Villa Aurora Events Archive
March 2017
Liebe Arbeit Exil - An Evening of Songs by Weill & Eisler
Berlin
The musical theater performance LIEBE ARBEIT EXIL traces the careers of composers Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler, from their successful beginnings in Berlin to their lives in exile. Both composers rose to prominence in the 1920s as Brecht’s composers, and both fled to the United States in the 1930s to escape the Nazis.
Kurt Weill wrote musicals for Broadway in New York. Hanns Eisler composed film scores in Hollywood. The recital explores the life paths of the two composers and the historical context through selected texts and letters.
Anna von Schrottenberg – Acting and Singing
Anna von Schrottenberg was born in Zurich and studied voice at the Zurich Conservatory and acting at the Rostock University of Music and Drama. This was followed by numerous engagements, including at the Theater der Jungen Welt in Leipzig and the Junges Deutsches Theater in Berlin. Since 2009, she has been living and working as a freelancer in Berlin. Her own projects include, for example, “despite eisler,” an adaptation of Eisler’s “Hollywood Liederbuch,” and the song program “mérite caché,” in which she set sayings from Lao Tzu’s “Tao te king” to music. At the 33rd Stage Song Contest in Wrocław, Poland, she received the GEMA Special Prize in 2012.
Matthew Rubenstein – Piano
Matthew Rubenstein is from Washington, D.C., and studied piano at the Manhattan School of Music, the University of Illinois, and the City University of New York. He has performed in the United States, Brazil, and Germany in numerous solo and chamber music concerts and has won several prizes at international piano competitions. In 2007, he released the first complete recording of Aribert Reimann’s piano works on the cpo label. In 2011, Berlin Classics released his CD “Berlin im Licht: Klaviermusik der Novembergruppe,” produced by Deutschlandradio Kultur; this was followed in 2013 by another solo program, this time featuring piano works by the Berlin composer Heinz Tiessen, which were released on CD by Toccata Classics in November 2015.
www.matt-rubenstein.com
An event presented by the Mendelssohn-Remise with support from Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V.
Mendelssohn-Remise
Jägerstraße 51
10117 Berlin
www.mendelssohn-remise.de
Admission: 14 / 11 Euro
For revervations call: 030 – 81 70 47 26 or email: reservierung@mendelssohn-remise.de
Visar Morina
Goethe-Institut Los Angeles (5750 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90036)
Information
Kosovo in the 1990s, before the Serbian attack and the war that followed: Ten-year-old Nori and his father Gezim make a living by illegally selling smuggled cigarettes. Gezim is determined to go to Germany, even if this means leaving his son behind with relatives. For a long time, Nori tries to stay with his father, but it’s all in vain. In the end, the boy embarks on a long and dangerous journey to find Gezim in Germany. They had both imagined their reunion rather differently.
Participant
Visar Morina graduated from the Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln in 2009 with the film Der Schübling. The multi-award winning short film celebrated its premiere at the Filmfestival "Max-Ophüls-Preis" and was broadcast on ARTE. His latest short film Of Dogs and Wallpaper premiered at the International Competition in Locarno in 2013. Babai is his first feature film. Visar Morina was awarded with the MFG-Star 2016.
Partner
With this screening, Villa Aurora continues its collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles. Under the label “Villa @ Goethe,” artists residing at the Villa Aurora have the opportunity to showcase their projects (past, present, and future) with the friends, patrons and guests at the Goethe-Institut.
Eclectic Salon
Villa Aurora (520 Paseo Miramar, Los Angeles, CA 90272)
Information
CHERISH • CONSERVE • CONSIDER • CREATE
A LOU HARRISON CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Beginning with Santa Cruz’s new American Gamelan the Lightbulb Ensemble to the 24-hour birthday bash at Harrison House in Joshua Tree, almost every one of this season’s one dozen concerts has music by Harrison, with many devoted entirely to his vision. The LA Phil presents Yuval Sharon’s re-imagining of Lou’s opera Young Caesar in an extraordinary melding of the first all gamelan version & the final orchestral re-write, while UCLA celebrates Harrison’s time as a 1940’s student of Schoenberg with an early piano work under his tutelage. Villa Aurora presents plucked music for harpsichord, shamisen, guitar, harp & mbiras, the Varied Trio (named after Lou’s delightful work for piano, violin & percussion) holds forth at Monk Space, and much, much more. Come celebrate the “notes between the notes,” and a double anniversary!
Program
Plucking Lou Harrison
Celebrate Lou Harrison’s Centennial with a bouquet of plucked delights by Grammy-winning musicians Gloria Cheng/harpsicord, John Schneider/guitars and TJ Troy/ percussion.
Carolina Hellsgård
Goethe-Institut Los Angeles (5750 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90036)
Information
Writer-Director: Carolina Hellsgård, Germany, 2015, 87 min., German with English subtitles, digital
After a long period in prison, 40-year-old Wanja (Anne Ratte-Polle) is determined to avoid anything that might lead her back into addiction and the same lowlife circles as before. She takes innocuous jobs, first in a pet shop because she likes caring for animals, and then at an equestrian stable. She moves into social housing and meets regularly with her parole officer. During her work at the track she meets Emma (Nele Trebs), a somewhat rebellious 16-year-old.
Wanja soon starts feeling affection for the troubled girl who reminds her of herself before she went into prison – right down to the same excessive drinking, the drug-taking and the cool friends. At first the two keep out of each other's way, but little by little Wanja grows closer to Emma and a cautious friendship develops. When Emma lands in trouble, Wanja decides to take control and save her.
Source: www.berlinale.de
Participant
Carolina Hellsgård Was born in Stockholm, Sweden and studied at the University of the Arts in Berlin as well as at Cal Arts’ Graduate Film Directing Program. Her debut feature, WANJA had its world premiere at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival where it was nominated for Best First Feature Film. The film was shown at numerous international film festivals including Sao Paulo, Montreal, Gothenburg and Austin Filmfestival. WANJA was awarded Best Debut Film at the Biberacher Filmfestspiele and Best Script at Valletta Filmfestival, Malta. It was released theatrically in Germany in 2016. At Villa Aurora Carolina Hellsgård will work on the screenplay for a science fiction drama based on the current world situation.
Partner
With this screening, Villa Aurora continues its collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles. Under the label “Villa @ Goethe,” artists residing at the Villa Aurora have the opportunity to showcase their projects (past, present, and future) with the friends, patrons and guests at the Goethe-Institut.
Niklas Goldbach
Goethe-Institut Los Angeles (5750 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90036)
Information
Niklas Goldbach will present and discuss the following video works
- HABITAT C3B 8:10 min., Full HD, Stereo, 2008
- THE WORLD 7:15 min., HD Video, Stereo, 2012/2016
- LAND OF THE SUN 11:35 min., HD Video, Stereo, 2015
- FORM AND CONTROL: Boulevard De L’Europe 6:04 min., HD Video, stereo, 2016
- FORM AND CONTROL: Live at Revel 8:01 min., HD video, stereo, 2016
- FORM AND CONTROL: The Foundry 7:02 min., HD video, stereo, 2017
Participant
NIKLAS GOLDBACH (*1973 in Witten) lives and works in Berlin. He studied inter alia sociology at Bielefeld University and from 2000 experimental media art at Berlin University of the Arts. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions worldwide, including the Museum der Moderne in Salzburg, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, n.b.k., Berlin. Golbach is currently a Villa Aurora artist in residence.
Partner
With this event, Villa Aurora continues its collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles. Under the label “Villa @ Goethe,” artists residing at the Villa Aurora have the opportunity to showcase their projects (past, present, and future) with the friends, patrons and guests at the Goethe-Institut.