2011/12 Season
August 2011
Koichi & Hiroko Tamano, Butoh Dancers/Harupin-ha Creators
Residency included a Butoh Dance Theater performance and workshop
Living treasures, international touring artists and Harupin-ha creators, Koichi & Hiroko Tamano have been performing and teaching Butoh for over 30 years and were the first to bring this dance form to the West. The influence of Butoh originator Tatsumi Hijikata, who performed with and shaped the two artists, has left its imprint on them although the Tamanos have since forged their own style. Their performance at Harrison House marked their final farewell performance on the U.S. mainland before relocating back to their native homeland of Japan.
September 2011
Wendy Sutter, Cellist
Wendy’s residency helped her rehabilitate her playing after a serious injury. She played 8-10 hours a day for ten days and performed two solo recitals to sold-out audiences which included works by Bach & Glass.
Heralded as “one of the great leading cellists of the classical stage” by The Wall Street Journal, Wendy Sutter has proven herself as one of the leading soloists of her generation. Equally accomplished in historic and contemporary repertoire, her 2008 recording of Glass Songs and Poems for solo cello, which was written especially for her and has been performed worldwide to great acclaim, was voted best new CD of the year by listeners of NPR. In addition to appearing with orchestras around the world Sutter performed for six years as the cellist within the Bang on a Can “all stars.”
November 2011
Gary Barton, Actor/Playwright
During his residency Eva Soltes interviewed Gary Barton on video creating an oral history of his remarkable life-story, and helping him further the crafting of an autobiographical one-person stage show.
Gary Barton’s eclectic career path has taken him from performing stage plays on Broadway, to small-screen acting and casting, to serving as Vice-President of Film Production for Walt Disney Company. He was diagnosed with AIDS in the early 1980’s and has outlived all of his contemporaries who were diagnosed with the disease during that era. In 1992 Gary received the Humanitarian Award from the AIDS Action in Washington, DC.
November 2011
The Lyris Quartet, Musicians
Residency included a performance of works by Dmitri Shostokovich and Philip Glass
The Lyris Quartet is a Los Angeles based string quartet with a love for both standard and modern repertoire. The group was formally created in 2008 when founding members and violinists Alyssa Park and Shalini Vijayan were joined by violinist Luke Maurer and cellist Timothy Loo. The group has performed at most of the prestigious chamber music venues in Los Angeles and they are also the quartet-in-residence at the Beverly Hills International Music Festival.
December 2011
Movses Pogossian & Varty Manouelian/Violinists
Residency included solo and duet performances of works by Vivaldi, Prokofiev, Kurtag and Bartok
Movses Pogossian is the youngest musician to have won First Prize in the USSR National Violin Competition. He is currently the Chair of Strings at the UCLA School of Music. This performance celebrated the release of his CD “In Nomine”on Albany records.
December 2011
Varty Manouelian
Varty Manouelian made her American debut in 1993 with the North Carolina Symphony as First Prize winner of the Bryan International Competition and has also been a prizewinner at a number of other prestigious international competitions. She joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2004.
February 2012
Cameron Powers, Author & Musician
Residency included making recordings for his latest book and audio-CD set “Lost Secrets of Perfect Harmony: Ancient Music of the Indigenous Middle East”
In addition to his latest book, “Lost Secrets of Perfect Harmony: Ancient Music of the Indigenous Middle East.” Cameron Powers is the author of three other books “Arabic Musical Scales: Basic Maqam Teachings with 2 CDs,” “Singing in Baghdad,” and “Spiritual Traveler: Journeys Beyond Fear.” He is also a regularly performing international musician who sings popular love songs in eleven languages and uses the ancient Middle Eastern Lute, the Oud, as his primary instrument.
March 2012
LOU HARRISON: A World of Music
World Premiere film screening and benefit at The Castro Theatre, San Francisco
On March 6, 2012 Eva Soltes’ documentary film LOU HARRISON: A World of Music premiered at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco with composer Terry Riley performing a live musical introduction on the mighty Wurlitzer organ. A V.I.P. reception featuring live music by classical guitarist David Tanenbaum was held in advance of the screening. The event was a benefit for Harrison House Music & Arts.
March 2012
Samuel H. Scripps Artist Residency Award
Harrison House Music & Arts announced the creation of this special residency in honor of the influential work of Samuel H. Scripps and the important role he played in the development and support of artistic innovation and excellence.
Samuel H. Scripps (1927-2006) was one of the most generous, unassuming and influential “pillars” of the international arts community. A man of few words who keenly observed the world around him, Sam’s actions spoke volumes. His passion for and support of great artists created waves of cultural material that helped to define and influence performing arts across several continents. Among the many projects that Sam and his wife Luise were involved with was the founding of the American Society for Eastern Arts to support the South Indian temple dance form of Bharatanatyam, as practiced by T. Balasaraswati and her family. Luise became a master teacher and performer of this sacred dance tradition and was the conduit for Bala’s dance style to blossom in America and to be recognized in India.
Eva Soltes was one young dancer who was introduced to Bharatanatyam by the ASEA during the summer of 1967. From then until now Sam and Luise Scripps have been inspirational in the work that Soltes has accomplished in the arts as a dancer, performing arts producer and filmmaker. Sam Scripps provided her with important encouragement for the creation of an arts program in Joshua Tree at Harrison House. It is with great pleasure that we are able to name a residency in his honor. This residency will be awarded annually to a deserving artist to further their work.
March 2012
Rohan de Saram, Master Cellist/Samuel H. Scripps Artist-in-Residence
This residency was awarded to Rohan to honor his innovation and artistic excellence throughout his nearly sixty-year career of performing some of the most innovative repertoire for his instrument. He was invited for a ten-day period to record music of his choice and to give a solo cello concert performance of works by Kodaly, Harrison & Bach.
Considered one of the greatest cellists of our time, Rohan de Saram has led a distinguished international virtuoso career. He is known as an outstanding performer of contemporary music whose extraordinary technique has led him to premiere works by composers such as Luciano Berio, Benjamin Britten, Sylvano Bussotti, John Cage, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Philip Glass, Sofia Gubaidulina, Paul Hindemith, Mauricio Kagel, György Ligeti , Conlon Nancarrow, Henri Pousseur, Wolfgang Rihm, Alfred Schnittke, and Iannis Xenakis. He was classically trained from the age of 11 and recognized as a prodigy by the likes of Pablo Casals and Dmitri Mitropoulous. In addition to his career as a soloist and founding member of the famed Arditi Quartet he has performed with major orchestras worldwide.
April 2012
Mark Bulwinkle, Graphic Artist / Sculptor
Residency included creating and installing his solo exhibition: The Brake Job Cut-Outs: Cut Steel Sculpture, Screens & Other Works, and leading an all-day workshop in clay-collecting, sculpting and firing.
Mark Bulwinkle is a San Francisco Bay Area artist well known for his intricate flame-cut works in galvanized steel. Trained as a printmaker at the San Francisco Art Institute, Bulwinkle combined his day job as a ships welder with his passion for art transferring the craft of paper stenciling to thick steel plate using a burning torch. His gift for creating elaborate and complex caricatures and designs brought him instant international recognition and success and led him to pursue his artistry full time. Mark’s “Bulwinkleland” studio and home in West Oakland were recently featured in The New York Times. As a favorite artist of Lou Harrison and the designer of many of Lou’s album covers and posters, Mark was the obvious choice for creating the Harrison House logo and signage.
April 2012
Movses Pogossian & UCLA Camarades
A special opportunity for this group of talented young musicians to perform with their Professor and mentor, playing the works of Bartok, Harrison and one of Harrison’s own mentors, Schoenberg in the great hall Harrison created for chamber music.
Movses Pogossian is currently Professor of Violin and Chair of Strings at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. He and five of his master students performed an evening of chamber music at Harrison House as part of the UCLA Camarades program, a collaborative chamber music initiative where students and faculty share the stage. Joining Movses Pogossian (on violin) were Mira Khomik (violin), Rhea Fowler (violin), Ben Bartelt (viola), Jonathan Thomson (cello) and Eric Lee (cello). The Camarades are dedicated to the highest level of string chamber music-making, with numerous performances at important off-campus venues, and an international debut tour in Italy in July 2012.
