The Rite of Seasons
Saturday, October 12, 5 pm

CalArts Dance Party
Saturday, October 19, 6 pm

California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is pleased to announce the fall 2013 events of The Wild Beast Concert Series hosted by the Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts.  The concert series is free and open to the public—allowing CalArts to share the talents of its students, faculty, alumni and visiting artists with Southern California audiences. This fall, the open-air concert pavilion on the CalArts’ campus offers a globe-spanning array of music ranging from 18th century Baroque to 21st century Afrobeat.

“New artistic masterworks emerge from evolutionary sonic soups, and The Wild Beast Concert Series always offers delectable tastes of new musical cuisines,” said David Rosenboom, Dean of the Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts.  “As our fall 2013 season kicks off, we will hear re-orchestrated classics in tango-embrace with the soundscapes of seasonal rites. Following that, peasant dances and songs of life inspire meetings of the indigenous and the electric. Having witnessed new musical tributaries joining to form emerging mainstreams, our audiences can say, ‘We were there!’”

The Rite of Seasons, on Saturday, October 12, contrasts Antonio Vivaldi’s beloved masterwork The Four Seasons with a selection of compositions evoking seasonal sounds and atmospheres—and closes with an incendiary tribute to the 100th anniversary of the first performance of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. CalArts alumni bands rock the Beast on Saturday, October 19 for the CalArts Dance Party—featuring a high-energy revue of big bands and their hard-driving interpretations of African drumming and dance, Balkan rhythms and soul, and American funk, soul, and R‘n’B.

More about the concerts:

Saturday, October 12
The Rite of Seasons offers an exhilarating journey through familiar and evocatively new soundscapes of the seasons from different locations on the globe. The concert starts in Italy with some of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, though this performance puts the familiar in a new light; re-imagining the seasons’ sounds continues in Buenos Aires with world-renowned tangos by Astor Piazzolla, and nature soundscapes collected and composed in Vermont, by legendary American composer Malcolm Goldstein. The evening closes with a visceral and intensely virtuosic performance tribute to the anniversary year of the shocking Rite of Spring: Stravinsky’s masterpiece that caused a public riot at its first performance 100 years ago, distilled to a wind quintet, piano and percussion.

Saturday, October 19
CalArts Dance Party draws from a range of CalArts programs and influences to deliver an exuberant evening of dancing on the lawn.  Sogo Takeover, a 12-piece Afrobeat orchestra that fuses collective improvisation with irresistible dance rhythms, big as a Mack truck and almost as loud, gets the party started. John Macy & The Heavy Hand kicks out heavy grooves in a modern rhythm & blues style—touching hearts and getting bodies moving through emotional love songs and burning up-tempo jams. The Heavy Hand’s repertoire contains everything from soulful, original compositions to Hitsville USA and Stax Records classics. The evening ends with Orkestar MÉZÉ, Southern California’s premier original Balkan brass band. A raucous, joyous show where fans of all ages and walks of life dance to the band’s trademark groovy peasant funk, an original high-energy brass band sound mixing American funk, soul and jazz with traditional Bulgarian and Balkan music.

The Wild Beast was cited as one of the “most beautiful outdoor theaters in the world” by Flavorwire.  With open lawn seating, families are welcome and picnics encouraged at Santa Clarita’s most intimate outdoor concert setting. An assortment of food trucks will offer dinner on October 19.

Where: 
California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia, CA 91355-2340
Click here for directions
Concerts will be held at The Wild Beast music pavilion on the CalArts campus.

Tickets: 
Concerts at the Wild Beast concert pavilion are FREE with lawn seating. Reservations are available through Eventbrite.
Click here for reservations for The Rite of Seasons
Click here for reservations for CalArts Dance Party