Nimoy Theater Dan Tepfer

The newly opened UCLA Nimoy Theater in Westwood hosted an exceptional performance by pianist Dan Tepfer. But first, here is some info on the theater.

Nimoy Theater Dan Tepfer

The Nimoy is located in the former home of the Art Deco Crest Theatre. In 1987, the hit comedy “Three Men and a Baby” premiered at this venue. The film was directed by Leonard Nimoy. It became the highest-grossing movie of that year — raking in more than $167 million. The Crest retained a special importance to the Nimoy family. Decades later, UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance asked for a donation to purchase the shuttered theater. Fortunately, Nimoy’s widow Susan realized it presented a unique opportunity.

*UCLA’s Nimoy Theater; photo by Richard Bilow*

The state of the art 300-seat UCLA Nimoy Theater is now designed to immerse CAP UCLA’s audiences in profoundly engaging live performance experiences. It delivered on that promise last week in a big way with Dan Tepfer’s Los Angeles debut of his latest work Natural Machines.

Dan Tepfer

Tepfer is an innovative jazz pianist who brings virtual reality and algorithmic learning into his live performances. Formally trained as an astrophysicist, he is self-taught as a computer programmer. The artist writes his own code for a Yamaha Disklavier. This enables the digital player piano to react to his improvisations in real time. His coding determines how the piano responds to his playing.

Tepfer’s enthusiastic audience joined him on his immersive audiovisual journey. He had a natural ease and the air of a professor in his wordy interaction with the audience. He demonstrated his classical piano training, adept jazz improvisation, advanced computer programming skills and digital graphic artistry.

*Dan Tepfer; photo by Bailey Holiver; courtesy of CAP UCLA*

Science and Art

Tepfer explained that his work explored the intersection of algorithmic and spiritual – between science and art, coding and improvisation, digital algorithms and the rhythms of the heart. He mentioned that this is best exemplified in the music of Johan Sebastian Bach and John Coltrane.

Before each piece, the pianist described a strict set of coding guidelines, that he created to control the Disklavier. Video art, representing notes or groups of notes, appeared on the venue’s video screen. The improvisational music created the projected visuals. In one instance, the startling 3D images inspired Tepfer to create earrings which he sold in the lobby after the show. Now, that’s creative marketing!

As Tepfer said, “When I play and see the screen, there is this amazing kind of feedback loop that happens with the visuals. I’m creating the visuals as I play and then the look of them will inspire me to play a certain way in response.”

Throughout the night, the performance was like a musical game of ping-pong, as Tepfer played spontaneous duets with the Disklavier. As a result, he performed music far beyond the limits of human anatomy.

Natural Machines was a truly unique and immersive visual and auditory experience at the intimate new Nimoy Theater.

Visit the website to find out more about CAP UCLA’s performances at all its venues – https://cap.ucla.edu; CLICK HERE to read other music reviews.