LONG BEACH, CA.- Brian Eno will jump-start the 2009/10 15th Anniversary Season at the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Best known as the father of ambient music, Eno will deliver an exclusive lecture on September 20, 2009. Eno is displaying his self-generating art installation, 77 Million Paintings, in a Southern California exclusive engagement at the University Art Museum. His appearance at the Carpenter Center is in conjunction with Mr. Eno's exhibit at the museum.

Using sophisticated computer software and audio boom boxes, 77 Million Paintings features constantly changing images and musical compositions, which challenge the notion that the artist must be in control. Eno's input simply sets the trajectory for the work to evolve into patterns that have the potential for surprising him as well as the audience. During the 1990s, Eno became increasingly interested in self-generating systems. Generative Art, as he called it, allows an artwork to take on a life of its own. In 77 Million Paintings, Eno creates audio and visual clusters, gives them a set of rules they must follow, and observes them forming and re-forming their own little artistic communes. He states: "They are living an independent life, and they keep doing things that still surprise me."

Background: Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno was born in Suffolk, England in 1948. After graduating from Winchester School of Art, Eno began experimenting with the medium of television and manipulating light. Soon thereafter, he became internationally known for his work as a musical collaborator with prominent rock musicians including Roxy Music, U2, Talking Heads, David Bowie, Robert Fripp, and others. His series of ambient music records feature an atmospheric instrumental sound that found expression in both New Age and Minimalist work.

Single tickets for An Evening with Brian Eno are $100 for adults. All tickets can be purchased by calling the Carpenter Center Arts Ticket Office at (562) 985-7000