When R.M. Schindler’s landmark Kings Road House was built in 1922 in what was a yet to be fully developed area of Los Angeles, it must have been an exotic encounter for passersby. Artist Ann Trondson’s performance was an inquiry into how this radically different building may have been experienced. What would it have been like to come upon such an extraordinary house, particularly at night?
The audience for Rehearsal/Recording sat in the house’s garden, eavesdropping on both a rehearsal and a recording session by an unseen string quintet that played inside the house. Guests were able to listen to the performance, but not able to see the musicians. Renowned Canadian composer Claudio Vena was commissioned to write a piece of music on site. On the night of the event, musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, including first violinist Mischa Lefkowitz, gathered together with Vena for the first time to rehearse and record the composed music inside the Schindler House.