Press Release: Hear Now Festival 2023 announcement

View the press release below, or download a copy here. Please let us know if there’s anything else we can provide. All programs are subject to change.

Please wait while flipbook is loading. For more related info, FAQs and issues please refer to DearFlip WordPress Flipbook Plugin Help documentation.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — March 6, 2023

Press Contact: Sylvi Brown Email or 310-702-5847


HEAR NOW 2023 FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSIC 
BY CONTEMPORARY LOS ANGELES COMPOSERS
ADDS A MULTIDISCIPLINARY CONCERT AND NEW VENUE 

CELEBRATING 12 YEARS, FESTIVAL DATES APRIL 13 TO APRIL 16
INCLUDES ARTISTS FROM DANCE, FILM AND ART

Los Angeles — Hugh Levick, Artistic Director and Founder of HEAR NOW MUSIC FESTIVAL is pleased to announce HEAR NOW 2023, A Festival of New Music by Contemporary Los Angeles Composers, April 13 through 16, 2023.  The Festival will present works by 24 composers with 10 premieres of electroacoustic, chamber music, and works involving more than one art form in a collaborative multidisciplinary concert. The Festival will be held at 2220 Arts + Archives, 2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles 90057. Tickets are available on the Hear Now website, hearnowmusicfestival.com.

“For many years HEAR NOW has wanted to present other art forms in collaboration with the music being written by LA composers. HEAR NOW 2023 makes that dream into a reality,” states Levick. “We are also very grateful to be welcomed into the collaboratively curated venue, 2220 Arts + Archives, which, with all of its amenities, allows us to bring the concept of ‘fiesta’ to the wide-ranging, bold and against-the-grain music presented by HEAR NOW!” 

The Festival opens with Hear Now’s annual program of electroacoustic works, curated in collaboration with People Inside Electronics (P.I.E.) and features Brightwork Ensemble in six works for live instruments and electronics, including the West Coast premiere of Towdah by João Pedro Oliveira and the West Coast premiere of To the Lighthouse by Anuj Bhutani.

The multidisciplinary concert headlines with the renowned Brooklyn street dancer Storyboard P (“He’s the Basquiat of street dancing…”—NY Times), who will choreograph and perform with a piano trio in Otherwise, a world premiere by composer Hugh LevickAn Echo That Doesn’t Rhyme, by Daniel Newman-Lessler is choreographed by Mady Thornquest for 3 pianos, 3 percussionists, and 6 dancers. Additional works in the multidisciplinary concert are Trash Moon, a collaboration between composer Brandon Rolle and artist Christopher Richmond which uses film and music to build a second moon made of trash from our planet (world premiere). Paleface by Russell Steinberg, in a collaboration with artist Jerry Kearns and video artist Amanda Tiller, takes a look at the Old West with new eyes with Trio Accento and video. 

Saturday and Sunday’s afternoon programs include the world premiere of a new work by Joseph Pereira for piano quartet, the West coast premiere of 86’d by Ian Dicke, the world premiere of Cross the Line of Death by Pin Hsin Lin, and the US premiere of Our Glass Bodies by Carolyn Chen

Hear Now has offered its first Ursula Krummel Commission to Arash Majd, an emerging and visionary young composer with his work entitled Continuum: Cause & Effect, composed for a 10-piece ensemble, closing the festival.

Featured ensembles include the Lyris Quartet, Brightwork Ensemble, and Trio Accento, and featured artists include baritone Joel Balzun in Peter Knell’s Arkhipov, and conductor Donald Crockett in Jeffrey Holmes’ Thrall (Þræll) (world premiere), in addition to many of the brilliant and renowned Los Angeles musicians.

In a new venture, Hear Now and conductor Neal Stulberg are collaborating on a large chamber ensemble of 18 UCLA students who will be coached by the composers as they prepare the works for performance. These large chamber works will include 86’d by Ian Dicke in a West Coast premiere, and Still Images by Vera Ivanova.  

The new venue, 2220 Arts + Archives at 2220 Beverly Boulevard has a Main Theater space, a lecture space, and a bar/cabaret space. Hear Now will be in the Main Theater, and the audience is invited to enjoy the bar/cabaret space before the concert and at intermission.  After the final concert on Sunday, Hear Now offers the audience a catered reception in the bar/cabaret.

HEAR NOW Music Festival 2023

FESTIVAL DATES: Thursday, April 13 through Sunday, April 16

Venue: 2220 Arts & Archives (Main Theater), 2220 Beverly Blvd., LA 90057

The complete program follows.

PROGRAM

THURSDAY, April 13, 2023, at 8:00pm: Electroacoustic Concert in collaboration with People Inside Electronics (P.I.E.) and Brightwork Ensemble

Towdah (2009) (West Coast premiere) *João Pedro Oliveira: for flute, bass clarinet, piano, percussion and electronics

Mr. Distinguished (2022) *Dante De Silva: for violin, alto saxophone, piano, and pre-recorded electronics

To the Lighthouse (2019) (West Coast premiere) *Anuj Bhutani: for violin and live electronics

remnants (2019) *Corey Dundee: for violin, bassoon, Piano+MIDI, Percussion+MIDI

Echoes (2009) Liviu Marinescu: for flute and fixed media

Snow Crystals on Sagebrush (2022) (World premiere) Nick Norton: for string quartet and electronics


FRIDAY, April 14, 2023, at 8:00pm: “Music and…” Multidisciplinary concert

Trash Moon (2022) (World premiere) Brandon Rolle, composer, and artist Christopher Richmond: for video and immersive multichannel audio

An Echo That Doesn’t Rhyme (2022), Daniel Newman-Lessler, composer, with Mady Thornquest, lead dancer: for 3 pianos, 6 dancers, 3 percussion

Paleface (2017), Russell Steinberg, composer, in collaboration with artist Jerry Kearns, and video artist Amanda Tiller: for video and live trio

Otherwise (2022) (World premiere) Hugh Levick, composer, with renowned Brooklyn street dancer and choreographer Storyboard P:  for dancer and live piano trio


SATURDAY, April 15, 2023, at 2pm: Chamber music concert

86’d (2014) (West Coast premiere) Ian Dicke: for large chamber ensemble, and countertenor 

Quartet for the Love of Time (1987) William Kraft: for violin, cello, clarinet, piano 

Shadows and Songs (2019) *Gabrielle Rosse: for string quartet 

New work (World premiere) Joseph Pereira: for piano quartet

Glimpse (2019)*Tomás Peire Serrate: for bass clarinet, violin and cello 

A Tempo (2011) Daniel Kessner: for flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass. clarinet, violin, violoncello, marimba/xylophone, and piano

Cosmic Rose (2022) (West Coast premiere) *Anne LeBaron: for harp and horn

Thrall (Þræll) (2014) (World premiere), Jeffrey Holmes: for solo piano, flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, contrabass 


SUNDAY, April 16, 2023, at 5pm: Chamber Music Concert

Still Images (2008) *Vera Ivanova: for large chamber ensemble

Eighteen Melodies for Hu-jia (2022) *Joan Huang: for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion

Cross the Line of Death (2022) *Pin Hsin Lin: for piano, violin, cello 

Our Glass Bodies (2019) (US Premiere) *Carolyn Chen: for violin, cello, percussion, piano, objects 

Selections from Arkhipov (2022) Peter Knell: for baritone and piano 

Continuum: Cause & Effect (2022) (world premiere, Ursula Krummel Commission) *Arash Majd: for large chamber ensemble


About HEAR NOW Music Festival

HEAR NOW Music Festival promotes the breadth and diversity of concert music being written by composers living in and associated with the LA area by presenting concerts and informative activities of high artistic quality to the general public. HEAR NOW strives to achieve equity and inclusiveness by reaching out in an Open Call to all composers in the area.

The HEAR NOW Festival of New Music by Contemporary Los Angeles Composers began in 2011 with two chamber music concerts and has expanded to include up to six concerts of orchestral, electroacoustic and chamber music. The results from the last eleven festivals are 184 new and recent works by 161 individual composers, from emerging composers to masters.  

Recommended links: 

Storyboard P: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/arts/dance/storyboard-p-performance-space-new-york.html

Hugh Levick: https://www.hughlevick.com/

Daniel Newman-Lessler: https://www.danielnewmanlessler.com/

Russell Steinberg: http://www.russellsteinberg.com/

Jerry Kearns: http://jerrykearns.com/

Brandon Rolle: https://www.brandonjrolle.com/

Christopher Richmond: https://www.christopherchristopher.com/

Arash Majd: https://www.arashmajd.com/

Jeffrey Holmes: http://www.jeffrey-holmes.com/

João Pedro Oliviera: https://www.jpoliveira.com/

Anuj Bhutani: https://www.anujbhutani.com/

Peter Knell: https://peterknell.com/

Joseph Pereira: https://josephpereiramusic.com/

Ian Dicke: https://www.iandicke.com/

Vera Ivanova: http://veraivanova.com/

Carolyn Chen: https://walkingmango.wordpress.com/

Lyris Quartet: http://www.lyrisquartet.com/

Brightwork Ensemble: https://brightworknewmusic.com/

Trio Accento: https://www.trioaccento.com/

Neal Stulberg: https://www.uclaorchestras.com/the-conductor.php

Joel Balzun: http://www.joelbalzun.com/

2220 Arts + Archives: https://www.2220arts.org/

Dante De Silva: http://www.dantedesilva.com/

Corey Dundee: http://www.coreydundee.com/

Liviu Marinescu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liviu_Marinescu

Nick Norton: https://nickwritesmusic.com/

William Kraft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kraft

Gabrielle Rosse: https://www.laco.org/people/gabrielle-rosse-owens/

Tomás Peire Serrate: https://www.tomaspeire.com/

Daniel Kessner: http://daniel.kessnerfamily.org/

Anne LeBaron: https://www.annelebaron.com/

Joan Huang: https://www.musica-ferrum.com/composer/joan-huang/

Hear Now Festival of LA Composers
www.hearnowmusicfestival.com 
hearnowcomposerfestival@gmail.com
(323) 226-0326

Hugh Levick, Artistic Director
Peter Knell, Associate Artistic Director
Joseph Pereira, Associate Artistic Director
Isaac Schankler, Associate Artistic Director
Heidi Lesemann, General Manager
Lauri D Goldenhersh, Assistant General Manager

hearnowmusicfestival.com