Music/Words LA returns to the Wende for a second season of live music and poetry. Pianist Inna Faliks opens the season with Breaking Screens, joined by cellist Ani Aznavoorian, London-based composer, performer, and DJ Gabriel Prokofiev, and poet Molly Bendall.

Piano and cello meet Prokofiev’s electronic soundscapes in music by Prokofiev, Lera Auerbach, and Claude Debussy, alongside Bendall’s poetry. Faliks gave the world premiere of Prokofiev’s Concerto for Minimoog Synthesizer and Orchestra in Portugal and plays its US premiere with the Asheville Symphony on November 14, six days before this program. Watch one clip and another of the concerto on Instagram.

Founded by Faliks in New York, Music/Words is a platform for artists working where music and text meet. This Los Angeles residency at the Wende builds each program around close listening and live collaboration.

Inna Faliks is Head of Piano and Professor of Piano at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and author of Weight in the Fingertips: A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage.

Ani Aznavoorian is principal cellist of Camerata Pacifica and has premiered works by Lera Auerbach.

Gabriel Prokofiev founded the Nonclassical record label and club night, which brings classical music into clubs.

Molly Bendall teaches English and creative writing at USC and received the Gertrude Stein Award for Innovative Poetry.

The garden side gate will open 30 minutes before the start time and is available for ADA access and check-in. Theater doors open 15 minutes before the start time. Seating is first come, first served. An RSVP does not guarantee admission once capacity is reached. No late entry.