Winter / Spring 2013 Iridian Arts Events
January 12th 8pm January 13th 7pm
Nugent Dance
Yes is Not Passive and other stories -the latest multimedia work of genre-defying and innovative choreographer Stephanie Nugent.

Artistic Director, Stephanie Nugent presents Yes is Not Passive and other stories, an evening of dance/theater investigating the physical dynamics involved in the act of saying yes and the beautiful pursuit of emptiness. The three acts, No Body, Yes is Not Passive, and Empty is a Hard Place, previewed in July, 2012, as a DIRECTOR’S PICK, at the Santa Cruz Fringe Festival.
Nugent is a choreographer, improviser, and educator making dance theater in Los Angeles. Her work is rooted in collaborations with artists and scholars addressing the social issues surrounding empathy and nonviolence. Her creative and performance work has been presented nationally and internationally through her company Nugent Dance and other companies including Keith Johnson/Dancers, Victoria Marks and Dancers, Ririe Woodbury Dance Company, Della Davidson's Push Productions and Malashock Dance and Company. artist website
Nugent is a choreographer, improviser, and educator making dance theater in Los Angeles. Her work is rooted in collaborations with artists and scholars addressing the social issues surrounding empathy and nonviolence. Her creative and performance work has been presented nationally and internationally through her company Nugent Dance and other companies including Keith Johnson/Dancers, Victoria Marks and Dancers, Ririe Woodbury Dance Company, Della Davidson's Push Productions and Malashock Dance and Company. artist website
January 24th 8pm
Pamela Z
An incredible voice, live electronic processing, and video, -with a guest appearance by bass clarinetist Marty Walker

Pamela Z is a San Francisco-based composer/performer and media artist who works primarily with voice, live electronic processing, sampling technology, and video. A pioneer of live digital looping techniques, she creates solo works combining experimental extended vocal techniques, operatic bel canto, found objects, text, digital processing, and MIDI controllers that allow her to manipulate sound with physical gestures.
An Encyclopedia of Voices, Human and Otherwise -New York Times
“Sheer genius …. the most gifted and enterprising vocalist/composer/audio artist in the US since the heyday of Joan La Barbara and Meredith Monk” – The Wire
In addition to her solo work, she has been commissioned to compose scores for dance, theatre, film, and new music chamber ensembles including Kronos Quartet and the Bang on a Can Allstars. Her large-scale multi-media works have been presented at venues including Theater Artaud and ODC in SanFrancisco, and The Kitchen in New York, and her media works have been presented in exhibitions at the Whitney Museum (NY) , the Diözesanmuseum (Cologne), and the Krannert Art Museum (IL). Her multi-media opera Wunderkabinet – inspired by the Museum of Jurassic Technology (co-composed with Matthew Brubeck) has been presented at The LAB Gallery (San Francisco), REDCAT (Disney Hall, Los Angeles), and Open Ears Festival, Toronto.
Pamela Z has toured extensively throughout the US, Europe, and Japan. She has performed in numerous festivals including Bang on a Can at Lincoln Center (New York), Interlink (Japan), Other Minds (San Francisco), La Biennale di Venezia (Italy), and Pina Bausch Tanztheater Festival (Wuppertal, Germany). She is the recipient of numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Creative Capital Fund, the CalArts Alpert Award in the Arts, The MAP Fund, the ASCAP Music Award, an Ars Electronica honorable mention, and the NEA and Japan/US Friendship Commission Fellowship. artist website Co-produced with Art Share LA
An Encyclopedia of Voices, Human and Otherwise -New York Times
“Sheer genius …. the most gifted and enterprising vocalist/composer/audio artist in the US since the heyday of Joan La Barbara and Meredith Monk” – The Wire
In addition to her solo work, she has been commissioned to compose scores for dance, theatre, film, and new music chamber ensembles including Kronos Quartet and the Bang on a Can Allstars. Her large-scale multi-media works have been presented at venues including Theater Artaud and ODC in SanFrancisco, and The Kitchen in New York, and her media works have been presented in exhibitions at the Whitney Museum (NY) , the Diözesanmuseum (Cologne), and the Krannert Art Museum (IL). Her multi-media opera Wunderkabinet – inspired by the Museum of Jurassic Technology (co-composed with Matthew Brubeck) has been presented at The LAB Gallery (San Francisco), REDCAT (Disney Hall, Los Angeles), and Open Ears Festival, Toronto.
Pamela Z has toured extensively throughout the US, Europe, and Japan. She has performed in numerous festivals including Bang on a Can at Lincoln Center (New York), Interlink (Japan), Other Minds (San Francisco), La Biennale di Venezia (Italy), and Pina Bausch Tanztheater Festival (Wuppertal, Germany). She is the recipient of numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Creative Capital Fund, the CalArts Alpert Award in the Arts, The MAP Fund, the ASCAP Music Award, an Ars Electronica honorable mention, and the NEA and Japan/US Friendship Commission Fellowship. artist website Co-produced with Art Share LA
February 10th 8pm
Grampus / Jeff Boynton
At the curious intersection of analog and digital -excellent and unpredictable music by means of circuit bending, tweaking, and acoustic signal processing.


Grampus is an improvising, interface driven trio based in Los Angeles. Using the signal processing program Max/MSP, both trumpet player Louis Lopez and trombone player Daniel Eaton create elaborate ways of modifying their acoustic instruments. In developing these new digital instruments, the search for integrating acoustic and processed sound through improvisation led them to the percussionist Michael Lockwood.
"An extraordinary trio... consistently exciting and engaging."
Downtown Music Gallery, NY
Together they have developed a sound truly unique and varied that takes full advantage of pulse and augmented timbres. In their live performances, Grampus incorporates visuals that are controlled by their instruments in real time, creating a completely immersive environment. Their debut album, "ILK ILK", has been broadcasted on U.S. and European radio and has received critical acclaim. artist website
Jeff Boynton has developed a prestigious international reputation in the field of "circuit bending", the art of opening up electronic sound generating devices and intentionally short-circuiting points on their circuit boards in search of interesting and perhaps never-before-heard sounds.
He is a self-described DIY artist/musician living in Los Angeles who studied music theory, composition, and electronic music at Northern Illinois Univ. before joining Wazmo Nariz which toured the United States and Europe both as headliner, and in support of such groups as The Police, Devo, XTC and the B-52s. He has also toured throughout Japan with the Bolshoi Circus, collaborated with choreographer Rudy Perez, and performed at REDCAT. artist website Co-produced with Art Share LA
"An extraordinary trio... consistently exciting and engaging."
Downtown Music Gallery, NY
Together they have developed a sound truly unique and varied that takes full advantage of pulse and augmented timbres. In their live performances, Grampus incorporates visuals that are controlled by their instruments in real time, creating a completely immersive environment. Their debut album, "ILK ILK", has been broadcasted on U.S. and European radio and has received critical acclaim. artist website
Jeff Boynton has developed a prestigious international reputation in the field of "circuit bending", the art of opening up electronic sound generating devices and intentionally short-circuiting points on their circuit boards in search of interesting and perhaps never-before-heard sounds.
He is a self-described DIY artist/musician living in Los Angeles who studied music theory, composition, and electronic music at Northern Illinois Univ. before joining Wazmo Nariz which toured the United States and Europe both as headliner, and in support of such groups as The Police, Devo, XTC and the B-52s. He has also toured throughout Japan with the Bolshoi Circus, collaborated with choreographer Rudy Perez, and performed at REDCAT. artist website Co-produced with Art Share LA
March 3rd 8pm
Merima Kljuco
You don't know what an accordion can do until you bear witness to Merima Kljuco. This incredible musician is also joined on a few pieces by her equal, pianist Danny Holt.

"From blue-note trillings to quasi-industrial buzzing, Ključo wrings extraordinary sounds from her instrument and the sheer Dostoevskian relentlessness leaves you weirdly elated." -Telegraph (UK)
Internationally renowned accordionist Merima Kljuco performs as a recitalist and has been guest soloist with orchestras including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Holland Symphonia and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. As soloist she has participated in a number of renowned festivals including the St. Magnus Festival, the City of London Festival, the Gaudeamus Festival and the Gubaidulina Festival.
Her involvement with world music is an enriching musical experience that brings a new dimension of interest to her work. As the producer, composer and arranger for her highly rated album Zumra, she has created a multi-layered dynamic interpretation of a musical tradition she treasures. Zumra was voted byThe Sunday Times (UK) as one of the "Top 100" albums of 2010 (number 4 of the top 10 world music albums).
This concert will include contemporary works for accordion, including Sofia Gubaidulina's Et Expecto, Juka Tiensuu's Aufschwung, Robin Cox's Canalie (with piano), and Ključo's own arrangements and compositions based on traditional music from Balkan. artist website Co-produced with Art Share LA
Internationally renowned accordionist Merima Kljuco performs as a recitalist and has been guest soloist with orchestras including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Holland Symphonia and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. As soloist she has participated in a number of renowned festivals including the St. Magnus Festival, the City of London Festival, the Gaudeamus Festival and the Gubaidulina Festival.
Her involvement with world music is an enriching musical experience that brings a new dimension of interest to her work. As the producer, composer and arranger for her highly rated album Zumra, she has created a multi-layered dynamic interpretation of a musical tradition she treasures. Zumra was voted byThe Sunday Times (UK) as one of the "Top 100" albums of 2010 (number 4 of the top 10 world music albums).
This concert will include contemporary works for accordion, including Sofia Gubaidulina's Et Expecto, Juka Tiensuu's Aufschwung, Robin Cox's Canalie (with piano), and Ključo's own arrangements and compositions based on traditional music from Balkan. artist website Co-produced with Art Share LA
March 10th 8pm
The Vinny Golia Sextet
The legendary woodwind artist with the also phenomenal Gavin Templeton (sax), Dan Rosenboom (trumpet), Alex Noice (guitar), Jon Armstrong (bass), and Andrew Lessman (drums)
The legendary composer and multi-reedist Vinny Golia, long a hero of Southern California's improvised music scene, has turned up the volume with his latest group, a powerhouse sextet that grooves with explosive energy.
Gavin Templeton (sax), Dan Rosenboom (trumpet), Alex Noice (guitar), Jon Armstrong (bass), and Andrew Lessman (drums) artfully inhabit Golia's witty, irreverent, eclectic compositional world, where shredding guitar solos take their place alongside intricately layered horn lines and collective jazz escapades.
Named by Jazziz Magazine as one of the 100 people who have most influenced the course of jazz in our century.
"A true inventor and prose composer, his music creates the image of part filmstrip, part word game, coupled with marvelous fantasy. His playing is a tight rope act of episodic improvisation, it all interlocks like a Chinese box. Golia is totally brilliant. The way Golia plays, displaying his supreme style of creativity, is done with artistic clarity of vision, possessed by only artists and madmen" -Saxophone Journal
"The L.A. reedman's sparkling performance incorporated everything from bedrock jazz swing to unusual textures that never interrupted the organic flow of the music...the ensemble never simply settled for a static, solos-over-rhythm section approach - the moods and textures within the pieces shifted constantly yet the music never sounded forced" -Los Angeles Times
artist website Co-produced with Art Share LA
Gavin Templeton (sax), Dan Rosenboom (trumpet), Alex Noice (guitar), Jon Armstrong (bass), and Andrew Lessman (drums) artfully inhabit Golia's witty, irreverent, eclectic compositional world, where shredding guitar solos take their place alongside intricately layered horn lines and collective jazz escapades.
Named by Jazziz Magazine as one of the 100 people who have most influenced the course of jazz in our century.
"A true inventor and prose composer, his music creates the image of part filmstrip, part word game, coupled with marvelous fantasy. His playing is a tight rope act of episodic improvisation, it all interlocks like a Chinese box. Golia is totally brilliant. The way Golia plays, displaying his supreme style of creativity, is done with artistic clarity of vision, possessed by only artists and madmen" -Saxophone Journal
"The L.A. reedman's sparkling performance incorporated everything from bedrock jazz swing to unusual textures that never interrupted the organic flow of the music...the ensemble never simply settled for a static, solos-over-rhythm section approach - the moods and textures within the pieces shifted constantly yet the music never sounded forced" -Los Angeles Times
artist website Co-produced with Art Share LA
April 7th 8pm
Scored
An evening of dance improvisation with live music, scored and performed by some of the west coast's premiere music and dance artists.

Veteran LA-based dancers Stephanie Nugent, Shel Wagner Rasch, and Jones Welsh design and perform "In-be-t-ween", "Sport Contact", "Recessions", and "Treading the Balance". Audience members will experience a window into the dancers' process, as the rules (score) for each dance will be laid out in the program.
Playful and audience-friendly, the evening is comprised of spontaneous partner dancing known as contact improvisation, with sound accompaniment ranging from silence and speech, to improvised musical scores for violin (Robin Cox), double bass (Jeff Schwartz), and cello (Maggie Parkins). Co-produced with Art Share LA
Playful and audience-friendly, the evening is comprised of spontaneous partner dancing known as contact improvisation, with sound accompaniment ranging from silence and speech, to improvised musical scores for violin (Robin Cox), double bass (Jeff Schwartz), and cello (Maggie Parkins). Co-produced with Art Share LA
April 21st 8pm
Sounds like Video
Films both new and very, very old for live music performance

Robin Cox performs two recent works for video with violin and electronics. The first, a breath-taking portrait of Tibet by composer Randy Woolf/video artists John C. Walsh and Mary Harron, and the second, composer Todd Reynolds/video artist Bill Morrison's bombastic ride across the Brooklyn Bridge with footage circa 1899.
Lauren Kosty also performs a work by composer Eve Beglarian/video artist Cory Archangel for digitally processed vibraphone and a very cool bit-by-bit video process.
And… you'll see/hear live perfomance of a silent film sporting the very first commissioned soundtrack -by nothing less than a famous romantic era composer! (arranged for chamber ensemble by Abraham Perez especially for this event, with Mark Alpizar, conductor, Melissa Hulett, flute, Brian Mitchell, oboe, Abraham Perez, clarinet, Esteban Jimenez, horn, Harmony Drum, bassoon, Taylor Chan, piano, Kiyoe Matsura, violin, Lucy Lu, violin, Amira Lyn, viola, and Callie Galvez, cello). Co-produced with Art Share LA
Lauren Kosty also performs a work by composer Eve Beglarian/video artist Cory Archangel for digitally processed vibraphone and a very cool bit-by-bit video process.
And… you'll see/hear live perfomance of a silent film sporting the very first commissioned soundtrack -by nothing less than a famous romantic era composer! (arranged for chamber ensemble by Abraham Perez especially for this event, with Mark Alpizar, conductor, Melissa Hulett, flute, Brian Mitchell, oboe, Abraham Perez, clarinet, Esteban Jimenez, horn, Harmony Drum, bassoon, Taylor Chan, piano, Kiyoe Matsura, violin, Lucy Lu, violin, Amira Lyn, viola, and Callie Galvez, cello). Co-produced with Art Share LA
April 28th 8pm
The Eclipse String Quartet
Southern California's most impressive and adventurous chamber group.

The Eclipse Quartet is a new music ensemble dedicated to the music of twentieth century and present day composers. The quartet also creates works of their own often in collaboration with other media. This quartet is made up of four women with strong backgrounds in international and national chamber music performance, new music and recording. Their combined experience represents a wide range of musical styles and collaborations.
"A ferociously good quartet" - San Francisco Classical Voice
The Quartet has performed frequently on both coasts and has taken part in festivals like the festival of New American Music in Sacramento and the Look and Listen Festival, NYC. They currently have a residency at Mills College. Members are: Sarah Thornblade, Sara Parkins, Alma Lisa Fernandez and Maggie Parkins.
This show will include a work for quartet and electronics by Ken Wallicki, and just intonation works of Kyle Gann and Ben Johnston.
artist website Co-produced with Art Share LA
"A ferociously good quartet" - San Francisco Classical Voice
The Quartet has performed frequently on both coasts and has taken part in festivals like the festival of New American Music in Sacramento and the Look and Listen Festival, NYC. They currently have a residency at Mills College. Members are: Sarah Thornblade, Sara Parkins, Alma Lisa Fernandez and Maggie Parkins.
This show will include a work for quartet and electronics by Ken Wallicki, and just intonation works of Kyle Gann and Ben Johnston.
artist website Co-produced with Art Share LA
May 19th 8pm
Hook-ups and Speed Dating
Five composers and five choreographers out on blind collaborative dates…. and the unpredictable results.

Musicians: Erik Leckrone, Eric Pham, Alan Shockley, Marty Walker, George Wheeler
Dancers: Stephanie Zaletel, Loretta Livingston, Carol McDowell, Rebecca Pappas, and Damon Rago
Part One: Curators Stephanie Nugent and Robin Cox “hook” five choreographers “up” with five composers to create an evening of short original works. Each couple is selected with the intension of creating new and unlikely pairings.
Part Two: In the second half of the event, the “speed dating” round, each contributing artist will find him or herself in yet another new pairing, this time with only minutes to collaborate. Five tables will host the new couples for an eight-minute collaboration session, in which they are charged with creating a score …and then… we find out what happens. Co-produced with Art Share LA
Dancers: Stephanie Zaletel, Loretta Livingston, Carol McDowell, Rebecca Pappas, and Damon Rago
Part One: Curators Stephanie Nugent and Robin Cox “hook” five choreographers “up” with five composers to create an evening of short original works. Each couple is selected with the intension of creating new and unlikely pairings.
Part Two: In the second half of the event, the “speed dating” round, each contributing artist will find him or herself in yet another new pairing, this time with only minutes to collaborate. Five tables will host the new couples for an eight-minute collaboration session, in which they are charged with creating a score …and then… we find out what happens. Co-produced with Art Share LA