SASSAS Concert Featuring CalArtian Experimental Vocalists

This Sunday, CalArts Alumni Odeya Nini and Laura Steenberge will perform at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. | Image from Facebook.

On Sunday (Oct. 21), The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS) presents a free concert by composer/performer Odeya Nini (Music MFA 11), faculty of The Herb Alpert School of Music Laura Steenberge (Music MFA 08) and Anna Homler. The event takes place at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, which sits atop a 511-foot peak and offers incredible 360-degree views of the entire Los Angeles basin.

L.A.-based experimental vocalist and contemporary composer Nini is performing A Solo Voice, an on-going project she created seven years ago. She has presented the work at venues and festivals across the U.S. and internationally including Human Resources, Los Angeles; Vox Populi, Philadelphia; MONA, Tasmania, PAM Residencies, Los Angeles; and Mengi, Iceland.

From her website:

The work [A Solo Voice] is a series of malleable compositions and improvisations that include field recordings and theatrical elements, aiming to dissociate the voice from its traditional attributes and create a new logic of song that is not only heard but seen through movement and action.

Steenberge, a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, will be performing Forms in a Field, a study in scale created through sound and movement in the natural landscape. She will be joined by Erika Bell and CalArts alumni Jesse Quebbeman-Turley (Music BFA 17) and Sharon Chohi Kim (Music MFA 14).

Vocal, visual and performance artist Homler will present a piece that explores scale and is in homage to the singer Yu Zhang with sound poetry of Kyn Taniya.

The organization SASSAS supports experimental art and sound practices in the Greater Los Angeles area with a wide range of music programs and events.

Check out a pre-concert interview with Nini on SASSAS’ website.