Ring Festival LA Media Contact:
Catherine Babcock
Public Relations Consultant
cbabcock@RingFestivalLA.com
P: (213) 972-7691

RING FESTIVAL LA
June 2010 Events

Los Angeles Opera's first performances of the first-ever presentation of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen are on stage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The Achim Freyer directed/designed production, conducted by James Conlon, Los Angeles Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director, serves as inspiration for Ring Festival LA, the 10-week countywide arts, education and cultural festival, now in its final month. There are more than 70 events for visitors and Angelenos to enjoy during the month of June.

As Wagnerites descend on the city of Angeles to see LA Opera's Ring they can immerse themselves in art exhibitions, seminars, classes, and musical performances--ranging from classical to hip hop. There are special German food offerings at Patina restaurants and Let's Be Frank, and a new Light of the Valkyries exhibit at the Samuel Oschin Planetarium at Griffith Observatory. In addition, there is an online art exhibit, thanks to the Autry National Museum, and there are walking tours for those who want to exercise.

PERFORMING ARTS

LA Opera
Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen
Cycle 1: Das Rheingold (5/29); Die Walküre (5/30); Siegfried (6/3); Götterdämmerung (6/6)
Cycle 2: Das Rheingold (6/8); Die Walküre (6/10); Siegfried (6/13); Götterdämmerung (6/16)
Cycle 3: Das Rheingold (6/18); Die Walküre (6/20); Siegfried (6/23); Götterdämmerung (6/26)
(Performance times vary, visit www.laopera.com)
LA Opera presents the first complete Ring ever seen in Los Angeles. The cast includes: soprano Linda Watson as Brünnhilde, with tenor John Treleaven as Siegfried, bass Vitalij Kowaljow as Wotan, baritone Richard Paul Fink as Alberich, tenor Plácido Domingo as Siegmund, mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as Sieglinde, mezzo-soprano Jill Grove as Erda and tenor Graham Clark as Mime. Ms. DeYoung will also perform Fricka in Das Rheingold and Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, and the cast also features bass Eric Halfvarson as Fafner, Hunding and Hagen; tenor Arnold Bezuyen as Loge; mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk as Fricka in Die Walküre; bass-baritone Alan Held as Gunther; and soprano Jennifer Wilson as Gutrune. James Conlon, LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director, conducts a production staged by legendary theater artist Achim Freyer.

Grand Performances /daKAH Hip Hop Orchestra
Commissioned Work by daKAH Hip Hop Orchestra, June 19, 2010, 8 pm
Double G (daKAH's co-founder/conductor/composer, Geoff Gallegos) is creating a new sound track, one that acknowledges a more sinister side of the Ring and marries it to distinctly LA flavors. Derived from source material within the Ring, Double G envisions his music will speak, in the most visceral of ways, of contemporary atrocities in LA. If Wagner was alive and writing a score for this city's brand of "warfare," this is how it would sound, adrenaline-pumping, fear-inducing and gut-wrenching. Double G's work will reflect the intensity of both Wagner's Ring cycle and, appropriately, the West Coast brand of Gangsta Rap.
Info: www.grandperformances.org, www.myspace.com/dakah or (213) 687-2159
California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90013

Greek Theatre/Nederlander
José Carreras in Concert, June 26, 2010, 7:30 pm
World-renowned Spanish tenor José Carreras returns to the award-winning Greek Theater for the first time in over 15 years. Well-known as one of the famed Three Tenors, Jose Carreras occupies a privileged position in the music world.
Info: www.greektheatrela.com or (323) 665-3125.
Tickets: $40-$200, Box office or Ticketmaster (213) 480-3232/ (714) 740-2000
Greek Theatre, 2700 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Highways Performance Space / collision/theory
Blood Red Lost Head Dead Falcon: The Nibelungen,
June 25, 2010, 8 pm; June, 26, 8:30 pm; June 27, 7:30 pm
Highways Performance Space and Artistic Director Leo Garcia
present collision/theory's Blood Red Lost Head Dead Falcon: THE NIBELUNGEN. The ancient text, Das Nibelungenlied, provided inspiration for Wagner's Ring cycle. This workshop production combines animation, video, original music, live performance, dance and puppetry, to create a modern multimedia retelling of this tale.

KUSC Classical 91.5fm
Ring Programming
KUSC has some exciting Ring Festival events planned for June, including its own presentation of the complete Ring cycle, in historic recordings, and, on "LA Opera on Air," performances of the complete cycle from the current season.
LA Opera on Air: The Ring, with Duff Murphy, June 5, Die Wälkure; June 12, Siegfried; June 19, Götterdämmerung, 10am

KUSC Ring Tones
Duff Murphy presents special 90-second features in June, illuminating unusual aspects of the cycle.
Info: www.KUSC.org or (213) 225-7412

Los Angeles Philharmonic
Christine Brewer in Recital with Craig Rutenberg on Piano, June 1, 2010, 8 pm
The American soprano will sing Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder among other works.
Admission $37-$95. Tickets: www.laphil.com or (323) 850-2000
Walt Disney Concert Hall, 151 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Los Angeles Public Library
We Tell Stories Presents 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 Rheingold, 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.
Info: www.ringfestivalla.com or www.lapl.org

Lyric Opera of Los Angeles
Wagner's Die Feen (The Fairies),
June 11, 12, 17 & 19, 2010, 7:30 pm
Lyric Opera of Los Angeles will perform Wagner's first completed opera Die Feen (The Fairies). Die Feen is an opera in three acts. The performances will be fully staged with orchestra.
Tickets: www.lyricoperala.org
South Pasadena MiScA, 1600 Oak St., South Pasadena, CA 91030

The Museum of Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles
(MOCA) & LA Opera
Domingo-Thornton Young Artists in Recital, June 11, 2010, 4 pm; June 18 & 25, 2010, Noon
Young artists from LA Opera's Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program perform in recitals featuring the music of Wagner.
Info: www.moca.org or 213-626-6222. MOCA Admission $10, Seniors/Students $5
250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Musical Theatre Guild
Das Barbecü, June 14, 2010, 7:30 pm
A country-western parody of the Ring cycle. The Hollywood Reporter commented: "Conjure up your basic Texas hootenanny, complete with lassos, long-neck beers, fringed leather and steel guitars. Now, if you can, marry that image with Wagner's Ring cycle, in all its operatic, melodramatic intensity. These improbable, no impossible, bedfellows come deliriously together in this splendidly giddy musical."
Info: www.musicaltheatreguild.com
Tickets: $40, Children (15 & under) $15, (818) 243-2539
Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd. Glendale, CA 91203

Sundays Live
Ryan de Ryke and Daniel Scholsberg in Recital, June 20, 2010, 6 pm
Baritone Ryan de Ryke and Pianist Daniel Scholsberg celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Hugo Wolf with a program of settings by Goethe and Eichendorff. Heavily influenced by Wagnerian chromaticism, Hugo Wolf fused poetry and music in unprecedented ways to achieve an artwork of undeniable profundity.
Info: www.sundayslive.org or (323) 857-6234
LACMA, Bing Theater, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036

Symphony in the Glen
Wagner v. Mendelssohn: Union in Partition, June 27, 2010
Music by two titans of German Romanticism, whose music is forever linked with the nuptial tradition. Symphony in the Glen presents Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream in rebuttal to Wagner's scathing dismissal of Mendelssohn's shimmering gifts. Maestro Arthur B. Rubinstein conducts the orchestra, with the Independent Shakespeare Company, soloists, and children's chorus.
Location information: www.symphonyintheglen.org or (213) 955-6976

Young Musicians Foundation
UCLA Choral Concert with the Debut Orchestra-Beethoven, Missa Solemnis, June 5, 2010, 8 pm
Tickets: $12, UCLA faculty staff and students (with ID) $5,
www.ymf.org or (310) 859-7668
UCLA's Royce Hall, 340 Royce Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90095

Center Theatre Group
Reading of Richard and Felix: Twilight in Venice by Cornelius Schnauber, June 13, 2010, 7 pm
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: $20, www.centertheatregroup.org or (213) 628-2772
Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232

CINEMA

American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre
Apocalypse Now Redux, June 4, 2010, 7:30 pm
Screening of Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Academy Award-winning drama Apocalypse Now with two sequences not included in the original. Reluctant assassin Martin Sheen leads a motley crew of soldiers upriver to find unhinged and off-the-map colonel Marlon Brando in this wildly surreal Vietnam epic. The film's arresting score incorporates original music by Coppola, his father, and The Ring of the Nibelung. Mitchell Morris, Associate Professor of Musicology at UCLA, will speak prior to the screening.
Info: www.americancinematheque.com or (323) 466-3456. Tickets: $11, Members $7, www.fandango.com or Box Office 1½ hr. prior to screening
6712 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028

CONVERSATIONS & SYMPOSIA

American Jewish University
Art & Morality-Music of an Anti-Semite, June 6, 2010, 10 am-3 pm
Dr. Michael Berenbaum moderates this seminar. Presenting scholars include Sander Gilman, Steve Lowenstein, and Marc Weiner. LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director James Conlon will share brief remarks and Gottfried Wagner will make an afternoon presentation.
Info: www.ajula.edu
RSVP: (310) 440-1279, seating is limited
Gindi Auditorium (AJU), 15600 Mulholland Dr., Bel-Air, CA, 90077

C3: Center for Conscious Creativity
Symposia, Exhibits, and Inter-active Performances, June 18-20, 2010
Inspired by the Ring motifs and in the spirit of the Camerata society and Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, c3 and its community will be exploring the current state of the arts, technology and consciousness through a series of symposiums, exhibits and immersive interactive performances.
Info: www.c3visionlab.org or (213) 706-2376
600 Moulton Ave., Suite 204, Los Angeles, CA 90031

Goethe Institut
The Ring: A Discussion with Achim Freyer and Matthew Gurewitsch, June 4, 2010, 7 pm
The director/designer and the journalist discuss LA Opera's first presentation of Richard Wagner's epic Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Info: www.goethe.de/ins/us/los/enindex.htm or (323) 525-3388
5750 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Hammer Museum & University of California, Los Angeles
Wagner in LA: The Opera of the 21st Century? June 1-2, 2010, 10 am-6 pm
A conference on the productivity, even urgency of Wagner for contemporary art and critical theory, with talks by some of the most innovative musicologists and philosophers in the world today including David J. Levin, Mary Ann Smart, John Deathridge, Clemens Risi, Alain Badiou, Slavoj Žižek, and Fredric Jameson.
Info: www.hammer.ucla.edu or (310) 443-7000
10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024

The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens/LA Opera
Wagner, His World and His Critics, June 9, 2010, 10 am-4 pm
The Huntington Library is the repository of a first edition of George Bernard Shaw's famous criticism: The Perfect Wagnerite, on display in the Library. Featuring LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director James Conlon; Wagner scholar John Deathridge; UCLA musicology professor Mitchell Morris; and opera lecturer Desirée Mays, the seminar will explore how Wagner's contemporary critics viewed his work and the world. The seminar day includes a musical performance, lunch and admission to the galleries and gardens.
Admission: $65, open to 190 participants
Register: www.laopera.com or (213) 972-8001
1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, CA 91108

J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM, THE GETTY VILLA/LA OPERA
Wagner's Mythology: Classical Roots and Inspiration, June 19, 10:30 am-3:30 pm
Richard Wagner culled from many sources-including ancient Greek drama-to create his masterwork Der Ring des Nibelungen, four operas based on German and Scandinavian folklore. This seminar features two talks exploring the classic sources that compelled Wagner to create his magnum opus. Specialist in German folklore, Peter Tokofsky, opens the program and is joined by Getty Associate Curator of Antiquities, Mary Louise Hart, and UCLA musicology professor, Mitchell Morris. After lunch, a special presentation by LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director James Conlon, tours of the Museum's antiquities collection, and a musical performance conclude the day. Open to 200 participants.
Location: Auditorium, The Getty Villa (17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades)
Reservations: $95; $75 students; box lunch included. Call the Getty at 310.440.7300 to register.
Villa Auditorium, 17985 Pacific Coast Hwy., Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

LACMA/LA OPERA
Wagner and Myth, June 5, 2010, 10 am-4 pm
Inspired by LACMA's exhibit Myths, Legends, and Cultural Renewal: Wagner's Sources, the seminar will delve into the heroic mythologies that Wagner drew from when developing his epic Der Ring des Nibelungen. Presenters for the day include James Conlon, LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director; Timothy O. Benson, LACMA Curator; John Deathridge, Wagner scholar; Mitchell Morris, UCLA musicology professor; and Desirée Mays, opera lecturer. Lunch and admission to the galleries is included in the fee.
Admission $65, open to 200 participants
Register: www.laopera.com or (213) 972-8001
Bing Auditorium, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026

Mount St. Mary's College
Seminar: "Myth and Imagery of the Ring," June 11-12, 2010, 9 am-4 pm
This seminar explores the significance of the "ring" in Wagnerian operas, compares it to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and focuses on LA Opera's Ring production. The lectures, video clips, handouts, and panel of scholars will stimulate small-group discussions inspired by the ancient Northern saga of warriors, dragons, and heroic encounters with evil. Admission $125
Register: www.msmc.la.edu/ringseminars

Architectural Seminar & Tour, June 14-15, 2010, 9 am-4 pm
This seminar, with on-site tours, studies three imaginative treasures of Los Angeles architecture: The Getty Center (Richard Meier), the Schindler Kings Road House (Rudolf Schindler), and Walt Disney Concert Hall (Frank O. Gehry). Visits to the three buildings are preceded by lectures and discussions of imaginative connections: classic Valhalla on the hill over Brentwood, the patio-beach primal nature style introduced by Schindler, and the Brothers Grimm fantasy of post-modern Disney Hall. Seminar is limited to 20 participants with priority for participants in the Ring seminar.
Admission $125
Register: www.msmc.la.edu/ringseminars
The Doheny Campus of Mount St. Mary's College, 10 Chester Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90007

Norton Simon Museum
André Dombrowski, on "Wagner, Cézanne and Early Modernist Painting in France," June 12, 2010, 4 pm
André Dombrowski, assistant professor, Department of the History of Art, University of Pennsylvania, addresses the popularization of Wagner's operas in France in the 1860s and 1870s, especially the aesthetic and political implications of his influence on French avant-garde painting, such as Cézanne's Girl at the Piano (Overture to Tannhäuser), 1868, painted just before the Franco-Prussian War.
Info: www.nortonsimon.org or (626) 449-6840
Free with museum admission: Adults $8; Seniors/Students (with ID) $4, Patrons 18 & under free
411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91105

University of Southern California: College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Wagner's Ring Cycle: Meanings, Sources, Influences, June 7, 14, & 21, 2010, 7:30-9:30 pm; June 12, 10 am-12 pm
Enrich your understanding of the Ring with an in-depth study of the operas with USC faculty and other guest speakers. The four-part series includes a back-stage tour of LA Opera's Siegfried production on June 12.
Info: www.college.usc.edu or (213) 740-1349
Admission: $200 (open to the public)
Register: www.regonline.com/wagnerringcycle
USC Campus, Taper of Hall Humanities, 3501 Trousdale Pkwy., Los Angeles, CA 90089

Wagner Society of Southern California
Richard Wagner: The Good, the Bad and the Fiction, June 27, 2010, 1 pm
A look at Richard Wagner's life and his anti-Semitism.
Info: www.wagnersociety.us/wsoscschedule.htm
RSVP: (626) 771-2050, no later than June 21
Admission: Members free, Guests (with RFLA Guide in-hand) $10, General $25
Goethe-Institut, 5750 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90036

ECLECTICA

Descanso Gardens
Trees of Norse Myth, May 27-June 30, 2010, 9 am-5 pm
Descanso Gardens will feature the Trees of Norse Myth-a gardens exploration of the tales and tree specimens figuring in the original Norse myths which inspired Wagner's Ring cycle. The map for this exploration, in the form of a self-guided tour, will be available for free download beginning May 27, 2010.
Info: www.descansogardens.org or (818) 952-4391
Admission: $8, Senior/Students $6, Children (5-12 years) $3, Guild Members and Children under 5 free
1418 Descanso Dr., La Cañada-Flintridge, CA 91011

Griffith Observatory
Samuel Oschin Planetarium Exhibit: Light of the Valkyries, through September 5, 2010, Tues.-Fri. 12-10 pm; Sat.-Sun. 10 am-10 pm
Viking myth and modern astrophysics converge in the Samuel Oschin Planetarium for a celebration of the northern lights orchestrated to the music of Wagner's Ring cycle. This exciting and unprecedented new live planetarium show will be performed daily.
Info: www.griffithobservatory.org or (213) 473-0800
Admission: $7, Seniors/Students & FOTO Members $5, Children (ages 5-12) $3
2800 E. Observatory Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Los Angeles Conservancy
German Influence on Los Angeles' mid-20th Century Landscape Tours
A Tour of German Los Angeles in the Twentieth Century
The Los Angeles Conservancy is proud to participate in Ring Festival LA by compiling a Google map of historic sites associated with Germans in Los Angeles during the first half of the twentieth century. While Germans had a presence in Southern California well before the 1900s, the new century brought a uniquely talented group of artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, and intellectuals out to the West Coast, as either permanent citizens or long-term visitors living in exile from Hitler's Europe. From Carl Laemmle to Thomas Mann, many of these famed émigrés produced significant work during their time in Los Angeles.
You can enjoy a virtual tour online, and we encourage you to see some sites firsthand.
Annotated map available at: www.laconservancy.org
523 W. Sixth St., Suite 826, Los Angeles, CA 90014

Machine Project LA
Opening reception June 5, 8 pm; Installation continues June 5-19, 2010
Out of the Forest and Into the Light: Props for Richard Wagner/Jason Brown on the "Operatic Origins of the American Space Program"/The ing cycle,
Machine Project will present a basement installation tracing the history of Wagnerian set design, as well as a series of performances and lectures interpreting the Ring cycle. Artist Liz Glynn will construct a series of sculptural vignettes and drawings tracing the evolution of Wagnerian set design from naturalism to abstraction as it evolved at the Bayreuth Festival.
Visit machineproject.com for details.

"Operatic Origins of the American Space Program," June 12, 2010, 8 pm
Theorist and author Jason Brown will lecture on the operatic origins of the American space program.

ing, June 19 2010, 8 pm
The duo ing will perform a lo-fi musical interpretation of all four operas in an evening entitled "the ing cycle."
1200 N. Alvarado, Los Angeles, CA 90026

EDUCATIONAL

City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs
Deities, Demons and Heroes-A Shadow Play, June 5, 2010, 6:30-8:00 pm
Reflecting the grand theme of Wagner's Ring cycle, students from the Canoga Park Youth Arts Center will create an artistic shadow puppet production based upon Pre-Columbian creation myths from Mayan culture. Participating students will research and explore Mayan mythology and learn about the patterns and relationships that exist between Northern European and Pre-Columbian cultures. Students will then create elaborate shadow puppets based upon archetypal characters from selected stories. The session will culminate with a public performance of the shadow play, involving live music.
Info: web.mac.com/canogaparkartcenter
RSVP: (818) 346-7099, space is limited.
Canoga Park Youth Arts Center, 7222 Remmet Ave., Canoga Park, CA 91303

The HEART Project
The Ring Cycle: Re-Mixed, June 7, 2010 9 am-Noon
The HeArt Project, an arts program for teenagers in alternative high schools, comes to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to remix the Ring. Guided by professional artists HeArt Project teens have been examining Richard Wagner's epic during the spring semester. Asking questions such as: how can contemporary youth culture and new technologies re-imagine Wagner's vision in the 21st century? Can today's innovation and technology illuminate connections to the grand visions of the past? Can the epic struggles of ancient myth be re-configured for an accelerated global culture? Students have been reflecting on these concepts while creating their own artwork. These works will be displayed and discussed. Open to the public.
RSVP: www.theheartproject.org or (213) 744-1404
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Grand Hall, Music Center of Los Angeles County, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Santa Monica Museum of Art (SMMOA)
Ring: Works from SMMoA's Park Studio project, through August 21, 2010, Tues.-Sat. 11 am-6 pm
Santa Monica Museum of Art presents Ring an exhibition featuring work completed during the museum's signature outreach program for teens entitled Park Studio. Students worked with artist Gordon Bowen and his Arts ReFoundry Atelier to create sculptures in bronze inspired by themes from Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Info: www.smmoa.org or (310) 586-6488
Bergamot Station, G1, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404

HOSPITALITY

Let's Be Frank
German Hot Dogs, Through June 2010
The famous grass-fed beef hot dogs of Let's Be Frank will be available throughout Ring Festival LA during selected events. In honor of the Ring, Let's Be Frank has created a special German hot dog.
For cart/trailer schedule: www.letsbefrankdogs.com

The Opera League of Los Angeles
Concierge Information/Online Service & Ring Merchandise, Through June 26, 2010
On Ring cycle performance days, visitors can find answers to their questions at the booth on Music Center Plaza. Special Ring-related merchandise is available in the Pavilion lobby or online at: www.laopera.com.
Info: (323) 256-1814
Online Concierge: www.operaleague.org
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Music Center of Los Angeles County, 135 N. Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Patina Restaurant Association
German Food Festival, through June 26, 2010
Savor specialty menu items by German Chef Joachim Splichal inspired by The Ring at select Patina Restaurant Group locations.
Info: www.patinagroup.com

Patina's German Beer Garden on the Music Center Plaza, Through June 26, 2010
Enjoy a German beer before or after a performance, or just stop by to relax on the Plaza.
Music Center of Los Angeles County, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90012

RING FESTIVAL LA MERCHANDISE
Shop for posters, tee-shirts, tote bags and more at: www.cafepress.com/ringfestivalla

VISUAL ARTS

18th Street Arts Center/Clayton Campbell
Digital Wagner, May 1-June 25, 2010,
Mon.-Fri. 11 am-5:30 pm.
Acclaimed Los Angeles artist Clayton Campbell presents a digital photographic and media installation which explores the symbolism, mythic storytelling and social relevancy of the Ring cycle.
Info: www.18thstreet.org or (310) 453-3711
18th Street Arts Center, 1639 18th St., Santa Monica, CA 90404

ACE Gallery
Achim Freyer, May 31-June 25, 2010, Tue.-Sat. 10 am-6 pm
The gallery showing of LA Opera's Ring designer/director Achim Freyer's paintings affords an opportunity to become acquainted with the artist's work beyond the stage. Founded in 1961 by the Gallery's current director Douglas Chrismas, ACE gallery has a history of installing ambitious museum quality exhibitions.
Info: www.acegallery.net or (323) 935-4411
5514 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036

Autry National Center
Opera in the Libraries (online exhibition), Through 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

California Art Club
Paintings from the Ring Paint-Outs (Venues & Dates Below)
For the past year, members of the California Art Club have been painting scenes and mythic themes of the Ring cycle in plein air at various locations around the county. The finished works by the nationally renowned artists who participated are on exhibition in three locations.
Info: www.californiaartclub.org or (626) 583-9009
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Through July 16, 2010;
www.olacathedral.org, (213) 680-5200, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

The Fine Arts Building, Through June 4, 2010; 811 W. 7th St., Los Angeles, CA 90017

Pasadena Museum of California Art, June 13-July 3, 2010, Wed.-Sun., Noon-5 pm;
Admission $7, Seniors & Students $5, Members free, www.pmcaonline.org or (626) 568-3665
490 East Union St. Pasadena, CA, 91101

Highways Performance Space/Michael Manning
Blade in the Heart, June 22-July 11, 2010, Tue.-Fri. 2 pm-5 pm
Highways Performance Space and Gallery will host Blade in the Heart, a new solo exhibition by Michael Manning. This exhibit will include original works created specifically for this venue as well as reproductions of images from Manning's illustrated book
THE NIBELUNGEN. A book signing will precede the June 26, 8:30 pm performance of collision/theory's Blood Red Lost Head Dead Falcon: THE NIBELUNGEN. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
Gallery is open 1½ hours before performances (schedule on website), and by appointment
www.highwaysperformance.org or (310) 453-1755
1639 18th St., Santa Monica, CA 90404

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
A Display of George Bernard Shaw and a Wagner transcription of a Haydn Symphony, June 1-30, 2010
This special exhibit will display a Wagner-transcribed Haydn Symphony, a first edition of George Bernard Shaw's The Perfect Wagnerite, as well as other selections of Shaw materials from the Huntington's collection. The display will be housed in the east end of the Library Exhibition Hall.
Admission & Hours: www.huntington.org or (626) 405-2100
1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, CA 91108

LACMA
Myths, Legends and Cultural Renewal: Wagner's Sources, Through August 16, 2010, Mon., Tue. & Thu., Noon-8 pm; Fri., Noon -9 pm; Sat. & Sun. 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.

Wagner and Masks: From the Artwork of the Future to Achim Freyer's Ring, June 12, 2010, 2 pm
A lecture by Katherine R. Syer, Asst. Professor of Musicology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Info: www.lacma.org or (323) 932-5881
Admission: $12, Seniors (62+) & Students (18+) (with ID) $8; Children (17 and under) free
5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026

The Latino Museum of History, Art and Culture
Epic Tales of Latino Art, Through June 30, 2010, Tue.-Sun. 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 Ring are dramatic, mythical, fantastical, conflicting yet real and thought provoking.
514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013

Norton Simon Museum
Walking Tour: Form and Emotion in Rodin and Wagner,
Through June 30, 2010, Wed.-Mon., 12-6 pm
The museum presents a self-guided tour of the eight sculptures by Auguste Rodin in the Museum's gardens. The tour draws interesting parallels between the two great 19th-century artists: Richard Wagner, the preeminent composer of Romantic music, and Rodin, the first sculptor of the modern age.
Info: Pick up a free brochure of the tour at the Museum's Info Desk, www.nortonsimon.org or (626) 449-6840
411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91105

Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum,
California State University, San Bernardino
Timeless Enchantment: Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung in Visual Arts and Performance, Through July 31, 2010, Tue., Wed., Fri. & Sat., 10 am-5 pm; Thu., 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.
Info: www.museum.csusb.edu or (909) 537-5000
5500 University Pkwy., San Bernardino, CA 92407

Ruth Bachofner Gallery
Ring Images by Monika Rittershaus, Through July 26, 2010, Tue.- Sat. 10 am-6 pm
Performance photos by Monika Rittershaus of LA Opera's first presentation of the Ring, designed and directed by Achim Freyer. Rittershaus is an internationally distinguished theater photographer and the exclusive photographer for the production.
Info: ruthbachofnergallery.com or (310) 829-3300
Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., G2, Santa Monica CA 90404