Event archive
2018
Panel Discussion: The Doctor Faustus Dossier
On December 17, the Thomas Mann House is hosting a panel discussion with E. Randol Schoenberg and Marjorie Perloff on the ties between Arnold Schoenberg and Thomas Mann, most famously the Doctor Faustus dispute. The panel will be moderated by Marc Katz (Scripps College).
Thomas Mann and Arnold Schoenberg, two of the most important figures of literature and music in their day, were neighbors in Pacific Palisades from 1941 to 1951. Thomas Mann had won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929 for his essays and novels, among them Buddenbrooks and Magic Mountain. By 1926, Schoenberg was teaching the master class in composition at the Prussian Academy of the Arts in Berlin. Each in their own métier, Schoenberg and Mann were at the pinnacle of German culture. However, both of them were ostracized shortly after by the Nazi regime: Schoenberg’s music was banned, Mann’s books were burned. Both of them fled from Germany in 1933. During their time in Los Angeles they met occasionally at social gatherings and hosted one another a couple of times. However, their respectful relations suffered severely with the publication of Mann’s Doctor Faustus. The work featured Schoenberg’s philosophy and particularly his twelve-tone technique prominently, but made no reference to Schoenberg or his oeuvre. A heated dispute ensued between the two great minds.
E. Randol Schoenberg, the grandson of Arnold Schoenberg, has edited The Doctor Faustus Dossier: Arnold Schoenberg, Thomas Mann, and their Contemporaries, 1930-1951, a complete edition of the correspondence between Schoenberg and Mann.
Marjorie Perloff, herself part of the émigré community in Pacific Palisades, is a scholar and critic who has written extensively on 20th and 21st century poetry and poetics.
Marc Katz, who will be moderating the event, is Associate Professor of German and the Chair of the Department of German Studies at Scripps.
An event in cooperation with The Wende Museum.
Reading: Feuchtwanger Diaries
September 15 | Eclectic Salon
U.S. premiere of the publication of Lion Feuchtwanger’s diaries with Prof. Oliver Mayer. Translated into English by Dr. Zaia Alexander
Reading from selected passages (in English translation) by Professor Oliver Mayer (USC School of Dramatic Arts), followed by a discussion with editors Marje Schuetze-Coburn and Michaela Ullmann (USC Libraries), moderated by Friedel Schmoranzer (Villa Aurora).
Cinema: The Day of Reckoning | Xu Xing
The Day of Reckoning (腊月三十日到来), China 2018, Xu Xing, 62 Min., OV with Chinese and English Subtitles
Openings words and artist talk with the direcetor Xu Xing and Dr. Lorenz Bichler from the Institute of Sinology of the University of Heidelberg
Xu Xing’s film documentary uses a love story between a husband and wife as a vehicle with which to confront the contortions of China’s political history since 1949. It is a personal love story, but it is also a story of a nation. Xu Xing wants to give a chance to the society to tell and keep their rather tragic story behind the official narrative of the Chinese state.
Reading: Literatursalon im Kantkino
This cultural salon will be held for the third time together with the Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft on the initiative of Dr. Ing. Sylvia Metz and Wibke Behrens.
Kultursalon: Hauptsache Kultur
An event organized by Stiftung Brandenburger Tor in cooperation with the Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft.
Panel Discussion: I wish the rent was heaven sent - Housing precarity in Los Angeles and Berlin
I WISH THE RENT WAS HEAVEN SENT - HOUSING PRECARITY IN LOS ANGELES AND BERLIN
#FeminismToMe: Are You In?
#FeminismToMe: Are You In?
A Conversation with Jutta Allmendinger and Kate Godall
Welcoming Reception
Welcoming Reception for our current fellows Juliane Henrich (filmmaker), Monika Rinck (writer), Ann Cotten (writer), Heidi Specogna (filmmaker), Stefan Stuckmann (author and producer), Andreas Stichmann (writer).
Concert: Stefan Beyer GLOW (2018)
ensemble forma at the Ariowitsch-Haus Leipzig
What is in a Category? Telling Political Refugees and Economic Migrants Apart
Annual Bucerius Lecture with David Miliband
What is in a Category? Telling Political Refugees and Economic Migrants Apart
Film screening: GOLDEN BOYS by Jana Schulz
In Golden Boys, Jana Schulz observes young men who want to free themselves from societal fringes, subordinate demands and everyday banalities by boxing and focus their energy on achieving the greatest possible recognition in the boxing ring.
Eclectic Salon #4: Salastina Society - Sounds Intriguing
October 7 | Eclectic Salon
Education - Excellence at All Costs?
Education - Excellence at All Costs?
A cooperation of Harvard Medical School und Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V.
Eclectic Voices: Tuesdays @ Monk Space at Villa Aurora
September 29 | Eclectic Voices
Eclectic Salon #3: Mark Robson - The Debussy Project
September 15 | Eclectic Salon
To acknowledge the centenary of Claude Debussy’s death – pianist Mark Robson performs Debussy's 12 Études, with responses by 12 composers: Juhi Bansal, Daniel Rothman, Sarah Gibson, Karl Kohn, Bruno Loucharon, Vera Ivanova, Thomas Kotcheff, Anne LeBaron, Robert Gates, Vicki Ray, Nick Norton and Mark Robson.
In-store Session: Paul Frick - Second Yard Botanicals LP
Villa Fellow Paul Frick celebrates the release of his brand new album Second Yard Botanicals (Apollo Records) with an in-store session at the OYE Kreuzkoelln.
Silent Salon 2018
August 18 | Silent Salon | BEFORE THE LUBITSCH TOUCH
Summer is upon us and so is “Silent Salon”, our annual silent film event. Bring friends and family, make it a surprise date, or entertain guests from out of town with a true L.A. experience. Enjoy a picnic in our gorgeous, newly landscaped garden, watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean and file into our salon for silent films with Live organ and piano accompaniment.
Welcoming Reception
Welcoming Reception for our current fellows Vika Kirchenbauer (visual artist), Stef Heidhues (visual artist), Hanno Leichtmann (composer), Sarah Kürten (visual artist), Sabine Reinfeld (visual artist).
Lecture: Together we advance. Thomas Mann’s American Religion
August 8 | Lecture | Thomas Mann’s American Religion
Silent Salon 2018
July 28 | Silent Salon | BEFORE THE LUBITSCH TOUCH
Summer is upon us and so is “Silent Salon”, our annual silent film event. Bring friends and family, make it a surprise date, or entertain guests from out of town with a true L.A. experience. Enjoy a picnic in our gorgeous, newly landscaped garden, watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean and file into our salon for silent films with Live organ and piano accompaniment.
Silent Salon 2018
July 7 | Silent Salon | BEFORE THE LUBITSCH TOUCH
Summer is upon us and so is “Silent Salon”, our annual silent film event. Bring friends and family, make it a surprise date, or entertain guests from out of town with a true L.A. experience. Enjoy a picnic in our gorgeous, newly landscaped garden, watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean and file into our salon for silent films with Live organ and piano accompaniment.
Morals & Machines
What does the future hold for humanity and our species? Technical revolutions of the last century, digitizing processes, the rise of artificial intelligence as well as genetic engineering seem to offer endless possibilities for human evolution. As robots are becoming more autonomous, the notion of computer-controlled machines facing ethical decisions is moving out of the science fiction sphere and into the real world. Our society therefore needs to find solutions to improve our ways of making moral judgements, to challenge AI and to develop rules managing machine learning systems.
Silent Film Special
June 5 | Silent Salon | The Ancient Law
Summer is upon us and so is “Silent Salon”, our annual silent film event. Bring friends and family, make it a surprise date, or entertain guests from out of town with a true L.A. experience. Enjoy a picnic in our gorgeous, newly landscaped garden, watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean and file into our salon for silent films with Live organ and piano accompaniment.
Concert: "Three poems" by Olga Rayeva
Tuesdays@Monk Space presents the World Premiere of
"THREE POEMS" by Olga Rayeva
Tweetup: #LNDI2018
The Federal Foreign Office and its partners invite you to attend the third "Long Night of Ideas" on June 1, 2018 between 6 and 12 pm.
Welcoming Reception
Welcoming Reception for our current fellows Onur Burçak Belli (Feuchtwanger Fellow), Stefan Beyer (composer), Maria Schrader (visual artist).
The limits of the sayable
Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. together with the Literaturhaus Berlin take the annual event in remembrance of the book burning on May 10, 1933 as an opportunity to explore the limits of the sayable.
What Does Democracy Mean in the 21st Century?
March 22, 2018 | What Does Democracy Mean in the 21st Century?
Welcoming Reception
Welcoming Reception for our current fellows Paul Frick (musician), Juan S. Guse (author), Natalie Häusler (visual artist), Julie Pfleiderer (filmmaker), Oxana Omelchuk (composer), Jana Schulz (visual artist).
Eclectic Salon #1: Piano Spheres at Villa Aurora (SOLD OUT)
Our season opener welcomes the Villa's beautiful, new Blüthner piano in the grand salon of the Villa Aurora with Piano Spheres' Vicki Ray and Aron Kallay who debut this spectacular instrument.