February 2013

Author and journalist Bernadette Conrad reads from her book "The many lives of Paula Fox". A discussion will take place after the reading. http://www.skylightbooks.com

Current Villa Aurora fellow Bernadette Conrad will be a guest at Oldenborg's Luncheon Colloquim at California State University Pomona. Ms. Conrad will read from her book  THE MANY LIVES OF PAULA FOX , a biography of American writer Paula Fox (grandmother of rock-icon Courtney Love). She will also discuss with students her experience on how stories take on a life of their own, while being composed. Participation is free. No RSVPs needed. The reading and discussion are in English.

FELLOWS & Friends meet up on Friday, February 15 at Dresden in Kreuzberg, Dresdener Straße 19, 10999 Berlin.

Eva Castringius and Marcel Bühler are discussing possibilities and subsidies granted to artists for residencies in California.

You are cordially invited to join us.

Saturday afternoon, a day before the Oscar® ceremony, German Films, the Villa Aurora and the Consul-General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Los Angeles hosted the traditional reception for the German Oscar® nominees in Los Angeles at Villa Aurora. This year, it was held in the presence of the State Minister for Culture and Media Bernd Neumann and Björn Böhning, Head of the Berlin Senate Chancellery.

Blessed with typically warm and sunny Californian weather, State Minister Bernd Neumann, Dr. Markus Klimmer, Villa Aurora board chairman, and Mariette Rissenbeek, managing director of German Films, welcomed around 500 invited guests in the garden of the Villa Aurora. Martin Moszkowicz, chairman of the advisory board for German Films, Annette Rupp, executive director of Villa Aurora, and Margit Kleinman, director of Villa Aurora Los Angeles, were happy about the numerous guests.

Along with the teams of the nominated German co-productions Amour by Michael Haneke with the German producer Stefan Arndt (X Filme Creative Pool), The Gatekeepers by Dror Moreh with the responsible commissioning editors Patricia Schlesinger and Barbara Biemann (NDR) and Open Heart by Kief Davidson (US/DE) with the German producer Christian Beetz (Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion), representatives of the German and international film industry made use of the opportunity to network in the villa's historic setting.
Among those attending were actors like Thomas Kretschmann, Veronika Ferres and Udo Kier, director Uli Edel, presenter Karen Webb, the Austrian Culture Minister Dr. Claudia Schmied, the managing director of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg Kirsten Niehuus, the BR Director of Television Bettina Reitz, Andreas Trautz (MFG Baden-Württemberg), the head of the BR feature film department Hubert von Spreti and FFA president Eberhard Junkersdorf as well as Uschi Obermeier, Thure Riefenstein, Elge Sharpe, Chief of Protocol for the Mayor of Los Angeles, and others.

Many German and international journalists seized the opportunity to obtain interviews and short statements from the nominees and those guests present. The German actress and board member of the German Film Academy Christiane Paul was also there in her capacity as an ambassador of the event's sponsor Annemarie Börlind Natural Beauty and introduced the nominees together with German Films' US representative Oliver Mahrdt.

The reception in honour of the Oscar®nominees was supported by German Films, the Villa Aurora, the Commissioner for Culture and Media of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Consul-General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Los Angeles, the Goethe-Institut in Los Angeles, the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Berlin Partner.

The official sponsors are Annemarie Börlind Natural Beauty, AUDI, airberlin, BOSCH, AMI, Apollinaris, BWR, Carpe Diem and Volvic.

Please find here the trailer of the Oscar®-Reception 2013!

Lecture
Another Promised Land: The Book of Esther and the Ambiguities of Diaspora
by Dr. Sharon Gillerman

Music
I Go Before the King... Tears Assist Me and Praise the Lord from Georg Friedrich Händel's Esther
performed by Jen Lee (soprano) and Aurelien Eulert (piano)

In the 1950s, Lion Feuchtwanger acquired a handwritten parchment scroll depicting a part of the Megillat Esther, or The Book of Esther. The book is an integral part of the Jewish celebration of Pirem and contains a firsthand account of the events of Pirem, written by the heroes themselves - Esther and Mordechai. Feuchtwanger's 18th century scroll is presumed to be Ashkenazic from Central Europe. At the time of the purchase Lion was working on his historic novel Raquel, also named The Jewess of Toledo inspired by the story of Esther, a topic he was intrigued by for decades.
Last year, the scroll was professionally restored by USC's Feuchtwanger Memorial Library and returns in new splendor to Villa Aurora.

Sharon Gillerman is Associate Professor of Jewish History at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion and at USC. Her publications focus on early twentieth-century Jewish history with particular emphasis on gender, the body, Jewish identity and popular culture in the interwar period. Presently, she is writing a book on the performances and reception of the popular Polish Jewish circus strongman and vaudeville star Zishe (Siegmund) Breitbart in eastern Europe, central Europe, and the United States.
In addition to teaching at HUC-JIR and USC, Professor Gillerman has also taught at Brandeis University, UCLA, the University of Hamburg, and Harvard University.

Jen Lee is a second year master's student of the Vocal Arts program at USC's Thornton School of Music. She recently performed the role of Ariel in the West Coast Premiere of Lee Hoiby's The Tempest with the USC Thornton Operaprogram. Ms. Lee made her debut with the Pacific Philharmonic under the baton of Dr. Bryce Seliger and was also the soprano soloist for Pacific University's Carmina Burana under the direction of Dr. Scott Tuomi. Ms. Lee has won many competitions and scholarships, such as the Encouragement Award by Metropolitan National Council Auditions. Ms. Lee's upcoming engagements include singing the part of Cunégonde in Candide with the Aspen Opera Theater.

Hailing from Alsace, France, pianist and vocal coach Aurelien Eulert performs frequently throughout Europe and the United States. He performs regularly with opera star Rod Gilfry, and has been musical director of the Chamber Opera of USC since 2008 and coach/rehearsal pianist with the USC Thornton School of Music Opera program since 2010. Aurelien has been on staff at the UCLA Alpert School of Music and on the faculty of the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival since 2011. He has also performed in professional and university orchestras, under conductors such as James Conlon, Robert Spano, Carl St-Clair and John Williams.

This event is a collaboration between Villa Aurora and the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library at USC, and is co-sponsored by the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion.

RSVP required: Please call 310.573-3603 or write an email to infola@villa-aurora.org

Admission: Members free, General $ 5

Location: 520 Paseo Miramar, Los Angeles, CA 90272

Street parking is available on Los Liones Drive. Shuttle service begins at 7 pm and will start from Los Liones Drive, off Sunset Boulevard two blocks North-East of Pacific Coast Highway.

Please do not park on the Topanga State Park Lot!