Civitella Advisory Council Member Annie Gosfield (CRF 2008, Juror) has a premiere coming up on April 9 at 5:30, by the L.A. Philharmonic. “The Secret Life of Planets,” is a song cycle that picks up where Gosfield’s 2017 opera “War of the Worlds” left off. Tickets are just $5. The event, “Noon to Midnight,” features 12 world premieres and 5 LA Phil Commissions; work by Civitellians including Wadada Leo Smith (CRF 2003), Christopher Cerrone (CRF 2012, Juror), Board Director Du Yun (CRF 2015), and inti figgis-vizueta (Incoming Music Fellow 2022) will also be featured at the event.
Annie says:
“As I did my research for this song cycle (which provided the premise for the opera) and learned about every planet’s unique characteristics, they became downright human to me. I cast each planet in human form, imagining stories of a ragtag bunch that, like us, was flawed, idiosyncratic, lonely, and often harboring secrets. Maybe it was the lockdown, and gazing out the window at night while seeing very few people, that made me transmogrify the heavenly bodies into human companions. This group of songs will be performed by the dynamic duo of Hila Plitmann, who was wildly virtuosic in her role as the voice of the Martian, and James Hayden, our beloved crooner. The fantastic David Bloom will conduct the L.A. Philharmonic New Music Group. As in ‘War of the Worlds,’ I wanted to reference the crackling ambience of a radio orchestra, writing pieces that shift through a cycle of interplanetary moods, incorporating noisy recordings of outer space, dance music, darkness and humor. See why Seth Colter Walls of the New York Times called it ‘thrilling chamber orchestra writing.’ Here’s a 5 minute sample of what kicked it off. Fun fact: the official title is ‘Earthly Gossip and Heavenly Bodies: The Secret Life of Planets.'”