“ECHO OF A SOUND REMOVED/OUTERLANDS”
Part 1 begins at 6:10
Angela Brussel: echo of a sound removed
In December 2024, writer Angela Brussel arrived at Villa Aurora in Los Angeles as a Distinguished Visitor. Her home city of Beirut was under bombardment, and geopolitical forces had left her temporarily displaced. She found refuge in California—her place of birth, now distant and unfamiliar.
Brussel’s time at Villa Aurora unfolded during a brief window of calm—both in the Middle East and in Southern California. Just days after she left, the Palisades Fire broke out, forcing evacuations and threatening the very space that had sheltered her.
This recording captures that fleeting period. It is both a personal reflection and an inadvertent historical record: the final account of life inside the Villa before the fire. In it, Brussel reflects on war, exile, beauty, and the places we carry with us when we have to leave them behind.
Read the essay and her introduction here.
Part II begins at 13:20
Hanno Leichtman: Outerlands
There are many things that make the Villa Aurora unique. One of these things is its organ.
The Artcraft Organ Company, founded in 1915 in Santa Monica, California, was a notable organ builder during the 1920s, a period marked by the popularity of pipe organs in both sacred and secular settings. Designed as part of the original structure, the organ at the Villa Aurora features eight ranks of pipes and 34 stops, spread across three chambers that span the front and back of the grand salon. Comparable to the theatre organs in cinemas of the silent era, its is not only equipped with a wide range of organ pipes, but also with an effects section.
During the restoration of the organ in 2010 MIDI input was added as well, so that the organ can be controlled through a controller, computer, or hardware sequencer.
The full voice of the organ is explored by Hanno Leichtmann in his album Outerlands. Recorded during his residency at the Villa Aurora in 2021 and released on vinyl by Discrepant in 2024, this collection of short multi-channel compositions present the traditional and not so traditional sounds of which the organ at the Villa Aurora is capable.
Hanno Leichtmann video interview and tour of the organ at the Villa Aurora (in German).
Part 1 begins at 6:10
Angela Brussel: echo of a sound removed
In December 2024, writer Angela Brussel arrived at Villa Aurora in Los Angeles as a Distinguished Visitor. Her home city of Beirut was under bombardment, and geopolitical forces had left her temporarily displaced. She found refuge in California—her place of birth, now distant and unfamiliar.
Brussel’s time at Villa Aurora unfolded during a brief window of calm—both in the Middle East and in Southern California. Just days after she left, the Palisades Fire broke out, forcing evacuations and threatening the very space that had sheltered her.
This recording captures that fleeting period. It is both a personal reflection and an inadvertent historical record: the final account of life inside the Villa before the fire. In it, Brussel reflects on war, exile, beauty, and the places we carry with us when we have to leave them behind.
Read the essay and her introduction here.
Part II begins at 13:20
Hanno Leichtman: Outerlands
There are many things that make the Villa Aurora unique. One of these things is its organ.
The Artcraft Organ Company, founded in 1915 in Santa Monica, California, was a notable organ builder during the 1920s, a period marked by the popularity of pipe organs in both sacred and secular settings. Designed as part of the original structure, the organ at the Villa Aurora features eight ranks of pipes and 34 stops, spread across three chambers that span the front and back of the grand salon. Comparable to the theatre organs in cinemas of the silent era, its is not only equipped with a wide range of organ pipes, but also with an effects section.
During the restoration of the organ in 2010 MIDI input was added as well, so that the organ can be controlled through a controller, computer, or hardware sequencer.
The full voice of the organ is explored by Hanno Leichtmann in his album Outerlands. Recorded during his residency at the Villa Aurora in 2021 and released on vinyl by Discrepant in 2024, this collection of short multi-channel compositions present the traditional and not so traditional sounds of which the organ at the Villa Aurora is capable.
Hanno Leichtmann video interview and tour of the organ at the Villa Aurora (in German).
Listen to “ECHO OF A SOUND REMOVED/OUTERLANDS”