Initially staged by architects Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena in 2013, the interpretive opera Pauline probes the personal and professional experiences that are as much a part of the history of the Schindler House as its design and construction. Throughout the making and breaking of friendships, relationships with clients, and the dissolution of the Schindlers’ marriage, performance and music remained constant. Pauline’s letters mention many musicians she knew: Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, William Grant Still, Henry Cowell, John Cage, and others. For the opera, Escher and GuneWardena draw from passages by a number of these composers—either as inspiration or direct quotation—to weave them together with texts from the Schindler Archive. A single performance of the opera was first staged in the house and gardens on Sunday, October 13, 2013, prior to the A Little Joy of a Bungalow exhibition.
*** PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT*** The performance on Saturday, October 1, 2022, requires a ticket and walk-ins will not be allowed admission. Doors open at 5:00pm. Performance begins 5:30pm. A reception will follow.
Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena, Concept and Libretto
Mary Ellen Childs, Composer
Argenta Walther, Mezzo-Soprano
Charles Lane, Tenor
Todd Moellenberg, Piano
April Dawn Guthrie, Cello
Christine Tavolacci, Flute
Frank Escher
Frank Escher, trained at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH, Zürich), is the editor of the monograph “John Lautner, Architect”, was the administrator for the John Lautner Archive (1995-2007), and serves on the boards of the John Lautner Foundation, the Julius Shulman Institute, and the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design.
Ravi GuneWardena
Ravi GuneWardena, originally from Sri Lanka, studied architecture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and art history in Florence, Italy, and served on the Hollywood Public Art Advisory Panel for the CRA/LA. He is a teacher of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana. Escher and GuneWardena have been visiting professors at Cal Poly Pomona, University of Southern California (Escher), and the Walsh Distinguished Visiting Professors at University of Oregon. They were recently visiting professors at the Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL, Lausanne) for 2016-2017 academic year.
Escher GuneWardena Architecture
Escher and GuneWardena have collaborated since 1997. The extraordinary range of projects of Escher GuneWardena Architecture – small, conceptually rigorous projects; ecologically and socially innovative urban design proposals; and work in the fields of contemporary art and architectural history -- reflects the broad cultural interests of the firm’s principals, Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena. They frequently collaborate with internationally known contemporary artists, thinkers, consultants, and cultural institutions.
Pauline: An Opera is part of the centennial celebration of the Schindler House, made possible with support from the Graham Foundation for Art and Architecture, City of West Hollywood, California Arts Council, Department of Cultural Affairs, the MAK Center Centennial Council, the MAK Center Patron program, and our sponsors.
Piano provided courtesy of Steinway & Sons, which is proud to support the artistic mission of the MAK Center for Art and Architecture.
Performance of EscherGuneWardena's, Pauline in 2013. Photo by Clarke Latta Henry III.
Related
Exhibition
SCHINDLER HOUSE: 100 YEARS IN THE MAKING
May 28, 2022-September 25, 2022