2019/2020 Season
NOVEMBER 2019
HARRISON HOUSE MUSIC, ARTS & ECOLOGY PRESENTED AN EVENING OF LOU HARRISON’S POETRY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH JOSHUA TREE’S CHOLLA NEEDLES ARTS AND LITERARY LIBRARY. THE INTIMATE EVENT FEATURED NINE COMMUNITY MEMBERS, EACH READING A SELECTION OF POEMS FROM LOU HARRISON’S PUBLISHED WORKS JOYS & PERPLEXITIES AND THE PATH AT WEST HOLDING AND OTHER POEMS, INTERSPERSED WITH MOVING IMAGES OF HARRISON AND HIS LIFE PARTNER WILLIAM COLVIG TAKEN BY EVA SOLTES, THEIR CLOSE ASSOCIATE OF OVER 30 YEARS.
Lou Harrison (1917-2003) was one of the most unconventional and visionary composers of the 20th Century. In addition to being an important contributor to the American Music pantheon, Harrison was an accomplished poet although lesser-known for his writing. Harrison’s unbounded thinking blossomed into the creation of a profound body of work that dissolved ethnic boundaries. Well into his 80’s Harrison continued to explore new art forms and realized his long-time dream of building a straw bale house in the desert.
OCTOBER 2019
ALEXANDRA DUBOIS, COMPOSER AND VIOLINIST, SPENT HER HARRISON HOUSE MUSIC, ARTS & ECOLOGY RESIDENCY COMPOSING NEW WORKS TO BE PREMIERED IN THE 2019/2020 SEASON BY THE CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER, THE KRONOS QUARTET, PARHELION TRIO, AND PIANIST ANASTASIA ANTONACOS.
Alexandra du Bois (Ph.D. Stony Brook University; M.M. The Juilliard School; B.M. Indiana University Jacobs School of Music) has been performed in concert halls across five continents. Described as “an intense, luminous American composer,” (Los Angeles Times) and “a painter who knows exactly where her picture will be hung” (New York Times), du Bois writes orchestral, choral, chamber, vocal, and multi-discipline works often propelled by issues of indifference and inequality throughout the United States and the world. Her music has been released on Harmonia Mundi, Kronos Quartet and Perspectives Recordings labels.
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.
