A&E Briefs

Thursday, November 12, 1998

A&E Briefs

Singer Kathleen Battle comes to Royce Hall

She’s the type of person who can get away with diva-esque
behavior.

Kathleen Battle, the lyric soprano appearing at Royce Hall on
Saturday, has shared the stage with violinist Itzhak Perlman,
soprano Jessye Norman and tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Placido
Domingo.

Her thick resume includes five Grammy awards, an Emmy for
Outstanding Individual Achievement and a Laurence Olivier award for
her debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.

On Saturday evening, in her only Los Angeles performance, Battle
will be accompanied by pianist and operatic conductor Ted
Taylor

Tickets for the 8 p.m. performance are $55, $49, $39 and $16 for
students. For more information on the show, please call
825-2101.

All-Czech program for the Prazak Quartet

Extending what the Houston Post called "a pensive, beautifully
balanced tapestry," the Prazak Quartet assumes the Schoenberg stage
Sunday to perform an all-Czech program of pieces for strings.

The quartet’s only Los Angeles stop will feature performances of
Leos Jancek’s String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters" and Antonin
Dvorak’s "Romantic Pieces."

The quartet’s virtual anonymity in the public sphere has caused
critics to tout the group as displaying undiscovered greatness,
saying that "the least-trumpeted musicians are often the best."

The Prazak Quartet, however, has actually been around since
1972, when the musicians were still students at the Prague
Conservatory.

While the names Vaclav Remes, Vlastimil Holek, Josef Kluson and
Michal Kanka are unlikely to register with the average American’s
ears, they have made their mark in international competition, and
have cut five CDs.

The Prazak Quartet performs at 4 p.m. in Schoenberg. Tickets are
$30 and $10 for students. Call (310) 825-2101 for more
information.

The beat goes on at baroque books center

Every Thursday at 8 p.m., Beyond Baroque Literary and Arts
Center hosts the New Beat writing workshop with writer Philomene
Long.

"Beat writing is a distinctly American literary form inspired by
the rhythms of jazz and the controlled accident of Zen," Long
said.

Long has a great deal of experience with the subject, and this
is apparent in his works like "Bukowski in the Bathtub" and "The
Ghosts of Venice West" with John Thomas.

The workshop will discuss the techniques pioneered by the San
Francisco Renaissance, the New York School and Venice West, such as
the wild scribbling of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsburg’s
concentration and economy of breath.

The workshop costs $120 per month and is located on 681 Venice
Blvd. For more information and/or registration, call (310)
822-3006.

Theater group hosts award finalists’ plays

The National Repertory Theater Foundation will present a series
of dramatic readings of their Eighth Annual National Play Award
Finalists on Saturday and Sunday.

The awards will be held at the McGroarty Cultural Arts Center
(7570 McGroarty Terrace) in Tujunga.

Five finalists were selected from over 235 submissions
nationwide. One play will be awarded the 1998 National Play Award
winner in December and will receive a $5,000 cash prize.

The plays that will be performed include "A Namib Spring," by
Patrick Baliani, at 11 a.m. Saturday; "Welcome Party," by Elizabeth
Nell Dubus, at 3 p.m. Saturday; "Landscapes," by Mickey Kessler, at
7 p.m. Saturday; "The Sins of Sor Juana," by Karen Zacarias, at 11
a.m. Sunday; and "An Unhappy Woman," by Michael T. Folie, at 3 p.m.
Sunday.

Readings are free. For directions, call the McGroarty Center at
(818) 352-5285. For reservations, call (213) 465-9517.

Compiled by from Daily Bruin staff reports.UCLA Center for the
Performing Arts

Soprano opera singer Kathleen Battle will come to Royce Hall
Saturday night.

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