February 13, 2021 –– This month on LAMusArt Live! Concert Series, Cat Mahatta took the stage to test the boundaries of music and performance in her own unique experimental artform. As a seasoned artist and teaching artist, Cat Mahatta’s performance displayed several of her own teachings, varying from keyboard playing to vocal and dance performances.
Teaching artist Cat began the show with a surprise social distanced performance featuring the Tuition-Free Choir. Following the reflective quarantine piece, the show transitioned to a solo Cat Mahatta on the LAMusArt Live! soundstage. Dim lighting and the solo silhouette set the tone for her first song “Barely,” a Mahatta original song featuring a synthesizer, vocal performance, and artificial birds made for atmospheric background.
As the show progressed, the stage gained more color and more movement in lighting, such as the LGBTQ+ pride colors that we saw in the background during “Doll.” Songs like “Who Cares?” expanded the show into audiovisual artwork, treating the audience to a special dance introduction. The finale, “Hymn 2 Dudes,” portrays a girl praying on her knees surrounded by string lights. This song also featured a special instrument that can easily be visually mistaken for a mere briefcase. As seen in the study guide provided to the audience, the instrument was called a Shruti Box, a wooden instrument used in Indian music that operates by pushing air through tuned metal reeds.
This experimental instrumental and compositional performance exercises freedom themselves, explorations of humanness within digital confines. The live performance art created alternate time-spaces in which oppressed lives felt exalted. In these spaces, every month is filled with Pride and Black Lives have always mattered.
This virtual experience marks the second of 2021 virtual experiences through LAMusArt Live! Concert Series, and there are plenty more shows to come! Join LAMusArt in March for Classical Student Compositions by reserving your space at www.lamusart.org/season.
Along with several other past and future performances, this event presents new sounds to students and highlights our faculty to pave the way for the appreciation of cultural music outside the boundaries of Western music. The versatile venue for sharing music expands our reach from LAMusArt’s stakeholders of families and students while inviting arts supporters and patrons from all over the world to attend. LAMusArt's mission is to provide the community of East Los Angeles with equitable and affordable access to multidisciplinary arts education programs and offer opportunities for underserved youth to partake in quality instruction regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic status so they are afforded creative tools for success and social change.
To register for classes and begin your journey through the arts, visit lamusart.org/programs for individual group classes in music, art, dance, and drama for students of all skill levels. Classes are offered Monday through Thursday, from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and on Saturdays from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Please see below for more details about our programs and a complete schedule of classes. Click on the registration link to submit your information, and one of our scheduling staff members will contact you to get you all set up!
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