Thursday, June 27, 2024

7:30 PM

Bringing innovative research, fresh perspective, and dynamic challenges to the historical status quo, musicologist Dr. Charissa Noble presents her original research this summer at the Athenaeum in a special lecture series, On the Edge: Radical Art and Music Scenes of Early 20th Century California.

Over the course of three lectures, Noble traces the impact of California’s mythological status in the broader cultural imagination on the creative activity of its early 20th century artistic circles. Each lecture explores a lost bohemian community whose radical works and avant-garde thinkers epitomized the epic collision between landscape, myth, and art: San Francisco, Carmel, and Oceano. From Ansel Adams to Henry Cowell, John Steinbeck to John Cage, her lectures reveal the intricate social web of these coastal towns that once connected many of California’s famous residents. By telling these stories of people, place, and identity, Noble sheds new light on the neglected legacy of uniquely Californian experiences on contemporary art and music over the previous century.

About Dr. Charissa Noble:

A musicologist, local arts advocate, and professor at the University of San Diego, Dr. Noble traverses a wide range of aesthetic interests, exploring the different ways that people participate in cultural discourses.

Additionally, her work has been featured in journals published by UCLA, USC, and SUNY Buffaloand in the Bulletin of the Society for American Music, The Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies, and Sound American.

Dr. Noble is deeply committed to the advancement of the local arts scene in San Diego, serving the San Diego Art Institute as an exhibition scholar for Roberto Romero-Molina’s The Language of Things and the local chamber music organization Art of Élan in an educational outreach role (both in 2018), a co-director and co-founder of an experimental vocal ensemble, San Diego New Verbal Workshop (SdNVW), and Executive Director of San Diego New Music.

Tickets: $16/21

The lecture will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for this event. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 7 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. This event will be presented in compliance with State of California and County of San Diego health regulations as applicable at the time of the lecture.