Taiwanese percussion ensemble Freedom Beat (自由擊樂團) will hold several performances and parent-child workshops at downtown Los Angeles and Orange County from Oct. 28 through Sept. 1.
An innovative ensemble whose magical world of percussion-based effects has been compared to STOMP from England and the BLUE MAN GROUP from New York, Freedom Beat combines different types of electronic music, such as pop, rock and roll, and psychedelic, in order to bring percussion performance to a new level and provide an absolute feast for the visual and auditory senses.
For the upcoming three-stop California tour, Freedom Beat will perform "FU-HUA (浮・華)," an original production that samples not only traditional Beiguan instruments and drum arrays associated with temple parades, but also a wooden xylophone-like instrument of the Atayal tribe called lubuw tcingan khoni' (泰雅木琴). The familiar sounds and sights of Taipei will also be incorporated into the performance.
The first show will be performed on Aug. 28 at the annual conference of the Western Arts Alliance at JW Marriott in LA, followed by a musical workshop on Aug. 31 at the Culture Center of TECO in Orange County, and a family-oriented showcase on Sept. 1 at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. The latter event is a great opportunity to enjoy free mooncakes, art projects, and percussion and electronic music ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Aug. 28 Performance
Time: 1.35pm (ticketed event)
Venue: JW Marriot at LA Live Hotel (Platinum Ballroom)
Address: 900 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
Aug. 30 Music Workshop
Time: 10:30am (free event)
Location: Culture Center of TECO in Orange County
Address: 2901 W. MacArthur Blvd., Suite 115, Santa Ana, CA
Sept. 1 Family Festival
Time: 2pm (free event)
Venue: Bowers Museum
Address: 2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana, CA 92706