Best known for his groundbreaking multimedia operas and compositions, Mikel Rouse comes to UCLA Live in the Los Angeles premiere of "Music for Minorities," his evocative one‑man show incorporating music, video and stories from America. Commissioned by UCLA Live, this performance takes place at 8 p.m. on Wednesday through Saturday, March 16–19, and at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 20, at the Macgowan Little Theater on the UCLA campus. The program runs approximately one hour. There will be no intermission. The engagement features post-performance discussions with the artist on Thursday through Saturday only. For tickets, call (310) 825‑2101, visit http://www.uclalive.org/ or contact Ticketmaster.

Ranging from song collections, string quartets and chamber music to video operas, dance scores and electronic compositions, Rouse's works embrace formal elements of classical music alongside a diverse variety of styles including rock, pop, blues, hip-hop, electronic and world music. He often incorporates film, performance and alternate sounds into his works in a unique approach to storytelling in the media age. Rouse's 1996 talk-show opera, "Dennis Cleveland," which explores the late 20th-century phenomenon of television ritual as a replacement for ceremony previously associated with religion, was described by The Village Voice as "the most exciting and innovative new opera since 'Einstein on the Beach' and 'Perfect Lives.'"

"Music for Minorities" represents a quiet departure from the direction and performance of Rouse's larger multimedia works. A modest integration of film, music and performance, the piece is a reflection of his time spent in the Delta as a composer-in-residence through the Meet the Composer New Residencies program. It's also a kind of video memoir of his film and theatrical works, life in New York, and friends old and new. A recorded soundscape of percussion and multiple guitars accompany a live performance that incorporates stories, interviews and songs with synchronized video. Interviews from numerous personalities in Louisiana and New York are combined as Rouse musically underscores their reflections.

 "As abstract images and sound combine with the various stories and insights of the subjects interviewed, an illustration of memory is created," Rouse said. "Seemingly unrelated video images merge with the images of the storytellers to create a common thread: the views of the Silent Minority. The soundtrack to this 'live film' is 'Music for Minorities,' a collection of songs that express my continuing interest in using complex structures within the framework of vernacular music."

Mikel Rouse was born in 1957 in St. Louis, Mo. He graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute and the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Rouse moved to New York City in 1979, where he studied African and other world music, and began his study of the Schillinger Method of Composition.

Upon moving to New York, Rouse formed his contemporary chamber ensemble, Mikel Rouse Broken Consort. With Broken Consort, he produced numerous recordings including "Soul Menu" (1993); "A Lincoln Portrait" (1988); "A Walk in the Woods" (1985), which appeared on The New York Times list of the "Ten Best Records of 1985"; and "Jade Tiger" (1984).

Additional recordings span a variety of genres: "Etudes" (1980); "Set the Timer" (1985); "Social Responsibility" (1987); "Against All Flags" (1988), which was The New York Times "Pop Album of the Week" upon release; "Colorado Suite" (1984); and "Quorum" (1984), the first piece of its kind for sequencer. The "Quorum" music was used for Ulysses Dove's "Vespers," and a film of this work, directed by David Hinton, aired on PBS's Great Performances "Dance in America" series and received two Emmy Awards.

In 1995 Rouse premiered and directed the first of a trilogy of modern operas: "Failing Kansas," inspired by Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." This led to an emerging art form he calls "counterpoetry," which involves the use of multiple unpitched voices in counterpoint. Other works that employ this technique include the CD "Living Inside Design" (1994), a collection of extended spoken songs, and "Autorequiem" (1994) for strings, percussion and voices.

In 1996 Rouse premiered and directed the second opera of his trilogy, "Dennis Cleveland," at The Kitchen in New York. The Australian Broadcasting Company filmed a documentary of "Dennis Cleveland," which aired nationally in 2001. "Dennis Cleveland" received numerous accolades and toured throughout the United States and beyond. In 1998 the Brooklyn Academy of Music commissioned the third opera of his trilogy, "The End of Cinematics," which will premiere in Fall 2005. A CD/DVD set including the music and film for "The End of Cinematics" will be released in summer 2005.

In addition to Rouse's early work as a director for the stage, he directed the films "Roundtable" (1979), "The Glass Bead Game" (1982) and "A Walk in the Woods" (1985).

This prolific artist's compositions have been performed throughout the United States, Europe and the Pacific Rim, and his work has been presented at major festivals throughout the world. In 1999, Rouse completed "return," a collection of songs built around samples from the 1985 "Book One" for string quartet. Also in 1999, Rouse completed the music for the multimedia work "cameraworld," collaborating with video artist Cliff Baldwin. In 2000

Rouse completed the score and film for "Funding," a full-length feature DVD/film/chamber orchestra work. Also in 2000, he conceived and produced the first commercial CD-ROM release of prepared piano samples from John Cage's "Sonatas & Interludes."

The John Cage Trust commissioned Rouse in 2001 to realize the score for Cage's radio‑play-turned-theatrical-production "James Joyce, Marcel Duchamp, Erik Satie: An Alphabet"(co-commissioned by UCLA Live, where it was performed in November 2001).  Rouse completed the score at Louisiana Tech University during the beginning of his three-year Meet the Composer Residency in Ruston, La. He also played the part of James Joyce in the international 2001–02 tour of "An Alphabet," premiering at the Edinburgh International Festival.

In 2002 he released two CDs, "cameraworld" and a remastered "Failing Kansas," and one DVD, the film "Funding." The live multimedia concert of "cameraworld" premiered in March 2003. A mini-concert of songs and original film from "Music for Minorities" premiered in September 2003 at the McGlohon Theatre at Spirit Square in Charlotte, N.C. In 2004 Rouse's music was put on iTunes for electronic download sales.

Rouse's numerous awards include grants from the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, the Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals, the Rockefeller Foundation MAPP program and the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, as well as an Edward F. Albee Fellowship, a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and numerous ASCAP Awards. He has been nominated for the CalArts Alpert Award in the Arts three times. He lives in New York City. More information is available at http://www.mikelrouse.com/.

Tickets to Mikel Rouse in "Music for Minorities" are available for $35 at the UCLA Central Ticket Office at the southwest corner of the James West Alumni Center, online at http://www.uclalive.org/ and at all Ticketmaster outlets. For more information or to charge by phone, please call (310) 825-2101. UCLA students may purchase tickets in advance for $15. Student rush tickets at the same price are available to all students with a valid ID one hour prior to show time.

UCLA Live is an internationally acclaimed producer and presenter of music, dance, theater and spoken word, bringing hundreds of outstanding and provocative artists to Los Angeles each year. Lectures, residencies and extensive outreach programs expand the impact of its unparalleled performances, which include a lively mix of distinguished masters and innovators from around the world. Committed to supporting the development of new work, UCLA Live has presented both major and emerging artists including Pina Bausch, Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass, Bill T. Jones and Robert Wilson.

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