehouse in Pasadena. Doric, described by Gramophone Magazine as "one of the finest young string quartets," includes Alex Redington, violin, Jonathan Stone, violin, Simon Tandree, viola, and John Myerscough, cello.
Worby conducts MUSE/IQUE's full orchestra and a special cast of characters in three decidedly out-of-the-box outdoor "Summer of Sound 2014" performances at Caltech's Beckman Mall in June, July and August 2014. Gates open at 5:30 pm for dinner (ordered in advance) or bring-your-own picnics, with table seating and plentiful free parking. Concerts, featuring a diverse range of music enhanced by the site's clear acoustics, begin at 7:30 pm. Previous guest artists have included Patti Austin, Rickie Lee Jones,
Arturo Sandoval and others, with this season's performers to be announced.
KIDS/IQUE!, a primary element of MUSE/IQUE, serves boys and girls, ages 12 to 18, in the San Gabriel Valley's network of residential foster care facilities by presenting interactive experiences led by Worby with professional musicians and other guest artists. The children also attend concerts as MUSE/IQUE's guests.
Tickets to "Uncorked" concerts are $50 or free with MUSE/IQUE membership, which ranges from $125 to $1,000 and includes a variety of other special benefits. Concert tickets for "Summer of Sound" begin at $10 per person with top tier seating, $96 per person, available to MUSE/IQUE members at the $1,000+ contribution level; students with ID are $10. For season information, tickets and membership information, call 626-539-7085 or visit
www.muse-ique.com.
MUSE/IQUE, known for its inspired, unexpected live music events, connects master artists with new voices across a limitless range of styles. Its counter-conventional performances, which feel more like parties than formal concerts, link musicians with great thinkers and compelling visual, cinematic and dance artists. In the two years since MUSE/IQUE was founded by Artistic Director Rachael Worby, it has grown from one performance with a handful of devoted followers to a major cultural presence that reaches vast audiences. Its considerable membership currently numbers more than 500 people. In the fall and spring, MUSE/IQUE presents "Uncorked" evenings at unconventional locations, and in the summer MUSE/IQUE features three outdoor "music parties" at Caltech's Beckman Mall, all curated by the innovative and visionary Worby. Among MUSE/IQUE's guest artists are Jessye Norman, Charlie Haden, Patti Austin, Mary Wilson, Flea, Rickie Lee Jones, Ellis Hall, Matt Haimovitz, Angela Bassett,
Arturo Sandoval and more. Uncorked's "pop-up" venues have included Pasadena's
Phoenix Decorating Center (where Rose Parade floats are constructed), Art Center College of Design Sculpture Garden, Castle Press (one of the nation's largest printing presses), backstage at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and others. KIDS/IQUE!, a primary element of the organization, serves boys and girls, ages 12 to 18, in the San Gabriel Valley's network of foster care services by presenting ongoing interactive experiences with professional musicians and other artists designed to compliment the service goals of the foster care facilities even as they allow MUSE/IQUE to reach otherwise underserved youth. Other outreach programs include free and low-cost tickets for students and community groups, and "Free For All," a free annual concert featuring a fusion of music with family friendly surprises.
RACHAEL WORBY, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "inspiring and accessible," is that rare conductor who is a skilled communicator with wide-ranging repertoire ranging from symphonic, operatic, pops and classics to 21st century music. Worby has guest conducted the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra,
Barcelona Opera Orchestra, Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, New York City Ballet, Québec Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Seoul Philharmonic, among others. She also conducted the China Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, accompanying acclaimed American soprano Jessye Norman in her first appearances in mainland China. Worby founded MUSE/IQUE in 2011 to bring fresh perspective to live music and multidisciplinary arts. She previously served as Music Director of the Pasadena Pops Orchestra (2000-2010), music director and conductor of the Young Peoples' Concerts at
Carnegie Hall and assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Worby first rose to prominence during her 17-year tenure as music director of the Symphony Orchestra in Wheeling, West Virginia. A hallmark of her career has been making education outreach and community engagement integral to main season offerings. In addition to appearing in grand concert halls, Worby has led some of the world's best musicians at locations ranging from the coalfields of West Virginia to community centers in Harlem and South Central Los Angeles. She received the Spirit of Achievement from Albert Einstein College, the Women of Excellence award from the YWCA, the degree Doctor of Humanities, honorus causa from Marshall University, and the Presidential Medal of Honor for her lifetime achievements from Claremont University. She also received a Presidential appointment to the National Council of the Arts. As First Lady of West Virginia (1990-1997), Worby hosted the acclaimed Arts and Letters Series broadcast on public television, featuring such luminaries as Carl Sagan and Harry Belafonte, led the groundbreaking statewide campaign, "Thanks A Million," to raise one million dollars to eradicate illiteracy, and was responsible for the creation of The Governor's School for the Arts.
Artists, program, venues and ticket prices subject to change.
Pictured: Artistic Director Rachael Worby with members of the Selah Gospel Choir. Photo by Jamie Pham.
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