Arts and Events Calendar

In conjunction with the exhibition Phantasmagoria: Specter of Absence, on display at the USC Fisher Museum of Art September 3 through November 8, pianist Victoria Kirsch will be joined by fellow USC instrumental and vocal alumni for a concert inspired by clouds, fog, smoke, absence, loss and death.

In addition to pieces with piano and soloist(s), solo instrumental and vocal pieces will be performed in various locations throughout the galleries. Special attention will also be given to the genre of vocalise (songs without words).

The program will include compositions by Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré, Olivier Messiaen and Ottorino Respighi, and other songs whose texts reflect themes from the exhibition.

Phantasmagoria: Specter of Absence presents works by 12 diverse artists, young as well as established, from seven countries on three continents. The artists use forms of representation in the tradition of the spectacles of magic and fantasy produced by the phantasmagoria impresarios, but reframe them around contemporary issues.

About the Artist

Victoria Kirsch’s schedule includes national and international performing, work with opera companies, audition playing, private coaching and university teaching, including four years on the USC Thornton School of Music vocal faculty. In 1998, she began an extensive collaboration with celebrated soprano Julia Migenes (Carmen in the 1984 film with Plácido Domingo) on the one-woman show Diva on the Verge, which they performed internationally. Kirsch teaches for L.A. Opera’s Education and Community Programs department and is the pianist and music director of the Los Angeles–based Operetta Foundation, which presents staged concerts of rare operetta gems. She performs in numerous chamber music series, including Sundays Live at LACMA, Grand Performances at California Plaza, Jacaranda in Santa Monica and the Brand Library Music Series in Glendale.

Refreshments will be served.

Organized by the USC Fisher Museum of Art.