Want to catch the latest modern and cutting-edge performing arts? Now you can, right here in Valencia! California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), just completed The Wild Beast–a shape-shifting, multi-use music pavilion on the CalArts’ campus. It was designed by the Los Angeles-based architectural firm Hodgetts+Fung. A rolling wall allows the 3,200 square-foot structure to transform from an acoustically refined recital hall accommodating 140 to an outdoor performance space for audiences of up to 1,000.
So if you’ve enjoyed performances at CalArt’s REDCAT downtown at Disney Concert Hall, you are sure to enjoy The Wild Beast now in Valencia!
The building takes its name from a quote from an essay by contemporary composer Morton Feldman: “I am interested in how the wild beast lives in the jungle, not in the zoo,” his metaphor for the nature of creative energy.
The Wild Beast will host its first public performance on Saturday, May 8 at 8 pm. This will be the last evening of CalArts annual World Music Festival.
Landscape architect and CalArts alumnus Allen Compton is planning a vibrant garden setting for the surrounding courtyard–conceiving the amphitheater and lawn as a space for both public performances and informal campus gatherings. In recognition of the generous gift from the S. Mark Taper Foundation, CalArts has named the courtyard the S. Mark Taper Foundation Courtyard. The Courtyard is slated for completion in winter 2010.
Tags: CalArts, Performing Arts, Valencia
