Performances Magazine | The Music Center, July 2023

Dutch National Ballet— Frida. Photo by Hans Gerritsen. Dancers: Maia Makhateli and ensemble.

contents

P1 Program

Cast, performances, who’s who, director’s notes and donors

6 In the Wings

On the Westside: inaugural season at UCLA's Nimoy Theater and Made in L.A.: Acts of Living at Hammer Museum. L.A. Opera begins its season with spectacular Don Giovanni

12 Call of the Wild Arts al fresco: Whether wildlife, weather or other factors, performances at outdoor venues such as the Rady Shell in San Diego, the L.A. Arboretum and the Hollywood Bowl have special considerations.

18

L.A. Confidential

Designer Jaqui Seerman celebrates L.A.’s indooroutdoor lifestyle; she also values a client-driven experience over burnishing a brand.

24 Valle del Vino

Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe is a wine-and-foodie wonderland 90 minutes south of San Diego; it’s home to more than 150 wineries and dozens of top-notch restaurants.

32 Parting Thought

Performances’ new program platform for shows and concerts can be accessed from any digital device.

FROM TOP: COURTESY ENCUENTRO GUADALUPE; HOLLYWOOD BOWL, CARLOS VIVES; WU MAN, CALL THE SHOTS

This summer, embark on your L.A. adventure in Marina del Rey. From water sports and sunset sailing regattas to coastal dinner cruises, our waterfront hotels, dockside restaurants and party-ready yachts make it easy to stay and play like a local.

Start planning at VisitMDR.com

PUBLISHER

Jeff Levy

EDITOR

Benjamin Epstein

ART DIRE CTOR

Carol Wakano

CONTIBUTING WRITERS

Roger Grody, Libby Slate, Caleb Wachs

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Glenda Mendez

PRODUCTION ARTIST

Diana Gonzalez

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Walter Lewis

ACCOUNT DIRE CTORS

Kerry Baggett, Jean Greene, Tina Marie Smith

CIRCULATION MANAGER

Christine Noriega-Roessler

BUSINESS MANAGER

Leanne Killian Riggar

MARKETING/

PRODUCTION MANAGER

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DIGITAL MANAGER

Lorenzo Dela Rama

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Performances Magazine is published by California Media Group to serve performing arts venues throughout the West. © 2023 California Media Group. All Rights Reserved.

WHERE L.A. COMES TO

One of the most extraordinary productions in the world!

Under the stars in a beautiful outdoor amphitheater, you’ll experience 90 minutes of the most incredible re-creations of classical art. Watch as art comes to life as real people are posed to look exactly like the figures in the original masterpieces in this summer’s show, “Art Colony: In the Company of Artists.”

JULY 7 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

800-487-3378 / PageantTickets.com

Two shows for the price of one!

From July 5 to September 1, enjoy the artwork of over 100 artists, art tours, classes, live music, events and more in a large, open-air art gallery!

The Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters are generously supported by:

UCLA UNVEILS THE NIMOY

UCLA’S CENTER FOR the Art of Performance

(CAP UCLA) announces its inaugural season at the UCLA Nimoy Theater, aka the Nimoy. The former Crest Theatre has been reimagined, renovated and transformed into a 300-seat off-campus performingarts space. Named for artist, actor, director and philanthropist Leonard Nimoy, it was acquired in 2018 and presents a rich tapestry of music, dance, theater, literary arts and multidisciplinary collaborations. Grammy Award-winning poet, spoken-word artist and songwriter J. Ivy opens the season with performance poetry

Sept. 23. The ensemble Ethiocolor blends contemporary influences with traditional instruments and dances of Ethiopia’s Azmari culture Sept. 29. Choreographerdancer Caleb Teicher collaborates with pianist-composer Conrad Tao on Tao’s Counterpoint Sept. 30. Pipa player and Chinese music ambassador Wu Man appears Oct. 15. Omar Offendum’s The Little Syria Show (Nov. 3-4) spans hip-hop, Arabic instrumentation and Levant oral storytelling to imagine early 20th-century life in lower Manhattan’s Arab-American community.

1262 Westwood Blvd, L.A., 310.825.4401, cap.ucla.edu

COURTESY CAP UCLA. OPPOSITE FROM TOP LEFT: CALL THE SHOTS, EM WATSON, MIKI MAC

Clockwise from left: pipa player Wu Man; pianistcomposer Conrad Tao and dancerchoreographer Caleb Teicher; ensemble Ethiocolor. Opposite: Omar Offendum’s The Little Syria Show.

Mozart’s Master Wooer

L.A. OPERA LAUNCHES its 38th season with what many consider to be the greatest of all operas: Mozart’s Don Giovanni. James Conlon, in his 18th season as the company’s music director, leads a spectacular new-to-Los Angeles production by director Kasper Holten. Scenery is by Es Devlin, known for her innovative stage

designs for Beyoncé, Adele and U2. Grammy Award-winning baritone Lucas Meachem takes the title role; also starring are Guanqun Yu, Isabelle Leonard, Anthony León, Craig Colclough and, in her company debut, Meigui Zhang. It’s a coproduction of Houston Grand Opera, Royal Opera House, Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Israeli

Opera. Performances begin Sept. 23 and continue Oct. 1, 4, 7, 12 and 15. Next, on select dates Oct. 21-Nov. 12, is Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Louis Lohraseb conducts and Tony Award winner Rob Ashford directs; Emmett O’Hanlon, Isabel Leonard and Luca Pisaroni star. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown, 213.972.8001, laopera.org

OPERA

Kasper Holton production of Don Giovanni as seen at Royal Opera House

L.A. Biennial at the Hammer

THE HAMMER MUSEUM presents 39 artists, collectives and organizations at its Made in L.A. 2023: Acts of Living, the sixth iteration of the biennial exhibition, opening Oct. 1.

According to curator Pablo José Ramírez, the show takes its cues from the ethos of Los Angeles, “a place where a multiplicity of cultures coexist and where, as an artist said to us, ‘one is always a visitor.’ ”

Made in L.A. features mostly new works by artists including Marcel Alcalá, Sula Bermúdez-Silverman, Jibz Cameron, Ishi Glinsky, Young Joon Kwak, Tidawhitney Lek, Maria Maea, Roksana Pirouzmand, Ryan Preciado, Guadalupe Rosales and Chiffon Thomas. They work across mediums encompassing sculpture, assemblage, paintings, drawing, ceramics, performance and instal-

lation. The exhibition also includes presentations by artists working for more than four decades, among them Victor Estrada, Nancy Evans, Akinsanya Kambon, Jessie Homer French and Teresa Tolliver. 10899 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., 310.443.7000, hammer.ucla.edu

Melissa Cody, Untitled, 2022, left, and Maria Maea, Untitled (Nephew), 2020, at the Hammer Museum’s Made in L.A.

CALL OF THE

Arts al fresco: Whether wildlife, weather or other factors, outdoor performances have special considerations.

/

BY LIBBY SLATE /

THERE’S NOTHING LIKE a peacock’s call to add even more sparkle to an evening of Mancini, Minnelli or Bernstein.

That’s what Michael Feinstein discovered as principal pops conductor of the Pasadena Pops. Launching his conducting career with the orchestra a decade ago, the singer-pianist learned to adjust to the presence at concerts of the colorful—and vocal—peacocks that strut the grounds of the Pops’ home, the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia.

“They’re very musical,” Feinstein says. “People absolutely love the peacocks, and the peacocks interact in different ways, different nights. Sometimes they’re very interactive with people ... and it’s always fun to hear what musical selections they’ll decide to accompany. They create great merriment in the audience [and] make the Arboretum more of a party atmosphere.”

Peacocks are but one of numerous elements that set apart outdoor performances from their indoor counterparts—for performers, production and tech teams, and

WILD

The Rady Shell in San Diego. Opposite: Michael Feinstein leads the Pasadena Pops.

audiences alike—at venues such as the Arboretum, the Rady Shell in San Diego and the Hollywood Bowl.

Weather, sound vagaries, audience response and other factors figure into the outdoor equation.

The greatest difference for Feinstein, a veteran of such venues including the Bowl, is “the energy of the audience. An outdoor setting is inherently more casual. People are more relaxed—it’s like they’re coming to a picnic or a party.”

IN SAN DIEGO, the two-yearold Rady Shell at Jacobs Park is a stunning bayfront addition. It’s inspired by a seashell and set on a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by water—picturesque but a concern, says Travis Wininger, vice president of venue operations for the San Diego Symphony.

“Salt water is a real enemy of electronics,” Wininger says. “The potential problems are not so much with waterproof equipment, but with sound and lighting and computers…. The salt water can affect that equipment quickly. Even the marine layer rolling in at night … leaves behind a film of salt over everything.” In addition to routine maintenance, all light fixtures and speakers are dismantled and thoroughly cleaned annually.

Rady Shell administrators subscribe to a weather service that affords constant updates. Sun can damage equipment—and seatcushion fabric—even more quickly than salt water, Wininger notes; seats got more durable cushion materials after the first season.

The Rady sound systems are designed to make amplified

music sound as natural as possible, but levels are constantly monitored. Audio can sound louder traveling across the water to nearby Coronado Island, and levels change depending on the weather.

Bunnies in the vicinity venture out at concerts’ end to see if departing patrons have left any treats. And birds have prompted fascinating measures.

“During avian migratory season [in fall and spring], we limit our lighting on the exterior of the

Shell to short-wavelength light,” Wininger says. “We only use colors such as violet, blue, cyan, green and their mixtures. Lights of longer wavelengths would attract the birds and prevent them from going further.”

MANY PERFORMANCE considerations at the Hollywood Bowl are the same as indoors, according to L.A. Phil director of production Michael Vitale. But, he says, “you’re dealing

with an uncontrolled situation. You just never know what the weather’s going to be like, what the temperature is going to be—is it going to rain, be windy, is someone grilling a steak somewhere and you start getting odors, all that stuff.

“You’re open to the elements.”

The Bowl is a rain-or-shine venue—the show goes on whatever the weather. Bowl staffers hand out ponchos to patrons in inclement weather; umbrellas are banned both for safety /CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

The Hollywood Bowl and, below, the Without Walls Festival at the Rady Shell.

2022/2023 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Note from our President & CEO

RACHEL S. MOORE

Welcome to The Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The Music Center debut of Dutch National Ballet and the company's U.S. premiere of Frida. I am delighted you have joined us for a wonderful homage to one of the world’s most compelling visual artists and activists, Frida Kahlo. This is an incredibly rich work, choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, who is a master storyteller. We are fortunate to witness the Dutch National Ballet dancers as they create a visual feast, showcasing Kahlo’s seminal artistry, her strength and, ultimately, her triumphs over relentless trials and tribulations. What an honor it is to have this work premiere at The Music Center—I know we are in for a real treat!

I hope you will also take the opportunity to view the winning dance films from The Music Center’s Dance in Focus Film Festival: REFLECTIONS, created in collaboration with Dance Camera West and inspired by Kahlo’s style. They are screening during these performances on the LED screens on Jerry Moss Plaza; you can also view them on our website at MusicCenter.org at anytime.

We recently announced our thrilling 21st season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center residencies. This is our boldest and perhaps most captivating dance season yet, featuring residencies with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (September 29–October 1, 2023); The Rite of Spring & common ground[s] (February 9–11, 2024), a Pina Bausch Foundation, École des Sables and Sadler’s Wells production, which will feature a company of dancers from 14 African countries; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which launches its exclusive multi-year Music Center residency (March 20–24, 2024); The Joffrey Ballet with Anna Karenina (June 21–23, 2024); and Ballet Hispánico with Doña Perón (July 12–14, 2024). You can find more information and explore subscription options at musiccenter.org/dance.

Our summer programming is in high gear with the launch of The Music Center’s Dance DTLA and The Music Center’s Summer SoundWaves concerts—both on Jerry Moss Plaza. Visit musiccenter.org/summer for more information, and be sure to follow us on social media (@musiccenterla) for the latest details. Come be a part of it and make it a Music Center summer!

We are immensely grateful to Glorya Kaufman for her support of our work and her visionary leadership in dance, and we thank the members of Center Dance Arts, founding supporters of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, for their dedication and commitment to dance and dancing experiences at The Music Center.

Enjoy the performance!

Warmly,

Rachel S. Moore, President & CEO

OFFICERS

Cindy Miscikowski

Chair

Robert J. Abernethy

Vice Chair

Darrell R. Brown

Vice Chair

Rachel S. Moore

President & CEO

Diane G. Medina

Secretary

Susan M. Wegleitner

Treasurer

William Taylor

Assistant Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer

MEMBERS AT LARGE

Charles F. Adams

William H. Ahmanson

Jill C. Baldauf

Susan E. Baumgarten

Phoebe Beasley

Thomas L. Beckmen

Dannielle Campos

Amy R. Forbes

Greg T. Geyer

Jeffrey M. Hill

Carl Jordan

Terri M. Kohl

Lily Lee

Cary J. Lefton

Keith R. Leonard, Jr.

David B. Lippman

Susan M. Matt

Elizabeth Michelson

Darrell D. Miller

Shelby Notkin

Teresita Notkin

Michael J. Pagano

Cynthia M. Patton

Karen Kay Platt

Joseph J. Rice

Melissa Romain

Beverly P. Ryder

Maria S. Salinas

Lisa See

Mimi Song

Matthew J. Spence

Johnese Spisso

Philip A. Swan

Timothy S. Wahl

Alyce de Roulet

Williamson

Jay S. Wintrob

GENERAL COUNSEL

Rollin A. Ransom

DIRECTORS EMERITI

Wallis Annenberg

Peter K. Barker

Judith Beckmen

Ronald W. Burkle

John B. Emerson **

Richard M. Ferry

Brindell Gottlieb

Bernard A. Greenberg

Stephen F. Hinchliffe, Jr.

Glen A. Holden

Kent Kresa

Edward J. McAniff

Fredric M. Roberts

Richard K. Roeder

Claire L. Rothman

Joni J. Smith

Lisa Specht **

Cynthia A. Telles

James A. Thomas

Andrea L. Van de Kamp **

Thomas R. Weinberger ** Chair Emeritus

Current as of 6/26/23

Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s Jillian Davis. Photo by Rachel Neville.

TMC Arts: Arts and Cultural Experiences for All

The Music Center is a cultural anchor in Los Angeles and home to the world's greatest and most highly regarded artistic programs and events.

Rooted in a strong commitment to equity, excellence and access, TMC Arts, The Music Center’s programming engine, provides yearround programming inside The Music Center’s four theatres, on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center, outside at Gloria Molina Grand Park  —  a 12-acre adjacent green space  —  and in schools and other locations all over Los Angeles County. From Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center and free and low-cost concerts and events to

customized learning experiences for all ages and more, TMC Arts programs reflect the diverse voices and interests of the many communities in Los Angeles County and bring Angelenos together in ways that enable them to discover their shared humanity. TMC Arts programs connect people, offering participatory and immersive experiences with the chance to get creative and learn.

The Music Center is truly a performing arts center for the 21st century, continually pushing the boundaries to further inspire and contribute to the artistic voices of Los Angeles.

All photos except bottom right by John McCoy for The Music Center. Bottom right image by Will Tee Yang for The Music Center.

THE MUSIC CENTER EXECUTIVE TEAM

Rachel S. Moore

President & CEO

Howard Sherman

Executive Vice President & COO, TMC Ops

Josephine Ramirez Executive Vice President, TMC Arts

Shelby D. Boagni

Senior Vice President, People & Culture

Cheryl Brown

Interim Senior Vice President, Advancement

William Taylor

Senior Vice President, Finance / CFO

Bonnie Goodman

Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications

THE MUSIC CENTER OPERATIONS (TMC OPS)

BUILDING SERVICES

Carlos Acosta Engineer

Eric Amaya Engineer

Emmanuel Campos Engineer

Ramon DeLeon Lead Engineer

Erik Ekserjyan Mailroom Clerk

Ruben Enriquez Mailroom Clerk

Nick Garcia Engineer

Jose Godinez Engineer

Damon Joseph Apprentice Engineer

Francisco Loayza Lead Engineer

Delia Martin Office Services Manager

Adrian Padilla Engineer

Jorge Padilla Engineer

Jose Quintero Landscaping

Ismael Rodriguez Engineer

Alex Romero Engineer

Jose Santillan Engineer

Gerard Silva Lead Engineer

Edgar Vasquez Coordinator

Brandon Villalobos Engineer

FOUNDERS

Daniel Cristante Coordinator

Lisa King Manager

Georgi Nikolov Director

Elia Ortega Coordinator

GUEST RELATIONS

Peggy Alvarez Head Usher

Alvin Broussard Senior Manager, Special Services

Jenny Calvo Head Usher

Christine Cox House Manager, Ahmanson Theatre

Robert Devis House Manager, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Greg Flusty House Manager, Walt Disney Concert Hall

Omar Garcia Head Usher

Jose Agustin Garibaldi Head Usher

Ruben Lopez Special Services Coordnator

Alexander Mochizuki Event Staff Coordinator

Seng Neth Head Usher

Steve Olear Manager, Guest Services

Courtney Rabena Head Usher

Jose L. Rivas Head Usher

Santa Roman-Garcia Head Usher

Carolyn Van Brunt Vice President

Linda Walker House Manager, Mark Taper Forum

Jeanice Williams Coordinator, Tours & Special Events

Demetra Willis Head Usher

OPERATIONS ADMINISTRATION

Carol Zamora Executive Assistant

PRODUCTION

Shawn Anderson Head Carpenter, Ahmanson Theatre

Shane Anderson Head Flyman, Ahmanson Theatre

Jared Batty Head Electric, Ahmanson Theatre

Jason Clark Director, Production

Marcus Conroy Head Electrician, Walt Disney Concert Hall

Timothy Conroy Head Carpenter, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Dennis Holbrook Head Property, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Emmet Kaiser Head Carpenter, Mark Taper Forum

Ryan Lebetsamer Head Electric, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Christian Lee Head Audio/Video, Mark Taper Forum

Scott Lucas Head Property, Ahmanson Theatre

Charlie Miledi Head Carpenter, Walt Disney Concert Hall

Katie Miller Production Manager

John Phillips Head Property, Walt Disney Concert Hall

Lisa Quang Senior Production Coordinator

Todd Reynolds Head Audio/Video, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Mary Romero Head Property, Mark Taper Forum

Spencer Saccoman Production Project Manager

Lee Smilek Head Wardrobe

Robert Smith Head Audio/Video, Ahmanson Theatre

Aaron Staubach Head Electrician, Ahmanson Theatre

Kevin Wapner Head Audio/Video, Walt Disney Concert Hall

SCHEDULING & EVENTS

Taylor Ford Event Operations Coordinator

Liliana Gonzalez Senior Event Operations Manager

Marisol Moro Garcia Scheduling & Lease Events

Colin Perkins Lease Events Manager

Sharon Stewart Director

Ken Talley Senior Scheduling Administrator

Ismael Tenorio Events Operations Manager

Jessica Vad Event Operations Coordinator

SECURITY MANAGEMENT & ADMINISTRATION

Juan Macias Captain, Events Operations Group

Jonathan Ng Commander, Field Services Division

Bedros Ohanian Director Security & Life Safety

Scott Pollack Commander, Events Operation Group

Vivian Sanchez Adjutant

Gonzalo Silvia Commander, Field Services

Edward Too Captain, Administration

Curtis Vanterpool Logistics and Scheduling Manager

THE BLUE RIBBON

Suzy Boyett Associate Director

Cinda Rosenberg Senior Coordinator

THE MUSIC CENTER ARTS (TMC ARTS)

Julia Diamond Vice President

CIVIC STRATEGIES, PARTNERSHIPS & IMPACT

Caroline Chang Program Manager

Letitia Fernandez Ivins

Senior Director

DANCE & DANCING PROGRAMS

Martin Wechsler Senior Advisor

DIGITAL INNOVATION

Kamal Sinclair Senior Director

EDUCATION/SCHOOLS AND NEIGHBORHOODS

Keith Wyffels Associate Vice President

Patrice Cantarelli Associate Director, School Programs

Rada Jovicic Program and Events Manager

Ebony Ruffin Manager, Professional Development

Monk Turner Manager, The Music Center On Tour

Sydney Ko Coordinator

Vincent Lopez Coordinator

Juan Sanchez School Programs Coordinator

GRAND PARK

Cristabel Campos Ruiz Marketing Manager

Brian Foreman Production Manager

Robert Gonzalez Director

Cristina Lucio Associate Program Manager

Anna Morrison Events Promotion Coordinator

Dawn Robinson-Patrick Senior Programs Manager

Angela Tsai Business Manager

Carolina Xique Program Coordinator

Julian Yapkowitz Lease Events and Location Coordinator

PRODUCING & CONCERTS

Patrick Traylor Senior Production Manager

Lily Alia General Manager

Jasira Woods Senior Coordinator

U-Jung Jung Coordinator

SPOTLIGHT & CREATIVE WORKFORCE READINESS

Jeri Gaile Fredric Roberts Director, Spotlight program

Monique Carroll Program Manager

Corisa Moreno Program Manager

Jordan Adelman Coordinator

BUSINESS RESOURCES

ADVANCEMENT

Belby Aguillon Coordinator, Major Gifts

Debra Beadle Director of Planned Giving & Stewardship

Serena Bernolak Director, Events and Stewardship

Katrina Bulay Membership Manager

Devon Caranicas Director, Special Projects

Rob Carson Director of Leadership Giving

Hillary Chisum Director of Board Relations

Hannah Doerr Coordinator, Events and Stewardship

Jason Frazier Assistant Director, Corporate Giving

Erica Goodrich Coordinator, Advancement Services

Rosalind Grush Grant & Philanthropy Writer

Veronica Green Assistant Director, Annual Giving

Sarah V. Harnden Coordinator, Institutional Giving

Clifton Lum Assistant Director, Advancement Services

Mayra Medina Donor Records Clerk

Traci Mueller Senior Director, Advancement Services

Lorena Panfilo Prospect Research Analyst

Laurie A. Selik Senior Director, Institutional Giving

Melanye Taylor Assistant Director, Data and Analytics

FINANCE

Michelle Alfonso Controller

Laura Canon Accounts Payable Specialist

Jazmine Centeno Payroll Clerk

Maria Justo Clerk, Accounts Payable / Accounts Receivable

Andrew Kayano Manager, General Accounting and Financial Systems

Jane Lin Senior Payroll Specialist

David Modisett Manager, Financial Planning

Kirman Ng Staff Accountant

Cindy Rauch Manager, Accounts Payable /Accounts Receivable

Sandra Wright Director of Payroll Services

PEOPLE & CULTURE

Erin Jackson Generalist

Victoria McElroy Director

Aurora Nunez Coordinator

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Danielle Bliss Coordinator, Ticketing & Marketing Strategy

Gil Diaz Manager, Media Relations

Lisa Ducore Assistant Vice President, Marketing and Brand Communications

Stephanie Kao Manager, Web Content and Digital Analytics

Hillary Litherland Manager, Social Media & Content Creation

Mike Mancillas Manager, Digital Programming

Sofia Saenz Coordinator, Marketing & Brand Communications

Marielle Shrock Marketing Specialist

Melissa Tan Assistant Vice President, Ticketing and Marketing Strategy

PRESIDENT’S OFFICE

Susan Hutcheon Executive Assistant to the President & CEO

CREATIVE SUPPORT

Keith & Co. Graphic Design

The stage crew, wardrobe crew and box office staff are represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States of America and Canada, AFL-CIO, CKC, Local Numbers 33, 768 and 857, respectively.

The House Managers employed by The Music Center are represented by the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers.

Photo Credits: (Above) Michelle Shiers for The Music Center.

(Right) Will Tee Yang for The Music Center.

The Music Center’s 2023–2024

Ailey’s Khalia Campbell. Photo by Dario Calmese.

Center Dance Arts (CDA) is a dynamic community of patrons with a passion for dance. CDA brings dance to life in Los Angeles by promoting The Music Center’s world-class dance performances, extensive educational outreach and free and low-cost community experiences so all may witness the transformative power of the art form. Members enjoy special access to performances and activities with concierge ticketing, Meet-the-Artists receptions, private salons, rehearsals and more!

Connect with arts patrons and dance enthusiasts in a variety of fun social settings around Los Angeles.

Celebrate

dance and enjoy behind-thescenes access such as salons, receptions and artist talks featuring dance luminaries.

JOIN US!

Inspire

thousands of people with extraordinary performances, groundbreaking new works, innovative dance learning in schools and community dancing experiences.

Membership begins at $1,000. To learn more about becoming a member, please contact us at (213) 972-3359 or cda@musiccenter.org.

Complexions Meet the Artists event. Photo by Will Tee Yang for The Music Center.

Paul Taylor Dance Company’s Madelyn Ho and Devon Louis in Arden Court.

Photo by Ruven Afanador.

The Music Center Thanks Center Dance Arts

From all of us at The Music Center, we thank Center Dance Arts Members for their unwavering support of dance. We welcome you and look forward to many seasons of dance ahead!

Center Dance Arts Board of Directors

Susan Baumgarten President

Jane Jelenko*

Founding President

Liane Weintraub*

Founding Chair

Mattie McFadden Lawson

Chair Emerita

Catharine Soros

Chair Emerita

Charlene Achki-Repko

Jane ArnaultFactor, PhD *

JoAnn Bourne

Mira Hashmall

Joan Herman

Liz Levitt Hirsch*

Edward Lazarus

Judith Reichman, MD

Dominque Shelton Leipzig

Julia Strickland

Bradley Tabach-Bank

Sue Tsao

Ana T. Valdez

Diane Wittenberg

Center Dance Arts Members

DANCE SPONSOR ($25,000+)

Allen and Anita Kohl Charitable Foundation

Jane Arnault-Factor*

Marie H. Song

DANCE AMBASSADOR ($10,000 – $24,999)

Charlene Achki-Repko

Susan Baumgarten

JoAnn and Wayland Bourne

Walter and Ruth Chameides

Helen Funai Erickson

Joan A. Friedman, Ph.D. and Robert N. Braun, M.D.

J. Mira Hashmall, Esq.

Joan E. Herman

Liz Levitt Hirsch*

Jane Jelenko*

Patrick Kinsella

Maddocks Brown Foundation

Max Factor Family Foundation

David Minning and Diane Wittenberg

Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, Inc.

Anthony and Olivia Neece

Judith Reichman, M.D.

Dominique Shelton

Julia Strickland

Bradley Tabach-Bank and Dee Dee Dorskind

Sue Tsao

Cynthia Watson, M.D. and David B. Katzin, M.D., Ph.D.

Alyce Williamson*

DANCE ADVOCATE ($5,000 – $9,999)

Karla and Richard Chernick

Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles

Elizabeth and Brack Duker

Lisa Field

Edward Lazarus and Amanda Moose

June Li

Anita Lorber

Mary Nichols

David and Janet Polak

DANCE ENTHUSIAST ($2,500 – $4,999)

Donna Altmann

Barry Baker

Paul N. Barkopoulos, M.D.

Terri and Timothy Childs

Catherine Cristall

Sharon Davis

Lynne and James DeWitt

Jennifer Diener*

Gerry Friedman*

Leslie and Frederick Gaylord*

Bonnie Oda Homsey and Philip R. Homsey II

Freya and Mark Ivener

Jay Kinn and Jules Vogel

Aliza Lesser

Beth Michelson

Kathy and Michael Moray

Renae Williams Niles and Greg Niles

Ellen Pansky

Kathleen Reiss

Julia M. Ritter

Helene Rosenzweig, M.D.

Catharine and Jeffrey Soros

I.H. Sutnick

Stuart M. Warren

DANCE PATRON ($1,000 – $2,499)

Josephine Baurac

David Bender

David Shaw and Sheila Blackwell

Irene and Stuart Boyd

Rose Chan and Warren Loui

Henry Fetter and Lois Fishman

Susan Friedman*

Paul Greenberg

Leonie Gross

Marcy Gross

Penny Haberman

Claire and Robert Heron

Christine M. Hessler

Linda and David Kagel

Household

Barbara and Richard Kernochan

Vivian Krepack

Rosanne Lapan

Paula Marcus

David Richard Pullman

Richard Rho and Steven DeMille

Hadley and Lee Rierson

Ken Ballard and Renee Rinaldi

Nancy Lee Ruyter

Maxine Savitz

Bob and Helene Schacter

Sherie and Alan Schneider

Laurie Vender and Stephen Halper

Daniel and Janice Wallace

Marcia and Charles Wasserman

Paul Taylor Meet the Artists reception.

* Founding Member

Center Dance Arts

Photos: Will Tee Yang for The Music Center.

Uplift Through the Arts

It takes all of us to create meaningful arts experiences that champion the diverse voices and communities of Los Angeles. Join The Music Center as we bring together artists, children, teachers and people of all ages and backgrounds to make Los Angeles a better place. Your gift to The Music Center’s annual fund supports unforgettable performances, immersive programs that welcome everyone, learning in hundreds of schools and community partnerships across L.A.

Contact Friends of TMC Arts at (213) 972-4349 or membership@musiccenter.org | musiccenter.org/give

Students from Grand Arts/Cortines High School showcase their work with acclaimed dance company Pilobolus on Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center.

Photo by Will Tee Yang for The Music Center.

Support for this presentation is provided, in part, by:

Glorya Kaufman Foundation

Tina and Jerry Moss/Moss Foundation

Marie H. Song

Center Dance Arts

Dorothy Buffum Chandler Program Fund

Elisabeth Katte Harris

The Music Center Foundation

The Music Center Annual Fund

Fonds Podiumkunsten Performing Arts Fund NL

Dutch National Ballet— Frida. Photo by Hans Gerritsen. Dancers: Maia Makhateli and ensemble.

DUTCH NATIONAL BALLET

Artistic director

Associate artistic director

Resident choreographer

Artistic associate

Artistic coordinator Junior Company

Ballet masters

Ted Brandsen

Rachel Beaujean

Hans van Manen

David Dawson

Ernst Meisner

Charlotte Chapellier, Guillaume Graffin, Caroline Sayo Iura (Junior Company) Alan Land, Sandrine Leroy (choreologist/répétiteur), Larissa Lezhnina, Judy Maelor Thomas, Jozef Varga

Senior ballet teacher Rinat Gizatulin

Music director / Chief conductor

Matthew Rowe

First pianist Olga Khoziainova

Pianists

FRIDA

Concept, libretto, choreography

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa

Dramaturgy and libretto

Nancy Meckler

Music

Peter Salem

Set and costume design

Dieuweke van Reij

Lighting design

Michael Mazzola

Assistant to the choreographer

Luis Torres Ortiz

Ballet masters

Charlotte Chapellier

Michele Jimenez

Sandrine Leroy

Larissa Lezhnina

Judy Maelor-Thomas

Elena Kim, Ryoko Kondo, Paul Lewis, Mikhail Murach, Viktoriya Ryapolova

World premiere

February 6, 2020, Dutch National Ballet, Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Amsterdam

Conductor

Matthew Rowe

Music recordings

La Llorona, performed by Chavela Vargas Noches de Ahuatepec, composed and performed by Chavela Vargas

Que te vaya bonito, composed by Jose Alfredo Jimenez Sandoval, performed by Chavela Vargas

Total duration

2 hours and 15 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission

The starting point for this full-length production was the shorter ballet Broken Wings, created for English National Ballet in 2016.

FRIDA

‘Breathtaking explosion of color.’ That is how the Dutch theatre platform Theaterkrant described the world premiere of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Frida at Dutch National Opera & Ballet in 2020. The production, which is now in demand internationally, tells the life story of one of the most intriguing artists of the 20th century, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Along with designer Dieuweke van Reij and composer Peter Salem, Lopez Ochoa makes the magic of Kahlo’s world tangible in her ballet.

Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) did not have a carefree life by any means. At the age of six, she got polio, and, when she was 18, she suffered irreparable damage to her pelvis and spine due to a bus accident. But Kahlo did not let fate thwart her. She fought against taboos and fought for women’s rights, and her colorful self-portraits are still inspiring people all over the world today. Lopez Ochoa says, “When I saw Julie Taymor’s film portrait Frida, I was deeply moved by how Kahlo managed to transform her physical immobility and constant pain into art.”

Kahlo's Souls and Dreams

In 2016, Lopez Ochoa’s fascination with Kahlo led to Broken Wings, which she created for English National Ballet. At the request of Dutch National Ballet’s director Ted Brandsen, she developed this short ballet into a fulllength production in 2020. Frida is not an A-to-Z story of Kahlo’s life. The most essential events are portrayed in a succession of impressionistic scenes in and around two black boxes, which symbolize her many bedridden days. In addition, Lopez Ochoa presents various alter egos, who reveal Kahlo’s soul and dreams, and 10 male dancers bring Kahlo’s selfportraits to life.

Involving 49 dancers, Frida is the biggest production created to date by the ColombianBelgian choreographer Lopez Ochoa.

Dutch National Ballet

The past decades have seen Dutch National Ballet evolve into a leading ballet company that ranks among the top 10 most prestigious ballet companies in the world. With 76 dancers — and 16 dancers from the Junior Company — Dutch National Ballet is the largest ballet company in the Netherlands. Since its foundation, it has been under the leadership of Sonia Gaskell (1961–1969), Rudi van Dantzig and Robert Kaesen (1969–1971), Rudi van Dantzig (1971–1991) and Wayne Eagling (1991–2003). Ted Brandsen has been the company’s artistic director since 2003. The company presents some 130 performances annually, both at home and abroad. When performing at home, Dutch National Ballet generally dances to music played by Dutch Ballet Orchestra. The company has a rich and varied repertoire that includes full-length classical ballets, reinterpretations of classics, 20th century works — primarily pieces by George Balanchine, Rudi van Dantzig and Toer van Schayk — as well as contemporary pieces by leading choreographers such as Hans van Manen, David Dawson, William Forsythe, Krzysztof Pastor, Alexei Ratmansky and Christopher Wheeldon.

Dutch National Ballet— Frida. Photo by Hans Gerritsen.

Act One

SCENE 1: OVERTURE

It’s the Day of the Dead. Skeletons are passing the time on top of a black cube. They are bored and decide to tell the story of a young girl called Frida Kahlo. She is cheeky, vibrant and knows what she wants.

SCENE 2: FAMILY

The Cube opens and Frida’s painting My Family Tree comes to life.

SCENE 3: FRIDA AND ALEJANDRO

Frida is in love with Alejandro Gomez Arias. They dance happily, unaware of the danger lurking. The traffic surrounding them is getting busier and busier. Frida is severely injured in a bus accident.

SCENE 4: DISCOVERING PAINTING

Frida is bedridden for a year. The Deer appears, an alter ego that will be at her side whenever Frida feels lonely. Frida’s mother places a mirror above her bed, and her father encourages her to paint. Out of boredom, Frida starts to paint.

SCENE 5: MALE FRIDAS

10 Male Fridas represent Frida's many selfportraits. With her traditional Tehuana dress, Frida emphasizes her mestiza ancestry. It also allows her to express her feminist and anticolonialist ideals.

SCENE 6: DIEGO RIVERA

Diego Rivera is a prominent Mexican painter of large-scale murals. Frida visits him and shows him three of her paintings. She asks Diego to judge whether her paintings show enough talent.

SCENE 7: FRIDA AND DIEGO

Frida and Diego fall in love and get married. Their duet ends abruptly with Frida being taken ill with extreme leg and back pain.

SCENE 8: DIEGO’S INFIDELITIES

Diego goes to work in his studio. A model enters, and Diego seduces her. In the hospital, Frida is aware of Diego’s infidelities, and she is deeply hurt.

SCENE 9: HALLUCINATION

Frida is given a lot of morphine against the pain. Suffering from deep mental and emotional pain, she starts hallucinating.

SCENE 10: DESIRE FOR MOTHERHOOD

AND MISCARRIAGE

The Deer and Frida are in a desolate forest of red umbilical cords. Suddenly, a little Skeleton Child appears, dressed as a girl. It is Frida’s

deepest wish to become a mother. She dreams of a happy future. In vain, she miscarries.

20-MINUTE INTERMISSION Act Two

SCENE 11: PROLOGUE

Frida once said: “There have been two major accidents in my life. One was the bus accident, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.”

SCENE 12: ROOTS

In this painting, Frida depicts herself with her torso open like a window and giving birth to a vine, symbolizing her desire to have a child.

SCENE 13: AMERICA

Diego and Frida travel to America, where Diego is invited to paint murals in several big cities. Diego receives a lot of attention from the press.

SCENE 14: FRIDA AND HER LOVERS

Frida has many lovers, both men and women. The first one, Nick Muray, is a famous photographer. In New York, she also meets sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Furthermore, she has a brief affair with Josephine Baker.

SCENE 15: ROCKEFELLER — MAN AT THE CROSSROADS

Diego works on a mural at the Rockefeller Center in New York titled Man at the Crossroads. A furor erupts because it contains a portrait of Lenin. When Diego refuses to remove Lenin from the painting, Diego is ordered to leave the United States.

SCENE 16: DECLINE

Frida and Diego are back in Mexico. Frida’s health is declining. Diego spends a lot of time in his studio. To pay for her medical treatments, Frida works on bigger paintings. In The Two Fridas and The Broken Column, her pain is tangible.

SCENE 17: DIEGO AND CRISTINA

A Mariachi band enters. Diego begins an affair with Frida’s sister Cristina. Frida finds out and is furious. She cuts her long hair short.

SCENE 18: I

HOPE THE END IS JOYFUL AND I HOPE NEVER TO RETURN

Frida becomes severely depressed and anxious, and her dependency on painkillers escalates. She can hardly paint and never leaves the Casa Azul anymore. She commits suicide. On July 13, 1954, Frida Kahlo dies at the age of 47.

A colorful journey through the life of the famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, that is Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s ballet Frida. Following its successful premiere three years ago, this season Dutch National Ballet is dancing Frida not only in Amsterdam, but also in Los Angeles.

During the first performances of Frida, the media often underlined the fact that Lopez Ochoa was “the first female choreographer to create a full-length ballet for Dutch National Ballet in over 30 years.” However, the choreographer herself paid little attention to this fact. Lopez Ochoa says, “I think the reason Ted (Brandsen — ed.) asked me to make a piece was not that he was looking for a female choreographer, but that he wanted a choreographer who enjoyed telling stories.”

Power Woman

In Frida, Lopez Ochoa tells the life story of Frida Kahlo (1907–1954). From the moment she saw a film about Kahlo’s life 15 years ago, the BelgianColombian choreographer was inspired by the artist. “Frida is such a power woman! She had a difficult life, with a lot of pain. But rather than wasting away, she used her situation as a source of inspiration for her art. At the same time, painting was Frida’s way of taking her mind off the pain for a while. It’s so special that I can share the story of this impressive and — like me — Latin American woman with Dutch and American audiences.” Frida, however, is not an explicitly biographical ballet. “I didn’t want the piece to be too anecdotal. Instead, I chose to tell the story through Frida’s fantasy world. So I kept looking for which paintings were based on the various events in her life, and brought those paintings and their characters to life.”

Mexicanismo

Lopez Ochoa also took inspiration for Frida from the style that Kahlo used in her paintings: Mexicanismo. “The Mexicanismo style is characterized by its indigenous origins, and works painted in this style are often twodimensional,” explains Lopez Ochoa. “This is also reflected in the ballet. My choreography for some of the characters is angular and frontal, in order to illustrate Mexicanismo.” Besides artistic reasons, there were personal reasons for this choice, too. “My father is Colombian, and we had paintings in Mexicanismo style hanging on the walls at home. I never used to understand them—in my eyes the portraits were very flat and the people in them looked just like hieroglyphs—but my parents were always so proud of them! So it was even more important to me that Mexicanismo was clearly recognizable in Frida. I wanted the ballet to stay close to my Latino roots.”

This season, Lopez Ochoa is returning to the ballet studio to rehearse Frida with the dancers of Dutch National Ballet. “I’m so grateful that this company is open to ballets like Frida, which tell new stories and are not totally classical. For example, some roles, including that of Frida, are not danced on pointe. By presenting productions like this, Dutch National Ballet shows that there are ballets that tell stories in other ways and have a different sort of beauty to what people in the West are used to.”

“I wanted the ballet to stay close to my Latino roots”

— Choreographer

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa about Frida

Text: Rosalie Overing

Dutch National Ballet— Frida. Photo by Hans Gerritsen.

ANNABELLE LOPEZ OCHOA Choreography

The Colombian-Belgian choreographer Annabelle

Lopez Ochoa trained at the Royal Ballet School Antwerp, after which she was a high-profile dancer with companies such as Djazzex (1993–1997) and Scapino Ballet Rotterdam (1997–2003) for 12 years. The latter company was where she created her first official choreographic works.

In 2003, she bade the stage farewell to focus completely on choreography. In the same year, the newspaper NRC called her ‘the rising star of the Dutch dance world.’ The versatile choreographer has worked in the fields of theatre, opera, musicals and with the Dutch fashion designers Viktor & Rolf, among others. In 2008, her international career really took off, and since then she has created new works for more than 75 companies all over the world, including New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, the Royal Ballet of Flanders, The Joffrey Ballet, Scottish Ballet, West Australian Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Cuba and English National Ballet.

For Dutch National Ballet, Lopez Ochoa has created the workshop ballet Before After (2002), Solitaire (2003), Since (2007), Last Resistance (2018, with Wende Snijders), Frida (2020) and Quasicrystal (2021). Frida arose from the one-act Broken Wings, which she made in 2016 for English National Ballet. At the request of Dutch National Ballet, she developed this piece about the life of Frida Kahlo into a full-length ballet, which received glowing reviews.

Lopez Ochoa has won various prizes for her work, including the British National Dance Award and the South Bank Award for A Streetcar Named Desire (2013), created for Scottish Ballet. In 2019, she received the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award.

NANCY MECKLER

Dramaturgy and Libretto

Nancy Meckler was born in North America and has been working as a dramaturge and a theatre and movie director for many years. She also fulfilled the role of artistic director of the internationally renowned Experience Theatre in the United Kingdom for multiple years. Meckler worked as a dramaturge on Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s The Little Prince (BalletX) and Broken Wings (English National Ballet). Together with Lopez Ochoa, she created A Streetcar Named Desire for Scottish Ballet. For this work, Meckler was nominated for an Olivier Award and won the 2013 South Bank Award. She also created several theatre productions for The Royal Shakespeare Company, including Romeo and Juliet, All's Well that Ends Well, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Comedy of Errors, and worked for National Theatre (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ) and The Globe (King Lear). Her work as a movie director includes the two feature films My Sister and Alive and Kicking, for which she won the audience award at the London Film Festival.

PETER SALEM Music

Peter Salem creates music for contemporary ballet as well as for film and television. His first composition for ballet was A Streetcar Named Desire, which was also his first collaboration with choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and dramaturge Nancy Meckler. After that, he created Broken Wings (English National Ballet) and The Little Prince (BalletX) with them. Salem also composed the music for Helen Pickett’s full-length ballets Camino Real (Atlanta Ballet) and The Crucible (Scottish Ballet) —which was the opening production of the dance program of the Edinburgh International Festival 2019. His music for The Crucible was nominated for a National Dance Award. Frida is Salem's sixth composition for contemporary ballet.

Furthermore, his work for film and television has gained international renown including his music for Call the Midwife (BBC), Cider With Rosie, Five Daughters, Great Expectations (BBC) and the documentaries Francesco's Venice and The Tower of Art (Simon Schama, BBC). Salem has also written extensively for theatre, including The Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre and Shared Experience Theatre.

DIEUWEKE VAN REIJ Set and Costume Design

Dieuweke van Reij studied scenography at the University of the Arts in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and designs costumes for opera, music theatre, youth theatre, cabaret and dance. She has designed costumes for choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Broken Wings at English National Ballet, Mammatus for The Joffrey Ballet (Chicago), De Sade Affair for House of Makers, Celeste for Ballet Nacional de Cuba and Dangerous Liaisons for Augsburg Ballet, among others.

Van Reij maintains long-term collaborations with various collectives and makers. She has designed, for example, both the set and costumes for director Floris Visser for many of his operas, including Jenufa (Hannover), La Bohème and Antigona (Osnabrueck), Orphée et Eurydice and La Traviata (Reisopera), Così fan tutte (Bolshoi Theater, Moscow), Fortress Europe (Opera Trionfo and Dutch National Opera), Juditha Triumphans (Dutch National Opera) and Manon (Zurich). Furthermore, she frequently works with the Dutch contemporary music theatre company Orkater. She recently designed the set and costumes for Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Frida at Dutch National Ballet. She returned to Dutch National Opera & Ballet during season 2021/2022, designing the sets and costumes for How Anansi Freed the Stories of the World.

For her designs for Così fan tutte, Van Reij was nominated for a Golden Mask, Russia's most prestigious theatre award. She also won the Musical Award for Best Design for De terugkeer van Hans en Grietje (The Return of Hansel and Gretel) by Orkater, in collaboration with the Dutch Ballet Orchestra.

MICHAEL MAZZOLA

Lighting Design

Since the 1980s, Michael Mazzola’s highly acclaimed designs have been featured in both the United States and Europe, in venues ranging from opera houses to circus tents and amphitheaters. He worked as the resident lighting designer of Oregon Ballet Theatre, the Bebe Miller Company, Steve Paxton & Lisa Nelson, Yoshiko Chuma, Milwaukee Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet Company, Trinity Irish Dance Company and Hubbard Street Dance Company. Mazzola designed the production Stars of the New York City Ballet, which was performed in a garden that he had designed especially for this event, and provided the lighting design for Within/Without by Nicolo Fonte in 2004. He also regularly works as a lighting designer for music events.

LUIS TORRES ORTIZ

Assistant to the Choreographer

Luis Torres Ortiz is currently a ballet master at Hong Kong Ballet. After completing his interdisciplinary Bachelor's degree in Dance and Psychology at Arizona State University and a Master of Fine Arts at George Mason University, he began his career as a dancer with Ballet Arizona. He danced as a soloist and principal dancer with Ballet Arizona, Ballet Theatre of Maryland and at The Washington Ballet, after which he started working as a ballet master. He has gained experience as a ballet master at Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Chamber Dance Project and The Washington Ballet's Studio Company and works regularly with Septime Webre, artistic director of Hong Kong Ballet, and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, among others, staging their works at various companies.

MATTHEW ROWE

Musical Direction

Matthew Rowe is Music Director of Dutch National Ballet and Principal Conductor of the Dutch Ballet Orchestra. He made his debut with Dutch National Ballet in 2004 and was appointed to the dual position in 2013. Rowe is praised internationally and is much sought-after as a guest conductor across the world. He is exceptionally versatile with a wide repertoire and stands out in the conducting world for his skill and experience with complex collaborative productions.

Noteworthy ballet productions with Dutch National Ballet have included Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella; Alexei Ratmansky’s Firebird; and world premieres of Shen Wei’s Sacre du Printemps, Ted Brandsen’s Mata Hari, David Dawson’s Requiem and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Frida. His extensive repertoire embraces the work of many renowned choreographers—including numerous works of Hans van Manen, George Balanchine, Wayne McGregor and Krzysztof Pastor.

Rowe also has a longstanding association with Nederlands Dans Theater, where he has collaborated with many contemporary choreographers including Jiří Kylián, Leon|Lightfoot and Crystal Pite. He is a regular guest conductor with many international dance companies, including San Francisco Ballet, Stuttgarter Ballett, Birmingham Royal Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Polish National Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet.

TED BRANDSEN Artistic Director

Ted Brandsen has been the director of Dutch National Ballet since 2003. His leadership ushered in a new heyday for the company, which now ranks among the top leading ballet companies in the world. Brandsen’s initiatives include rejuvenating the full-length repertoire, introducing new world-class choreographers, distributing performances more widely throughout the Netherlands and increasing the company’s appearances at major international venues. In 2013, in collaboration with the Dutch National Ballet Academy, he initiated the foundation of Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company, which bridges the gap between dance training and professional practice.

Following a late start at the Scapino Dance Academy, Brandsen joined Dutch National Ballet as a dancer in 1981, where he stood out particularly in the works by contemporary choreographers. After creating various pieces for Dutch National Ballet’s annual choreographic workshop and for other companies, he stopped dancing in 1991 and started working as a freelance choreographer. His first ‘official’ work for Dutch National Ballet, Four Sections, was a great success in the same year. In the years that followed, he created work for several Dutch and international dance companies and festivals. In 1998, he was appointed artistic director of West Australian Ballet, where he created a great many ballets, including Carmen (2000, which received the Australian Dance Award) and Pulcinella (2001).

In 2002, Brandsen was invited to return to Dutch National Ballet, initially in the position of assistant artistic director and in 2003 as artistic director. Since then, Brandsen has created Body (2004), Stealing Time (2006), Raï (2013), Replay (2014), Classical Symphony (2020) and other works, as well as the full-length productions Coppelia (2008) and Mata Hari (2016). Brandsen’s work is in the repertoire of many companies abroad. He is also in great demand as a jury member for awards such as the prestigious Prix de Lausanne, the Fedora Prize for Ballet, the Dance Open and the international Benois de la Danse awards, which are also known as the ‘Oscars of dance.’

In 2014, Stichting Dansersfonds ’79 presented Brandsen with the Merit Award. And four years later, the Dansersfonds dedicated their 21st ballet gala to him, in recognition of his important work for Dutch National Ballet. In October 2019, the Mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, presented him with the Amsterdam Prize for Art, in the category ‘Proven Quality,’ and, in June 2022, he was appointed Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion.

RACHEL BEAUJEAN

Associate Artistic Director

Rachel Beaujean has been working with Dutch National Ballet since 1977. Following her training at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, she joined the company as a dancer. In 1981, she was promoted to soloist. After 20 years as a dancer, she said farewell to the stage in a performance of Hans van Manen’s Sarcasmen, which had been created for her and Clint Farha. She was then appointed ballet mistress with Dutch National Ballet. In 2003, Beaujean became head of the artistic staff and has been associate artistic director of the company since 2017. In the same year, at the celebration of her 40th anniversary with the company, she was made an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

As a dancer, Beaujean was known mainly for her interpretations of ballets by Hans van Manen, whose muse she was for many years. She also appeared in ballets by Rudi van Dantzig, Toer van Schayk and George Balanchine and danced striking roles in works choreographed by William Forsythe, Martha Graham and Édouard Lock, among others. In the classical repertoire, she stood out for her interpretations of the roles of Myrtha in Giselle and the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty.

In recent years, Beaujean has made various adaptations of major 19 th-century productions for Dutch National Ballet. For instance, she created her own version of Les Sylphides, a revised interpretation of Giselle (along with Ricardo Bustamante) and a dazzling new production of Paquita. In 2022, Beaujean created an entirely new version of Raymonda, a masterpiece by Marius Petipa.

For her excellence as a dancer, the Dutch Association of Theater and Concert Hall Directors awarded Beaujean the Golden Dance Theater Award in 1993, and she received the Merit Award from Dansersfonds ’79 in 1995. Beaujean has previously been a member of the board of the Dutch Dance Days, the Hans van Manen Foundation and the Toer van Schayk Foundation. As an assistant to Hans van Manen, she now coordinates and organizes the teaching of Van Manen’s works to international companies, some of which she teaches herself.

Dancers

MAIA MAKHATELI (Principal Dancer) Frida

Maia Makhateli, from Tbilisi, Georgia, started her dance training at the Choreographic Institute of Chabukiani in her place of birth and continued her studies at the Sun Valley Ballet School in Idaho, after which she danced with Colorado Ballet for four years. In 2006, she made the move to Birmingham Royal Ballet and in 2007, she was accepted at Dutch National Ballet as a grand sujet where she was promoted to soloist in 2009 and one year later to principal dancer. Makhateli is an internationally soughtafter guest principal and has won several awards,

including the Dancer of the Year Award of the leading dance magazine Dance Europe in 2020.

SALOME LEVERASHVILI (Soloist)— Frida

Salome Leverashvili studied at the State Ballet School in Tbilisi, where she danced her first solo role at the age of 14. Through the mediation of Maia Makhateli, principal dancer with Dutch National Ballet, she was accepted for Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company in 2016 in the final year of her training. She transferred to the main company in 2017, in the rank of élève, and received promotion in each subsequent year. In 2021, she was promoted to the rank of soloist, at the age of 23. Leverashvili won several awards, including a gold medal at Rigars-Pavasaris competition and, in 2022, the Alexandra Radius Prize.

JAMES STOUT (Principal Dancer)—Diego Rivera

The Canadian-British dancer James Stout got interested in dance through his parents’ Argentinian tango dance club. At the age of 13, he went to The School of Alberta Ballet— “because they needed boys.” Later on, the Calgary native trained with the Goh Ballet Academy in Vancouver and spent his final year of training at The Royal Ballet School in London. In 2007, he joined Dutch National Ballet, where he was promoted to soloist in 2012 and to principal in 2018, immediately after his performance of the role of Tristan in David Dawson’s Tristan + Isolde. Stout succeeded in reaching the finals of ballet competitions in Varna, Hong Kong and Beijing.

ARTUR SHESTERIKOV (Principal Dancer)—Diego Rivera

Artur Shesterikov trained in his hometown Perm, Russia, at the State Ballet School. He began his professional career with the Tchaikovsky Perm State Opera and Ballet Theater and joined Dutch National Ballet in 2007. Shesterikov started out in the corps de ballet, but was rapidly promoted to coryphée. He became a soloist in 2010 and a principal dancer two years later, immediately after a touring performance of Swan Lake. In 2016, he received the Alexandra Radius Prize and in 2017, 2019 and 2020, the magazine Dance Europe mentioned him in its Critics’ Choice, in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer category.

ERICA HORWOOD (Grand Sujet) —The Deer

Erica Harwood, of Ottawa, Canada, trained at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and Canada’s National Ballet School. She joined Dutch National Ballet as an adspirant in 2007 and joined the company’s corps de ballet in 2009. In 2011, she was promoted to the rank of coryphée. Her promotion to grand sujet followed one year later.

FLOOR EIMERS (soloist)

—The Deer

Floor Eimers, from Nijmegen in the Netherlands, trained as a dancer with the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and joined Dutch National Ballet as an adspirant in 2012. In the following years, she went through the ranks of élève, corps de ballet and coryphée, becoming a grand sujet in 2017. In 2019, she was promoted to the rank of soloist. Eimers has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Incentive Award from Stichting Dansersfonds ‘79 in 2015 and the Alexandra Radius Prize in 2021. In 2020, the British magazine Dance Europe mentioned Eimers in the Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer category.

RIHO SAKAMOTO—The Bird

Originally from Osaka, Japan, Riho Sakamoto started amateur ballet classes at the age of four. After a few years of classes in Japan, Sakamoto moved to Washington, D.C., at the age of 10 to continue her training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet. In 2010, she won the gold medal at the finals of the Youth America Grand Prix in New York and in 2014, Sakamoto was admitted to Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company. Just one year later, she joined Dutch National Ballet, in the rank of élève. After that she was promoted every year, becoming a principal in 2021, after her debut as Clara in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.

NINA TONOLI—The Bird

Nina Tonoli, from Ghent, Belgium, studied at the Royal Ballet School in Antwerp and The Royal Ballet School in London. In 2013, she joined the Wiener Staatsballett as a corps de ballet dancer. One year later, she was promoted to demi soloist, followed by her promotion to soloist in 2016. She joined Dutch National Ballet in 2019 in the rank of soloist. Tonoli has won various prizes, including second prize and the ‘special prize’ at the Chausson d’Or competition (2009), the British Ballet Association Award (2011) and an Award of Excellence (2013) upon graduating from The Royal Ballet School.

NAIRA AGVANEAN—The Bird

Naira Agvanean was born in Armenia, but started her ballet education at the Moldovan National Ballet College in Moldova. She participated in the Youth American Grand Prix in New York and won third prize at the OTR Contest in Wenen. In 2004, she continued her studies at the Munich Ballet Academy for Performing Arts. After her graduation in 2008, she joined Dutch National Ballet as an adspirant. After that, Agvanean was promoted to élève (2009), corps de ballet dancer

(2010), coryphée (2012) and grand sujet (2014). In 2022, after dancing a role in Toer van Schayk’s 7th Symphony, she was promoted to soloist.

JAN SPUNDA (Grand Sujet)

—Solo Skeleton

Originally from Ostrava, Czech Republic, Jan Spunda studied at the Janáček Conservatory and the English National Ballet School. In 2017, he began his professional dance career with the Bayerisches Staatsballett. In 2019, he joined the corps de ballet of Dutch National Ballet, where he was promoted to coryphée in 2021 and to grand sujet in 2022. Spunda won several awards, including third prize at the Tallinn International Ballet Competition in 2014 and third prize at the finals of the Youth America Grand Prix, where he was also awarded the Outstanding Artistry Award from the British magazine Dance Europe.

CONOR WALMSLEY (Coryphée)—Solo Skeleton

Conor Walmsley, of East Yorkshire, United Kingdom, started with ballet at the age of 14 and was accepted at the English National Ballet School when he was 16. After one year, he transferred to the Dutch National Ballet Academy in Amsterdam, where he continued his training for two years. He joined the Junior Company of Dutch National Ballet in 2017 and the main company in 2019, in the rank of élève. Walmsley was promoted to corps de ballet dancer one year later and to the rank of coryphée in 2022.

PASCAL JOHNSON (Corps de Ballet)—Solo Skeleton

Pascal Johnson, of Watford, United Kingdom, studied at the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Tring, England. He started his professional dance career with Scottish Ballet and joined Dutch National Ballet in 2018 as a dancer in the corps de ballet.

DUSTIN TRUE (Corps de Ballet) —Solo Skeleton

A native of Ohio, Dustin True began his ballet training with Mia Klinger and completed his studies at the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center in New York. In 2012, he joined Los Angeles Ballet, where he was promoted to the rank of soloist and danced works from George Balanchine, Jiří Kylián and the classical repertory. In 2017, he joined the Ballett Dortmund in Germany, working with various contemporary choreographers. True joined Dutch National Ballet in 2019 as a dancer in the corps de ballet.

Other Participating Dancers

SOLOISTS

Jingjing Mao

Yuanyuan Zhang

Joseph Massarelli

Giorgi Potskhisvili

Timothy van Poucke

Martin ten Kortenaar

GRANDS SUJETS

Chloë Réveillon

Elisabeth Tonev

Connie Vowles

Daniel Montero Real

Daniel Silva

Sem Sjouke

CORYPHÉES

Luiza Bertho

Khayla Fitzpatrick

Kira Hilli

Hannah de Klein

Wendeline Wijkstra

Nathan Brhane

Rémy Catalan

Davi Ramos

CORPS DE BALLET

Liza Gorbachova

Beatriz Kuperus

Arianna Maldini

Emma Mardegan

Inés Marroquín

Alexandria Marx

Sebia PlantefèveCastryck

Sandra Quintyn

Laura Rosillo

Yvonne Slingerland

Antonina Tchirpanlieva

Claire Tjoe-Fat

Lore Zonderman

Sander Baaij

Dingkai Bai

Bela Erlandson

Manu Kumar

Leo Hepler

Giovanni Princic

Fabio Rinieri

Rafael Valdez

ÉLÈVES

Koko Bamford

Mila Caviglia

Catarina Pires

Isaac Mueller

Guillermo Torrijos

Koyo Yamamoto

Production Team

SETS, PROPS, WIGS AND MAKE-UP, LIGHTING AND SOUND

Technical

department of Dutch National Opera & Ballet

PRODUCTION MANAGERS

Joshua de Kuyper

Anu Viheriäranta

STAGE MANAGERS

Wolfgang Tietze

Kees Prince

PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR

Sieger Kotterer

FIRST CARPENTER

Jeroen Jaspers

CARPENTERS

Arjan de Wolff

Carl Kassenaar

Sanne van de Vooren

LIGHTING MANAGERS

Angela Leuthold

Michel van Reijn

LIGHTING OPERATORS

Erik Vrees

Jasper Paternotte

FOLLOW SPOTTER

Panos Mitsopoulos

SOUND ENGINEER

Jannes Noorman

Timo Merkies

PROPS MANAGER

Quani Wolters

HEAD OF COSTUME DEPARTMENT

Oliver Haller

COSTUME SUPERVISOR

Eddie Grundy

FIRST DRESSER

Andrei Brejs

MAKE-UP ARTISTS

Annette Stiller

Bärbel Scheid

COMPANY MANAGERS

Lydia Buisman

Sterre Haverkamp

ARTISTIC LOGISTICS COORDINATOR

Wiard Havenaar

BALLET MASTERS ON LOCATION

Charlotte Chapellier

Michele Jimenez

Management

DIRECTOR DUTCH

NATIONAL BALLET

Ted Brandsen

ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Rachel Beaujean

GENERAL DIRECTOR DUTCH

NATIONAL OPERA & BALLET Stijn

Schoonderwoerd

Supervisory Board

Louise Fresco, chair

Else Bos

Rochdi Darrazi

Bernard Foccroulle

Sadik Harchaoui

Robert Swaak

Tjark Tjin-A-Tsoi

Paul Waarts

Orchestra

VIOLIN I

Roberto Cani

Concertmaster

Armen Anassian Associate

Concertmaster

Lisa Sutton Assistant

Concertmaster

Margaret Wooten

Olivia Tsui

Lucinda Chiu

Radu Pieptea

Ashoka Thiaragajan

Myroslava Khomik

Adam Millstein

VIOLIN II

Ana Landauer Principal

Kathleen Sloan

Associate Principal

Florence Titmus

Leslie Katz

Michele Kikuchi

Cynthia Moussas

Loránd Lokuszta

Gallia Kastner

VIOLA

Shawn Mann

Principal

Rob Brophy

Associate Principal

Dmitri Bovaird

Carolyn Riley

Aaron Oltman

Diana Wade

CELLI

Trevor Handy Principal

Nadine Hall

Associate Principal

Joo Lee

Margaret Edmondson

Youna Choi

Sarah Kim

BASSES

Nathan Farrington Principal

Frances Liu Wu

Assoc. Principal

Don Ferrone

Tim Eckert

FLUTES

Heather Clark

Principal

Angela Wiegand

OBOES

Leslie Reed

Principal

Jennifer Cullinan

CLARINETS

Stuart Clark Principal

Donald Foster

BASSOONS

William Wood

Principal

Duncan Massey

HORNS

Steven Becknell Principal

Daniel Kelley

TRUMPETS

Ryan Darke Principal

Barry Perkins

TROMBONES

William Booth Principal

Terry Cravens

Bass trombone

HARP

JoAnn Turovsky Principal GUITAR

Paul Viapiano Principal

PIANO

Alan Steinberger Principal

KEYBOARDS

Ryan Whyman Principal

PERCUSSION

Theresa Dimond

Principal, Marimba

Pete Korpela

Dante Luna

Jon Schlitt

Danyelle Squyres

MUSIC LIBRARIAN

Melisandra Dunker

ORCHESTRA

PERSONNEL

MANAGER

Brady Steel

Imagine a child experiencing his first live performance, a teacher discovering new ways to inspire students, a couple enjoying a world-renowned dance company and a family learning new dance moves together, and know that it is your everlasting kindness that allows The Music Center to provide these meaningful experiences that enrich the lives of all Angelenos.

Imagine the impact your gift can make!

We invite you to consider a gift that will create inclusive arts and cultural experiences that champion the diverse voices and communities of Los Angeles for generations to come. The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Society honors and recognizes the generous individuals who have made a commitment with a planned or endowed gift to The Music Center.

To learn more about the Dorothy Chandler Society and other ways to meet your financial and charitable goals, contact Debra Beadle at (213) 972-4319 or visit musiccenterlegacy.org.

A LEGACY DARES TO INSPIRE

WAYS TO GIVE:

● Include a gift in your will or living trust

● Designate The Music Center as a beneficiary of your retirement plan or life insurance policy

● Establish a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust

● Create an estate note, which is an irrevocable pledge against one’s estate

● Create an endowed fund

“I hope to see The Music Center grow and develop for generations to come."

— Shirley Ashkenas, Dorothy Chandler Society Member

The Music Center's Spotlight Grand Finalists.

Photo by Michelle Shiers for The Music Center. PERFORMANCES MAGAZINE P19

OUR SUPPORTERS: ENDOWMENT AND PLANNED GIFTS

The Music Center is grateful for the generosity and support of our contributors who have established endowments and planned gifts in their estate plans. Over the years, planned gifts have significantly impacted our programs, and we are thankful for the foresight of these dedicated individuals who have made legacy gifts.

PLANNED GIFTS AND ENDOWMENT GIFTS

$1,000,000 AND ABOVE

The Ahmanson Foundation

The Ashkenas and Fabian Family Bank of America Foundation

The Blue Ribbon

Jill and Curtis Kaufman

Diane and Leon Morton

Merle and Peter Mullin National Endowment for the Arts

Robert Olsen

Fredric M. Roberts

Frank J. Sherwood

Dorothy C. Waugh

PLANNED GIFTS AND ENDOWMENT GIFTS UP TO

$999,999

Phyllis Abrams and Jules Smith

Caroline L. Ahmanson

The Annenberg Foundation

Kathryn A. Ballsun

Pamela and Dennis Beck

Judith and Thomas Beckmen

Miriam Birch

Judith Blumenthal

Borden-Rozner Trust

Linda and Maynard Brittan

Maurice and Jane Cattani

Terri and Timothy Childs Club 100

David Conlon

Dorothy and Sherill Corwin

Mary Levin Cutler

James A. Doolittle Foundation

Kimberly Marteau and John Emerson

Sylvia Kunin Eben

Carolyn Dirks/James B. Gould Foundation

Thomas F. Grose

William Randolph Hearst Foundation

Joan E. Herman and Richard M. Rasiej

Ann and Steve Hinchliffe

Joan E. and John Hotchkis

Freya and Mark Ivener

Robert Jesberg and Michael J. Carmody

Carrie and Stuart Ketchum

Joyce and Kent Kresa

Helen Lamm

Dr. Stephen Lee

Mrs. J. Hart Lyon

Rachel S. Moore and Robert Ryan

Stephen D. Moses

Robin and Gerald Parsky

James B. Pendleton Foundation

Barbara and Sheldon Pinchuk

Nan Rae

Lee and Larry Ramer

Penelope C. Roeder

Constance E. RoPolo

Mimi Rotter

Barbara & Charles Schneider

Mary Shambra

Howard Sherman and J. Gregg Houston

Lisa Specht

I.H. Sutnick

Andrea and John

Van de Kamp

Dietrich Eugene Wagner

Washington Mutual

Special thanks to our donors who wish to remain anonymous

The Music Center Thanks Its Supporters

INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILY FOUNDATIONS

$1,000,000 AND ABOVE

Glorya Kaufman Foundation

Cindy Miscikowski / The Ring-Miscikowski Foundation / The Ring Foundation

Tina and Jerry Moss / Moss Foundation

Fredric Roberts

Mimi Song

$100,000–$999,999

Robert J. Abernethy

Helen and Peter Bing

Dorothy Buffum Chandler Program Fund

Tammy and Eric Gustavson

The Herb Alpert Foundation

Freya and Mark Ivener

Dr. Susan Kendall / Dwight M. & Dona S. Kendall Family Foundation

Anita Mann Kohl and Allen D. Kohl

Terri and Jerry Kohl

Lily Lee and Tom Chang

Marla and Cary Lefton

Marie H. Song

Estate of Roberta Turkat

Alyce de Roulet Williamson

$50,000–$99,999

Gregory Adams

Susan Baumgarten

Judith and Thomas Beckmen

Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation

Edgerton Foundation

Judy Eideles on behalf of Samuel Chmelnicki / Glen Haven and Sholom Memorial Park

The Horn Foundation

Marcia Israel Foundation

Linda L. Pierce

Julia Strickland and Timothy Wahl

Kurt and Susan Wegleitner

$25,000–$49,999

Kathy and Charles Adams

Jane Arnault-Factor

Clarence Avant

Pamela and Dennis Beck

Helen Funai Erickson

Erika and Jeff Hill

Nanette and Keith Leonard

Jody and David Lippman

Marc and Eva Stern Foundation

Beth and Leslie Michelson

Darrell Miller

Teresita and Shelby Notkin

The Estate of Robert W. Olsen

Cynthia M. Patton

Nan Rae

Melissa and Alex Romain

LSMK Investments

Wendy and Ken Ruby

Lisa See and Richard Kendall

Johnese Spisso and Ross Hartling

Sue Tsao

Jennifer and Steven Walske

Hope Landis Warner

Wendy and Jay Wintrob

$10,000–$24,999

Charlene Achki-Repko

Jill Baldauf and Steven Grossman

Barnard College

The Berry Gordy Family Foundation

JoAnn and Wayland Bourne

Joan A. Friedman, Ph.D. and Robert N. Braun, M.D.

Claire and Brad Brian

Louise and John Bryson

Walter and Ruth Chameides

Ana and Robert Cook

Costa de Oro Television

Estate of Elizabeth H. Dailey

David Geffen Foundation

Richard Ferry

Patricia Francy

Dr. Debra Luftman and Dr. Harlan Gibbs

Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust

Mira Hashmall, Esq.

Joan Herman and Richard Rasiej

Jane Jelenko

Donors from 03-05-2021 through 09-07-2022

Bobbi and Henry Fields

Carol Colburn Grigor and Murray Grigor

Laura C. Guthman

Cynthia Watson, M.D. and David B. Katzin, M.D., Ph.D.

Jill and Curtis Kaufman

Jackie and Gerald Kehle

Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall

Carol and Patrick Kinsella

Kent Kresa

MaddocksBrown Foundation

Maria V. Altmann Foundation

Max Factor Family Foundation

David Minning and Diane Wittenberg

Liz Levitt Hirsch

Muriel F. Siebert Foundation

Olivia and Anthony Neece

Chad Olsen and Brian Duck

The Albert Parvin Foundation

Karen Kay Platt and Lawrence B. Platt

Judith Reichman, M.D.

Beverly Ryder

Dominique Shelton

Lisa Specht

Cathy Stone

Bradley Tabach-Bank and Dee Dee Dorskind

Maynard and Linda Brittan / Traub-Brittan Family Foundation

Paul and Liza Wachter

Seth Weingarten and Lynne Silbert

Janis and William Wetsman / The Wetsman Foundation

Iris M. Whiting

Robert Willett

Keenan and Orna Wolens

$5,000–$9,999

Karla and Richard Chernick

Terri and Timothy Childs

Nadine and Harold Davidson

Laura Donnelley

Elizabeth and Brack Duker

Lisa Field

Betty Hayman

Suzanne and Richard Kayne

Edward Lazarus and Amanda Moose

June Li

Claudia Lin

Anita Lorber

Nigel Lythgoe OBE

David and Janet Polak Foundation

Joseph F. Walsh and Marjorie Walsh Foundation

Thomas Weinberger and Leslie Vermut

$1,000–$4,999

Gay and Harry Abrams

Aileen Adams

Keith and Ingrid Agre

Donna Altmann

Shirley Ashkenas

Barry Baker

Ken Ballard and Renee Rinaldi

Howard Banchik

Paul N. Barkopoulos, M.D.

Josephine Baurac

David Bender

Martha and Barry Berkett

Beverlee Bickmore

Leigh Lindsey and Andrew Blaine

Marjorie Blatt

Rosanna Hirshon Bogart

Yvonne Bogdanovich

Irene and Stuart Boyd

Geri Brawerman

Breslauer, Rutman & Anderson, Inc.

Burnand-Partridge Foundation

Rose Chan and Warren Loui Household

Annie Chu

Jane and Lawrence Cohen

Janet Cooper

Alice Coulombe

Catherine Cristall

The Music Center strives to acknowledge all our supporters appropriately. If your name has been misspelled or omitted from this list in error, please contact the Advancement Office at (213) 972-3333.

The Music Center Thanks Its Supporters

INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILY FOUNDATIONS Continued

$1,000–$4,999 (CONTINUED)

Lynne and James DeWitt

Christina and Emmanuel

Di Donna

Jennifer Diener

Kathleen Dooley

Constance B. Elliot

Bob & Sue Emmer, Shout! Factory

Epix

Lynda and Alfred Fadel

Henry Fetter and Lois Fishman

Mal and Joyce Fienberg

Ruth Flinkman-Marandy and Ben Marandy

Christopher and Margaret Forman

Malsi Doyle and Michael R. Forman

Gerry Friedman

Susan Friedman

Diane Futterman

Leslie and Frederick Gaylord

Carol S. Gee

Patricia Glaser and Sam Mudie

Larry Gold

Roslyn and Abner Goldstine

Kelly and Louis Gonda

Helen Gordon

Paul Greenberg

Cynthia Griffin

Agnes Grohs

Leonie Gross

Marcy Gross

Mitchell Guthman

Cornelia Haag-Molkenteller, M.D.

Penny Haberman

Lisa and Steven Hansen

Nancy and Michael Harahan

Harold and Nadine Davidson

Diane J. Henderson

Claire and Robert Heron

Lawrence and Lilia Hershenson

Christine M. Hessler

Bonnie Oda Homsey and Philip R. Homsey II

The Bob Hope Legacy

Louise Horvitz

Joan Hotchkis

Nancy Huang-Sommer

Virginia Huey

Ana Iglesias

William H. Isacoff, M.D.

Tomoko Iwakawa

Maria Rosario Jackson, Ph.D.

Ruth Jervis

Ruth M. Jones

Mary Ann Rosenfeld Kadish and Sheldon Kadish

Linda and David Kagel

Stefanie Kane

Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer and Melvin Keefer

Barbara and Richard Kernochan

Jay Kinn and Jules Vogel

Lisa and Victor Kohn

Katherine Kotcheff

Rini and Arthur Kraus

Sandra Krause and William Fitzgerald / Strauss Foundation

Vivian Krepack

Rosanne Lapan

Carl W. Large

Mattie McFadden-Lawson and Michael Lawson

Stephen Lee

Aliza Lesser

Barbara Levinson

Dr. Melvyn Lewis

Anslyene Lloyd

Marlene and Sandy Louchheim

Lillian Lovelace

Barbara and Joel Marcus

Paula Marcus

Pauline Marks

Barbara Marshall

Brian H. Martin

Susan and Steven Matt

Julie McDonald

Diane G. Medina

Linda and Sheldon Mehr

Patricia Miller

Vibiana Molina

Kathy and Michael Moray

Patrick Leder-Morrow

Chris and Richard Newman

Mary D. Nichols

Renae Williams Niles and Greg Niles

Michael I. Nissman

Frank O'Dea

Alan Oppenheimer

Michael J. Pagano

Robert Pagnotta

Ellen Pansky

Michael and Susan Patzakis

Mary Petit and Eleanor Torres

Rosalyn Laudati and James Pick

Nina and Leo Pircher

Travis Powers & Jeanne McDonald-Powers

The Present Family Foundation

Probity International Corp.

David Richard Pullman

Freddie and Kathleen Reiss

Dr. Richard Rho and Mr. Steven DeMille

Hadley and Lee Rierson

Julia M. Ritter

Ann and Robert Ronus

Kaitlyn R. Wuensch

Jaclyn Rosenberg

Helene Rosenzweig, M.D.

Mimi Rotter

Linda and Tony Rubin

Nancy Lee Ruyter

Thomas Safran

Carol Saikhon

Maxine Savitz

Mariette and Alexander Sawchuk

Bob and Helene Schacter

Sherie and Alan Schneider

Stefan Schneider

Dirk Schulz

Shelly and Mark Scott

Margaret Selby

Stanley E. Sellers, Jr.

David Shaw and Sheila Blackwell

Michael Soares

Catharine and Jeffrey Soros

Lev L. Spiro

Marilyn and Eugene Stein

Mr. Rick Stone

I.H. Sutnick

Kristan and Philip A. Swan

Barbara Augusta Teichert

Charles and Geneva Thornton / Thornton Foundation

William and Jessica Turner

Andrea Van de Kamp

Estevan Vasquez

Laurie Vender and Stephen Halper

Nancy Voorhees

Daniel and Janice Wallace

Carol Walls

Robert Iger and Willow Bay

Hope Landis Warner

Stuart M. Warren

Marcia and Charles Wasserman

Lisa and Ronald Weckbacher

Doris Weitz and Alexander Williams III

Susan and Josh Wieder

Hashim Williams

Donald Wing and Bonnie Nash

Sharon and Fillmore Wood

Estate of Rosalind Wyman

Beth McGlynn and James Zapp

Ellen and Arnold Zetcher

Rosanne J. Ziering

Special thanks to our donors who wish to remain anonymous.

Music Center strives to acknowledge all our supporters appropriately. If your name has been misspelled or omitted from this list in error, please contact the Advancement Office at (213) 972-3333.

CORPORATIONS, FOUNDATIONS AND GOVERNMENT

$1,000,000 AND ABOVE

The Ahmanson Foundation

County of Los Angeles

U.S. Small Business Administration

$100,000–$999,999

California Arts Council

The Hearst Foundations

The Herb Alpert Foundation

The Music Center Foundation

The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation

The Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Foundation

$50,000–$99,999

The Annenberg Foundation

The Capital Group Companies

Bank of America / Dannielle Campos

City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs

Dwight Stuart Youth Fund

Entravision Communications Corporation

Genesis Inspiration Foundation

Los Angeles County

Department of Arts and Culture

Max H. Gluck Foundation

$25,000–$49,999

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation

KPMG LLP / Greg Geyer

The Louis and Harold Price Foundation

Porsche

The Robert Nelson Foundation

Related California Urban Housing, LLC

Edward A. and Ai O. Shay Family Foundation U.S.

Bank / Carl Jordan

$10,000–$24,999

California Wellness Foundation

Colburn Foundation

Edison International

Fox Rothschild LLP / Darrell D. Miller

HUB International Insurance Services, Inc.

The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation

The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers

The Lucille Ellis Simon Foundation

Macy’s

Munger Tolles & Olson LLP Foundation

The Sidley Austin Foundation

Sony Pictures Entertainment

W. M. Keck Foundation

National Endowment for the Arts

$5,000–$9,999

Chevron Corporation

Downtown Works Los Angeles

Kaiser Permanente

Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts

Sidney Stern Memorial Trust

$1,000–$4,999

Anthem Blue Cross

Friars Charitable Foundation

IATSE - Local 33

Justin Construction

Rodriguez, Horii, Choi & Cafferata LLP

Structured Assets Sales LLC

Weingart Foundation

Special thanks to our donors who wish to remain anonymous.

Donors from 03-05-2021 through 09-07-2022

Photo by John McCoy for The Music Center.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES

Support from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors plays an invaluable role in the successful operation of The Music Center.

Hilda L. Solis Supervisor, First District

Janice Hahn Chair, Fourth District

Kathryn Barger Supervisor, Fifth District

Holly J. Mitchell Supervisor, Second District

Lindsey P. Horvath Chair Pro Tem, Third District

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL

BEFORE ESTABLISHING HER eponymous firm, Jaqui Seerman worked for two iconic interior designers, Waldo Fernandez and Martyn Lawrence Bullard, on luxury projects here and around the world. Anxious to provide a genuine client-driven experience in a field where some designers focus on burnishing a brand, she founded Jaqui Seerman Design nearly a decade ago.

“Some designers known for a particular aesthetic are more interested in promoting that trademark look and less inclined to pursue clients’ ideas that may not align with their brand identification,” says Seerman. “My approach is to provide an extremely client-focused experience, but still challenge homeowners to take chances in a collaborative process that doesn’t feel too risky.”

Designer Jaqui Seerman’s residential portfolio celebrates the city's creative spirit and indoor-outdoor lifestyle. / by roger grody /

This page and opposite from above: modern but warm spaces created by designer Jaqui Seerman.

Because her practice is clientdriven, Seerman does not identify herself with a signature style—she’s as eclectic as her diverse clientele.

“The pinnacle of luxury is a style that’s bespoke to you,” she says, underscoring her priority of creating interiors tailored to her clients’ sensibilities. “Thankfully, I attract clients willing to take risks with me.”

Of her own sensibilities, she says, “I tend to be known as someone who doesn’t shy away from bold colors and patterns.”

Describing the early discovery process in a designer-client relationship, Seerman notes that the way clients currently live is an important—but not necessarily conclusive—indicator of what they might seek in a new living environment.

“It’s a very personal process.” she says. “I look for subtle clues from how they dress, how they wear their hair, what kind of jewelry or watches they wear…. I know I’ve succeeded when I introduce them to an element and see a kind of illumination occur, a recognition that the design is better than they could have imagined, yet still feels authentic.”

The Northern California native appreciates the creative spirit of her adopted city.

“In addition to the entertainment industry, there are creative people in technology, fashion, finance, and art who are not satisfied with the status quo,” Seerman says. “This alternative thinking is what

PHOTOS THIS SPREAD ANNIE MEISEL

This page and opposite: Jaqui Seerman introduced a masculine aesthetic to a home previously owned by Winona Ryder.

makes L.A. so constantly fresh, that results in trends adopted across the country and abroad.”

But creatives can also be demanding clients, Seerman notes: “This is a competitive field in which you have to stick the landing on the very first try.”

For a Beverly Drive residence previously owned by Winona Ryder, Seerman introduced an interior that retains the integrity

of the home’s Spanish Revival architecture without being constrained by it. She introduced a warm, masculine aesthetic; dining and living spaces effortlessly spilling onto tranquil patios enhanced the indoor-outdoor sensibilities.

In a home just off Benedict Canyon, whose prior owners were Hailey and Justin Bieber, the designer presents a more modern but equally warm aesthetic tempered with vintage pieces and natural materials. Clad in honey-hued white oak and Carrara marble, an approachably minimalist kitchen features floor-to-ceiling steel-and-glass walls with access to resort-like outdoor spaces.

Her typical client? “They’re usually in creative fields, have a strong sense of self and are looking for someone to push them into

doing something unique,” Seerman says; they include entertainment industry heavyweights. “The common thread is that they’re looking for a high level of customer service and are willing to take risks."

Out of This NEARBY

Anoushka Shankar

Ragamala Dance Company

Martha Graham Dance Company

Samara Joy

Vasily Petrenko

Isata Kanneh-Mason

Lisa Fischer

Eliades

Ochoa

Ballet Folklórico de Los Ángeles

VALLE DE VINO

Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe is a wine-and-foodie wonderland.

/ by BENJAMIN EPSTEIN /

Consider it Baja California’s answer to Northern California’s Napa. A mere 90 minutes south of San Diego, Valle de Guadalupe is home to more than 150 wineries from micro to mega, dozens of top-notch restaurants in often magical settings and an abundance of architecturally noteworthy accommodations. The rural paradise is up a hill from the coast but still within the greater Ensenada municipality. Amid skyrocketing visitor interest, efforts are afoot to maintain the region’s distinctive character, but one thing won’t change: The focus remains almost entirely on eating and drinking.

Eating > Arriving by day? Consider lunch on the half shell. Chef Drew Deckman may be best known for his eponymous Deckman’s en el Mogor, an open-air venue where he mans the grill. But the don’tmiss day spot is his more intimate Conchas de Piedra, where he

offers elevated “regional-responsible” Baja shellfish—e.g., abalone aguachile, oysters with fermented habaneros and harissa citrus— and sparkling wines.

As for magical, Fauna, the finedining destination at the Bruma ecoluxury resort and winery, is just that.

Its ceiling of intertwined twigs casts mesmerizing shadows; changing dishes by chef David Castro Hussong—yes, his family owns Ensenada’s famed cantina—are just as provocative; the venue is also ideal for a sunset with cocktails and “snacks.” Nearby is a 300-year-old

oak tree, extraordinary centerpiece below ground for the Bruma Vinicola tasting room and above ground for a dramatic reflecting pool.

Weekends at Wa Kumiai Tabita, chef Tabita Dominguez offers an indigenous brunch featuring dishes of the Kumiai people, who also staff the rustic restaurant. Start with acorn coffee and white menudo; whole lamb turns on a spit for the starring barbacoa. Find it beyond massive producer L.A. Cetto winery in the village of San Antonio Necua. The very modest Siñaw

Kuatay museum nearby focuses on the Kumiai, too.

At the valley’s other end, expect huge portions of delicious Baja fare, and lines, at famed breakfast destination La Cocina de Doña Esthela

For more casual culinary experiences at any time of day, both in the town of Francisco Zarco, consider a mulita or vampiro at Tacos del Valle

and sample superior salsas and marmalades at Alvéolo bakery-café.

Drinking > Valle de Guadalupe and its neighboring valleys produce 90 percent of Mexico’s wine. Tasting is in order!

Finca la Carrodilla, Mexico’s first certified organic and biodynamic vineyard, offers pours on

Clockwise: the ecopods at Encuentro Guadalupe; at Bruma, the bar at Fauna and reflecting pool with 300-yearold oak tree at Bruma Vinicole.

90 percent of

a beautiful view deck near El Porvenir. Finca la Carrodilla wines are also featured at Lunario Restaurante, set on a pond and known for chef Sheyla Alvarado’s innovative monthly menus.

El Cielo Winery offers elegant terrace and subterranean tastings and a wine-blending experience as well as golfcart vineyard tours and an upscale gift shop.

For a deeper dive into

the glass, the Museo de La Vid y El Vino—Museum of the Vine and the Wine—is in a striking modern building along Highway 3, aka La Ruta del Vino.

The entrance is below ground; above are an event space and a deck with spectacular panoramas. Exhibits throughout include one that traces the history of wine from Russia’s Georgia to Mexico; others that look at wine production and

Valle de Guadalupe and environs produce

Mexico’s wine. Below: Museo de La Vid y El Vino.

appreciation; and a gallery of wine-inspired art.

Outside > For a break from culinary pursuits, local ecotour leader Alejandro Solís Morán suggests Aguas Termales Valle de Guadalupe, a hike on a private ranch: about 4 miles roundtrip, with ponds and hot springs, and ruins at the end. It’s near San Antonio Necua and Wa Kumiai Tabita.

Accommodations >

Look up from the highway along Francisco Zarco and you’ll spot a series of freestanding cubes dotting the hillside—the distinctive accommodations of Encuentro Guadalupe. Guests are shuttled from the striking reception area up a narrow drive or can access their eco-pod

•

•

•

via a recently unveiled nature trail; new BajaMed restaurant and bar JAK is open to the public. Stay in larger cubes at half the price at tuckedaway Chateaux del Valle

El Cielo, cited above for its tasting opportunities, is also a resort offering nearly 100 luxurious CalTuscan suites, many of them lakeside, and dining at Polaris restaurant.

Know before you go > The Valle consists of two highways crisscrossed by dirt roads along which many of the best restaurants are located. Navigating can be an adventure; map routes carefully before setting out and avoid driving after dark. Make dinner reservations weeks in advance.

Know before you leave > Re-entering the U.S. in Tijuana generally means a long wait; consider instead continuing north on Highway 3 to the Tecate Port of Entry.

Each Home Instead® office is an independently owned and operated franchise of Home Instead, Inc.,an Honor Company. © 2023 Home Instead, Inc. HCO

Oysters with fermented habaneros and harissa citrus at Conchas de Piedra.

The bloody brilliant Tony Award-winning musical SWEENEY TODD: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

MUSIC AND LYRICS BY Stephen Sondheim

The joyous & heartwarming family holiday tradition

1–24,

2023

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FEATURE reasons and because they obstruct views. The audio mixing console has a retractable roof, and pop-up tents and other solutions are utilized for visiting technicians.

The Bowl has long been known for the many planes and helicopters that fly overhead during performances, but Vitale says flyovers no longer occur as often as people might think. Crossbeams projected over the audience and up into the sky, alerting pilots it’s a concert night, have become an audience favorite.

Mixing is designed to handle the outdoor sounds picked up on the microphones; string players have individual mics attached to their instruments. “You’re getting as much isolated sound out of that individual instrument as you possibly can,” Vitale explains.

On the ground, the Bowl’s inhabitants include deer, raccoons, skunks and coyotes.

Birds—likely sparrows, Vitale believes—live in the Bowl shell and add their own music to morning rehearsals.

OUTDOOR venues present theater and dance as well as music; this year, for the first time,

the La Jolla Playhouse staged its annual Without Walls (WOW) Festival at the Rady Shell; the event returns there in 2024.

Festival producer and Playhouse associate producer Amy Ashton believes the rewards of outdoor performances outweigh the risks—but that some material is better suited for indoor performances.

“If you’re going to have intricate language, a really wordy drama, where you want the audience to hear every beat and be really listening, that’s difficult outside,” Ashton says. “You never know when a car will drive by. You could hear birds or planes.

“If it’s something very verbal, very intimate, it can be a challenge. Inevitably, the environment will pull your focus.”

As for dance, Ashton says, “The biggest factor outdoors is that dancers have very specific movements and the surface they dance on is very important. If you put a Marley [floor covering to provide spring] on a stage floor, you have to shade it—a Marley is black, very absorbent, and gets hot.”

Whatever the venue and issues affecting outdoor performances, Wininger says, “there’s something about experiencing art and nature at the same time. It just has a magic to it.”

Fusako “Jonie” Aizawa stands by a barbed wire fence in an American concentration camp. Christmas 1944. Gift of Myrtle Joyce Barley Ward, (2003.12.14).

There’s no better place to celebrate the return of summer than Del Mar. Be there for world-class Thoroughbred racing and the best summer party in years.

reprogrammed !

Performances Magazine unveils a digital program platform for shows and concerts

SEARCH Find whatever it is you want to know—easily.

SIGN IN

Link to your performing-arts companies and venues.

CONTRIBUTORS

NO RUSTLING PAGES, no killing trees . . . Of all the innovations to have come out of the pandemic, the new Performances program platform, accessed on any digital device, may be least likely to disappear in the foreseeable future. Not only had its time come—it had been long overdue.

Performances provides the programs for 20 SoCal performingarts organizations, from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Ahmanson to San Diego Opera, where the app made its debut.

The touchless platform provides cast and player bios, donor and season updates and arts-centric features. Audiences receive a link and code word that instantly activate the app; QR codes are posted, too.

Screens go dark when curtains rise and return with the house lights. Updates—repertory changes, understudy substitutions, significant donations—can be made right up to showtime, no inserts necessary.

Other features include video and audio streams, translations and expanded biographies.

WHAT’S ON

What’s coming at a glance and ticket information.

For those who consider printed programs keepsakes, a limited number, as well as commemorative issues for special events, continue to be produced. Collectibles!

Meanwhile, there is less deforestation, consumption of petroleum inks and programs headed for landfills. For the ecologically minded, the platform gets a standing ovation.

Theaters and concert halls reopened after a long intermission. Stages are live, the excitement is back. Activate your link and enjoy the shows. —CALEB WACHS

REGISTER Stay arts-engaged, access past programs.

THE ESSENTIALS Acts, scenes, synopses, repertory and notes.

Donors and sponsors who make it all possible—you!

THE PLAYERS Bios and background for cast, crew and creators.

DROP DOWN MENU Table of app contents.