Professors Robert Rushing and Tom Harrison (UCLA European Languages & Transcultural Studies) and bassist and composer Lisa Mezzacappa in conversation about the relationship of music and literature and her 2019 album inspired by Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics.
Date and time: Thurs Oct 19 | 4:00 pm
Venue: UCLA Royce 236
Berkeley, CA-based composer, bassist, and producer Lisa Mezzacappa has been an active part of California’s vibrant music community for more than 20 years. Her activities as a composer and ensemble leader include ethereal chamber music, electro-acoustic works, adventurous jazz, non-traditional opera, music for groups from duo to large ensemble, and collaborations with film, dance, and visual art. Recent projects include Cosmicomics, a suite for electro-acoustic jazz sextet based on Italo’s Calvino’s stories about the origins of the cosmos; Organelle, a chamber work for improvisers grounded in scientific processes; Glorious Ravage, an evening-length song cycle for large ensemble and films drawn from the writings of Victorian lady adventurers; and Touch Bass, a collaboration with choreographer Risa Jaroslow. She is currently collaborating with writer Beth Lisick on the serial audio opera The Electronic Lover.
This event is part of the 23rd edition of the Week of Italian Language in the World – the Italian Language and Sustainability, with a specific focus on the work of Italian writer Italo Calvino (1923-1985), celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth.
