October 18, 2019
Concerto for Having Fun with Elvis on Stage
DANIEL CORRAL
Friday October 18, 2019 Two shows! 8:30 PM and 10:30 PM
World Premiere
Concerto for Having Fun with Elvis on Stage
DANIEL CORRAL
Automata presents the premiere of DANIEL CORRAL's Concerto for Having Fun with Elvis on Stage (CHFES), a collaboration with director/performer Alexander Gedeon and the Now Hear Ensemble. CHFES combines live music and theatrical performance to reframe the cultural significance of the “worst album in rock and roll history.”
“Having Fun with Elvis on Stage” is a 1973 album collaged entirely from Elvis speaking on stage between songs at live concerts - no music. AllMusic’s Mark Deming declared “hearing it is like witnessing a car wreck, leaving onlookers too horrified and too baffled to turn away.” Concerto for Having Fun with Elvis on Stage reimagines this vilified recording as the libretto for a sort of ghost opera, combining pop art nostalgia with new technology and classical instruments to create a memetic hologram of the endless purgatory of celebrity afterlife.
Members of the Now Hear Ensemble (Federico Llach, Brian Walsh, and myself) will perform Corral's original live musical score along with the original LP as if we were the pit orchestra for opera or musical theater - sometimes harmonizing with the words, painting emotions in the spaces between, or reacting theatrically. Meanwhile, Alexander Gedeon’s "Elvis" persona becomes a vehicle to explore all things banal and absurd in pop idolatry, as well as the performative aspects of 'stage presence'.
The performance of CHFES will be preceded by a screening of Count In, a video piece by Daniel Corral that combines the voice of Poly Styrene (from 70s British punk band X-Ray Spex) with musical minimalism and colorful video. The result is a mix of Steve Reich, James Turrell, X-Ray Spex, LaMonte Young, and Sesame Street Pinball Number Counts.
Costume Design by X. Hill
Two Shows! Friday, October 18, 2019
8:30 PM and 10:30 PM
$20 General Admission
$15 Students/ Seniors/ Automata Members
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Born and raised in Alaska, Daniel Corral's unique musical voice finds outlet in accordion orchestras, handmade music boxes, post-punk opera, microtonal electronics, puppetry, site-specific installations, chamber music, and inter-disciplinary collaborations. His next album will be released in 2020 by MicroFest Records, featuring the Los Angeles Electric 8.
Alexander Gedeon is a stage director of new opera and music theater born and based in Los Angeles. Previous collaborations include The Industry/LA Phil, Long Beach Opera and San Diego Opera. In March 2020, Gedeon will direct Sanctuaries, a site-specific chamber opera about gentrification for Third Angle New Music in Portland, Oregon.
The Now Hear Ensemble combines the classical concert experience with electronics, multimedia, and theater. Recent venues include REDCAT, Stanford University, UCSB, UCSD, and UC Berkeley.
Daniel Corral website: spinalfrog.com
SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/spinalfrog
Facebook: facebook.com/spinalfrogmusic
Twitter: twitter.com/spinalfrog
at:
AUTOMATA
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Los Angeles, CA 90012
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