LA Philharmonic Fluxus Festival Celebrates The Experimental Interdisciplinary Movement Of The 1960s And 1970s
By: A.A. Cristi Aug. 08, 2018
The LA Phil pays tribute to the experimental and deeply influential Fluxus movement of the 1960s and 1970s with a season-long program of performances and events at Walt Disney Concert Hall and venues throughout Los Angeles, beginning October 14, 2018. An international, anti-establishment movement whose practitioners included artists, composers, designers, and architects, as well as economists, mathematicians, ballet dancers, and others, Fluxus aimed to collapse what it considered the false wall between art and life by emphasizing artistic process over finished product. In a survey curated by American conductor and composer Christopher Rountree, in collaboration with the Getty Research Institute, the often-humorous, frequently challenging music and performances of Fluxus will be featured in a combination of concerts, symposia, and other live events, as well as surprise installations and performances throughout the 2018/19 Centennial season.
"As the LA Phil crosses that Centennial marker, we've wanted our work in this season to be a celebration of the inspiring creative community of this city, more than a casual acknowledgement of our longevity," says LA Phil Chief Operating Officer Chad Smith. "Our Fluxus focus started with John Cage, the radical genius who walked these streets as a young man. But it soon became an exploration of those diverse works which reinvented performance practice - works which continue to influence artists today. With the Getty's extraordinary Fluxus collection as foundation and Chris Rountree's imagination to lead us through this provocative movement, we hope the Fluxus Festival will provide a powerful counterpoint to all of our activities in this season."
"It is my incredible thrill to have put together this extensive series of Fluxus pieces and to work with artists who so exemplify the spirit of the movement today," says Christopher Rountree. "Fluxus work strikes me so deeply because it asks more questions than it answers, binding the audience and performers together in exploration. It commits to the mindfulness of Zen and the focus of activist work, both. It believes that a work's value is in its ability to be obtainable by all and its ability to change our perspective in often humorous, simple moments."
"One of the joys of living in Los Angeles is hearing the LA Phil perform in Walt Disney Concert Hall," saysNancy Perloff, Curator, Modern & Contemporary Collections at the Getty Research Institute. "The Getty Research Institute is thrilled to share our remarkable collection of works by Fluxus artists with music and art lovers through public lectures, performances, and a viewing of Fluxus scores. This partnership will give new audiences access to our collections and bring to life their musical forms."
October 14, 2018: Fluxus Learning Event at Getty Research Institute
Leading Fluxus scholar Natilee Harren will use the Getty's extensive archives of Fluxus-related ephemera (including original scores) to present the movement in its historical context. Christopher Rountree and members of the LA Phil will perform, and Rebekah Heller of the International Contemporary Ensemble will lead a participatory workshop designed around the music of Pauline Oliveros.
November 6, 10 & 11, 2018: Cage's Europeras at Sony Pictures Studios
"For two hundred years the Europeans have been sending us their operas. Now I'm sending them back." That's how John Cage described Europeras 1 & 2. The L.A.-born master's 1987 opera - his first - uses fragments of arias and duets from 64 European operas as its source material. Performers sing fragments of between one and sixteen measures, sometimes solo and sometimes simultaneously. They compete for attention with a pre-taped mix of 101 layered fragments from other operas. And the performance will be dictated by chance via a computer program meant to stimulate the I Ching's coin oracle. The end effect is a moving portrait not only of operatic history, but also of the passage of time itself. LA Phil Artist-Collaborator Yuval Sharon's production, in collaboration with The Industry, gives it a further Hollywood twist, with the wily ensemble will taking over a soundstage at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City. Tickets for these performances go on sale September 12, 2018 at laphil.com.
November 17, 2018: Fluxconcert at Walt Disney Concert Hall
Conducted by festival curator Christopher Rountree and directed by R. B. Schlather, this evening-long exploration of the Fluxus movement, staged throughout Walt Disney Concert Hall by the LA Phil, is one of the most ambitious undertakings of the orchestra's 100-year career, and one of the largest Fluxus events ever to be put on by a major symphony orchestra. Designed to dissolve the perceived boundaries between audience, musician, and work, the entire campus will be activated, with sound, light, and action emanating from throughout the building. It will be an evening of chance encounters, unexpected delights, and historic performances.
Performances include:
A rare performance of La Monte Young's The Second Dream of the High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer from The Four Dreams of China, in the Concert Hall, directed by the composer, with lighting by Marian Zazeela
Guest artists and audience members performing a selection of Fluxus scores by Alison Knowles, Yoko Ono, Ken Friedman, Benjamin Patterson, Christian Wolff, Christopher Rountree, R. B. Schlather, and Pauline Oliveros
An evening performance by the LA Phil and Roomful of Teeth in the Concert Hall featuring works by Yoko Ono, John Cage, Benjamin Patterson, Nam June Paik, La Monte Young, Dick Higgins, Luciano Berio, and a world premiere by Steven Kazuo-Takasugi
February 15, 2019: Alison Knowles Make a Salad and music for percussion by Ryoji Ikeda at Walt Disney Concert Hall
Alison Knowles first performed Proposition #2: Make a Salad in 1962 at a Fluxus concert at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. Declared "New Music" by Cage and termed "Intermedia" by Dick Higgins, Knowles' event score proposes the following: "Make a salad." When Knowles performs it, she does precisely that, prepping and tossing a massive salad on a contemporary concert and serving it to everyone attending. Alison Knowles has since performed Proposition #2 at the Tate Modern, London; New York's elevated High Line park; The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA); and at the 798 Arts District in Beijing, among other venues that have hosted the piece due to its radical appeal. Proposition #2: Make a Salad will be performed again by Alison Knowles at Walt Disney Concert Hall on February 15, 2019, on a program that also features the world premiere of music for percussion by Ryoji Ikeda, featuring the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet and Alexandre Babel, and commissioned by the LA Phil. Tickets for this performance go on sale September 12, 2018 at laphil.com.
March 22, 2019: BREATHWATCHLISTENTOUCH: work and music of Yoko Ono at Walt Disney Concert Hall
Yoko Ono is one of the most influential artistic figures of the 20th century. Her works as both a performance artist and a musician have not only helped to shape both media in the ensuing years, but have also had wider reverberations in society at large. Her work is conceptually bold and politically confrontational, but it's delivered to her audience with a lyrical touch - one informed by her dedication to peace and spirituality - giving it a great sense of warmth and humanity.
Produced in partnership with Girlschool, BREATHEWATCHLISTENTOUCH takes its name from Ono's Dance Piece X, a Fluxus score that commands the performer to
"Breathe
Watch
Listen
Touch
and move between
the Earth
and the Sky."
Throughout this exceptional evening at Walt Disney Concert Hall, both Ono's art and music will be performed by an ensemble of special guests in a concert-length celebration of her sixty-plus-year career. Tickets for this performance will go on sale on a later date, to be announced.
April 6, 2019: Patricia Kopatchinskaja performs Fluxus works at Getty Museum
Fluxus will return to the Getty Museum for a solo performance of Fluxus works by Patricia Kopatchinskaja. The versatile violinist recently served as music director of the Ojai Festival. Program to be announced. Tickets for this performance will be available on a later date, to be announced.
May 25, 2019: Ragnar Kjartansson's Bliss at REDCAT
The final aria of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro is one of the most rapturous pieces of music ever composed, the kind of work that's so moving, you want to listen to over and over again. And that's precisely what happens in Ragnar Kjartansson's Bliss - for twelve hours. Through extreme repetition, Mozart's original composition moves from elegant to ironic to ecstatic, finally returning to its original delicacy and joy but freighted with the emotional and physical toll of the experience. The West Coast premiere will be a fully staged production, accompanied by experimental classical ensemble wild Up,under the direction of Christopher Rountree. Tickets for this performance will go on sale on a later date, to be announced. This performance is produced in partnership with REDCAT.
June 1, 2019: David Lang crowd out at Walt Disney Concert Hall (part of Noon to Midnight)
Pulitzer Prize winner David Lang had the inspiration for crowd out during a soccer match in London, where he heard the thousands of untrained voices swell, crest, and recede - at times in unison, and at times in total contrast with one another. He composed this major vocal work for one thousand voices as a way of framing how we understand the excitement, fear, and loneliness we feel in crowds; the text itself was crowdsourced with the help of various Internet search engines. Choreographer Dimitri Chamblaswill direct and Lesley Leighton will conduct a performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall on June 1, 2019, as part of Noon to Midnight, where performers will intermingle with the audience, slowly transforming the swirling babble and chatter into a stunningly orchestrated whirlwind of voices.
PROGRAM DETAILS:
FLUXUS FESTIVAL
in collaboration with the Getty Research Institute
Christopher Rountree, curator
Kate Nordstrum, creative producer
The Getty Research Institute
Sunday October 14, 2018. 2:00pm
Fluxus Learning Event @ the Getty Research Institute
Sony Pictures Studios
Tuesday, November 6, 2018, 7:30pm
Saturday, November 10, 2018, 7:30pm
Sunday, November 11, 2018, 2:00pm
LA Phil New Music Group
The Industry
Yuval Sharon, director
John Iacovelli, scenic designer
Marc Lowenstein, music prep
Chris Kuhl, lighting designer
Jody Elff, sound designer
Alexander Gedeon, associate director
Babatunde Akinboboye, Maria Elena Altany, Justine Aronson, Sarah Beaty, Cedric Berry, David Castillo, Ashley Faatoalia, Suzanna Guzman, James Hayden, Sara Hershkowitz, Laurel Irene, Jon Lee Keenan, Joanna Lyn-Jacobs, John Matthew Myers, James Onstad, Colin Ramsey, Renee Rapier, David Williams, singers
CAGE Europeras 1 & 2
co-produced with the Industry
Tickets for these performances go on sale September 12, 2018 at laphil.com.
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Saturday, November 17, 2018
5:00pm
Los Angeles Philharmonic
La Monte Young, director
Marian Zazeela, lighting designer
La Monte YOUNG The Second Dream of the High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer from The Four Dreams of China
A rare performance of a two-hour section of La Monte Young's The Second Dream of The High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer from The Four Dreams of China, in the concert hall, directed by the composer, with lighting by Marian Zazeela.
8:00pm
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Roomful of Teeth
Christopher Rountree, conductor
R. B. Schlather, director
La Monte YOUNG Compositions 1960 #13
PAIK One for Violin Solo
HIGGINS The Thousand Symphonies
Steven Kazuo TAKASUGI new work for orchestra (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
CAGE Apartment House 1776
PATTERSON Overture
BERIO Sinfonia
Plus pre-concert performances, installations and participatory events by Christopher Rountree, R. B. Schlather, Pauline Oliveros, Ken Friedman, Christian Wolff, Yoko Ono, Alison Knowles and more
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Friday, February 15, 2019, 8:00pm
Alison Knowles
Joshua Selman
Alexandre Babel, percussionist
LA Percussion Quartet
Ryoji IKEDA music for percussion (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
Alison KNOWLES Make a Salad
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Friday, March 22, 2019, 8:00pm
BREATHEWATCHLISTENTOUCH
Work and music of Yoko Ono
Produced in partnership with Girlschool
Tickets for this performance will go on sale on a later date, to be announced.
Getty Museum
Saturday, April 6, 2019, 2:00pm
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin
Solo recital of Fluxus works
Tickets for this performance will be available on a later date, to be announced.
REDCAT
Saturday, May 25, 2019, 12:00pm-12:00am
wild Up
Christopher Rountree, conductor
Ragnar KJARTANSSON Bliss
Tickets for this performance will go on sale on a later date, to be announced.
produced in partnership with REDCAT
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Saturday, June 1, 2019 (part of Noon to Midnight)
Lesley Leighton, conductor
Dimitri Chamblas, director
David Lang crowd out
Additional performances and surprise happenings to occur throughout the season, with more details to be announced.
More information can be found at laphil.com/fluxus
Tickets for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2018/19 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall are currently available. To purchase, please visit laphil.com or the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office. For more information, please call 323 850 2000. Tickets for Cage's Europeras 1 & 2 (November 6, 10 and 11, 2018) and Alison Knowles Make a salad / Ryoji Ikeda music for percussion (February 15, 2019) go on sale on September 12, 2018.
LA Phil:
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under the vibrant leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, presents an inspiring array of music from all genres - orchestral, chamber and Baroque music, organ and celebrity recitals, new music, jazz, world music and pop - at two of L.A.'s iconic venues, Walt Disney Concert Hall (laphil.com) and the Hollywood Bowl (hollywoodbowl.com). The LA Phil's season at Walt Disney Concert Hall extends from September through May, and throughout the summer at the Hollywood Bowl. With the preeminent Los Angeles Philharmonic at the foundation of its offerings, the LA Phil aims to enrich and transform lives through music, with a robust mix of artistic, education and community programs.
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