2019/2020 Season
SEPTEMBER 2019
THE CHIA CAFÉ COLLECTIVE LED A BEAUTIFUL, DEEPLY THOUGHTFUL AND TIMELY WORKSHOP ON SHARING THE EARTH WITH NATIVE PLANTS AND HOW WE CAN SUSTAIN ONE ANOTHER. THE WORKSHOP WAS A PARTNER PROGRAM OF THE NEA BIG READ MORONGO BASIN, WHICH AIMS TO BUILD COMMUNITY AND INSPIRE CONVERSATION.
The Chia Café Collective is dedicated to protecting, restoring and advocating for California native plant communities and environments. They believe in a way of life connected to honoring and building reciprocal relationships between the natural environment and the indigenous people of southern California. The Chia Café Collective’s cookbook Cooking the Native Way invites us to experience the Native American cultures of Southern California through their foods.
AUGUST 2019
LA ZARAGUATA PERFORMED A CONCERT CELEBRATING THE MULTICULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF MEXICAN MUSIC. THE SHOWCASE OF GENRES INCLUDED SON JAROCHO FROM VERACRUZ, CUMBIA ORIGINATING FROM COLOMBIA AND ADAPTED IN MEXICO, BANDA FROM THE NORTH OF THE COUNTRY, AND SON OAXAQUENO, TRADITIONAL SONGS FROM THE SOUTH.
Founded in 2012 by Jerónimo Rajchenberg (Jxel), La Zaraguata brings Mexican music to US audiences to deepen the understanding of Mexican culture and its’ musical heritage. While many people around the world are familiar with Mariachi or Banda style music, a myriad of lesser-known traditions and styles remain in the shadows. La Zaraguata howls at sunset about the beauty of music that should not be forgotten.
AUGUST 2019
HIROKO TAMANO (BUTOH) AND EVA SOLTES (BHARATANATYAM) LED A 6-DAY CROSS-CULTURAL DANCE WORKSHOP IN WHICH PARTICIPANTS WERE IMMERSED IN TWO PROMINENT ASIAN DANCE FORMS: BUTOH, THE POST WORLD WAR II AVANT-GARDE JAPANESE ‘DANCE OF DARKNESS’ AND BHARATANATYAM, INDIA’S OLDEST SACRED DANCE TRADITION. THE WORKSHOP CULMINATED IN A COMMUNITY GATHERING AND RECITAL.
Hiroko Tamano, protégé of Butoh founder Hijikata Tatsumi, and her husband Koichi Tamano are responsible for introducing the Butoh dance form to the western United States. They have performed at venues internationally and joined Kitaro on his world tour.
Eva Soltes received decades-long dance and music training from the legendary Bharatanatyam master T. Balasaraswati and her family. She is a faculty member of the Balasaraswati Performing Arts Institute in Chennai, India and founder/director of Harrison House Music, Arts & Ecology.
JULY 2019
INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED EXPERIMENTALIST AND PIANIST THOLLEM PERFORMED A CONCERT OF NEW WORK FOR PIANO AND FOUND OBJECTS INSPIRED BY HIS HARRISON HOUSE RESIDENCY AND REFLECTIONS ON LOU HARRISON’S LEGACY. THOLLEM’S COMPOSITIONS MADE USE OF A PREPARED PIANO, A WOODEN CHAIR AND THE HARRISON HOUSE CENTENNIAL GATE. HE EXPRESSED THE SOUND OF THESE OBJECTS BY EXPLORING THEIR PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS WITH WOODEN SPOONS AND DRUMSTICKS.
Thollem studied the standard classical repertoire, composing and improvising since he was a child. He has played over 1,500 concerts throughout North America and Europe as a soloist and in collaboration with other musicians. He is the founding director of Estamos Ensemble, a Mexican-American cross border ensemble for musical exchange.
