Upbeat Live: Recent Episodes
LA Phil
Key thinkers and guest musicians share their expertise and offer historical and cultural context for an inspiring array of orchestral music, giving you a deeper understanding of the music. These talks reflect the programming of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) on stage at Walt Disney Concert Hall. New episodes are added after the first night’s concert. See the full Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl
Educator Thomas Neenan discusses Dvořák and Ortiz with Dudamel.
This talk was given at a performance of Dvořák and Ortiz with Dudamel at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
John WILLIAMS Olympic Fanfare and Theme
Gabriela ORTIZ Altar de cuerda
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Educator Kristi Brown-Montesano discusses Dudamel Leads Beethoven and Strauss.
This talk was given at a performance of Dudamel Leads Beethoven and Strauss at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Andreia PINTO CORREIA Cortejo
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
STRAUSS Don Quixote
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Conductor Christopher Russell discusses Bartók and Mozart with Inon Barnatan
This talk was given at a performance of Bartók and Mozart at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BEETHOVEN Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 25, K. 503
BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Conductor Christopher Russell discusses Bartók and Mozart with Inon Barnatan
This talk was given at a performance of Bartók and Mozart at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BEETHOVEN Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 25, K. 503
BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Conductor Russell Steinberg discusses Anna Lapwood with Anna Lapwood.
This talk was given at a performance of Anna Lapwood at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Kristina ARAKELYAN Star Fantasy
Bach (Arr: Gounod), arr. Anna LAPWOOD Ave Maria
Hans ZIMMER, arr. Anna LAPWOOD Suite from Interstellar, Cornfield Chase
BRITTEN, arr. Anna LAPWOOD Four Sea Interludes: Dawn and Sunday Morning from Peter Grimes
Alan MENKEN, arr. Anna LAPWOOD The Bells of Notre Dame from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Olivia BELLI Limina Luminis
Hans ZIMMER, arr. Anna LAPWOOD Suite from Interstellar, Stay
PRICE An Elf on a Moonbeam
DEBUSSY, arr. Anna LAPWOOD Clair de lune
DURUFLÉ Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d’Alain, Op. 7
Hans ZIMMER, arr. Anna LAPWOOD Suite from Interstellar, No Time for Caution
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Conductor Russell Steinberg discusses Anna Lapwood with Anna Lapwood.
This talk was given at a performance of Anna Lapwood at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Kristina ARAKELYAN Star Fantasy
Bach (Arr: Gounod), arr. Anna LAPWOOD Ave Maria
Hans ZIMMER, arr. Anna LAPWOOD Suite from Interstellar, Cornfield Chase
BRITTEN, arr. Anna LAPWOOD Four Sea Interludes: Dawn and Sunday Morning from Peter Grimes
Alan MENKEN, arr. Anna LAPWOOD The Bells of Notre Dame from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Olivia BELLI Limina Luminis
Hans ZIMMER, arr. Anna LAPWOOD Suite from Interstellar, Stay
PRICE An Elf on a Moonbeam
DEBUSSY, arr. Anna LAPWOOD Clair de lune
DURUFLÉ Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d’Alain, Op. 7
Hans ZIMMER, arr. Anna LAPWOOD Suite from Interstellar, No Time for Caution
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Educator Robert Fink discusses The Labèques, Muhly, and Dessner.
This talk was given at a performance of The Labèques, Muhly, and Dessner at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Nico MUHLY In Certain Circles, Concerto for Two Pianos
Bryce DESSNER Concerto for Two Pianos
PROKOFIEV Suite from Romeo and Juliet
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Educator Robert Fink discusses The Labèques, Muhly, and Dessner.
This talk was given at a performance of The Labèques, Muhly, and Dessner at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Nico MUHLY In Certain Circles, Concerto for Two Pianos
Bryce DESSNER Concerto for Two Pianos
PROKOFIEV Suite from Romeo and Juliet
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Composer Sarah Cahill discusses John Adams Conducts the LA Phil New Music Group with Zosha Di Castri, John Adams & Anthony Davis.
This talk was given at a performance of John Adams Conducts the LA Phil New Music Group at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
VARIOUS LA Phil Etudes: Book 1
Zosha DI CASTRI Noctiluca
Anthony DAVIS You Have the Right to Remain Silent
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Composer Sarah Cahill discusses John Adams Conducts the LA Phil New Music Group with Zosha Di Castri, John Adams & Anthony Davis.
This talk was given at a performance of John Adams Conducts the LA Phil New Music Group at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
VARIOUS LA Phil Etudes: Book 1
Zosha DI CASTRI Noctiluca
Anthony DAVIS You Have the Right to Remain Silent
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Educator Kristi Brown-Montesano discusses Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony with Jonathan Bailey Holland.
This talk was given at a performance of Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Jonathan Bailey HOLLAND Assemble
RAVEL Tzigane, Rapsodie de Concert
RAVEL Mother Goose Suite
SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 ("Organ")
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Educator Kristi Brown-Montesano discusses Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony with Jonathan Bailey Holland.
This talk was given at a performance of Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Jonathan Bailey HOLLAND Assemble
RAVEL Tzigane, Rapsodie de Concert
RAVEL Mother Goose Suite
SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 ("Organ")
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Music Journalist Mark McNeill guides Philip Glass: The Complete Etudes, 1-20 with Laura Downes and Anton Batagov.
This talk was given at a performance of Philip Glass: The Complete Etudes, 1-20 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Philip GLASS The Complete Etudes, 1-20
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Scholar Marc Bolin leads a conversation on Bernstein and Wooten with Victor Wooten.
This talk was given at a performance of Bernstein and Wooten at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Ballade in A minor, Op. 33
BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Victor WOOTEN La Lección Tres
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Music Engineer Mike Matessino discusses Superman in Concert.
This talk was given at a performance of Superman in Concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
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Composer Chris Castro explores Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff with Mao Fujita.
This talk was given at a performance of Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Sofia GUBAIDULINA Poema-Skazka ("Fairy-Tale Poem")
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Educator Thomas Neenan explores Wayne Marshall with Wayne Marshall.
This talk was given at a performance of Wayne Marshall at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Wayne MARSHALL Improvised Intrada
JONGEN Sonata Eroïca, Op. 94
FRANCK Choral No. 1 in E major
LAURIN Étude Héroïque
DUPRÉ Evocation
III. Allegro Deciso
WIDOR Symphony No. 5, Op. 42, No. 1
Wayne MARSHALL Improvisation on Rhapsody in Blue
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen explains Mälkki Conducts Brahm.
This talk was given at a performance of Mälkki Conducts Brahm at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BRAHMS Academic Festival Overture
BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Conductor Christian Campos guides Schubert & Beethoven.
This talk was given at a performance of Schubert & Beethoven at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
SCHUBERT Symphony No. 6 in C major, D. 589 (“Little C-major”)
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Composer Veronika Krausas reflects on Ravel and Adès.
This talk was given at a performance of Ravel and Adès at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Thomas ADÈS Five Spells from The Tempest
RAVEL Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
Thomas ADÈS Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
RAVEL La valse, A Choreographic Poem
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen delves into A Century of Film Music.
This talk was given at a performance of A Century of Film Music at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Alfred NEWMAN 20th Century Fox Fanfare
KORNGOLD Main Title from Captain Blood
Miklós RÓZSA Prelude (Main Title) from Ben-Hur
WAXMAN Sunset Boulevard Suite
HERRMANN Scène d’Amour from Vertigo
Alex NORTH “Forest Meeting” and "March" from Spartacus
Alfred NEWMAN Cathy’s Theme from Wuthering Heights (with Ms. Wang)
Maurice JARRE Suite from Lawrence of Arabia
Danny ELFMAN Main Title from Batman
John WILLIAMS Excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind
GOLDSMITH The Hunt from Planet of the Apes
MORRICONE Main Title from Once Upon a Time in the West (with Ms. Newman)
Thomas NEWMAN The Night Window from 1917
John WILLIAMS “Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra” from Indiana Jones
ROTA Suite from The Godfather
Alan SILVESTRI Suite from Back to the Future
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Educator Asadour Santourian leads a conversation on Brahms & Bruckner with Dudamel.
This talk was given at a performance of Brahms & Bruckner with Dudamel at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BRAHMS Double Concerto
BRUCKNER Symphony No. 1 in C Minor
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Educator Kristi Brown-Montesano delves into Dudamel Leads Das Rheingold with Alberto Arvelo & Cori Ellison.
This talk was given at a performance of Dudamel Leads Das Rheingold at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
WAGNER Das Rheingold
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Composer Paul Gibson guides Mahler 6 with Dudamel.
This talk was given at a performance of Mahler 6 with Dudamel at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
MAHLER Symphony No. 6, “Tragic”
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Educator Christoph Bull explains Christian Schmitt with Christian Schmitt.
This talk was given at a performance of Christian Schmitt at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
MENDELSSOHN Organ Sonata No.4, MWV W 59
Maximilian SCHNAUS Signals (from remote territories)
BACH Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
FRANCK Choral No. 3 in A minor
BRANDMÜLLER Sieben Stücke zur Passionszeit
REUBKE Sonata on the 94th Psalm
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Composer Celina Kintscher explores Mozart’s “Prague” Symphony
This talk was given at a performance of Mozart’s “Prague” Symphony at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
STRAVINSKY Danses concertantes
COPLAND Clarinet Concerto
MOZART Symphony No. 38, K. 504, "Prague"
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Organist Zach Neufeld discusses Beethoven Symphony with Zubin Mehta.
This talk was given at a performance of Beethoven Symphony with Zubin Mehta at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, “Pastoral”
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”
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KUSC’s Alan Chapman leads a conversation on Mehta, Mahler, and Seong-Jin Cho.
This talk was given at a performance of Mehta, Mahler, and Seong-Jin Cho at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
SCHUMANN Piano Concerto
MAHLER Symphony No. 1
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Musician Sarah Cahill delves into Esa-Pekka Salonen and Ravel with Grant Gershon.
This talk was given at a performance of Esa-Pekka Salonen and Ravel at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Esa-Pekka SALONEN Karawane
RAVEL Daphnis and Chloé (complete)
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Scholar Marc Bolin reflects on Dudamel and the Music of Tango and Ballet with Gabriela Ortiz.
This talk was given at a performance of Dudamel and the Music of Tango and Ballet at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
PIAZZOLLA Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Gabriela ORTIZ Revolución diamantina (concert version)
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Music Journalist Mark McNeill guides Chaparral & Interstates with Dylan Mattingly, Samuel Adams & M.A. Tiesenga.
This talk was given at a performance of Chaparral & Interstates at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Dylan MATTINGLY Sunt Lacrimae Rerum (these are the tears of things)
M.A. TIESENGA Sketches of Chaparral
Reena ESMAIL Zeher
Samuel ADAMS Eden Interstates
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Educator Christoph Bull discusses James McVinnie with James McVinnie.
This talk was given at a performance by James McVinnie at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Gabriella SMIT Imaginary Pancake
Meredith MONK Ellis Island
Nico MUHLY Patterns
Nico MUHLYII. Palindromes
Nico MUHLYIV. Very Fast Music
inti FIGGIS-VIZUETA build-it-yourself
BACH Duetto 1, BWV 802
BACH Prelude and Fugue in D-sharp minor, BWV 853
BACH “Dies sind die Heiligen zehn Gebot,” BWV 678
BACH Toccata in F major, BWV 540
Philip GLASS A Distant Figure (Passacaglia)
Philip GLASS Dance No. 4
Philip GLASS Music in Fifths
Philip GLASS Etude No. 20
Philip GLASS Mad Rush
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Composer Chris Castro explores Dudamel and the LA Phil featuring Silvana Estrada with Roberto Sierra, Tania León, Arturo Márquez & Gabriela Ortiz.
This talk was given at a performance of Dudamel and the LA Phil featuring Silvana Estrada at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Roberto SIERRA Alegría
Tania LEÓN Stride
Arturo MÁRQUEZ Danzón No. 2
Gabriela ORTIZ Seis piezas a Violeta
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Composer Veronika Krausas discusses Dudamel Leads Khachaturian.
This talk was given at a performance of Dudamel Leads Khachaturian at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
KHACHATURIANSpartacus Suite No. 2: I. Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia
KHACHATURIANPiano Concerto
Thomas ADÈS Tower for Frank Gehry (U.S. premiere)
JANÁČEK Sinfonietta
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Scholar Marc Bolin leads a conversation on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in Concert.
This talk was given at a performance of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in Concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
E.T the Extra-Terrestrial in Concert
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
KUSC’s Alan Champan delves into Halloween Organ, Film & Music: The Phantom of the Opera with Clark Wilson.
This talk was given at a performance of Halloween Organ, Film & Music: The Phantom of the Opera at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
The Phantom of The Opera
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/24 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Composer Veronika Krausas guides An Alpine Symphony with Salonen with Nico Muhly.
This talk was given at a performance of An Alpine Symphony with Salonen at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Esa-Pekka SALONEN Tiu
Nico MUHLY Shrink
STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony
See this year's Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2023/2024 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Conductor Rachel Iba explains Sibelius & Swan Lake with Saad Haddad.
This talk was given at a performance of Sibelius & Swan Lake at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Saad HADDAD Aysheen
SIBELIUS Violin Concerto
TCHAIKOVSKY Selections from Swan Lake
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KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen explores Gershwin & Rachmaninoff at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
This talk was given at a performance of Gershwin & Rachmaninoff at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
GERSHWIN Concerto in F
RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances
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KUSC’s Alan Champan discusses Stravinsky and Shostakovich.
This talk was given at a performance of Stravinsky and Shostakovich with Dudamel at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No. 1
VILLA-LOBOS Uirapuru
STRAVINSKY The Firebird Suite (1919 version)
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Conductor Christian Campos discusses the story behind Mozart’s final piano concerto and final symphony.
This talk was given at the performance of Dudamel conducts Mozart at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Piece discussed:
MOZART Overture to The Magic Flute
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 27, K. 595
MOZART Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter"
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2021/22 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen is joined by composer Gabriella Smith to discuss her latest concerto.
This talk was given at a performance of Dudamel Leads Beethoven and Smith at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Ellen REID West Coast Sky Eternal
Gabriella SMITH Lost Coast: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7
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Professor of music at Caltech Thomas Neenan is joined by guest artist Esa-Pekka Salonen to discuss the process behind his new concerto.
This talk was given at the first performance of Salonen, Stravinsky, and Bartók at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
STRAVINSKY Petrushka (1947 version)
Esa-Pekka SALONEN Sinfonia concertante for organ and orchestra
BARTÓK The Miraculous Mandarin Suite
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Composer Paul Gibson explores the music of Beethoven, Thorvaldsdóttir, and Strauss.
This talk was given at a performance of Beethoven and Strauss at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
Anna THORVALDSDÓTTIR ARCHORA (U.S. premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting)
STRAUSS Der Rosenkavalier Suite
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Composer and conductor of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra Russell Steinberg explains the great Dvořák concerto and Bruckner’s epic 7th Symphony.
This talk was given at a performance of Dvořák and Bruckner at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
DVOŘÁK Violin Concerto
BRUCKNER Symphony No. 7
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2022/23 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Performer and scholar Marc Bolin discusses one of Tchaikovsky’s most popular symphonies and Adès’ “Concentric Paths” Violin Concerto.
This talk was given at a performance of Tchaikovsky and Adès at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Thomas ADÈS Violin Concerto, “Concentric Paths”
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5
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Educator Asadour Santourian explores Robert Schumann’s brilliant Piano Concerto and the thrilling tall tales of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.
This talk was given at a performance of Schumann and Scheherazade at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Anna CLYNE This Midnight Hour
SCHUMANN Piano Concerto
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Scheherazade
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Professor of music at Caltech Thomas Neenan guides you through a collection of Bach’s organ sonatas.
This talk was given at a performance of Paul Jacobs at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BACH Trio Sonata in E-flat major, BWV 525
BACH Trio Sonata in C minor, BWV 526
BACH Trio Sonata in D minor, BWV 527
BACH Trio Sonata in E minor, BWV 528
BACH Trio Sonata in C major, BWV 529
BACH Trio Sonata in G major, BWV 530
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Composer and conductor of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra Russell Steinberg delves into the music of Still, Wagner, and Brahms.
This talk was given at a performance of Payare Conducts Brahms at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
STILL Darker America
WAGNER Wesendonck Lieder
BRAHMS Symphony No. 1
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Composer Paul Gibson is joined by soloist Inon Barnatan and composer Donghoon Shin to explore the music of Brahms and Sibelius.
This talk was given at a performance of Sibelius and Brahms at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1
Donghoon SHIN Upon His Ghostly Solitude (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 3
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Henry Michaels discusses Tarrodi, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius.
This talk was given at a performance of Tchaikovsky and Sibelius at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Andrea TARRODI Liguria
TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2
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Saxophonist and educator at the USC Thornton School of Music Patrick Posey explains music by Dvořák and Lara.
This talk was given at a performance of Mälkki Leads Dvořák at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
DVOŘÁK Slavonic Dances, Op. 46
Felipe LARA Double Concerto (U.S. premiere, LA Phil commission)
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2022/23 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Musician and conductor Rachel Iba explores music by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Anthony Cheung, Katherine Young, and John Adams.
This talk was given at a performance of LA Phil New Music Group with John Adams at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Esa-Pekka SALONEN Objets Trouvés for solo viola
Anthony CHEUNG Parallel Play (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
Katherine YOUNG Spores (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
John ADAMS Hallelujah Junction
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2022/23 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
KUSC’s Alan Chapman delves into one of George Crumb’s most important pieces and Berlioz’ timeless fantasy.
This talk was given at a performance of Symphonie fantastique with Mehta at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
CRUMB Ancient Voices of Children
BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique
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Pianist and writer, Sarah Cahill guides you through the organ works of Handel, Bach, Beethoven and more!
This talk was given at the performance of Stephen Tharp at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
HANDEL (trans. Stephen Tharp)Overture to Music for the Royal Fireworks
BACH"Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr’," BWV 662
BACH (adapted by Stephen Tharp)Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, BWV 903
BEETHOVEN (trans. Stephen Tharp)Scherzo from Symphony No. 3, Op. 55, “Eroica”
George BAKERVariations on the hymn tune “Rouen”
WAGNER (trans. Stephen Tharp)"Ride of the Valkyries" from Die Walküre
VIERNEAdagio from Organ Symphony No. 3, Op. 28
Stephen THARP Improvisation on a submitted theme
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2022/23 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Educator Asadour Santourian explores Mahler’s Symphony No. 3.
This talk was given at a performance of Mehta Conducts Mahler 3 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
MAHLER Symphony No. 3
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Associate Professor and Chair of the Music Performance department at Azusa Pacific University Christopher Russell discusses the music of Grime, Grieg, and Brahms.
This talk was given at a performance of Lang Lang Plays Grieg at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Helen GRIME Meditations on Joy (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
GRIEG Piano Concerto
BRAHMS Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2022/23 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Chair of Music History at the Colburn Conservatory of Music Kristi Brown-Montesano explains Rachmaninoff’s virtuosic Third Concerto and haunting choral.symphony.
This talk was given at a performance of Yuja Wang & Dudamel: Rachmaninoff Concerto 3 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, op. 30
RACHMANINOFF The Bells
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Caltech Professor of music Thomas Neenan discusses the story behind the music of Rachmaninoff.
This talk was given at a performance of Yuja Wang & Dudamel: Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
RACHMANINOFF Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances
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Composer and educator Daniel Allas leads a conversation with all four composers featured in the program.
This talk was given at a performance of LA Phil New Music Group with Paolo Bortolameolli at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Carolina HEREDIAAusencias/Ausências/Absences
Erika VEGANo oyes ladrar a los perros for sinfonietta and organ (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from the Deborah Borda Women in the Arts Initiative)
Katherine BALCHall around the sea blazed gold (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
Courtney BRYAN Piano Concerto, House of Pianos (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from the MaddocksBrown Fund for New Music)
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2022/23 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Associate Professor and Chair of the Music Performance department at Azusa Pacific University Christopher Russell delves into the works of Mendelssohn, and Brahms.
This talk was given at a performance of Ray Chen plays Mendelssohn at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto
BRAHMS (orch. Schoenberg) Piano Quartet No. 1
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Pianist and writer Sarah Cahill reflects on contemporary score for a 1924 silent film, Die Stadt ohne Jude.
This talk was given at a performance of Ensemble intercontemporain at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Olga NEUWIRTH Die Stadt ohne Juden (The City Without Jews)
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This talk was given at a performance of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
John ADAMS Girls of the Golden West
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Professor of music at Caltech Thomas Neenan discusses an organ program of Driffil, Vivaldi, Jongen, Franck, and Piazzolla.
This talk was given at a performance of Hector Olivera at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
DRIFFILL Toccata from Suite No. 1
VIVALDI (arr. H. OLIVERA) Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8 No. 1, La Primavera (“Spring”)
I Allegro - II Largo - III Allegro (pastorale)
VIVALDI (arr. H. OLIVERA) Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8 No. 2, L’Estate (“Summer”)
III Presto e forte
JONGEN Prière Op. 37, No. 3
FRANCK Pièce héroïque
PIAZZOLLA/H. OLIVERA Five Paraphrases on Piazzolla Tangos
Hector OLIVERA Improvisations on a submitted theme
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KUSC’s Alan Chapman guides you through the music of Ravel, Dawson, and Prokofiev.
This talk was given at a performance of Ravel, Dawson, and Prokofiev at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
RAVEL Pavane for a Dead Princess
DAWSON Negro Folk Symphony
PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 19
RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2
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KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen delves into Mahler’s Symphony No. 9.
This talk was given at a performance of MTT Conducts Mahler 9 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
MAHLERSymphony No. 9
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Professor of music at Caltech Thomas Neenan discusses the music of Debussy, Messiaen, and Villa-Lobos. He is joined by Los Angeles Master Chorale Artistic Director Grant Gershon and ondes martenot musician Cynthia Millar.
This talk was given at the first performance of Debussy and Messiaen with MTT at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
DEBUSSYPrelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
MESSIAENTrois petites liturgies de la présence divine
DEBUSSYFantaisie for Piano and Orchestra
VILLA-LOBOSChôros No. 10, “Rasga o Coração”
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KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen discusses The Nutcracker.
This talk was given at a performance of The Nutcracker with Dudamel: Tchaikovsky & Ellington at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker, Op. 71, Act I.
TCHAIKOVSKY/ELLINGTON/STRAYHORN (arr. TYZIK) The Nutcracker Suite
TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker, Op. 71, Act II (selections)
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2022/23 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
This episode of Upbeat Live is brought to you by Kaiser Permanente – The Official Health & Harmony Partner of the LA Phil: Thrive to the music.
Composer and USC educator Veronika Krausas is joined by pianist Javier Perianes to discuss the music of Shostakovich and Saint-Saëns.
This talk was given at the first performance of Shostakovich and Saint-Saëns at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 5, “The Egyptian”
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
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Associate Professor and Chair of the Music Performance department at Azusa Pacific University Christopher Russell delves into the program of Prokofiev and Smetana.
This talk was given at the first performance of Prokofiev and Smetana at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Qigang CHEN L’Éloignement
PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 2
SMETANA Selections from Má vlast
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Chief Content and Engagement Officer at Los Angeles Philharmonic Renae Williams Niles is joined by conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson and composer Courtney Bryan to explore the music of Bryan, Coleman & Price.
This talk was given at the performance of Bryan, Coleman & Price at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Valerie COLEMANOpus Serena (world premiere)
Courtney BRYANSanctum
Music of Price and Ponder Selected Songs
PRICE Symphony No. 3 in C minor
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Pianist and writer, Sarah Cahill leads a conversation on the musical voices of Price and Bonds. Cahill is joined by conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya, composer and arranger Michael-Thomas Foumai, violinist and arranger Jannina Norpoth, and pianist Michelle Cann.
This talk was given at the performance of A Musical Portrait: Price and Bonds at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
PRICERetrospection
PRICESymphony No. 1 in E minor: 4. Finale. Presto
PRICE (arr. Michael-Thomas FOUMAI)Song to the Dark Virgin
PRICE (arr. Michael-Thomas FOUMAI)Night
PRICEThe Oak
PRICE Selected Works for Solo Piano
PRICE (arr. Jannina NORPOTH)Four Encore Songs
PRICEI Am Bound for the Kingdom
PRICE (arr. Michael-Thomas FOUMAI)A Piece for Solo Piano and Orchestra, after Florence Price’s Fantasie nègre No. 1 (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
BONDS (arr. by Jannina NORPOTH) Selected Songs
BONDS"Who is That Man?" from Simon Bore the Cross
BONDS Selections from Montgomery Variations
PRICEOrgan Suite No. 1 (Postlude)
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KUSC’s Alan Chapman discusses the music behind the 1920 silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and delves into a brief history of film music.
This talk was given at the first performance of Halloween Organ, Film & Music: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
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Composer and conductor of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra Russell Steinberg explores the music of Gabriela Ortiz, Arturo Márquez and Aaron Copland.
This talk was given at the first performance of Dudamel Conducts Copland and Márquez at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Gabriela ORTIZ Kauyumari (LA Phil commission)
Arturo MÁRQUEZ Fandango
COPLAND Symphony No. 3
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Composer and USC educator Veronika Krausas is joined by composer Gabriela Ortiz for a conversation on her piece Altar de cuerda and the Pan American Music Initiative. Later on, Krausas delves into the background of Gustav Mahler and his Symphony No. 1 in D major.
This talk was given at the first performance of Dudamel Leads Ortiz and Mahler at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Gabriela ORTIZ Altar de cuerda (LA Phil commission with generous support from the Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund)
MAHLER Symphony No. 1 in D major
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Professor of music at Caltech Thomas Neenan discusses the story behind the music of Mozart, John Adams and Orbón. Neenan is joined by Principal Flute Denis Bouriakov, Principal Harp Emmanuel Ceysson, and composer John Adams.
This talk was given at the first performance of Mozart and Orbón with Dudamel at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
John ADAMSI Still Dance
MOZART Concerto for Flute and Harp
MOZART Serenade No. 6, “Serenata notturna”
ORBÓN Tres versiones sinfónicas
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Composer and conductor of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra Russell Steinberg discusses Argentine music and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.
This talk was given at the first performance of Dudamel Conducts The Rite of Spring at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Alex NANTE El Rió de Luz (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
GINASTERA Estancia
STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring
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KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen discusses how the Divine Comedy inspired Adès’ Dante.
This talk was given at the first performance of Dudamel Leads Adès’ Dante at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Thomas ADÈS Dante (U.S. premiere; commissioned by the LA Phil and The Royal Ballet, with generous support from the Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund)
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Composer and USC educator Veronika Krausas discusses the music and background of Generation X composers.
This talk was given at the first performance of Voices of a Generation at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Anna MEREDITHNautilus (U.S. premiere)
Felipe LARABrutal Mirrors
Veronika KRAUSASCaryatids
Francisco COLLFour Iberian Miniatures
Thomas ADÈSMärchentänze (U.S. premiere)
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KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen is joined by composers Ellen Reid and Nico Muhly for a conversation on creating music.
This talk was given at the first performance of Pekka Kuusisto + Ellen Reid at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Ellen REID Desiderium for solo violin (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting)
Ellen REID Fear l Release
Hannah KENDALL Verdala
Ellen REID/Roxie PERKINS Lumee’s Dream (world premiere arr., LA Phil commission)
KiMani BRIDGES The Flower
Missy MAZZOLI Vespers
William KRAFT Encounters I: Soliloquy (In Memoriam, performed by Joseph Pereira, percussion)
Meredith MONK (ARR. DAVID LANG) Double Fiesta
Nico MUHLY Shrink (West Coast premiere)
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Chair of Music History at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, Kristi Brown-Montesano discusses Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio.
This talk was given at the performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio with Dudamel and Deaf West Theatre at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Piece discussed:
BEETHOVEN Fidelio
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Associate Professor and Chair of the Music Performance department at Azusa Pacific University, Christopher Russell explores the last pieces of music by Bruckner and Berg.
This talk was given at the first performance of Mehta Conducts Bruckner and Berg at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BERG Violin Concerto
BRUCKNER Symphony No. 9
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Conductor Christian Campos discusses Mozart’s stirring unfinished masterpiece, Great Mass in C minor.
This talk was given at the performance of Mozart’s Great Mass with Mehta at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Piece discussed:
Great Mass in C minor
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Composer and conductor of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra Russell Steinberg delves into Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 in E minor.
This talk was given at the performance of Mahler’s Seventh at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
MAHLER Symphony No. 7 in E minor
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Composer and conductor of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra Russell Steinberg explores music by Barber, Pärt and Dvořák.
This talk was given at the performance of Hilary Hahn Plays Barber at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Arvo PÄRT Silhouette
BARBER Violin Concerto, Op. 14
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7
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Educator Rachel Iba and organist Monica Czausz Berney delve into music by Kapustin, Mendelssohn, Bach, Demessieux, Tchaikovsky and Naji Hakim.
This talk was given at the first performance of Monica Czausz Berney at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
KAPUSTIN (arr. Czausz Berney) Sinfonietta, Op. 49: Rondo
MENDELSSOHNAllegro, Chorale and Fugue
BACHToccata and Fugue in D minor, “Dorian,” BWV 538
DEMESSIEUX Te Deum, Op. 11
Naji HAKIM Arabesques
TCHAIKOVSKY (trans. Guillou/Czausz Berney) Scherzo from Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique”
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Composer and USC educator Veronika Krausas discusses Shostakovich, Prokofiev and contemporary composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir.
This talk was given at the first performance of Shostakovich and Prokofiev with Ludovic Morlot at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Anna THORVALDSDÓTTIR Metacosmos
PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 1, in D-flat major, Op. 10
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 10
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KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen is joined by composer inti figgis-vizueta and musician Jay Campbell for a conversation about contemporary music.
This talk was given at the first performance of Jay Campbell + inti figgis-vizueta at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
William KRAFTEncounters I: Soliloquy (In Memoriam, performed by Joseph Pereira, percussion)
Liza LIMAn ocean beyond earth for solo cello
Thomas MEADOWCROFTWalkman Antiquarian
Wadada Leo SMITHGondwana: Earth, a Blue Sanctuary, Oceans, Seas, Lakes, Rivers, Springs and Lagoons; Paradise Gardens and Skies (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
inti FIGGIS-VIZUETATalamh (Land) (world premiere of string orchestra version)
inti FIGGIS-VIZUETAamaru (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
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Composer and USC educator Veronika Krausas delves into the life and music of composers Elgar and Tchaikovsky.
This talk was given at the first performance of Elgar and Tchaikovsky at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Miguel FARÍAS Estallido (world premiere)
ELGAR Cello Concerto
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique"
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Composer and conductor of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra Russell Steinberg discusses music by Bartók, Bjarnason, and Sibelius.
This talk was given at the performance of Salonen Leads Bartok, Bjarnason, and Sibelius at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BARTÓKMusic for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta
Daníel BJARNASONFEAST (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from the Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund)
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105
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Chair of Music History at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, Kristi Brown-Montesano, explains the connection to nature in pieces by Bach, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gabriella Smith and Strauss.
This talk was given at the performance of Strauss, Smith, and Salonen at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BACH Preludio from Partita No. 3, BWV 1006 for solo violin
Esa-Pekka SALONENFog (U.S. premiere of orchestral version)
Gabriella SMITHBreathing Forests (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from the Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund)
STRAUSSAlso sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
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Pianist and writer, Sarah Cahill discusses music by Russian composers: Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Borodin.
This talk was given at the performance of Bronfman Plays Rachmaninoff’s Third at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BORODIN Overture to Prince Igor
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, op. 30
PROKOFIEV Suite from Romeo and Juliet
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Pianist and writer, Sarah Cahill discusses music by Beethoven and Mendelssohn.
This talk was given at the performance of Beethoven and Mendelssohn at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Elizabeth OGONEKCloudline (U.S. premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting)
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 4, “Italian”
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Saxophonist and educator at the USC Thornton School of Music, Patrick Posey delves into the life and music of jazz legend, Duke Ellington.
This talk was given at the performance of Symphonic Ellington: Sacred Concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Duke ELLINGTON (ARR. PERESS)Black, Brown & Beige
Duke ELLINGTON (ARR. GOULD)Solitude
ELLINGTON“David Danced” from the Sacred Concerts (Chloé Arnold and Loren Smith)
ELLINGTON Selections from the Sacred Concerts
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Saxophonist and educator at the USC Thornton School of Music, Patrick Posey delves into the life and music of jazz legendd, Duke Ellington. He is joined briefly by the evening’s conductor Thomas Wilkins.
This talk was given at the performance of Symphonic Ellington: New World A-Comin’ at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Duke ELLINGTON (ARR. BERGER)Night Creature
ELLINGTONNew World A-Comin’
Duke ELLINGTON (ARR. PERESS)Black, Brown & Beige
Duke ELLINGTON (ORCH. COLLIER)The River Suite
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Pianist and writer, Sarah Cahill, discusses music by Mahler, Berg and Brahms.
This talk was given at the performance of Ax Plays Brahms at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
MAHLER Blumine
BERG Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6
BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1
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Violinist and educator, Rachel Iba, explores the musical storytelling behind pieces by Angélica Negrón, Nathalie Joachim, Pamela Z, Allison Loggins-Hull and Nina Shekhar.
This talk was given at the performance of Nathalie Joachim + Pamela Z at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Angélica NEGRÓNThis Person
Nathalie JOACHIM “Suite pou Dantan” from Fanm d’Ayiti
Pamela ZThe Schmetterling
Allison LOGGINS-HULLThe Pattern
Pamela ZSilent H (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from the Deborah Borda Women in the Arts Initiative)
Nathalie JOACHIMIn Between (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
Nina SHEKHARDear Abby
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Professor of music at Caltech, Thomas Neenan, discusses music by Prokofiev, Michael Tilson Thomas and Fauré.
This talk was given at the performance of Prokofiev and MTT at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
FAURÉPavane
Michael TILSON THOMASMeditations on Rilke
PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100
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KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen discusses pieces by Beethoven, Julia Adolphe and Nokuthula Ngwenyama.
This talk was given at the performance of Beethoven and Julia Adolphe at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Nokuthula NGWENYAMAPrimal Message
Julia ADOLPHEWoven Loom, Silver Spindle (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7
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Educator, Thomas Neenan, takes a look into the music of Conor D'Netto, Korngold and Brahms.
This talk was given at the performance of Brahms and Korngold at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Connor D'NETTOUncertain Planning (U.S. premiere)
KORNGOLD Violin Concerto
BRAHMS Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2021/22 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Reel Change Advisory Board member Kris Bowers and Reel Change grantee Sultana Isham talk about their approaches to the art form of film scoring, experiences in the industry, and the unconventional pathways that led them to film composition.
This talk was given at the performance of Reel Change: Kris Bowers at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2021/22 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen explores a Mozart concerto and three Ravel favorites.
This talk was given at the first performance of Mozart and Ravel at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
RAVEL Menuet antique
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 21, K. 467
RAVEL Le tombeau de Couperin
RAVEL Bolero
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2021/22 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Associate Professor and Chair of the Music Performance department at Azusa Pacific University, Christopher Russell discusses Rachmaninoff and minimalist music with composer John Adams.
This talk was given at the first performance of Reich, Adams, and Rachmaninoff at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Steve REICH Runner
John ADAMS Violin Concerto
RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2021/22 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Musician and conductor, Rachel Iba discusses the 1920 silent film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and it’s organ accompaniment.
This talk was given at the first performance of Halloween Organ, Film & Music: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2021/22 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Composer Veronika Krausas explores Tchaikovsky’s beloved concerto and new music by Saariaho.
This talk was given at the first performance of Tchaikovsky and Saariaho with Mälkki at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Kaija SAARIAHO Vista (U.S. premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from Carol Grigor and the Esa-Pekka Salonen Commissions Fund)
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2021/22 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Composer Russell Steinberg discusses Mahler’s heavenly Fourth Symphony and the world premiere of Steven Mackey’s trumpet concerto.
This talk was given at the first performance of Dudamel Conducts Mahler at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
Jessie MONTGOMERY Strum
Steven MACKEY Shivaree: Fantasy for Trumpet and Orchestra (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from Ellen and Arnold Zetcher)
MAHLER Symphony No. 4
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2021/22 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Musician and conductor, Rachel Iba discusses organ pieces by Bach.
This talk was given at the first performance of Cameron Carpenter at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
BACH Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537
BACH Prelude and Fugue I in C Major from Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, BWV 870
BACH Prelude and Fugue XII in F Major from Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, BWV 880
BACH Fantasia on “Komm, Heiliger Geist,” BWV 651
BACH Chorale Prelude “O Mensch, bewein’ dein’ Sünde groß,” BWV 622
BACH Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major, “St. Anne,” BWV 552
BACH Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2021/22 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
Associate Professor and Chair of the Music Performance department at Azusa Pacific University, Christopher Russell discusses three pieces on life, death, and love, all inspired by Romantic poetry.
This talk was given at the first performance of Dudamel Conducts Strauss at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Pieces discussed:
SCHOENBERG Transfigured Night
STRAUSS Four Last Songs
STRAUSS Death and Transfiguration
See this year’s Upbeat Live schedule at: laphil.com/ubl. Join us in person for our 2021/22 season! Get tickets: laphil.com/calendar.
About This Performance
Underneath the sense of hope and expansiveness in the New World is a shadow that has been there from its first colonization to the present moment. Dvořák set out to find and compose “American music.” What he created is a collage, suggestions of the hope of immigrants in the boundless space; the presence of slavery; the treatment of Native Americans; and the pristine beauty of the natural resources. Even more poignant today, we hear this music with all its shadows fully in the light.
Join Deborah O’Grady and Melinda Haas for this unique exploration of Dvořák's signature work, Symphony No. 9, “New World,” through the lens of myth as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Dvořák & Ives festival.
Artists
Melinda Haas
Deborah O’Grady
About This Performance
The culmination of Dudamel’s unique look at Ives and Dvořák shows the individualistic American expanding his harmonic and rhythmic language even further in the stunningly complex Fourth Symphony. Dvořák’s final symphony was composed from Native-American and African-American source materials, from which he drew unforgettable melodies and dramatic harmonies that gelled into his most popular creation.
Program
IVES - The Unanswered Question
IVES - Symphony No. 4
Intermission
DVOŘÁK - Symphony No. 9, “New World”
Artists
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon, artistic director
About This Performance
By juxtaposing Ives’ and Dvořák’s symphonies, Dudamel reveals new ways to hear each composer. Here, Ives’ compact Third draws on memories of songs, hymns, children’s games, and dances to create music of wondrous complexity. Dvořák’s final symphony was composed from Native-American and African-American source materials, from which he drew unforgettable melodies and dramatic harmonies that gelled into his most popular creation.
Program
IVES - The Unanswered Question
IVES - Symphony No. 3, “The Camp Meeting”
Intermission
DVOŘÁK - Symphony No. 9, “New World”
Artists
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
About this Performance:
British-born Wayne Marshall is a triple threat, appearing around the world as an organist, pianist, and conductor. His abilities in jazz as well as classical music make him particularly well suited for the glittering improvisations on Bernstein and Beethoven that will bookend his Disney Hall recital. “…sheer technical bravado… breathtaking speeds…stunning virtuosity…such brilliant playing.” (Gramophone)
Artists:
Wayne Marshall, organ
Program:
Wayne MARSHALL Improvisation on themes of Bernstein, “Homage à Lenny”
DUPRÉ Symphonie-Passion, Op. 23
George C. BAKER Deux Evocations
WIDOR Organ Symphony No. 6 in G minor, Op. 42 No. 2
Andrew AGER Toccata & Fugue
MESSIAEN Les mages & Dieu parmi nous from La Nativité du Seigneur
Wayne MARSHALL Improvisation on themes of Beethoven
About this Performance:
Revealing unpredictable connections between the two composers, Dudamel’s unexpected pairing of symphonies by Ives and Dvořák begins here with each man showing us new ways to view vernacular music in a symphonic context.
Artists
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Program
IVES Symphony No. 1
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7
Widely acclaimed English actor/writer/director Simon McBurney and his equally accomplished brother, composer/writer/scholar Gerard McBurney, collaborate with Salonen to present darkly satirical musical-theater works from the heyday of German Expressionism. The music is inflected with 1920s jazz and popular song, along with an edge of cynicism.
Program:
HINDEMITH Murderer, Hope of Women
WEILL/BRECHT The Berlin Requiem
WEILL/BRECHT The Seven Deadly Sins
About this Performance:
Two of the biggest stars of our 2017 Reykjavík Festival, conductor/composer Daníel Bjarnason and pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, have put together a fascinating program that includes a world premiere.
About this Performance:
One of the most sought-after conductors of his generation, Swiss musician Philippe Jordan returns with two prime examples of tone poems by Richard Strauss, one about the legendary Spanish knight – featuring one of the world’s leading cellists as the irrepressible dreamer – and, though Strauss denied it, the other work about the composer himself!
About this Performance:
Beloved pianist Emanuel Ax will apply his consummate artistry to Beethoven’s mighty and heroic C-minor concerto, his only one in a minor key. Celebrated contralto Nathalie Stutzmann, who has transitioned into an acclaimed conductor, will lead this all-Beethoven program, unleashing the unrelenting power of the most recognizable symphony in the world.
About this Performance:
The Los Angeles Philharmonic and New York’s electric Bang on a Can All-Stars join forces for Julia Wolfe’s new Flower Power, in which she addresses the radical societal upheaval of the 1960s, presented with suitably psychedelic visuals. Adams also leads the Grammy®-nominated symphonic work he composed for the LA Phil in 1998, when Esa-Pekka led the premiere.
Conductor Emmanuelle Haïm sits down with Christian Campos to discuss the night's Baroque-focused program.
Christopher Russell provides historical and musical context for the concert's program, which takes us through a journey that chronicles a tumultuous time in Germany from 1874-1934.
About this Performance:
Mehta leads an adventurous look at German Romanticism as it develops into the birth of 20th-century music, from the lushness of the full orchestra in Wagner’s final Ring opera to the concentrated brevity of Webern’s nine-instrument concerto.
Program:
WAGNER Götterdämmerung: Rhine Journey
WAGNER Götterdämmerung: Funeral Music
WAGNER Götterdämmerung: Immolation Scene
SCHOENBERG Chamber Symphony
WEBERN Six Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6
WEBERN Concerto for Nine Instruments, Op. 24
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Zubin Mehta, conductor
Christine Goerke, soprano
About this Performance:
Mehta reveals his deep affinity for Mahler in one of the composer’s most overwhelmingly transcendent works. The climax of the ecstatic finale is deeply stirring and unforgettable.
Program:
MAHLER Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection"
Artists
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Zubin Mehta, conductor
Kristin Lewis, soprano
Mihoko Fujimura, mezzo-soprano
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon, Artistic Director
About this Performance:
Trifonov has the reputation of taking a beloved classic like Tchaikovsky’s popular Piano Concerto and imbuing it with fresh new life. L.A. favorite Michael Tilson Thomas also leads Copland’s Third Symphony, built on the composer’s stirring Fanfare for the Common Man.
Program:
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Dubinushka
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1
COPLAND Symphony No. 3
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Daniil Trifonov, piano
About this Performance:
To honor the memory of our talented and beloved colleague Oliver Knussen, Mälkki and Josefowicz have programmed three of his remarkable creations and surrounded them with chamber-sized music by his friends, colleagues, and his students. Come celebrate a musical life.
Program:
Colin MATTHEWS Hidden Variables
KNUSSEN Reflection
Helen GRIME A Cold Spring
Huw WATKINS Piano Quartet
KNUSSEN Ophelia Dances Book 1
KNUSSEN Two Organa
HARVEY Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco
Artists:
LA Phil New Music Group
Susanna Mälkki, conductor
Leila Josefowicz, violin
John Novacek, piano
Co-curated by Susanna Mälkki and Leila Josefowicz
About this Performance:
The late Oliver Knussen, acclaimed as composer and conductor, had a long connection with the LA Phil. His Violin Concerto is, by turns, intensely dramatic, lyrical, somber, skittish, and – as you would expect from a skilled conductor – it’s masterfully orchestrated. Thrilling to this day, Beethoven’s “Eroica” is one of the most revolutionary works in Western music, expanding the Classical symphony in almost every way imaginable.
Program:
KNUSSEN Violin Concerto
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Susanna Mälkki, conductor
Leila Josefowicz, violin
About this Performance:
The fast-rising Korean star pianist plays Rachmaninoff’s ultra-Romantic concerto, and Dudamel leads Stravinsky’s game-changing ballet score with its complex yet primitive-sounding rhythms.
Program:
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 2
STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Seong-Jin Cho, piano
About this Performance:
The incomparable Yuja Wang plays John Adams’ newest piano concerto, and Gustavo presides over Stravinsky’s pulse-pounding vision of pre-historic Russian rituals.
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano
Program:
GINASTERA: Variaciones Concertantes
John ADAMS: Must the Devil have all the Good Tunes? (LA Phil commission)
STRAVINSKY: The Rite of Spring
Los Angeles-based composer and pianist Thomas Kotcheff is joined by composer Sky Macklay, pianist and composer Eric Wubbels, and cellist Jay Campbell to discuss the first Green Umbrella program of the season, including new works by Macklay, Wubbels, Gabriella Smith, Marc Sabat, and Tristan Perich.
About This Performance:
Adams and astonishing star-on-the-rise Jay Campbell present a scintillating cello-focused Green Umbrella.
Program:
Gabriella SMITH - Carrot Revolution for string quartet
Marc SABAT - Partite Requiem (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
Eric WUBBELS - gretchen am spinnrade
Intermission
Sky MACKLAY - Swarm Collecting (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from the Deborah Borda Women in the Arts Initiative)
Tristan PERICH - Formations for solo cello and electronics
Artists:
LA Phil New Music Group
John Adams, Conductor
Jay Campbell, cello
Eric Wubbels, piano
Co-curated by John Adams and Jay Campbell
TUE / NOV 5, 2019 - 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
Upbeat Live schedule, details, and speaker bios: www.laphil.com/ubl
Caltech professor and organist Thomas Neenan is joined by organ builder Manuel Rosales to discuss Jane Parker-Smith's recital program, which includes Bach, Franck, Liszt, and more.
About this Performance:
Having been referred to as the “Martha Argerich of the organ” (The Sunday Times), British organist Jane Parker-Smith has gained an international reputation for her prodigious technique and innate interpretative ability, making her one of the most sought-after organists in the world.
Artists
Jane Parker-Smith, organ
Program
BACH (arr. Fox) - “Nun danket alle Gott,” from Cantata No. 79, BWV 79
César FRANCK -
About This Performance:
Experience Dudamel conducting Bruckner’s awe-inspiring Fourth Symphony, to which Bruckner himself applied the nickname “Romantic,” evoking images of knights riding forth at dawn, impassioned lovers, and an exuberant hunting party, all tied together by a heroic, brass-blazing finale.
Program:
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 4, “Romantic”
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
FRI / NOV 1, 2019 – 8:00PM
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On Halloween night, KUSC's Alan Chapman is joined by organist Clark Wilson to discuss the history behind silent film music and Wilson's own experience with accompanying silent films.
About This Performance:
We extend our Centennial festivities throughout the weekend, with each Music Director leading a specialty of his. As he did at the outset of his music directorship, Dudamel leads the musical monument that accompanies the world’s greatest celebrations: Beethoven’s epic Ninth.
Program:
Gabriela ORTIZ: Yanga (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from R. Martin Chavez)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Golda Schultz, soprano
Tamara Mumford, mezzo
Mario Chang, tenor
James Rutherford, bass-baritone
Tambuco Percussion Ensemble
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon, Artistic Director
SUN / OCT 27, 2019 – 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About This Performance:
We extend our Centennial celebration throughout the weekend, with each Music Director leading a specialty. Salonen not only brings music by Sibelius but also the premiere of his complete Gemini. Joining him for Luonnotar is stunning South African soprano Golda Schultz.
Program:
SIBELIUS: Luonnotar
Esa-Pekka SALONEN: Gemini (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting)
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 5
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
SAT / OCT 26, 2019 – 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About This Performance:
We extend our Centennial celebration throughout the weekend, with each Music Director leading a specialty of his. Mehta’s affinity for Mahler will shine through this performance of the composer’s overwhelming “Resurrection.”
Program:
MAHLER: Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection”
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Zubin Mehta, conductor
Kristin Lewis, soprano
Mihoko Fujimura, mezzo-soprano
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon, Artistic Director
FRI / OCT 25, 2019 – 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
Upbeat Live schedule, details, and speaker bios: www.laphil.com/ubl
About This Performance:
Salonen conducts his own latest orchestral work to launch this program, followed by rising star violinist Daniel Lozakovich, hand-picked by Salonen to play the Tchaikovsky. Salonen and the LA Phil also perform one of their signature works, Bartók’s late masterpiece, which shows off every section of the orchestra to full advantage.
Program:
Esa-Pekka SALONEN: Castor (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto
BARTÓK: Concerto for Orchestra
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Daniel Lozakovich, piano
FRI / OCT 18, 2019 – 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About This Performance:
Dudamel focuses on rousing music from the Americas, including a world premiere – featuring acclaimed Argentine virtuoso Sergio Tiempo – and concluding with the exuberant, infectious rhythms of Copland’s well-loved ballet score.
Program:
CHÁVEZ: Symphony No. 2, "Sinfonía India"
Esteban BENZECRY: Piano Concerto, “Universos infinitos” (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
COPLAND: Fanfare for the Common Man
COPLAND: Rodeo
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Sergio Tiempo, piano
THU / OCT 10, 2019 – 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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KUSC's Alan Chapman is joined by soprano Julia Bullock to discuss the program, which includes masterworks by Gershwin, Copland, Previn, and Barber.
About This Performance: Dudamel launches our season with the beauty and bravura of masterworks by beloved American composers.
About This Performance:Meredith Monk’s ATLAS receives a staggeringly ambitious new production by the LA Phil's Artist-Collaborator Yuval Sharon, collaborating with visual artist Es Devlin. This landmark work from one of modern music's most influential composers weaves a tale about a young girl's journey to the four corners of our world and beyond. Sharon's production incorporates visual art, movement, and an innovative use of Walt Disney Concert Hall to cap his three-year residency with the orchestra.
Program:Meredith MONK : ATLAS, an opera in three parts
Artists:LA Phil New Music Group
Paolo Bortolameolli conductorYuval Sharon directorEs Devlin designerLuke Halls projection designerDanielle Agami choreographerEmma Kingsbury costume designerJohn Torres lighting designerMeredith Monk composer / artistic advisorKatie Geissinger music coachWayne Hankin music advisorDiana Wyenn associate directorJeannette LoVetri vocal consultantMark Grey sound designerAmalie White associate designerAllison Sniffin score preparationStefanie Cytron costume supervisorDan Gower audio engineerBarbara Donner stage managerRoss Jackson assistant stage managerLindsay Lowy assistant stage manager
FRI / JUN 14, 2019 – 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About This Performance:Dudamel is renowned for his Mahler interpretations, but neither he nor anyone else has performed the monumental “Symphony of a Thousand” inside Walt Disney Concert Hall. Just imagine the huge orchestra, pipe organ and massed choirs in the explosive opening movement, “Come, Creator Spirit.”
Program:MAHLER : Symphony No. 8
Artists:Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductor
Tamara Wilson soprano
Leah Crocetto soprano
Erin Morley soprano
Mihoko Fujimura mezzo-soprano
Tamara Mumford mezzo-soprano
Simon O’Neill tenor
Ryan McKinny baritone
Morris Robinson bass
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon Artistic DirectorPacific Chorale
Robert Istad Artistic DirectorLos Angeles Children’s Chorus
Fernando Malvar-Ruiz Artistic DirectorNational Children’s Chorus
Luke McEndarfer Artistic Director
SUN / JUN 2, 2019 – 2:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About This Performance:Performed by Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, Beethoven’s timeless Fourth Concerto, with its extraordinarily poetic slow movement, is followed by Beethoven’s noble and majestic final concerto, played for us by Spanish virtuoso Javier Perianes.
Program:HAYDN : “Lord Nelson” Mass (Missa in Angustiis) in D minor, Hob. XXII/11
Intermission
BEETHOVEN : Mass in C major, Op. 86
Artists:Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductorLiv Redpath sopranoAnna Larsson mezzo-sopranoDavid Portillo tenorMatthias Goerne bass-baritoneLos Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon Artistic Director
SUN / MAY 26, 2019 – 2:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
Upbeat Live schedule, details, and speaker bios: www.laphil.com/ubl
About This Performance:Performed by Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, Beethoven’s timeless Fourth Concerto, with its extraordinarily poetic slow movement, is followed by Beethoven’s noble and majestic final concerto, played for us by Spanish virtuoso Javier Perianes.
Program:BEETHOVEN : Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
Intermission
BEETHOVEN : Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 (“Emperor”)
Artists:Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductorYulianna Avdeeva pianoJavier Perianes piano
FRI / MAY 24, 2019 – 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
Upbeat Live schedule, details, and speaker bios: www.laphil.com/ubl
About This Performance:Performed by Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, Beethoven’s timeless Fourth Concerto, with its extraordinarily poetic slow movement, is followed by Beethoven’s noble and majestic final concerto, played for us by Spanish virtuoso Javier Perianes.
This performance was made possible by the Elaine and Bram Goldsmith Great Artists Fund.
Program:BEETHOVEN : Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
Intermission
BEETHOVEN : Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 (“Emperor”)
Artists:Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductorYulianna Avdeeva pianoJavier Perianes piano
THU / MAY 23, 2019 – 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About This Performance:Dudamel leads Haydn’s magnificent final symphony. Superstar Lang Lang joins in for Beethoven’s first-written, but second-published, piano concerto, a delightful, bracing statement to Vienna that the composer/pianist had arrived.
Program:BEETHOVEN : Egmont Overture
HAYDN : Symphony No. 104 in D major, “London”
Intermission
BEETHOVEN : Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19
Artists:Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductorLang Lang piano
SUN / MAY 19, 2019 - 2:00PM
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About This Performance:Salonen continues to intrigue us with a program combining late Mozart and early Beethoven.
Program:MOZART : Piano Concerto No. 22, in E-flat, K. 482
Intermission
Louis ANDRIESSEN : The only one (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from MaddocksBrown Fund for New Music)BEETHOVEN : Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
Artists:Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen conductorEmanuel Ax pianoNora Fischer vocals
SUN / MAY 5, 2019 - 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About the Performance:
This vivid program of orchestral showpieces contrasts the music of masters of instrumental color and shading, climaxing in Respighi’s popular depiction of Roman pine groves.
The program also includes a work by Donatoni – one of the conductor’s teachers – that Salonen and the LA Phil premiered in 2001. “I love the kaleidoscopic world of Donatoni, the sudden twists and turns and the sheer beauty of the surface of the music,” Salonen said. It also features a showpiece for a widely acclaimed young pianist, the masterpiece Ravel wrote for a pianist who lost his right arm in World War I.
Program: DEBUSSY : Iberia
RAVEL : Concerto for the Left Hand
Intermission
DONATONI : ESA (In cauda V) (LA Phil commission)
RESPIGHI : Pines of Rome
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen conductor
Igor Levit piano
SUN / APR 28, 2019 - 2:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About the Performance:Salonen leads two remarkable myth ballets by Stravinsky: Orpheus, the quintessential music myth, and the sensual, sumptuous French setting of Perséphone, goddess of the Underworld. The latter features the surpassing insights and brilliant staging of Peter Sellars.
Program: STRAVINSKY : Orpheus
STRAVINSKY : Perséphone
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen conductor
Peter Sellars director
Paul Groves tenor
Cécilia Tsan narrator
Amrita Performing Arts, Cambodia
Sam Sathya dancer (Perséphone)
Chumvan Sodhachivy dancer (Déméter)
Nam Narim dancer (Mercure, Démophoon, Triptolème)
Khon Chan Sithyka dancer (Pluton)
James F. Ingalls lighting designer
Helene Siebrits costume designer
Frederick Vogler sound designer
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon Artistic Director
Los Angeles Children’s Chorus
Fernando Malvar-Ruiz Artistic Director
SAT / APR 20, 2019 - 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About the Performance:
For this afternoon only, you’ll hear a fascinating range of Stravinsky’s sacred vocal works.
Program: STRAVINSKY : Requiem Canticles; Introitus (TS Eliot in Memoriam); In memoriam Dylan Thomas; Mass; Elegy for JFK; Chorale Variations on “Vom Himmel hoch, da komm’ ich her”; Cantata
No Intermission
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen conductor
Andrew Staples tenor
Kelley O’Connor mezzo-soprano
Davóne Tines bass-baritone
Heidi Stober soprano
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon Artistic Director
SUN / APR 14, 2019 - 2:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About the Performance:
Following Stravinsky’s early memorial for his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov (lost until recently!), Salonen leads two of Stravinsky’s ritualistic ballet scores, concluding with Salonen’s crackling specialty and signature work with the LA Phil, The Rite of Spring.
Program: STRAVINSKY : Funeral Song
STRAVINSKY : Agon
Intermission
STRAVINSKY : The Rite of Spring
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen conductor
SAT / APR 13, 2019 - 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About the Performance:
“Carpenter is one of the rare musicians who changes the game of his instrument… He is a smasher of cultural and classical music taboos. He is technically the most accomplished organist I have ever witnessed… And, most important of all, the most musical.” (Los Angeles Times)
Program: BACH : Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532
BACH / Cameron CARPENTER : French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV 816
BACH : Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544
BACH : In dulci jubilo, BWV 608
BACH : Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543
Intermission
BACH / Cameron CARPENTER : Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
Cameron CARPENTER : Serenade and Fugue on B.A.C.H.
Thomas MELLAN : Ballade de l’Impossible
Cameron CARPENTER : Improvisation
BACH : Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
Artists:
Cameron Carpenter organ
SUN / APR 7, 2019 -7:30PM
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About the Performance:
Ever-vibrant conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla covers all the bases with this multifaceted program, beginning with Tchaikovsky’s beloved Violin Concerto, featuring the astonishing Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Mirga also leads the latest by much-lauded South Korean composer Unsuk Chin and Debussy’s masterpiece of orchestral color.
This evening’s performance is made possible in part by the generous support of the Kohl Virtuoso Violin Fund.
Program: TCHAIKOVSKY : Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35
Intermission
Unsuk CHIN : SPIRA – A Concerto for Orchestra (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
DEBUSSY : La mer
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla conductor
Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin
SUN / APR 7, 2019 - 2:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About the Performance:
For one shining moment, Ravel and Gershwin met each other at a New York party in 1928, where they expressed their deep mutual admiration and passion for jazz. Now, two brilliant French artists (and Philharmonic regulars) keep that connection alive with this latter-day meeting of the minds.
Program:
GERSHWIN : Cuban Overture
RAVEL : Piano Concerto in G
Intermission
RAVEL : Valses nobles et sentimentales
GERSHWIN : An American in Paris
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Lionel Bringuier conductor
Hélène Grimaud piano
SUN / MAR 31, 2019 - 2:00PM
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About the Performance:
The astounding Yuja Wang collaborates with Dudamel to give the first-ever performances of John Adams’ newest piano concerto, paired with Mahler’s beloved song-filled symphony, rife with quintessential Mahlerian touches: nature-inspired lyricism, a funeral march, and explosive crescendos.
Program:
John ADAMS : Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from the Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund)
Intermission
MAHLER : Symphony No. 1
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductor Yuja Wang piano
SUN / MAR 10, 2019 - 2:00PM
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About the Performance:
This production contains extreme sexually explicit images from the Robert Mapplethorpe collection that may be inappropriate for attendees under 18. Discretion is advised.
Thirty years after the death of Robert Mapplethorpe, we still cannot turn away from what his photos reveal. Composer Bryce Dessner, Librettist Korde Arrington Tuttle, and director Kaneza Schaal in collaboration with Roomful of Teeth and a musical ensemble of 12 players explore the ways Mapplethorpe’s works compel an audience’s complicity and characterizes them in the act of attention. As a young man growing up in Cincinnati, Dessner’s own exposure to the protests surrounding this galvanizing artist rooted a lifelong kinship to his pivotal body of work. Mapplethorpe’s pictures both unite and divide viewers, provoking a consideration of perceived opposites–their literal as well emotional and cultural meanings – Black/White, Male/Female, Gay/Straight, Art/Porn, Classical/Contemporary. His pictures seduce, shock, offend, excite, intrigue and scare us all at once. Single images take our breath away through the classic capture of everyday acts of nature and the beauty of their composition. On the other hand, a single image has the power to reveal our fears and our desires and the razor-thin line between the two. We confront this work privately, flipping through coffee table books or seeing the work in a museum gallery. But in Triptych (Eyes of One on Another), Dessner, Tuttle & Schaal ask an audience to experience these reactions collectively. Through music, projection of Mapplethorpe’s images, and the poetry of Tuttle, Essex Hemphill and Patti Smith, the work puts the audience inside the artist’s view finder, inside his beautiful, bold, voracious view of how nature and humans look, touch, feel, hurt and love one another.
Co-produced by Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel Music and Artistic Director. Produced in Residency with and Commissioned by University Musical Society, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. TRIPTYCH was co-commissioned by BAM; Luminato Festival, Toronto, Canada; Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Athens, Greece; Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati, OH; Cal Performances, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA; Stanford Live, Stanford University, Stanford, CA; Adelaide Festival, Australia; John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for performance as part of DirectCurrent 2019; ArtsEmerson: World on Stage, Emerson College, Boston, MA; Texas Performing Arts, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX; Holland Festival, Amsterdam; Barbican Centre, London; Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; and Celebrity Series, Boston, MA. Residency development through MassMOCA, North Adams, MA.
Photo credits:
Alistair Butler, 1980 © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission.
Bryce Dressner photo by Shervin Lainez
Korde Arrington Tuttle photo courtesy of the artist
Roomful of Teeth photo by Bonica Ayala
Produced in cooperation with The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation
Program:
Bryce DESSNER : Triptych (Eyes of One on Another)
Artists:
LA Phil New Music Group
Sara Jobin conductor
Bryce Dessner composer
Korde Arrington Tuttle featuring words by Essex Hemphill & Patti Smith librettist
Roomful of Teeth
Kaneza Schaal director
Simon Harding video
Yuki Nakase lighting design
Carlos Soto costume design
Talvin Wilks dramaturgy
ArKtype / Thomas O. Kriegsmann co-producers
TUE / MAR 5, 2019 - 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.c
About the Performance:
Although Mahler did begin composing yet another symphony, his Ninth feels like a valedictory piece, filled as it is with sighing gestures and a time-stopping finale of rumination and resignation. It's hard to overstate the emotions it engenders.
Program:
MAHLER : Symphony No. 9
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductor
SUN / MAR 3, 2019 - 2:00PM
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About the Performance:
Although Mahler did begin composing yet another symphony, his Ninth feels like a valedictory piece, filled as it is with sighing gestures and a time-stopping finale of rumination and resignation. It's hard to overstate the emotions it engenders.
Program:
MAHLER : Symphony No. 9
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductor
THU / FEB 28, 2019 - 8:00PM
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About the Performance:
Back in the 1930s, the LA Phil performed William Grant Still’s music conducted by the composer. Now, Thomas Wilkins leads a program combining jazz and orchestral music, including Still’s Fourth Symphony and a new tribute to Still.
Program:
ELLINGTON : Three Black Kings
GERSHWIN : Second Rhapsody
Intermission
Adolphus HAILSTORK : Still Holding On (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
STILL : Symphony No. 4, "Autochthonous"
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Thomas Wilkins conductor
Aaron Diehl piano
SUN / FEB 17, 2019 - 8:00PM
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About the Performance:
Following on the stunning success of his Water Passion after St. Matthew, Tan Dun (composer for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) has created another evening-length oratorio, this time based on stories inspired by the Dunhuang Cave paintings.
Program:
Tan DUN : Buddha Passion (U.S. premiere, LA Phil commission)*
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductor
Sen Guo soprano
Huiling Zhu mezzo-soprano
Kang Wang tenor
Shenyang bass-baritone
Tan Weiwei Female Indigenous Singer
Batubagen Male Indigenous Singer
Chen Yining Fantan Pipa Soloist and Dancer
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon Artistic Director
Los Angeles Children’s Chorus
Fernando Malvar-Ruiz Artistic Director
SAT / FEB 9, 2019 - 8:00PM
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About the Performance:
The first organist to ever receive a Grammy® Award, Paul Jacobs has been a frequent and welcome guest at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Known for playing demanding programs without scores, he has memorized the complete works of Messiaen, Bach, Brahms, and Franck.
Program:
John WEAVER : Fantasia for Organ
BACH : Sheep May Safely Graze, BWV 208
BACH : Trio Sonata in E minor, BWV 528
MOZART : Fantasia in F minor, K. 594
IVES : Variations on “America”
Intermission
LISZT : Fantasy and Fugue on “Ad nos, ad salutarem undam”
Artists:
Paul Jacobs organ
SUN / FEB 3, 2019 - 7:30PM
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About the Performance:
Britten’s masterful Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings spotlights the brilliance of our own Principal Horn, Australian Andrew Bain, a world-leading horn player. The monumental fanfare that begins Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra was made famous by its role in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Program:
BRITTEN : Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
BRITTEN : Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. Op. 31
Intermission
STRAUSS : Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Simone Young conductor
Michael Slattery tenor
Andrew Bain horn
FRI / FEB 1, 2019 - 8:00PM
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About the Performance:
Anyone who appreciates the iconic film scores of John Williams will be transported when Gustavo leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in this emblematic sampling of Williams’ unforgettable themes, augmented by a selection of film clips.
Program:
John WILLIAMS : Olympic Fanfare and Theme
John WILLIAMS : Excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind
John WILLIAMS : Out to Sea/Shark Cage Fugue fromJaws
John WILLIAMS : Three Selections from Harry Potter
John WILLIAMS : Theme from Schindler’s List
John WILLIAMS : Adventures on Earth from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Intermission
John WILLIAMS : Flight to Neverland from Hook
John WILLIAMS : Theme from Jurassic Park
John WILLIAMS : Three Selections from Indiana Jones
John WILLIAMS : Sayuri’s Theme from Memoirs of a Geisha
John WILLIAMS : Three Selections from Star Wars
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductor
Simone Porter violin
THU / JAN 24, 2019 - 8:00PM
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About the Performance:
Every detail of Olivier Messiaen's sensual and opulent orchestral lovefest will be delineated by Susanna Mälkki – an unforgettable and overwhelming sonic experience.
Program:
Kaija SAARIAHO : Trans for harp and orchestra (U.S. premiere)
Intermission
MESSIAEN : Turangalîla Symphony
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Susanna Mälkki conductor
Xavier de Maistre harp
Jean-Yves Thibaudet piano
Cynthia Millar ondes martenot
FRI / JAN 18, 2019 - 8:00PM
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About the Performance:
Brahms’ last completed orchestral work, his magnificent Double Concerto – featuring Pinchas Zukerman and his wife Amanda Forsyth – is followed on this program by Brahms’ tragic and noble final symphony, from which Mehta will extract every iota of Romantic fervor.
Mehta's Brahms: Symphony No. 4 is supported by an Edgerton Foundation grant.
Program:
BRAHMS : Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, Op. 102
Intermission
BRAHMS : Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Zubin Mehta conductor
Pinchas Zukerman violin
Amanda Forsyth cello
SUN / JAN 6, 2019 - 2:00PM
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About the Performance:
In this program of Brahms contrasts, the epic, many layered four-movement Second Piano Concerto is paired with the delightful and lyrical Second Symphony. Bronfman and Mehta will revel in this music.
Program:
BRAHMS : Piano Concerto No. 2
Intermission
BRAHMS : Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Zubin Mehta conductor
Yefim Bronfman piano
SAT / DEC 15, 2018 - 8:00PM
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About the Performance:
Zubin Mehta launches his Brahms Cycle with the rich, roiling waves of power that are the First Piano Concerto and First Symphony. Joining in is enduring Philharmonic friend and pianistic dynamo Yefim Bronfman.
Program:
BRAHMS : Piano Concerto No. 1
Intermission
BRAHMS : Symphony No. 1
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Zubin Mehta conductor
Yefim Bronfman piano
FRI / DEC 14, 2018 - 8:00PM
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About the Performance:
Music by composers near to Michael Tilson Thomas’ heart make up this program, beginning with the Romantic beauties of Tchaikovsky in his extremely popular tribute to Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers. The Russian composer displayed his abiding love for the music of Mozart with his Variations on a Rococo Theme – a brief, elegant concerto for cello and orchestra. One of the world’s leading cellists, French virtuoso Gautier Capuçon, will dispatch its challenges with utter charm and grace.
American maverick Charles Ives’ rarely performed, mighty and massive Holidays Symphony contains four movements – Washington’s Birthday; Decoration Day; The Fourth of July; and Thanksgiving & Forefathers’ Day – that coincide with the seasons, starting with winter. Composed over 16 years, the piece mashes up familiar hymn tunes, marches, and songs from the composer’s New England childhood, creating moody, unexpected atmospheres in the extraordinary, visionary way that is pure Ives.
Program:
TCHAIKOVSKY: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
TCHAIKOVSKY: Variations on a Rococo Theme
Intermission
IVES: A Symphony: New England Holidays
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Michael Tilson Thomas conductor
Gautier Capuçon cello
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon Artistic Director
SUN / DEC 9, 2018 - 2:00PM
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About the Performance:
L.A.’s own Michael Tilson Thomas partners with the orchestra for his own latest work, followed by the passionate emotional depths of Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique.”
Program:
Michael TILSON THOMAS : Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind
Intermission
TCHAIKOVSKY : Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique"
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Michael Tilson Thomas conductor
Measha Brueggergosman mezzo-soprano
SUN / DEC 2, 2018 - 2:00PM
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About the Performance:
Combining film clips with live performances of the scores, we bring to life the iconic music chosen by late legendary director Stanley Kubrick – from Beethoven to Penderecki.
By Arrangement with Warner Bros. Pictures
Program:
Various composers : Selections from 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Barry Lyndon, and Eyes Wide Shut
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Jessica Cottis conductor
Malcolm McDowell host
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon Artistic Director
SUN / NOV 25, 2018 - 2:00PM
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About the Performance:
The colorful, iconoclastic Cameron Carpenter shows off Walt Disney Concert Hall’s awe-inspiring pipe organ with the crushing power chords of Poulenc’s idiosyncratic Concerto and Saint-Saëns’ beloved, melody-rich Third Symphony.
Program:
Christopher CERRONE : The Insects Became Magnetic (World premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting)
POULENC : Organ Concerto
Intermission
SAINT-SAËNS : Symphony No. 3, “Organ”
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Roderick Cox conductor
Cameron Carpenter organ
SUN / NOV 18, 2018 - 2:00PM
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About the Performance:
One of the wonders of the world, Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra brings together young musicians from Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Spain to make music at the highest level.
Program:
STRAUSS: Don Quixote Intermission
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5
Artists:
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim conductor
Kian Soltani cello
Miriam Manasherov viola
SUN / NOV 11, 2018 - 7:30PM
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About the Performance:
For this major production with director Barry Edelstein and The Old Globe – featuring a cast of 27 actors, singers, and dancers – Susanna Mälkki conducts Sibelius’ evocative music for Shakespeare’s mysterious masterpiece about a shipwreck on a magical island.
Program:
SIBELIUS and SHAKESPEARE: The Tempest
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Old Globe
Susanna Mälkki conductorBarry Edelstein Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic DirectorLos Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon artistic director
Patrick McCollum choreographer
Mark Wendland set designerJudith Dolan costume designerJaphy Weideman lighting designerJonathan Burke sound designerJeff Sugg video designerTracy Lilienfield C.S.A, casting directorJoshua Pilote production stage managerLindsay Lowy assistant stage managerMichelle Blair assistant stage manager
Lior Ashkenazi ProsperoKevin Cahoon TrinculoGrantham Coleman FerdinandAudrey Corsa MirandaMichael Genet AlonsoRuy Iskander SebastianZarif Kabier Francisco & BoatswainPeter MacNicol StephanoBeth Malone ArielTom McGowan CalibanMark Pinter GonzaloCornell Womack Antonio
Elizabeth DeShong Ariel (mezzo-soprano)
Ying Fang Juno (soprano)
Timothy Mix Caliban (baritone)
Jarrett Ott Stephano (baritone)
Joshua Wheeker Trinculo (tenor)
Jessica Gadzinski dancer
Courtney Ozovek dancer
Dani Maloney dancer
Carolina Beachwood dancer/Goddess
Nichol Mason Lazenby dancer/Goddess
Kar Will dancer
Derek Schiesel dancer
Bradford Chin dancer
Spencer Jensen dancer
Anthony Gabriel dancer
FRI / NOV 9, 2018 - 8:00PM
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About the Performance:
One of music’s towering figures, Steve Reich has composed a new work for our Centennial that is sure to be unforgettable under Principal Guest Conductor Susanna Mälkki. To complete the program, she reveals the vast emotional landscape that is Mahler’s Fifth.
Program:
Steve REICH: Music for Ensemble and Orchestra (world premiere, LA Phil co-commission with generous support from Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg)
Intermission
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Susanna Mälkki conductor
SUN / NOV 4, 2018 - 2:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About the Performance:
Organist Clark Wilson provides chills and thrills to accompany the silent classic Nosferatu, the first film adaptation of Dracula.
Program:
Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror
Artists:
Clark Wilson organ
WED / OCT 31, 2018 - 8:00PM
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About the Performance:
Don’t miss the iconic energy and inexorable power of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, preceded by the extraordinary Jean-Yves Thibaudet performing Saint-Saëns’ elegantly glittering Fifth Piano Concerto.
Program:
KNUSSEN: O Hototogisu! fragment of a Japonisme(U.S. premiere)
SAINT-SAËNS: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Egyptian”
Intermission
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Paolo Bortolameolli conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet piano
Kiera Duffy soprano
Denis Bouriakov flute
SAT / OCT 27, 2018 - 8:00PM
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About the Performance:
Innovative choreographer and L.A. Dance Project Artistic Director Benjamin Millepied joins Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil, bringing to vivid life the famous balcony scene from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet- one of dance’s most evocative and vibrant scores – in collaboration with L.A. Dance Project.
Program:
PROKOFIEV: Romeo and Juliet, complete ballet, Op. 64
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductor
Benjamin Millepied choreographer
L.A. Dance Project
SUN / OCT 21, 2018 - 2:00PM
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About the Performance:
Dudamel takes the podium on the first night of our new-music series to showcase our own virtuosos and leading lights of Southern California’s living music scene, including a new Garden installation by composer and sound artist Ellen Reid.
(*World premiere, LA Phil commission)
Program:
Ethan BRAUN: The Lost Ones
Natacha DIELS: Laughing to Forget (with generous support from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation)
Daniel ALLAS: to be tender (with generous support from Nancy S. and Barry Sanders)
Intermission
Tina TALLON: …for we who keep our lives in our throats… (with generous support from the Hillenburg Family)
Carolyn CHEN: The Sleeper and the Drinker (with generous support from the Deborah Borda Women in the Arts Initiative)*
Artists:
LA Phil New Music Group
Gustavo Dudamel conductor
Paolo Bortolameolli conductor
Nuno Coelho conductor
Boris Allakhverdyan clarinet
Denis Bouriakov flute
Nathan Cole violin
Andrew Norman curator
TUE / OCT 9, 2018 - 8:00PM
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About the Performance:
We kick off the LA Fest festival with the ultimate L.A.-centric piece, Salonen’s breakthrough work. Soloists for the Beethoven are our own Philharmonic principals, and Dudamel concludes the evening with a major new work by L.A.- based composer Andrew Norman, already a winner of the prestigious Grawemeyer Award.
Program:
Esa-Pekka SALONEN: LA Variations
BEETHOVEN: Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, Op. 56
Intermission
Andrew NORMAN: Sustain(World premiere, LA Phil co-commission with generous support from Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg)
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductorMartin Chalifour violinRobert deMaine celloJoanne Pearce Martin piano
SUN / OCT 7, 2018 - 2:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
Upbeat Live schedule, details, and speaker bios: www.laphil.com/ubl
About the Performance:
We kick off the LA Fest festival with the ultimate L.A.-centric piece, Salonen’s breakthrough work. Soloists for the Beethoven are our own Philharmonic principals, and Dudamel concludes the evening with a major new work by L.A.- based composer Andrew Norman, already a winner of the prestigious Grawemeyer Award.
Program:
Esa-Pekka SALONEN: LA Variations
BEETHOVEN: Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, Op. 56
Intermission
Andrew NORMAN: Sustain(World premiere, LA Phil co-commission with generous support from Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg)
Artists:
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductorMartin Chalifour violinRobert deMaine celloJoanne Pearce Martin piano
THU / OCT 4, 2018 - 8:00PM
Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar
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About the Performance:
One of the world’s most honored orchestras and its revered Music Director delight the Brahms lover with the two warm, buoyant middle symphonies.
Program:
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
Artists:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra musician
Riccardo Muti conductor
SUN / OCT 22, 2017 - 7:30PM
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Concert: Mirga Conducts Mahler
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Eric Bromberger received his Ph.D. in American Literature from UCLA and taught literature and writing courses at Bates College (Lewiston, ME) and San Diego State University. A violinist, he joined the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra in 1980 and began writing the orchestra’s program notes the following year. Those notes drew the attention of presenters and performers, and soon he was able to quit his day job and devote himself to his first love, music. He is presently program annotator for the Minnesota Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Washington Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, 92nd Street Y in New York City, San Francisco Performances, University of Chicago Presents, La Jolla Music Society, and others. He wrote the liner notes for the Alexander String Quartet’s recent recordings of the quartet cycles of Mozart, Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Bartók.
Concert: CDMX: New Music from Mexico (Contemporary Mexico)
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Of Lithuanian heritage, composer Veronika Krausas was born in Australia raised in Canada, and lives in Los Angeles. She has directed, composed for, and produced multi-media events that incorporate her works with dance, acrobatics and video. The Globe & Mail (Toronto) writes “her works, whose organic, lyrical sense of storytelling are supported by a rigid formal elegance, give her audiences a sense that nature’s frozen objects are springing to life.”
She was one of 6 composers involved in the acclaimed mobile opera Hopscotch. Alex Ross of the New Yorker called Hopscotch, “a remarkable experimental opera.” Her first opera, The Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth, based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, was premiered at the New York City Opera’s VOX 2008 festival. A full production was mounted in Los Angeles in August 2010 to sold-out audiences. Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times said of her chamber opera, “Something novel this way comes.”
Her newest opera Ghost Opera, a dramma giocoso with libretto by André Alexis and The Old Trout Puppet Company, will première with Calgary Opera at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in May 2019.
Commissions and performances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Industry, New York City Opera, Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival, Ensemble musikFabrik, Chicago Architecture Biennial (2016), Piano Spheres for Gloria Cheng, The Vancouver Symphony, ERGO Projects, Esprit Orchestra, Fort Worth Opera, Jacaranda Music, Motion Music, and the Penderecki String Quartet.
Krausas has music composition degrees from the University of Toronto, McGill University in Montreal, and a doctorate from the Thornton School of Music at USC in Los Angeles, where she is a faculty member in the Composition Department. She serves on the advisory boards of Jacaranda Music and People Inside Electronics.
Concert: Jean-Baptiste Robin in Recital
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Thomas Neenan is Lecturer in Music History and Music Theory at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena where he teaches a full range of courses devoted to history, theory, music appreciation, jazz history, opera, and special topics.
Neenan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organ Performance from Cal-State Northridge and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Organ Performance Practices and Conducting from UCLA where he was named an Outstanding Graduate Student. He studied organ with David Britton and Thomas Harmon in the U.S. and Ernst-Ulrich von Kameke and Jean Langlais in Europe.
As a recital organist, he has performed in the United States, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Japan and Switzerland. In 2004 he performed a solo recital on the newly restored 1746 Hilldebrandt “Bach Organ” in Naumburg, Germany.
As a conductor, he has led a variety of instrumental and choral ensembles throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. He was a conducting fellow under Helmut Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival where he conducted baritone Thomas Quasthoff and the Festival Chorus in portions of Haydn’s “Creation” and he has led performances by the Choir of St. Matthew’s Parish (Pacific Palisades) in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany and throughout the British Isles.
Neenan has contributed scholarly essays to a variety of professional journals on topics ranging from Gregorian chant to the organ music of Gyorgy Ligeti. He has received research grants to study and write on performance practices in the organ music of Dietrich Buxtehude, music and culture in the Dutch communities of colonial New York, and music in the monastic community of Taizé, France.
In 2017 he retired after 36 years as Music Director at The Parish of St. Matthew (Episcopal), Pacific Palisades, and 33 years as Music Director and Conductor of The Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s. He currently serves as President of St. Matthew’s Music Guild which presents a concert series by the chamber orchestra and guest artists and ensembles (MusicGuildOnline.org) and offers multi-faceted music outreach activities in area schools and retirement communities.
Concert: Mozart 1791 - Final Piano Concerto
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
Concert: Young Caesar
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Eva Soltes is a prolific performing arts producer, dancer, and documentarian, who has championed the work of gifted artists and underserved art forms for decades.
She is the Founder/ Director of Harrison House Music, Arts & Ecology, a residency/performance program based in the late Lou Harrison’s straw bale retreat in Joshua Tree, California. Soltes enjoyed a multi-faceted personal and professional relationship with Lou Harrison that spanned nearly 30 years. During that time she developed a large body of media on the composer, culminating in her featurelength documentary, LOU HARRISON: A World of Music, which has been called “wizardly” (SF Chronicle) and “affecting” (The New Yorker).
Other highlights of Soltes’ career include producing Sound Design in Media, the first national conference on the creative use of sound in media at Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Ranch, with John Cage as Keynote Speaker and Academy Award-winning sound designer Randy Thom and Radio Drama producer Erik Bauresfeld as hosts. Previously she was Concert Director of 1750 Arch Concerts in Berkeley, California, where with Music Director Tom Buckner she presented over 800 performances and hosted more than 100 live radio broadcasts with composers and musicians from around the world.
As a dancer Soltes specializes in Bharatanatyam, classical dance of South India, having trained for decades with the late legendary South Indian artist T. Balasaraswati. In 2014/15 Soltes was a visiting teacher at the Balasaraswati Institute of Music and Dance in Chennai, and in 2016 she was invited to dance at the Madras Music Academy in a performance celebrating Bala’s 98th birthday.
Visit louharrisonhouse.org.
Concert: Bartók Cycle with Dudamel and Yuja Wang
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Asadour Santourian, vice president for artistic administration and artistic advisor of the Aspen Music Festival and School, has been with the AMFS since 2003. He has developed the season themes and other artistic initiatives, including the Overtures series and the thematic minifestivals. In his time the AMFS has garnered seven ASCAP Awards for Adventuresome Programming of Contemporary Music. Previously artistic director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam, he is a member of the recommendation board of the Avery Fisher Career Grants among others and has served on numerous competition jury panels. He is a regular lecturer for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and was a featured lecturer for its 2012 Mahler Project. From 1991 to 2000 he was the Minnesota Orchestra’s director of artistic planning.
Concert: Organ Recital: Iveta Apkalna
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Born in Mannheim, Germany, Christoph Bull has performed and recorded around the world, including France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Russia, India, Taiwan and El Salvador, at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists and at venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Lincoln Center in New York City, Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, the Cathedrals of Moscow, Saint-Denis and Salzburg as well as rock clubs like The Viper Room, The Roxy and The Whisky in Los Angeles. He’s collaborated with leading orchestras, conductors, choirs and ensembles including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, James Conlon, Carl St.Clair, Pacific Chorale, Pacific Symphony and Grammy-winning Southwest Chamber Music.
He improvised his first melodies on the piano at the age of five and gave his first organ recitals and rock concerts with a band at the age of twelve.
Following his graduation at Karl-Friedrich-Gymnasium Mannheim and organ studies at University of Church Music in Heidelberg and Musikhochschule Freiburg, he earned degrees at Berklee College of Music, University of Southern California and American Conservatory of Music on multiple scholarships.
His organ teachers were Cherry Rhodes, Hermann Schäffer, Ludwig Dörr, Samuel Swartz, Christoph Schöner and Paul Jordan. He won prizes in numerous organ and composition competitions, including “Jugend musiziert”, Michael Masser Competition, Berklee College of Music Songwriting Competition and International Organ Competition Marcello Galanti.
Christoph Bull is the creator of the genre-crossing, collaborative multi-media series organica, combining traditional and contemporary music. His collaborators include DJs, video artists, live painter, instrumentalists and singers. He has also contributed to projects by Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams, Harry Connick Jr., George Clinton and Bootsy Collins (Parliament Funkadelic), Cindy Lauper, Lili Haydn and Nishat Khan and opened the organ series at Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa and Villa Aurora in the Pacific Palisades.
He’s received several awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for creative and innovative concert programs and has released a number of CDs, including License To Chill, Old School, organica 2001, organica 2, and organica 3. His musical Treasure Island, a collaboration with lyricist Tim Mathews, was premiered in both the U.S. and Germany. His solo album First & Grand, the world premiere recording of the Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ, was celebrated by the international trade press and showcases the stylistic versatility and expressiveness of his playing. His original song “Peace” was featured on the benefit album 2 Unite All together with songs by Peter Gabriel, Stewart Copeland and others.
His music has been broadcast on TV and radio, including on NPR’s flagship station in Southern California, KCRW, on Classical KUSC and the Minnesota Public Radio program “Pipedreams”.
Christoph Bull is based in Los Angeles. In addition to his activities as a concert organist, composer, singer-songwriter, speaker, university organist and organ professor at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), he is organist-in-residence at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, playing the largest church pipe organ in the world.
Concert: Schubert Symphonies / Mahler Songs 8 & 9
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Lorraine Byrne Bodley is Senior Lecturer in Musicology and Director of Research at Maynooth University. She holds a PhD in both Music and German from University College Dublin (2000). Dr Byrne Bodley is the first woman in Ireland to be conferred with a DMUS in Musicology, a higher doctorate on published work (NUI, 2012) and the second woman in Ireland to be awarded a DMUS (the first was Annie Patterson in 1889). Recent awards and fellowships include two DAAD Senior Academic Awards (2010 and 2014); a Gerda-Henkel Foundation Scholarship (2014); two Visiting Professorships at the University of Leipzig (2010) and at the Schubert-Archiv, University of Tübingen (2014). In 2015 she was elected President of the Society for Musicology in Ireland and Member of The Royal Irish Academy.
Dr Byrne Bodley is known internationally for her work on Schubert, on Goethe and Music, and on German Song, on all of which she has published prolifically and lectured internationally (in German and in English) in Austria, Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Czech Republic, Russia, Tokyo, Canada, USA, UK and Ireland. She has chaired and organised seven international conferences including Schubert and Concepts of Late Style (2011) at Maynooth University, which opened up a world-wide discussion on the topic.
That Dr Byrne Bodley has published 14 books in 14 years is rich confirmation of her ability to pursue vigorously a highly-focused interdisciplinary research program while being a committed and innovative teacher. She has published 3 monographs and edited 11 volumes (6 volumes of essays and 5 music scores for performance which have received world premieres). She has also written 40 book article and book chapters for essay collections with Princeton University Press, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and such scholarly journals as Music and Letters; Publications of the English Goethe Society; Schubert-Jahrbuch; Goethe-Yearbook; Oxford German Studies; German Quarterly; 19th Century Music Review; Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland.
Her monographs include Schubert’s Goethe Settings (2003) and Goethe and Zelter: Musical Dialogues (Ashgate, 2009) which was named an Outstanding Academic Book of 2010 by Choice and has been widely acclaimed as an ‘excellent translation’ and ‘a major contribution’ to musicology and Goethean studies (Music and Letters, The Schubertian, Choice, Modern Language Review). Her most recent books are Schubert’s Late Music: History, Theory, Style (Cambridge University Press, 2016) and Rethinking Schubert (Oxford University Press, 2016), both co-edited with Julian Horton; a special Schubert edition of Nineteenth Century Music Review published by Cambridge University Press and co-edited with James William Sobaskie, and a volume of essays on Music in Goethe’s Faust: Goethe’s Faust in Music (Boydell and Brewer, 2017). She is currently writing a new biography of Schubert commissioned by Yale University Press.
Concert: Schubert Symphonies / Mahler Songs 3 & 4
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
James William Sobaskie earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Minnesota, as well as a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin. Today he is an associate professor at Mississippi State University, where he teaches music theory and composition. Dr. Sobaskie serves on the Editorial Board of Nineteenth-Century Music Review, a musicological journal published by Cambridge University Press, and he has been its Book Reviews Editor since 2008. His research focuses on Franz Schubert and Gabriel Fauré, and he has given presentations on their music in Belgium, Canada, England, France, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, and Scotland, as well as America. Dr. Sobaskie also is a member of the Comité Scientifique of Œuvres complètes de Gabriel Fauré, a thirty-volume collected works project being published in Germany by Bärenreiter with the support of the French government’s cultural agency Musica Gallica. His critical edition of Fauré’s last two compositions, the Trio pour violon, violoncelle et piano (1923) and the Quatuor pour cordes (1924), inaugurated the monument in 2010. His essay, “Contextual Processes in Schubert’s Late Sacred Music,” appears in the book Rethinking Schubert, edited by Lorraine Byrne Bodley and Julian Horton, which was published in 2016 by Oxford University Press. With Lorraine Byrne Bodley, he guest-edited the June 2016 issue of Nineteenth-Century Music Review devoted to Schubert, a sequel to the journal’s 2008 Schubert issue that he guest-edited with Susan Youens. At present Dr. Sobaskie is editing Drama in the Music of Franz Schubert, an anthology of invited essays whose contributors represent nine countries, which will be published by Boydell & Brewer. He also is completing a book, The Music of Gabriel Fauré: Style, Structure and the Art of Allusion, which will be published by Routledge. While similarities and connections between Franz Schubert (1797–1828) and Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) may not seem immediately obvious – beyond their enormous and extraordinary legacies of vocal, piano, and chamber music – the early-Romantic Austrian composer and the late-Romantic/early Modern French composer actually have much in common. For instance, both have been overshadowed by prominent peers, the richness of their repertoires has been overlooked, and each master’s artistic influence has been underestimated. Such challenging circumstances cannot help but inspire the energetic advocacy that is shared by so many musicians, and so amply demonstrated by the Schubert Festival of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
Concert: The Best of Wagner’s Ring
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Thomas Neenan is Lecturer in Music History and Music Theory at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena where he teaches a full range of courses devoted to history, theory, music appreciation, jazz history, opera, and special topics.
Neenan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organ Performance from Cal-State Northridge and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Organ Performance Practices and Conducting from UCLA where he was named an Outstanding Graduate Student. He studied organ with David Britton and Thomas Harmon in the U.S. and Ernst-Ulrich von Kameke and Jean Langlais in Europe.
As a recital organist, he has performed in the United States, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Japan and Switzerland. In 2004 he performed a solo recital on the newly restored 1746 Hilldebrandt “Bach Organ” in Naumburg, Germany.
As a conductor, he has led a variety of instrumental and choral ensembles throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. He was a conducting fellow under Helmut Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival where he conducted baritone Thomas Quasthoff and the Festival Chorus in portions of Haydn’s “Creation” and he has led performances by the Choir of St. Matthew’s Parish (Pacific Palisades) in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany and throughout the British Isles.
Neenan has contributed scholarly essays to a variety of professional journals on topics ranging from Gregorian chant to the organ music of Gyorgy Ligeti. He has received research grants to study and write on performance practices in the organ music of Dietrich Buxtehude, music and culture in the Dutch communities of colonial New York, and music in the monastic community of Taizé, France.
In 2017 he retired after 36 years as Music Director at The Parish of St. Matthew (Episcopal), Pacific Palisades, and 33 years as Music Director and Conductor of The Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s. He currently serves as President of St. Matthew’s Music Guild which presents a concert series by the chamber orchestra and guest artists and ensembles (MusicGuildOnline.org) and offers multi-faceted music outreach activities in area schools and retirement communities.
Concert: From the New World
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Alan Chapman is heard weekdays on Classical KUSC (91.5 FM). He also produces and hosts “Modern Times” on Saturday nights and “A Musical Offering,” a program of Baroque music Sunday mornings. He was a longtime Professor of Music at Occidental College and served as a Visiting Professor at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. In recent years he has been a member of the music theory faculty of the Colburn Conservatory. Well known as a pre-concert lecturer, he has been a regular speaker on the Upbeat Live series since its inception in 1984. He also works closely with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Pacific Symphony, and has been heard globally as programmer and host of the inflight classical channels on United and Delta Airlines.
After receiving his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he earned a Ph.D. in music theory from Yale University. His analytical work has appeared in The Journal of Music Theory, and he is a contributor to A New Orpheus: Essays on Kurt Weill (Yale University Press, 1986), winner of the 1987 Deems Taylor Award for excellence in writing on music.
Dr. Chapman is also active as a composer-lyricist and pianist. His songs, which have been performed and recorded by Andrea Marcovicci, Amanda McBroom, and many other artists throughout the United States and in England, have been honored by ASCAP, the Johnny Mercer Foundation, and the Manhattan Association of Cabarets. His children’s opera Les Moose: The Operatic Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, commissioned by Los Angeles Opera, was premiered in 15 public schools in 1997. Peter and Mr. Wolf, a work chronicling the tribulations of an eighth-grader in search of a science project, was commissioned by Chamber Music Palisades and premiered in 2008 with Chapman as narrator.
He frequently appears with his wife, soprano Karen Benjamin, in evenings of his original songs as well as concerts dedicated to preserving the American Songbook. They have performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, New York’s Town Hall, the Los Angeles Music Center, Pepperdine University, Ford Amphitheatre, Broad Stage, Dallas Museum of Art, and many other venues across the United States. Their CD, Que Será, Será: The Songs of Livingston and Evans, features the late Ray Evans telling the stories behind such beloved songs as “Mona Lisa” and “Silver Bells.”
Concert: Reykjavík Festival: Jóhann Jóhannsson
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Árni Heimir Ingólfsson is Iceland’s leading musicologist and a renowned pianist, choral conductor, and music educator. Born in Reykjavík, he majored in piano performance and music history at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and received his PhD in musicology from Harvard University. He is currently Associate/Visiting Professor of Musicology at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, as well as being Artistic Advisor for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
Ingólfsson has devoted much of his career to researching Icelandic music history. He has published widely in Icelandic and English, including an article published by Harvard University Press in the 2013 volume City, Chant, and the Topography of Early Music. His biography of the Icelandic composer Jón Leifs was nominated for the Icelandic Book Award and an English version will be published in 2018 by Indiana University Press. His most recent book, published in 2016, is the first comprehensive history of classical music to be written in the Icelandic language. Ingólfsson has given lectures at conferences in Europe and the United States, been Visiting Erasmus Lecturer at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, and has held visiting fellowships in musicology at Oxford University, Boston University, and Harvard.
As a musician, Ingólfsson is primarily active as a collaborative pianist and choral conductor. He is the founder and artistic director of the Carmina Chamber Choir, which has appeared in various concerts in Iceland, England, Germany, France, and Sweden, as well as at the Reykjavik Arts Festival. On the Icelandic label Smekkleysa, he has produced three CDs with music from medieval Icelandic manuscripts, two of which won the Icelandic Music Awards for Best Classical CD of the Year. One of these CDs, Melodia, was also Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. Ingólfsson has worked with a wide range of prominent musicians including composer Nico Muhly and singer-composer Björk, arranging several tracks for her 2011 Grammy-nominated album Biophilia.
Concert: Reykjavík Festival: Sigur Rós & LA Phil Night 3
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Árni Heimir Ingólfsson is Iceland’s leading musicologist and a renowned pianist, choral conductor, and music educator. Born in Reykjavík, he majored in piano performance and music history at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and received his PhD in musicology from Harvard University. He is currently Associate/Visiting Professor of Musicology at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, as well as being Artistic Advisor for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
Ingólfsson has devoted much of his career to researching Icelandic music history. He has published widely in Icelandic and English, including an article published by Harvard University Press in the 2013 volume City, Chant, and the Topography of Early Music. His biography of the Icelandic composer Jón Leifs was nominated for the Icelandic Book Award and an English version will be published in 2018 by Indiana University Press. His most recent book, published in 2016, is the first comprehensive history of classical music to be written in the Icelandic language. Ingólfsson has given lectures at conferences in Europe and the United States, been Visiting Erasmus Lecturer at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, and has held visiting fellowships in musicology at Oxford University, Boston University, and Harvard.
As a musician, Ingólfsson is primarily active as a collaborative pianist and choral conductor. He is the founder and artistic director of the Carmina Chamber Choir, which has appeared in various concerts in Iceland, England, Germany, France, and Sweden, as well as at the Reykjavik Arts Festival. On the Icelandic label Smekkleysa, he has produced three CDs with music from medieval Icelandic manuscripts, two of which won the Icelandic Music Awards for Best Classical CD of the Year. One of these CDs, Melodia, was also Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. Ingólfsson has worked with a wide range of prominent musicians including composer Nico Muhly and singer-composer Björk, arranging several tracks for her 2011 Grammy-nominated album Biophilia.
Concert: Green Umbrella: Contemporary Iceland
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Árni Heimir Ingólfsson is Iceland’s leading musicologist and a renowned pianist, choral conductor, and music educator. Born in Reykjavík, he majored in piano performance and music history at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and received his PhD in musicology from Harvard University. He is currently Associate/Visiting Professor of Musicology at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, as well as being Artistic Advisor for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
Ingólfsson has devoted much of his career to researching Icelandic music history. He has published widely in Icelandic and English, including an article published by Harvard University Press in the 2013 volume City, Chant, and the Topography of Early Music. His biography of the Icelandic composer Jón Leifs was nominated for the Icelandic Book Award and an English version will be published in 2018 by Indiana University Press. His most recent book, published in 2016, is the first comprehensive history of classical music to be written in the Icelandic language. Ingólfsson has given lectures at conferences in Europe and the United States, been Visiting Erasmus Lecturer at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, and has held visiting fellowships in musicology at Oxford University, Boston University, and Harvard.
As a musician, Ingólfsson is primarily active as a collaborative pianist and choral conductor. He is the founder and artistic director of the Carmina Chamber Choir, which has appeared in various concerts in Iceland, England, Germany, France, and Sweden, as well as at the Reykjavik Arts Festival. On the Icelandic label Smekkleysa, he has produced three CDs with music from medieval Icelandic manuscripts, two of which won the Icelandic Music Awards for Best Classical CD of the Year. One of these CDs, Melodia, was also Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. Ingólfsson has worked with a wide range of prominent musicians including composer Nico Muhly and singer-composer Björk, arranging several tracks for her 2011 Grammy-nominated album Biophilia.
Concert: Salonen & Sibelius
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Of Lithuanian heritage, composer Veronika Krausas was born in Australia raised in Canada, and lives in Los Angeles. She has directed, composed for, and produced multi-media events that incorporate her works with dance, acrobatics and video. The Globe & Mail (Toronto) writes “her works, whose organic, lyrical sense of storytelling are supported by a rigid formal elegance, give her audiences a sense that nature’s frozen objects are springing to life.”
She was one of 6 composers involved in the acclaimed mobile opera Hopscotch. Alex Ross of the New Yorker called Hopscotch, “a remarkable experimental opera.” Her first opera, The Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth, based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, was premiered at the New York City Opera’s VOX 2008 festival. A full production was mounted in Los Angeles in August 2010 to sold-out audiences. Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times said of her chamber opera, “Something novel this way comes.”
Her newest opera Ghost Opera, a dramma giocoso with libretto by André Alexis and The Old Trout Puppet Company, will première with Calgary Opera at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in May 2019.
Commissions and performances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Industry, New York City Opera, Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival, Ensemble musikFabrik, Chicago Architecture Biennial (2016), Piano Spheres for Gloria Cheng, The Vancouver Symphony, ERGO Projects, Esprit Orchestra, Fort Worth Opera, Jacaranda Music, Motion Music, and the Penderecki String Quartet.
Krausas has music composition degrees from the University of Toronto, McGill University in Montreal, and a doctorate from the Thornton School of Music at USC in Los Angeles, where she is a faculty member in the Composition Department. She serves on the advisory boards of Jacaranda Music and People Inside Electronics.
Concert: Mirga Conducts Mozart & Haydn
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Of Lithuanian heritage, composer Veronika Krausas was born in Australia raised in Canada, and lives in Los Angeles. She has directed, composed for, and produced multi-media events that incorporate her works with dance, acrobatics and video. The Globe & Mail (Toronto) writes “her works, whose organic, lyrical sense of storytelling are supported by a rigid formal elegance, give her audiences a sense that nature’s frozen objects are springing to life.”
She was one of 6 composers involved in the acclaimed mobile opera Hopscotch. Alex Ross of the New Yorker called Hopscotch, “a remarkable experimental opera.” Her first opera, The Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth, based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, was premiered at the New York City Opera’s VOX 2008 festival. A full production was mounted in Los Angeles in August 2010 to sold-out audiences. Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times said of her chamber opera, “Something novel this way comes.”
Her newest opera Ghost Opera, a dramma giocoso with libretto by André Alexis and The Old Trout Puppet Company, will première with Calgary Opera at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in May 2019.
Commissions and performances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Industry, New York City Opera, Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival, Ensemble musikFabrik, Chicago Architecture Biennial (2016), Piano Spheres for Gloria Cheng, The Vancouver Symphony, ERGO Projects, Esprit Orchestra, Fort Worth Opera, Jacaranda Music, Motion Music, and the Penderecki String Quartet.
Krausas has music composition degrees from the University of Toronto, McGill University in Montreal, and a doctorate from the Thornton School of Music at USC in Los Angeles, where she is a faculty member in the Composition Department. She serves on the advisory boards of Jacaranda Music and People Inside Electronics.
Concert: Organ Recital: Felix Hell
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Born in Mannheim, Germany, Christoph Bull has performed and recorded around the world, including France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Russia, India, Taiwan and El Salvador, at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists and at venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Lincoln Center in New York City, Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, the Cathedrals of Moscow, Saint-Denis and Salzburg as well as rock clubs like The Viper Room, The Roxy and The Whisky in Los Angeles. He’s collaborated with leading orchestras, conductors, choirs and ensembles including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, James Conlon, Carl St.Clair, Pacific Chorale, Pacific Symphony and Grammy-winning Southwest Chamber Music.
He improvised his first melodies on the piano at the age of five and gave his first organ recitals and rock concerts with a band at the age of twelve.
Following his graduation at Karl-Friedrich-Gymnasium Mannheim and organ studies at University of Church Music in Heidelberg and Musikhochschule Freiburg, he earned degrees at Berklee College of Music, University of Southern California and American Conservatory of Music on multiple scholarships.
His organ teachers were Cherry Rhodes, Hermann Schäffer, Ludwig Dörr, Samuel Swartz, Christoph Schöner and Paul Jordan. He won prizes in numerous organ and composition competitions, including “Jugend musiziert”, Michael Masser Competition, Berklee College of Music Songwriting Competition and International Organ Competition Marcello Galanti.
Christoph Bull is the creator of the genre-crossing, collaborative multi-media series organica, combining traditional and contemporary music. His collaborators include DJs, video artists, live painter, instrumentalists and singers. He has also contributed to projects by Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams, Harry Connick Jr., George Clinton and Bootsy Collins (Parliament Funkadelic), Cindy Lauper, Lili Haydn and Nishat Khan and opened the organ series at Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa and Villa Aurora in the Pacific Palisades.
He’s received several awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for creative and innovative concert programs and has released a number of CDs, including License To Chill, Old School, organica 2001, organica 2, and organica 3. His musical Treasure Island, a collaboration with lyricist Tim Mathews, was premiered in both the U.S. and Germany. His solo album First & Grand, the world premiere recording of the Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ, was celebrated by the international trade press and showcases the stylistic versatility and expressiveness of his playing. His original song “Peace” was featured on the benefit album 2 Unite All together with songs by Peter Gabriel, Stewart Copeland and others.
His music has been broadcast on TV and radio, including on NPR’s flagship station in Southern California, KCRW, on Classical KUSC and the Minnesota Public Radio program “Pipedreams”.
Christoph Bull is based in Los Angeles. In addition to his activities as a concert organist, composer, singer-songwriter, speaker, university organist and organ professor at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), he is organist-in-residence at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, playing the largest church pipe organ in the world.
Concert: Tetzlaff Plays Dvořák
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Los Angeles native Christian Campos is managing artistic director of the Horizon Music Group. Under Campos’ stewardship, the ensemble has collaborated with the Cincinnati Boychoir (Bach cantatas), Long Beach Camerata Singers (Handel’s Messiah), Pacific Chorale (Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna), and Bach Collegium San Diego (Bach’s St. John Passion). Campos has performed at the Oregon, Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Whittier College Bach Festivals. His conducting style has been described as “expressive, varied and tuned perfectly with the music” (Long Beach Grunion Gazette).
Campos graduated from DePauw University where he studied music and economics while participating in honors programs in business management and information technology. A champion of world music, he received a grant from the ASIANetwork to study Indian Carnatic Music, the result of which was the first ever online database of ragas, composers, and compositions.
Since returning to California, he has worked as a guest conductor and contractor of choirs and orchestras, regularly performing with musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Los Angeles Master Chorale. He has contracted for the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, Broad Stage, Santa Monica College, CalState Long Beach, Fullerton, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino, and a host of area performing organizations. Christian has been featured on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Upbeat Live pre-concert series; in previous seasons he worked as a score reader at the Hollywood Bowl and lecturer as part of the Student Insiders pre-concert series. Campos has served on the faculty at Pomona College and the USC Thornton School of Music, where he recently completed his coursework towards a Doctor of Musical Arts degree.
Concert: Thibaudet Plays "The Mysteries of Light"
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Composer, conductor, performer, and lecturer Russell Steinberg received a Ph.D. in Music from Harvard University, an M.M. from the New England Conservatory, and a B.A. from UCLA. He studied composition most notably with Leon Kirchner, Arthur Berger, Elaine Barkin, and Kenneth Klauss. His works range from solo to chamber to orchestra and have been performed worldwide. His orchestra tone poem Cosmic Dust, commissioned by a tri-consortium of orchestras—the New West Symphony, the Bay Atlantic Symphony, and the Hopkins Symphony—was featured in a Science News Magazine article on the Hubble Space Telescope’s 25th anniversary and has had a dozen performances worldwide. The Los Angeles Jewish Symphony recently premiered Canopy of Peace with mezzo soprano Diana Tash, based on meditations by noted scholar and philosopher Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis. Available recordings of Steinberg’s music include Sacred Transitions: A Song Cycle Based On Meditations by Harold M. Schulweis (sung by mezzo soprano Diana Tash), Stories From My Favorite Planet: A Musical Tribute to Journalist Daniel Pearl (performed by Los Angeles Philharmonic violinist Mitchell Newman) produced by the Daniel Pearl Foundation (available at www.danielpearl.org), Flute Sonata recorded by Michelle Stanley and produced by Centaur Records, Desert Stars, a recording of Steinberg’s solo music for piano and classical guitar, and Fantasy for Flute and Piano on the album Ascend featuring flutist Elizabeth Erenberg.
Steinberg is Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, a widely praised group that includes 120 students from over 60 schools in the LA area and performs at UCLA and the Colburn School. This past summer (2015) the orchestra traveled on its first international tour, collaborating with high school musicians from the Johann Sebastian Bach Music School in Vienna, and performing concerts in Vienna and Prague to full houses and enthusiastic acclaim. Steinberg is also a popular speaker for pre-concert events with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and annually offers a Winter Evening Lecture Series on a wide range of topics. This year’s series titled The Classical Guitar—An Intimate Mystery begins Wednesday evening January 13. For information about signing up for this series, or information about Steinberg’s current performances, recordings, and pre-concert lectures, please visit www.russellsteinberg.com.
Concert: Beethoven & Shostakovich
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Eric Bromberger received his Ph.D. in American Literature from UCLA and taught literature and writing courses at Bates College (Lewiston, ME) and San Diego State University. A violinist, he joined the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra in 1980 and began writing the orchestra’s program notes the following year. Those notes drew the attention of presenters and performers, and soon he was able to quit his day job and devote himself to his first love, music. He is presently program annotator for the Minnesota Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Washington Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, 92nd Street Y in New York City, San Francisco Performances, University of Chicago Presents, La Jolla Music Society, and others. He wrote the liner notes for the Alexander String Quartet’s recent recordings of the quartet cycles of Mozart, Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Bartók.
Concert: Hélène Grimaud Plays Brahms
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Composer-flutist-conductor Daniel Kessner received his Ph.D. with Distinction at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1971, studying with Henri Lazarof. His more than 140 compositions have received over 800 performances worldwide, and 28 works are recorded commercially. Most of his scores are available from Theodore Front Musical Literature at tfront.com.
Kessner’s most important awards include the Queen Marie-José International Composition Prize in Geneva (1972), a 2003 Fulbright Senior Scholar Award to lecture and perform at the Musikhochschule in Trossingen, Germany, a Fulbright Senior Specialist Grant to perform and lecture in Trondheim, Norway in 2007, and similar residency at the Universidade do Minho in Portugal in 2011.
He is now Professor Emeritus at California State University, Northridge, retired after a career of 36 years teaching composition and music theory and directing various ensembles from 1970 through 2006.
As a flutist, he has given flute-piano recitals with his wife, Dolly Eugenio Kessner, in France, Italy, Holland, Germany, El Salvador, England, Portugal, Norway, and the Czech Republic, and has performed in numerous chamber music concerts. He has appeared as a guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, the Black Sea Philharmonic of Romania, the Moorpark Symphony Orchestra, and more recently the Trondheim Sinfonietta, among others. He has been an Upbeat Live lecturer for the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 1983.
In the spring semester of 2006 he joined the faculty of the University of Hawaii on a one-semester appointment. In the fall of 2006 he accepted a similar position at the Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California. He enjoys an active career as a composer, conductor and flutist.
Concert: Dances of Death
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Of Lithuanian heritage, composer Veronika Krausas was born in Australia raised in Canada, and lives in Los Angeles. She has directed, composed for, and produced multi-media events that incorporate her works with dance, acrobatics and video. The Globe & Mail (Toronto) writes “her works, whose organic, lyrical sense of storytelling are supported by a rigid formal elegance, give her audiences a sense that nature’s frozen objects are springing to life.”
She was one of 6 composers involved in the acclaimed mobile opera Hopscotch. Alex Ross of the New Yorker called Hopscotch, “a remarkable experimental opera.” Her first opera, The Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth, based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, was premiered at the New York City Opera’s VOX 2008 festival. A full production was mounted in Los Angeles in August 2010 to sold-out audiences. Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times said of her chamber opera, “Something novel this way comes.”
Her newest opera Ghost Opera, a dramma giocoso with libretto by André Alexis and The Old Trout Puppet Company, will première with Calgary Opera at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in May 2019.
Commissions and performances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Industry, New York City Opera, Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival, Ensemble musikFabrik, Chicago Architecture Biennial (2016), Piano Spheres for Gloria Cheng, The Vancouver Symphony, ERGO Projects, Esprit Orchestra, Fort Worth Opera, Jacaranda Music, Motion Music, and the Penderecki String Quartet.
Krausas has music composition degrees from the University of Toronto, McGill University in Montreal, and a doctorate from the Thornton School of Music at USC in Los Angeles, where she is a faculty member in the Composition Department. She serves on the advisory boards of Jacaranda Music and People Inside Electronics.
Concert: Organ Recital: James McVinnie and Guests
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Thomas Neenan is Lecturer in Music History and Music Theory at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena where he teaches a full range of courses devoted to history, theory, music appreciation, jazz history, opera, and special topics.
Neenan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organ Performance from Cal-State Northridge and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Organ Performance Practices and Conducting from UCLA where he was named an Outstanding Graduate Student. He studied organ with David Britton and Thomas Harmon in the U.S. and Ernst-Ulrich von Kameke and Jean Langlais in Europe.
As a recital organist, he has performed in the United States, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Japan and Switzerland. In 2004 he performed a solo recital on the newly restored 1746 Hilldebrandt “Bach Organ” in Naumburg, Germany.
As a conductor, he has led a variety of instrumental and choral ensembles throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. He was a conducting fellow under Helmut Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival where he conducted baritone Thomas Quasthoff and the Festival Chorus in portions of Haydn’s “Creation” and he has led performances by the Choir of St. Matthew’s Parish (Pacific Palisades) in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany and throughout the British Isles.
Neenan has contributed scholarly essays to a variety of professional journals on topics ranging from Gregorian chant to the organ music of Gyorgy Ligeti. He has received research grants to study and write on performance practices in the organ music of Dietrich Buxtehude, music and culture in the Dutch communities of colonial New York, and music in the monastic community of Taizé, France.
In 2017 he retired after 36 years as Music Director at The Parish of St. Matthew (Episcopal), Pacific Palisades, and 33 years as Music Director and Conductor of The Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s. He currently serves as President of St. Matthew’s Music Guild which presents a concert series by the chamber orchestra and guest artists and ensembles (MusicGuildOnline.org) and offers multi-faceted music outreach activities in area schools and retirement communities.
Concert: Romeo and Juliet with Dudamel
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Asadour Santourian, vice president for artistic administration and artistic advisor of the Aspen Music Festival and School, has been with the AMFS since 2003. He has developed the season themes and other artistic initiatives, including the Overtures series and the thematic minifestivals. In his time the AMFS has garnered seven ASCAP Awards for Adventuresome Programming of Contemporary Music. Previously artistic director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam, he is a member of the recommendation board of the Avery Fisher Career Grants among others and has served on numerous competition jury panels. He is a regular lecturer for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and was a featured lecturer for its 2012 Mahler Project. From 1991 to 2000 he was the Minnesota Orchestra’s director of artistic planning.
Concert: Dudamel & Emanuel Ax
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Composer, conductor, performer, and lecturer Russell Steinberg received a Ph.D. in Music from Harvard University, an M.M. from the New England Conservatory, and a B.A. from UCLA. He studied composition most notably with Leon Kirchner, Arthur Berger, Elaine Barkin, and Kenneth Klauss. His works range from solo to chamber to orchestra and have been performed worldwide. His orchestra tone poem Cosmic Dust, commissioned by a tri-consortium of orchestras—the New West Symphony, the Bay Atlantic Symphony, and the Hopkins Symphony—was featured in a Science News Magazine article on the Hubble Space Telescope’s 25th anniversary and has had a dozen performances worldwide. The Los Angeles Jewish Symphony recently premiered Canopy of Peace with mezzo soprano Diana Tash, based on meditations by noted scholar and philosopher Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis. Available recordings of Steinberg’s music include Sacred Transitions: A Song Cycle Based On Meditations by Harold M. Schulweis (sung by mezzo soprano Diana Tash), Stories From My Favorite Planet: A Musical Tribute to Journalist Daniel Pearl (performed by Los Angeles Philharmonic violinist Mitchell Newman) produced by the Daniel Pearl Foundation (available at www.danielpearl.org), Flute Sonata recorded by Michelle Stanley and produced by Centaur Records, Desert Stars, a recording of Steinberg’s solo music for piano and classical guitar, and Fantasy for Flute and Piano on the album Ascend featuring flutist Elizabeth Erenberg.
Steinberg is Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, a widely praised group that includes 120 students from over 60 schools in the LA area and performs at UCLA and the Colburn School. This past summer (2015) the orchestra traveled on its first international tour, collaborating with high school musicians from the Johann Sebastian Bach Music School in Vienna, and performing concerts in Vienna and Prague to full houses and enthusiastic acclaim. Steinberg is also a popular speaker for pre-concert events with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and annually offers a Winter Evening Lecture Series on a wide range of topics. This year’s series titled The Classical Guitar—An Intimate Mystery begins Wednesday evening January 13. For information about signing up for this series, or information about Steinberg’s current performances, recordings, and pre-concert lectures, please visit www.russellsteinberg.com.
Concert: Gil Shaham Plays Prokofiev
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Alan Chapman is heard weekdays on Classical KUSC (91.5 FM). He also produces and hosts “Modern Times” on Saturday nights and “A Musical Offering,” a program of Baroque music Sunday mornings. He was a longtime Professor of Music at Occidental College and served as a Visiting Professor at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. In recent years he has been a member of the music theory faculty of the Colburn Conservatory. Well known as a pre-concert lecturer, he has been a regular speaker on the Upbeat Live series since its inception in 1984. He also works closely with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Pacific Symphony, and has been heard globally as programmer and host of the inflight classical channels on United and Delta Airlines.
After receiving his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he earned a Ph.D. in music theory from Yale University. His analytical work has appeared in The Journal of Music Theory, and he is a contributor to A New Orpheus: Essays on Kurt Weill (Yale University Press, 1986), winner of the 1987 Deems Taylor Award for excellence in writing on music.
Dr. Chapman is also active as a composer-lyricist and pianist. His songs, which have been performed and recorded by Andrea Marcovicci, Amanda McBroom, and many other artists throughout the United States and in England, have been honored by ASCAP, the Johnny Mercer Foundation, and the Manhattan Association of Cabarets. His children’s opera Les Moose: The Operatic Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, commissioned by Los Angeles Opera, was premiered in 15 public schools in 1997. Peter and Mr. Wolf, a work chronicling the tribulations of an eighth-grader in search of a science project, was commissioned by Chamber Music Palisades and premiered in 2008 with Chapman as narrator.
He frequently appears with his wife, soprano Karen Benjamin, in evenings of his original songs as well as concerts dedicated to preserving the American Songbook. They have performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, New York’s Town Hall, the Los Angeles Music Center, Pepperdine University, Ford Amphitheatre, Broad Stage, Dallas Museum of Art, and many other venues across the United States. Their CD, Que Será, Será: The Songs of Livingston and Evans, features the late Ray Evans telling the stories behind such beloved songs as “Mona Lisa” and “Silver Bells.”
Concert: Green Umbrella: All-Reich
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Of Lithuanian heritage, composer Veronika Krausas was born in Australia raised in Canada, and lives in Los Angeles. She has directed, composed for, and produced multi-media events that incorporate her works with dance, acrobatics and video. The Globe & Mail (Toronto) writes “her works, whose organic, lyrical sense of storytelling are supported by a rigid formal elegance, give her audiences a sense that nature’s frozen objects are springing to life.”
She was one of 6 composers involved in the acclaimed mobile opera Hopscotch. Alex Ross of the New Yorker called Hopscotch, “a remarkable experimental opera.” Her first opera, The Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth, based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, was premiered at the New York City Opera’s VOX 2008 festival. A full production was mounted in Los Angeles in August 2010 to sold-out audiences. Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times said of her chamber opera, “Something novel this way comes.”
Her newest opera Ghost Opera, a dramma giocoso with libretto by André Alexis and The Old Trout Puppet Company, will première with Calgary Opera at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in May 2019.
Commissions and performances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Industry, New York City Opera, Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival, Ensemble musikFabrik, Chicago Architecture Biennial (2016), Piano Spheres for Gloria Cheng, The Vancouver Symphony, ERGO Projects, Esprit Orchestra, Fort Worth Opera, Jacaranda Music, Motion Music, and the Penderecki String Quartet.
Krausas has music composition degrees from the University of Toronto, McGill University in Montreal, and a doctorate from the Thornton School of Music at USC in Los Angeles, where she is a faculty member in the Composition Department. She serves on the advisory boards of Jacaranda Music and People Inside Electronics.
Concert: Mehta & Shankar
Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive
About the Speaker:
Eric Bromberger received his Ph.D. in American Literature from UCLA and taught literature and writing courses at Bates College (Lewiston, ME) and San Diego State University. A violinist, he joined the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra in 1980 and began writing the orchestra’s program notes the following year. Those notes drew the attention of presenters and performers, and soon he was able to quit his day job and devote himself to his first love, music. He is presently program annotator for the Minnesota Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Washington Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, 92nd Street Y in New York City, San Francisco Performances, University of Chicago Presents, La Jolla Music Society, and others. He wrote the liner notes for the Alexander String Quartet’s recent recordings of the quartet cycles of Mozart, Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Bartók.