Events

The WSSC plans unique events

throughout the calender year…

Our events occur in several regular places throughout the year and sometimes in special locations which will be noted:

NOTE: ZOOM Events are a members

preferred attendance, then guests

are on a first come first serve basis.

The Colburn School 200 S. Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90012 Directions Parking The Chairman’s Home: 1630 South Barranca Ave.. #167 Glendora, CA 91740 Directions Bayreuth Festival Festspielhügel 1-2 85445 Bayreuth

A DISCUSSION WITH…

Katharina Wagner

Sunday, Nov. 13th, @ 11AM PST

via Zoom

…with John Mastrogiovanni, hosted by the WSSC, inviting all the English-speaking Wagner Societies in North America and beyond. This will be a live discussion with Katharina Wagner via Zoom. After our discussion we will have a Q & A. If you would like to ask her a question, please fill out the question option at the bottom of your RSVP form. Only pre-submitted questions will be offered. Thank you for participating! Born in 1978 in Bayreuth, Katharina Wagner studied theatre studies at the Free University of Berlin and now lives in Bayreuth and Berlin. During her studies, she also held numerous assistant director positions under, among others, Keith Warner, and Harry Kupfer. She also worked as assistant director and employee of the festival management at the Bayreuth Festival since 1996, her directorial debut on the Green Hill followed in the summer of 2007 with The Meistersinger von Nürnberg. It was followed by productions of Rienzi at the Bremen Theatre (2008), Tannhäuser in in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (2009) and Puccini's Madama Butterfly (2010) and Tiefland (2011) at the Staatstheater, Mainz. At the Bayreuth Festival in 2015, she staged Tristan and Isolde. In 2018 her production of Fidelio staged its premiere in Tokyo. Since September 2008, the great- granddaughter of Richard Wagner has held the position of artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival and managing director of BF Medien GmbH, a subsidiary of the Bayreuth Festival.

LOHENGRIN: Behind the Scenes

Drama at the MET

with Erica Miner

Sunday, Dec. 11th @ 1:00 PM PST

at the Colburn School

From onstage fainting during Elsa’s Procession to the infamous thousands of nonstop notes that practically make string players’ bow arms fall off, Wagner’s Lohengrin is rife with untold difficulties that only an insider would be privy to. Former Met Opera violinist Erica Miner reveals the behind-the-scenes dramas that made her experiences with this much-loved opera so memorable. Violinist turned author Erica Miner has had a multi-faceted career as an award-winning screenwriter, author, journalize and lecturer. A native of Detroit, she studied music at Boston University with Boston Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Joseph Silverstein, where she graduated cum laude; the New England Conservatory of Music; and the Tanglewood Music Center, summer home of the Boston Symphony, where she performed with such celebrated conductors as Leonard Bernstein. Erica went on to perform with the prestigious Metropolitan Opera Company for twenty-one years, where she worked closely with renowned maestro James Levine. When injuries from a car accident spelled the end of her musical career, Erica drew upon her lifelong love of writing for inspiration and studied screenwriting in New York and Los Angeles with such script gurus as Linda Seger and Ken Rotcop. Erica’s screenplays have won awards in such recognized competitions as WinFemme, Santa Fe and the Writer’s Digest. This event will be recorded for our members who cannot attend the live event and will be available in the WSSC Media Archives.

HOW TIME BECOMES SPACE?

with Jasmin Solfaghari

Sunday, Jan. 29th @ 11:00 AM PST

via Zoom

“HOW TIMES BECOMES SPACE? ASPECTS OF A DIRECTOR’S CONCEPTION IN WAGNER’S ‘PARSIFAL’” For the last year Ms. Solfaghari has been working on a unique production of Parsifal on the Goetheanum stage in Switzerland for Easter 2023 as a co-production of Pamy Media Productions and the Goetheanum. It combines a stage language exploring the music and the fluid movement of eurythmy.

PARISFAL: PERFORMANCE INFO &

TICKETS

Jasmin Solfaghari was born in Freiburg/Germany in 1963 as daughter of German-Persian parents. After having spent the first six years of her childhood in Teheran/Iran she got her school and musical education in Freiburg. In 1989 she graduated in stage directing at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg in the class of Götz Friedrich (diploma). Jasmin Solfaghari collaborated with conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Sir Simon Rattle, Philippe Augin, Jacques Lacombe, Marc Albrecht, Antonello Allemandi, Donald Runnicles, Markus Stenz, Lothar Zagosek and more. In 2018 she stepped in as director for "The Ring of the Nibelung" for the Odense Symfonieorkester and a cast e.g. Catherine Foster, Torsten Kerl, Lioba Braun, Gerhard Siegel, Jennifer Wilson, James Johnson.

WAGNER’S BIRTHDAY PART

Come celebrate Richard’s 210th

birthday with the WSSC!

Sun., May 21st @ 1:00 PM PST

at the Colburn School

Join us for food, fun, anecdotes, and prizes as we celebrate Richard Wagner’s 210th birthday! Members are encouraged to sign up and bring with them personal stories, poetry, memories, and their favorite excerpts from Wagner’s music. We will be putting together a program, so when you RSVP please include what you will be presenting. The first one to sign-up, will get the first prize offered!

THE DELIGHTS AND DANGERS OF

AMBIGUITY

A special lecture with Leonard

Bernstein…

Sun., June 25th @ 1:00 PM PST

at the Colburn School

This lecture by Leonard Bernstein was originally presented at Harvard University in 1973. It takes the audience on an in-depth exploration of the new tonal fields by composers of the Romantic era, including Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz and Claude Debussy. In addition to the lecture, the maestro will conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra with examples from Romeo and Juliet, Tristan und Isolde, and Prelude a l’apres- midi d’un faune. This informative lecture with its performances is approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes. This event will be recorded for our members who cannot attend the live event and will be available in the WSSC Media Archives.

Thank you for spending time with the Wagner Societies!