MICRO-OPERAS TO HIGHLIGHT L.A. MUSIC FEST

Los Angeles will host the seventh New Music America Festival Oct. 31-Nov. 10, presenting concerts, exhibits, recitals, installations--even a picnic--at more than a dozen locales.

In the past, festivals were held in New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Hartford, San Francisco and Minneapolis. This marks the first time the festival will be held in Los Angeles.

“This will be a festival with a point of view, that music being created today is enjoyable and accessible. We will present recent works that come from a variety of traditions,” composer Carl Stone said Thursday. Stone is co-director of the event with singer-composer Joan La Barbara.

“We want to show that new music is not hazardous to your health.”

A highlight of the 11-day event, still in the planning stages, will be the premiere of four “micro-operas, between five and 15 minutes long, that represent the first commissions by the festival,” Stone said.

Sponsoring organizations that will also host programs include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Music Center Opera Assn., CalArts, Mark Taper Forum, Otis Art Institute and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions.