News Release| Luckman Fine Arts Complex; Cal State L.A.

India.Arie, CocoRosie, Jane Birkin, Tinariwen, Idan Raichel, and more at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex

Los Angeles, CA --- The Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State L.A. announces another season of groundbreaking international headliners, with artists coming to Los Angeles from over 15 countries, showcasing the best in music, dance, theatre, and visual arts from around the world.

The 2011/2012 season will feature a rare performance by actress and musician Jane Birkin (Dec. 3), the legendary muse of French-pop icon Serge Gainsbourg. Birkin will perform songs from her four-decade long career. The Luckman Complex will also present avant-garde American duo CocoRosie (Feb. 11), whose live performances blend their hypnotic sounds into seamless performance art.

Celebrated R&B recording artist India.Arie (Oct. 13) will grace the stage with Israeli superstar Idan Raichel performing live material from their new collaborative project Open Door, featuring lyrics both in English and Hebrew. Soul diva Nikka Costa (May 12) will debut songs from her upcoming EP release PRO*WHOA!, along with hits including “Like a Feather” and “Push & Pull.” Grammy Award-winner and prolific R&B artist Aaron Neville (Dec. 17) will perform a special holiday concert.

The hugely popular Malian ensemble Tinariwen (Oct. 29) returns to Los Angeles for their Luckman Theatre debut as part a new tour for their latest album release +10:1. Returning for an encore performance at the Luckman Complex is the Czech Republic’s international sensation, violinist, and vocalist Iva Bittová (Oct. 22). Legendary Czech guitarist Vladimir Václavek is set to reunite and perform with Iva from their epic collaboration, Bilé© Inferno. French electro-chanteuse  Émilie Simon (Oct. 22) will join Bittová on this special co-bill event. After three albums, Simon aims to take on the U.S. with her latest release, The Big Machine, and will kick off her tour at the Luckman Complex.

Macedonian-Gypsy vocalist, songwriter, and humanitarian Esma Redžepova (Oct. 1) makes her first live appearance in Los Angeles in close to a decade. With an illustrious career spanning more than 50 years, Esma Redžepova was crowned the "Queen of Gypsy Music" at the first World Festival of Romani Songs and Music. Her Luckman appearance will also be the opening concert of the World Festival of Sacred Music.

Anoushka Shankar (Apr. 21) will perform a concert of Flamenco music entirely on Indian instruments, as a sonic voyage through the history of the Roma people, following their journey from the Iranian plateau to Europe. Shankar began training on the sitar with her father, Ravi Shankar, and draws influence from India, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.

Fresh from their 2011 Coachella performance, German experimental and instrumental trio Brandt Brauer Frick (Nov. 12) brings an eloquently crafted modern-classical and electro-pop vibe to the Luckman Intimate Theatre.

Acclaimed Taiwanese-Australian violinist Ray Chen (Nov. 19) will perform at the Luckman Complex; his first L.A. performance in years. At the age of 22, Chen was invited by the Olympic committee to perform for the opening celebration of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.  The Luckman Complex will also feature a season-long tribute series by the Luckman Jazz Orchestra to influential jazz musicians who changed the landscape of the genre. This years tributes will include music by Horace Silver (Sep. 24), Hank Mobley (Jan. 21), J.J. Johnson (Mar. 10), and Charlie Parker (May 19).

The Luckman Fine Arts Complex continues to be the home of the best in contemporary dance from around the globe. Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Chunky Move (Mar. 17) has earned an enviable reputation for producing a distinct yet unpredictable brand of technology-driven and genre-defying dance performance. San Francisco-based dance company Robert Moses’ Kin (May 5) will perform their newly developed piece Faith and Fable. Cloud Gate II (Feb. 18), a stellar ensemble of the next generation of choreographers and dancers from Taiwan, will perform pieces from their innovative and visually stunning repertoire. Paris-based physical theatre group Macadámes (Sep. 17) make their U.S. debut at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex. Combining mime, acrobatics, object manipulation, music, and dance, Macadámes create whimsical theatrical performances. 

The Luckman will present its third annual World Arts Day (Oct. 8), a free event designed to give the community the opportunity to interact with various art forms from around the world. This year, in collaboration with the World Festival of Sacred Music, the Luckman Complex will present Burat Wangi and Sekar Jaya in the Mebarung, a Balinese dance competition, as well as Makoto Taiko, a sensational Japanese drumming ensemble. All performances, interactive workshops, and seminars are free of charge. Also coming to the Luckman Complex is a special performance by the Brass Ensemble of Simón Bolí­var Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (Jan. 25). Free of charge, this event is co-presented with the LA Phil as part of its Mahler symphony cycle with Gustavo Dudamel.  

The Luckman will present two film series showcasing the best in world-renowned cinema. This year the Luckman is home to the third annual Tournées French Film Festival, a series of recent critically-acclaimed French cinema. On the bill this year are Un Prophéte, L'Illusionniste, Persepolis, and more. The Global Lens Film Series will feature widely praised films from five different countries, including Dancer in the Dark, Run Lola Run, Va, Vis et Deviens, and more. All screenings for both film festivals are free of charge. 

The Luckman Gallery will have four installations of renowned local and international contemporary artists. The first exhibition Primer II (Sep. 17), will feature one painter, sculptor, photographaer, and filmaker in an introduction to the vibrant Los Angeles art community. The second exhibition will feature the works of John Souza (Nov. 12), spanning his 30-year career. The third installation, Galerí­a Perdida (Jan. 28), focuses on the collaboration between artists Andrés Janacua and Julie Spielman, who employ a mulit-disciplinary approach in their artistic processes. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Apr. 7) is the Luckman Gallery’s final exhibition of 2011/2012 and brings together a group of Latin American artists whose works draw attention to overlooked conditions and experiences in several Latin American countries today.

The Luckman Fine Arts Complex delivers cutting edge music, dance, and visual arts from around the world to the Los Angeles community. A professional arts entity on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles, located just five miles east of downtown, the Luckman Complex is home to three unique space: the Luckman Theatre, with a capacity of nearly 1200; the Intimate Theatre, with modular seating of up to 300; and the Luckman Gallery, with contemporary presentations throughout the year. Since 1994, the Luckman has featured the best in international and local music, dance, theatre, and visual art. Bringing once-in-a-lifetime experiences and artists from all over the globe to Los Angeles, the Luckman furthers its mission of presenting the best of world-class arts to a diverse community. 
 

(Gallery opening details for Primer II, John Souza, Galería Perdida, and The Revolution Will Not Be Televised will be posted at luckmanarts.org as they become available.)

TICKET INFO: Tickets for all events are available on Ticketmaster and via the Luckman Box Office at 323-343-6600. (Admission to free events can also be reserved via the Luckman Box Office.)
PRESS INFO: Interviews requests with artists, press kits (full event info, bios, high-res photos, etc), and press passes can be requested by calling the Luckman Marketing Office at 323-343-6616.  

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Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 220,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to the Honors College for high-achieving students, opening in fall 2011. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu