[photo credit: The Huntington]
Roth and cellist Kate Ellis will premiere “Orchidées” on October 18 from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. in The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall during the institution’s 9th Annual International Orchid Show and Sale. The five-movement work pairs DNA-based composition with time-lapse video, transforming genetic sequences into sound.
The musical premiere accompanies what Brandon Tam, associate curator of the Orchid Collection, calls nature’s most spectacular botanical display. “The orchid family is actually the largest botanical family in the botanical kingdom with more than 25,000 species and over a hundred thousand hybrids,” Tam explains.
This year’s show features exotic specimens from Ecuador, one of the world’s most biodiverse countries. Two Ecuadorian vendors will showcase orchids rarely seen in the United States.
The three-day event runs October 17 to 19 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, featuring competitive displays by local and regional orchid societies alongside international growers.
For Tam, the sale component matters as much as the show. “One of the great things about a sale is that people can bring a piece of the show with them back home…a journey if you will, over a period of time to learn more about how to grow this plant and hopefully get bitten by the orchid bug down the line.”
He underscores the show’s dynamic nature: “Because with the seasonal changes of orchids, you can never expect to see the same orchid twice in the same two years in a row.”
The 9th Annual International Orchid Show and Sale will run Friday to Sunday, Oct. 17 to 19, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. For more information, call (626) 405-2100 or visit https://www.huntington.org/event/9th-annual-international-orchid-show-and-sale. Ticket: Free with general admission
