Villa Aurora X Lookout FM

1 | Marta Feuchtwanger & Feuchtwanger Refreshed

We begin the series with Marta Feuchtwanger’s own account of the Bel Air Fire that threatened to swallow the house and its library in 1961. In this chapter from her Interviews with Lawrence Weschler, Marta remembers what it was like and how the books have been saved during this time.

Recording courtesy of the UCLA Department of Special Collections.

Marta’s introduction will be followed by three pieces written by student playwrights of the MFA Dramatic Writing Program at USC. Three pieces that take on different perspectives on home as a place and as a sanctuary for the displaced, resilience and finding uplift in times of desperation.

Presented by USC Feuchtwanger Memorial Library and Villa Aurora, performed at the Glorya Kaufman Community Center at the Wende Museum.

2 | Angela Brussel & Hanno Leichtmann

Part 1 – Angela Brussel: echo of a sound removed

We start off the episode with Angela Brussel's poetic essay echo of a sound removed. Angela Brussel wrote this piece during her residency as a distinguished visitor at Villa Aurora in December of 2024. Beirut, where Angela lives was under bombardment. While geopolitical forces brought her to California, she unknowingly created the last account of living in the artist residence before the Palisades Fire broke out.

Part 2 – Hanno Leichtmann: Outerlands

During his 2021 residency at Villa Aurora, Hanno Leichtmann created a four-channel sound installation for the villa’s historic organ, built in 1929 and restored in 2010. Comparable to silent-era theatre organs, it features organ pipes, sound effects, a 49-piece marimbaphone, and 25 tubular bells—all playable from the console or via MIDI. Leichtmann explored the instrument through improvisation, MIDI sequencing, and experimental percussion techniques using various tools, capturing a wide range of unique sounds.

3 | POLITUNES & Feuchtwanger Refreshed

Part 1 – POLITUNES

This episode starts with a piece by Sergey Khismatov, a composer and multimedia artist whose works are presented at concert halls, art exhibitions and film festivals worldwide.  

His multi-focused media work explores the spatial distribution of sound.

Part 2 – Feuchtwanger Refreshed

Sergey Khismatov's work will be followed by the second part of our latest Feuchtwanger Refreshed edition. Feuchtwanger Refreshed is an ongoing collaboration between USC's School of Dramatic Arts MFA Dramatic Writing Program, USC Libraries, and Villa Aurora. Graduate playwrights and their instructors present short scenes inspired by archival holdings and writings from USC's Feuchtwanger Memorial Library.

4 | Renea Brown & Kokayi

Part 1 – Renea Brown

In this week’s episode of “if the house could speak” we focus on Thomas Mann’s influential speeches in the face of political challenges on both sides of the Atlantic.

In part 1, actor, writer, and educator, Renea Brown, reads excerpts from The Coming Victory of Democracy  &  Listen, Germany!

Part 2 – Kokayi

Part 2 is connecting the dots of Mann’s words and his artistic legacy in the sound artwork by Grammy-nominated musician Kokayi.

5 | Laurie Schwartz, Mayookh Barua, & Nena Martins 

Part 1 – Laurie Schwartz

Part 2 – Mayookh Barua & Nena Martins 

In part 2 of this episode we hear the final pieces performed as part of Feuchtwanger Refreshed “The Fire Last Time.”  Written and performed by student playwrights of the MFA Dramatic Writing Program at USC, these dramatic vignettes present different perspectives on what it means to be home, and the way that definition of home can create sanctuary for people in exile. This episode features Remind Me of Someone by Mayookh Barua  and A Whole Life In… by Nena Martins . 

6 | Thomas Mann's Antifascist Radio Addresses, 1940-1945: Listen, Germany!

As part of the ongoing programs honoring Thomas Mann’s 150th anniversary, this episode features a conversation with literary scholars Jeffrey High and Elaine Chen, editors of Thomas Mann’s Antifascist Radio Addresses, 1940–1945 (Camden House), the first English language translation of Mann’s anti-fascist BBC broadcasts.

Although it was illegal to listen to foreign radio in Nazi Germany, many people secretly tuned in to Thomas Mann’s addresses. Shortwave radios were common, and the BBC’s German-language service could often be picked up, especially at night. The Nazi regime declared listening to “enemy radio” a criminal offense and threatened severe penalties, but enforcement was uneven and difficult to control. As a result, thousands of Germans secretly tuned in, seeking uncensored information about the war and enjoying the sense connection from exile.

These speeches urged resistance to fascism and established Mann as the most influential German voice abroad. His belief that the “social renewal of democracy” was both the condition and the guarantee of victory remains strikingly relevant today.

7 | Felix Kubin & Yesika Salgado

Part 1 – Felix Kubin’s Mother in the Fridge (2012)

Felix Kubin’s Mother in the Fridge (2012) radio play turns a kitchen into a stage where a mother’s voice emerges from cupboard, pot, bin, and box—offering brisk English-lesson asides and comic, uncanny counsel. An Oedipal burlesque assembled from everyday sound and crisp montage.

 

Part 2 – Felix Kubin’s Flow (2022)

Following Mother in the Fridge is an excerpt from Kubin’s kinetic sound collage Flow. Created during Kubin’s 2022 Villa Aurora residency, the sonic landscape of this piece is built from recordings of Los Angeles poets and writers juxtaposed with city atmospheres like hummingbirds, traffic, and helicopter rotor wash.

 

Part 3 – Yesika Salgado's Diaspora and Reservoir (2019)

In part 3 of this week’s episode of “if the house could speak”, poet Yesika Salgado reads Diaspora and Reservoir. Her voice is tracing migration, care, and the hydrology of Los Angeles, mapping time in place, gathering a narrative of what the city holds and what it lets go.

8 | A Feuchtwanger Home Movie & Whispering Bells

Part 1 – Albrecht Joseph

The first part of this episode features the soundtrack of an unreleased film, shot by fellow German emigré Albrecht Joseph, which offers a rare glimpse into the life of Lion and Marta Feuchtwanger at their Los Angeles home, Villa Aurora. The couple share thoughts on their daily rhythms, their collection of books, and the ubiquity of the automobile in Los Angeles, the audience is treated to their reflections on the Los Angeles of that time.

 

Part 2 – Whispering Bells

The second part of this episode was recorded at the opening of Whispering Bells. Whispering Bells is a commemorative group exhibition celebrating 30 years of Villa Aurora’s artist residency program, featuring works by past and present fellows.  Held at O-Town House, located in the historic Grenada Building the show highlights Villa Aurora’s transatlantic and local cultural ties. Named after the drought-tolerant flower which blooms after fire, the exhibition symbolizes resilience, renewal, and the enduring legacy of the nearly 500 resident artists who have passed through Villa Aurora. It also marks the beginning of an annual series promoting future fellows’ work in Los Angeles. Friedel Schmoranzer gives an introduction and then Andrew King and Doreen Kutzke of YodelRoar perform their unique bagpipe/yodeling duo.