Ring Festival LA Media Contact:
Catherine Babcock
Public Relations Consultant
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P: (213) 972-7691

RING FESTIVAL LA
TO OPEN APRIL 15, 2010
CITYWIDE FESTIVAL BRINGS TOGETHER
115 ARTS AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS
CELEBRATING THE ARTS, LA STYLE

The City of Angels will be reveling in all things Ring when the celebration of Ring Festival LA begins on April 15, 2010. The ten-week Festival, inspired by LA Opera's first presentation of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, brings together more than 100 cultural and educational institutions in Los Angeles. Southern Californians and cultural tourists from around the world will be able to enjoy a wide variety of exhibitions, performances and special events all centered on the LA Opera's presentation of Wagner's epic. "Ring Festival LA will be a defining moment in the cultural history of Los Angeles," said Plácido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director. "The presence of so many of LA's cultural, educational, and civic leaders clearly demonstrate that the city's creative forces can be brought together through a cultural festival. Ring Festival LA will have far-reaching impact throughout our community."

To begin the first month of the Festival, LA Opera premieres the final opera in Richard Wagner's Ring cycle Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) on April 3 at 1:00 pm at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Music Center of Los Angeles County. The much anticipated new production is staged by Director/Designer Achim Freyer. James Conlon, LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director, conducts the five performances which run through April 25. This is the final production of the four individual operas in Wagner's epic. It is being presented before LA Opera's full Ring cycles, the centerpiece and inspiration for Ring Festival LA. The first full cycle begins on May 29, the next opens June 8 and the last cycle on June 18; each cycle runs over the course of nine days.

"Ring Festival LA will engage Los Angeles in opera, but also embrace a larger discussion through our world-class arts and cultural institutions," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. "It will educate the public about the life and times of Richard Wagner and examine the man and his work in all of its challenging and controversial aspects." He continued, "We can all be proud that so many diverse organizations are joining together in this incredible effort."

"Ring Festival LA will be the most significant arts festival since the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival," said Barry Sanders, the Festival's Leader. "It will again feature events all over the city and throughout the county, but this time, a quarter century later, none of the artists and performers will be imported. Ring Festival LA will reflect the richness, diversity and cultural excellence that have been flourishing in Los Angeles in the last two decades."

CINEMA

City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs
Ring Around San Pedro Festival: Opera Films and Videos
The Warner Grand Theatre will present a one-day festival of films and videos for opera lovers of all ages.
Free Festival for Children and Families, April 24, 2010, 11 am - 1:30 pm
Free Films for Adult Opera Lovers, April 24, 2010, 7:30 - 11 pm
Warner Grand Theatre, 478 West 6th St., San Pedro, CA 90731, (310) 548-7672, www.culturela.org.
Hammer Museum
Sundance Film Festival Presents: Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring, April 17, 2010, 7 pm
This 1999 documentary film captures Richard Wagner's Ring cycle from the union stagehands' point-of-view as these
behind-the-scenes stars perform astonishing feats of stagecraft, trade off-stage banter, and offer an insider's
perspective on a strange and complex 19th-century operatic tradition. Following the screening, the film's director Jon Else will answer audience questions.
Free: RSVP N/A (seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis; Hammer members receive priority seating).
10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024, (310) 443-7000, www.hammer.ucla.edu.

CONVERSATIONS & SYMPOSIA

Goethe-Institut
"Achim Freyer and Matthew Gurewitsch on Götterdämmerung," April 12, 2010, 7 pm
Achim Freyer LA Opera's Ring director/designer and journalist Matthew Gurewitsch discuss the fourth opera in Wagner's epic, exploring the intricate web of thought and imagery behind LA Opera's historic production.

Hammer Museum
"An Evening with Maestro James Conlon," April 13, 2010, 7 pm
James Conlon is the Richard Seaver music director of LA Opera and a Grammy-Award winning conductor. Conlon has appeared as guest conductor with virtually every major North American and European orchestra and has been a frequent guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera for over thirty years.
Free: RSVP N/A (seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Hammer members receive priority seating).
10899 Wilshire Blvd at Westwood, Los Angeles, CA 90024, (310) 443-7000, www.hammer.ucla.edu.

Brand Library, Glendale Public Library
Free Talk: "A Look at the Ring Cycle, LA Opera Style," April 24, 2010, 2 pm
1601 Mountain St., Glendale, CA 91201, (818) 548-2051, www.brandlibrary.org

La Verne Library, County of Los Angeles Public Library
Free Talk: "Wagner vs. Tolkien: Who is the Real Lord of the Rings?" April 20, 2010, 6:30 pm
3640 D Street, La Verne, CA 91750, (909) 596-1934, www.colapublib.org/libs/laverne.

Porter Ranch Branch Library, Los Angeles Public Library
Free Talk: "A Look at the Ring Cycle, LA Opera Style," April 13, 2010, 6:30 pm
11371 Tampa Avenue, Porter Ranch, CA 91326, (818) 360-5706, www.lapl.org/branches/Branch.php?bID=67

Library Foundation of Los Angeles: ALOUD
ALOUD Presents: LA Opera Music Director James Conlon on "Richard Wagner's Ring: Eros, Mythos, Ethos," April 19, 2010, 7 pm
As a part of the ALOUD at Central Library series, James Conlon, Richard Seaver music director of LA Opera and one of the world's preeminent conductors, will discuss Wagner's monumental work, challenging preconceptions while guiding the audience through the music and dramatic themes in a way that both opera novices and aficionados can enjoy.
Free: RSVP N/A.
Mark Taper Auditorium, Downtown Central Library, 630 W. Fifth St., Los Angeles, CA 90071, (213) 228-7025, www.aloudla.org.

Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) & USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Master of Liberal Studies Program
"From Nietzsche to 'Star Wars': The Wagnerian Power of the Ring," April 15, 2010, 7:30 - 9 pm
Through his Ring cycle, Wagner has profoundly influenced the way we think, feel, and imagine the 21st-century world. A panel of experts, including USC Master of Liberal Studies Program faculty, take on how the Ring themes and symbols have permeated 20th-century literature, philosophy, psychology, and even movies and cartoons.
Free: RSVP This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (213) 621-1745.
MOCA Ahmanson Auditorium, 250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012, (213) 626-2222, www.moca.com.

Museum of Tolerance
"Music, Memory and Morality: How and Why Wagner Matters," April 15, 2010, 7:30 pm
Many people regard Wagner as the musical muse of Hitler. LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director James Conlon and others will explore the question of whether an artist's work can always be separated from his/her message, particularly in the lifetime of those whose who were afflicted by that message.
RSVP (310) 772-2505.
9786 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035, (310) 553-8403, www.museumoftolerance.com.

University of La Verne
"Drama in Wagner's Ring: Music Propels the Action," April 21, 2010, 7 pm
The final presentation in the University's Ring-centered Humanities Festival, Dr. Kathleen Lamkin discusses: "Drama in the Ring: Music Propels the Action."
Free: RSVP N/A
University of La Verne 1950 Third Street, La Verne, California 91750, (909) 593-3511, www.ulv.edu.

University of Southern California: Visions and Voices
Visions and Voices: "Pride, Prejudice, Bigotry and Genius: Richard Wagner's World:" A Lecture by LA Opera Music Director James Conlon, April 20, 2010, 7 pm
James Conlon, Richard Seaver music director at the LA Opera, will explore Wagner's controversial personality in relation to bigotry, racism and prejudice in Wagner's time and in ours. One of today's preeminent conductors, James Conlon has cultivated a vast symphonic operatic and choral repertoire and developed enduring relationships with the world's most prestigious symphony orchestras and opera houses. He has also been devoted to raising awareness of works by composers whose lives and compositions were suppressed by the Nazi regime.
Free/RSVP N/A.
Bing Theatre, USC University Park Campus, 3500 Watt Way, Los Angeles, CA (213) 740-8686, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

ECLECTICA

Los Angeles Conservancy
Tours: Ongoing after April 1, 2010
In the 1930s and '40s, the city became home to some of the greatest German artists, architects, and writers, who sought refuge here during the rise of National Socialism in Europe. The Los Angeles Conservancy will highlight the physical landscape of the city's twentieth-century German influence with a self-guided tour of historic sites related to notable figures including Thomas Mann, Alfred Döblin, and Bertolt Brecht. Visit these sites online with an easy-to-use Google map or print the map and explore the sites firsthand.
The annotated map is available at: www.laconservancy.org.
523 W. Sixth Street, Suite 826, Los Angeles, CA 90014, (213) 623-2489, www.laconservancy.org.

Villa Aurora
Invisible Siegfrieds Marching Sunset Boulevard, April 17 - April 20, 2010 (Sites and times listed below)
A Passage Opera for tarnhelmed wanderers on Sunset Boulevard and sound-contributors from Los Angeles and all over by George Nussbaumer.
Performance Sites & Times: Union Station to Sunset/Hollywood, April 17, 4:45 - 7:30 pm; Sunset Hollywood to Sunset/Holloway Dr., April 18, 3:30 - 7:30 pm; Sunset/Holloway Dr. to Sunset/ San Diego Freeway, April 19, 3:15 - 7:30 pm; and Sunset/San Diego Freeway to Sunset/Pacific Coast Highway, April 20, 3 - 7:30 pm.
Villa Aurora, 520 Paseo Miramar, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272-3019, (310) 454-4231, www.villaaurora.com.

EDUCATIONAL

Los Angeles Educational Partnership (LAEP)
Student Arts Festival: "Integrating Wagner's Ring Cycle," April 16, 2010, 6 - 9 pm
The Los Angeles Education Partnership's Humanitas Initiative will bring 250 students from eight high schools together for this arts festival. The students have engaged in interdisciplinary, arts-integrated lessons on Wagner's Ring cycle. In direct collaboration with artists, the students explore and express contemporary responses to Wagner's music in mediums ranging from filmmaking to fashion to art. Partners in the arts festival initiative include 826LA, Art Center College of Design, LA artlab, youTHink and Table Top Media. The Goethe-Institut has contributed to help support the arts festival initiative.
Free
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Music Center of Los Angeles County, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012, (213) 622-5237, www.laep.org.

Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum
California State University, San Bernardino
Hip Hop Theatre Workshop-"Timeless Enchantment: From the Ring to the Cipher, a Hip Hop Connection to Wagner's Ring," April 23, 2010, 5-8 pm & April 24, 2010, 11 am- 5 pm
Part of a larger series investigating the various ways Wagner's Ring has been the important source of artistic inspiration, this unique, interactive workshop breaks down the elements of hip hop culture (MCing, graffiti, DJing, break dancing), and demonstrates how new works for the stage can be created through the merging of these elements with traditional theatrical techniques. The workshop targets theatre-interested teens and young adults (16-23).
Free: RSVP N/A.
5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407, (909) 537-7373, www.museum.csusb.edu.

PERFORMING ARTS

LA Opera
Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung, April 3, 11, 17 & 25 at 1 pm and April 21 at 5:30 pm
Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) is the final chapter of Richard Wagner's monumental four-part epic Der Ring des Nibelungen. The opera opens with the rapturous love shared by Brünnhilde and Siegfried, followed by plotting for the ring and murder. When the cursed ring is returned to the Rhine maidens the Rhine overflows its banks and Valhalla goes up in flames in a spectacular finale unparalleled in opera. The all star cast leads are: soprano Linda Watson as Brünnhilde, with British tenor John Treleaven as Siegfried, bass Eric Halfvarson as Hagen, baritone Richard Paul Fink as Alberich, bass-baritone Alan Held as Gunther, and soprano Jennifer Wilson as Gutrune. LA Opera Music Director James Conlon conducts the production by director/designer Achim Freyer.
Tickets: $20 to $260 visit LA Opera Box Office, www.laopera.com or telephone (213) 972-8001. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Music Center of Los Angeles County, 135 North Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012, www.laopera.com.

The Colburn School
LA Opera Music Director James Conlon Conducts the Colburn Orchestra, April 12, 2010, 8:00 pm
James Conlon, LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director conducts the Colburn Orchestra in a program that includes Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, and works by Zemlinsky and Ullmann.
1200 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012, (213) 621-2200, www.colburnschool.edu.

County of Los Angeles Public Library & LA Opera
German Opera Tales, April 17 - 30, 2010
Opera Tales celebrates the power of story and the joy of music. The Opera Tales is a partnership between LA Opera and the County of Los Angeles Public Library. LA Opera's fun, high energy show tours to various libraries for free family performances. The "opera pals," four professional opera singers, perform musical moments from such German opera stories as Wagner's Das Rheingold, Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel, and Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio. The stories are read by a special surprise guest at each library.
County of Los Angeles Public Libraries-Locations vary: visit www.colapublib.org.

Eli and Edythe Broad Stage
Under the Radar Series at the Edye Stage: Daedelus Re-Mixes the Ring, April 17, 2010, 7:30 pm
Back by overwhelming demand, Daedelus returns with his own interpretation of Wagner's operatic masterpiece. This is a chance to see one of the most respected new voices of laptop electronica in a first-time experiment with special guest video artists from Europe. For those familiar with the music of the Ring, this promises to be a unique, singular experience.
Tickets: $22, www.thebroadstage.com or (310) 434.3200.
1310 11th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401, (310) 434-3473, www.thebroadstage.com.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO)
Westside Connections 3, April 29, 2010, 7 pm
Renowned opera, theatre and festival director Peter Sellars is the special guest for this LACO chamber music and discussion concert exploring "music as muse." Program features works by two Germanic composers who did not embrace Wagner's style, Brahms' Piano Quartet in G minor and Schoenberg's String Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello.
Tickets: $40, www.laco.org or (213) 622 7001 x 215.
The Broad Stage, 1310 11th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401, (213) 622 7001 x 215, www.laco.org.

Los Angeles Public Library
We Tell Stories Present a Play: Rhine's Gold
April 22 - June 24, 2010 (times vary)
Meet gods, dwarves, giants and mermaids in the Wagnerian romp The Rhine's Gold. Based on Wagner's opera, Das Rhinegold, this production by We Tell Stories features a puppet dwarf, charming costumes transformed from ordinary objects, musical experts from opera, and audience participation. For children ages 5 - 12, and their families.
Free: RSVP N/A.
Performance information: www.ringfestivalla.com or www.lapl.org.

University of Southern California (USC) Thornton School of Music
USC Thornton Production of the Wagner Opera Das Liebesverbot, April 21, 23, 25, 2010, 8 pm
A presentation of Richard Wagner's seldom performed opera, written when the composer was only 21 years-old, the age of many Thornton students. His second opera, Das Liebesverbot was actually his first to be performed. A comic opera, the libretto was written by the composer after Shakespeare's Measure for Measure.
Tickets: $18, Seniors, Alumni and Non-USC students $12; USC Students, Staff and Faculty (with valid ID) free, www.usc.edu/tickets or (213) 749-4672.
Bing Theatre: University Park Campus, 3500 Watt Way, Los Angeles, CA (213) 740-8686, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

University of Southern California (USC) - Max Kade Institute for Austrian-German-Swiss Studies, and the Goethe-Institut, Los Angeles
From the Dorf to the Hood, April 22, 2010, 7:30 pm
Composer William Roper and his band with Christina Linhardt, soprano, present a program of solo chamber works inspired by the composer's stay in Bavaria and the music of Richard Wagner. The evening produced by Cornelius Schnauber will feature several unusual instruments associated with the era and motifs of Wagner's Ring, including the Wagner tuba, helicon, cimbasso, harp and saxhorn. Presented in collaboration with the German-American Cultural Society. Admission $10.
Goethe-Institut, Los Angeles, 5750 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90036, (323) 525-3388, www.goethe.de/losangeles.

THEATRE

Geffen Playhouse
Nightmare Alley
April 13 - May 23, 2010, Tuesday - Thursday 8 pm, Saturdays 3 & 8 pm, Sundays 2 & 7 pm
Step into Nightmare Alley and enter the titillating world of carnies, cons and clairvoyants. With a score as wild as a funhouse and as evocative as a beautiful tightrope walker, this world premiere musical tells the tale of a young carnie couple who tempt the fickle hand of fate. Based on the darkly evocative 1946 William Lindsay Gresham novel of the same time, Nightmare Alley is a night at the theater full of special effects, wondrous feats and enough spirit to make believers of us all. But remember, here, things are never as they seem. Directed by Gilbert Cates; music, book and lyrics by Jonathan Brielle.
Post-show discussions will be held after the performance: April 27.
Tickets: $35 - $74, www.geffenplayhouse.com or (310) 208-5454.
10886 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024, (310) 966-2412, www.geffenplayhouse.com.

The MET Theatre & University of Southern California - Max Kade Institute for Austrian-German-Swiss Studies
Richard and Felix: Twilight in Venice, March 26 - April 25, 2010, Fridays & Saturdays, 8 pm, Sundays, 3 pm
In Cornelius Schnauber's play Richard Wagner, in the last hours of his life, meditates about his life and the terrible knowledge his rival Felix Mendelssohn seemed to have about the future. Mendelssohn appears from the other side and a dramatic dialogue ensues.
Tickets: $15, Students/Seniors $10, (323) 957-1152.
Performances: The MET Theatre Hollywood, 1089 N Oxford Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029, (323) 957-1152.

VISUAL ARTS

Autry National Center
Opera in the Libraries (online exhibition), April - July, 2010
The online exhibition will draw on the collections of the Braun Research Library and Autry Library. Featured will be a rare 1912 recording of French tenor Augustarello Affre recorded in Los Angeles by Charles F. Lummis and the libretto from La Fanciulla del West with music composed by Giacomo Puccini.
To view the exhibition, visit www.theautry.org.
4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027, (323) 667-2000, www.theautry.org.

LACMA
Myth, Legends, Fables, and Cultural Renewal: Wagner's Sources, April 15 - August 16, 2010, Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 12 - 9 pm, Saturday & Sunday 11 am -8 pm
This exhibition drawn from LACMA's collection explores Germanic myths and legends in various embodiments in the modern era. Myths, legends, and fables form an essential component of cultural renewal. Reinvented and passed on by each generation, they have continued to fascinate artists into the modern era. Integrated into the awakening of German nationalism in the 19th century, these traditions continued to fascinate various authors and artists into the high modernism of the early 20th century.
LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026, (323) 932-5881, www.lacma.org.

The Latino Museum of History, Art and Culture
Epic Tales of Latino Art, April 15 - June 30, 2010, Tuesday - Sunday, 10 am - 4 pm
Epic Tales of Latino Art presents Latino artists' heroic quest to find identity and self definition. This exhibit showcases works in The Latino Museum's permanent collection that, like Richard Wagner's, the Ring are dramatic, mythical, fantastical, conflicting yet real and thought provoking.
Free
514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013, (213) 626-7600, www.thelatinomuseum.org

Norton Simon Museum
Walking tour: Rodin-Wagner: Form and Emotion, April 15 - June 30, 2010,
Wednesday - Monday, Noon - 6 pm.
This self-guided walking tour of the museum's eight sculptures by Auguste Rodin draws important and interesting parallels between two great 19th-century artists: Richard Wagner, the preeminent composer of Romantic music and Auguste Rodin, the first sculptor of the modern age. Their mutual aspirations are manifest in their ability to knit together, in music or in bronze, form and emotion. Pick up a free brochure of the tour at the Museum's Information Desk.
Free
411 West Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91105, (626) 449-6840, www.nortonsimon.org.

Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum, California State University, San Bernardino
Timeless Enchantment: Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung in Visual Arts and Performance
April 8 - July 31, 2010, Tuesday - Wednesday & Friday - Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm; Thursday, 10 am - 7 pm.
Part of a larger series investigating the various ways the story and music of Wagner's Ring has continued to be used in music, visual arts, theater, literature, movies, comic books, etc., this exhibition has two components: the Ring story in Arthur Rackham's illustrations and photographs from various Ring performances.
Free
5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407, (909) 537-5000, www.museum.csusb.edu.

For information on these and many other upcoming events, please visit www.RingFestivalLA.com