Music Concert Featuring Bach's Masterpieces at Serra Venue
On September 23, 2022, a remarkable event is taking place at UCLA's Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden. Antonio Lysy, a professor of cello performance at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, will perform J.S. Bach's six suites for solo cello inside the imposing T.E.U.C.L.A. sculpture by renowned artist Richard Serra.
The T.E.U.C.L.A. sculpture, commissioned by Eli Broad and installed in 2006, is a testament to Serra's artistic intentions. It explores the physical boundaries of the materials used and the specific sites where they are installed. Notable for its formidable size and curvature, the sculpture invites exploration and investigation, making it an ideal setting for this unique performance.
The fusion of Bach's music with minimalist contemporary visual art is intended to enhance the viewer's experience. Lysy, an advocate for pushing performances beyond traditional stages, believes that this merger will stimulate a fresh perspective, reawakening the senses and breaking free from purist codes of behaviour.
The sculpture's irregular cone-like shape acts as an amplifier for sounds, particularly the cello, enhancing the experience of Bach's suites. The performance is free and open to the public, and will be livestreamed for those who cannot attend in person.
Fia Darroch, an art curator and writer, is associated with the event. Passers-by are encouraged to stop and experience the performance, listen from outside, or view from the balcony of the Broad Art Center.
This performance is part of Lysy's programming to extend the language of art and re-contextualize classical music. The T.E.U.C.L.A. sculpture places the responsibility of content on the viewer's engagement with themselves, time, and space.
Bach's cello suites, composed approximately three hundred years ago, were among the first compositions written for a secular audience. Performing them inside Serra's immersive sculpture would create a compelling dialogue between music's temporal flow and sculpture's spatial presence. This likely aims to merge the auditory experience of Bach’s timeless compositions with the physical and visual interaction of Serra’s art, enhancing the sensory dimension of both.
While specific documentation or critique of the exact event on September 23, 2022, is not readily available, these inferences provide a glimpse into what promises to be a captivating fusion of music and visual art. For a detailed history or artist statements about this particular performance, you may want to consult UCLA’s event archives or specialists in interdisciplinary art events at the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden.
The performance featuring Antonio Lysy on September 23, 2022, at UCLA's Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden aims to stimulate a fresh perspective, merging J.S. Bach's music with Richard Serra's minimalist contemporary visual art, thereby enhancing both the auditory experience and the sensory dimension. As part of Lysy's programming, the event intends to re-contextualize classical music and extension of the language of art, while the T.E.U.C.L.A. sculpture by Serra encourages self-development and learning through the viewer's engagement with the artwork.
