Blog | LA Phil

A Packed House

March 15, 2013 | Posted by David and Kiki Gindler, LA Phil Board Members in London

David Bohnett with Kiki and David Gindler

LA Phil Chairman David Bohnett with Kiki and David Gindler

Twelve hundred people came to see the LA Phil at the Barbican last night. Not bad for a weekday new music program performed by a visiting orchestra. The Phil could not have asked for a more enthusiastic audience--"the most spoiled musical audience in the world," according to The Telegraph.

But the excitement for many of us began long before the first note. How cool to see the LA Phil's familiar logo lighting the iconic wood walls encircling the Barbican stage? Pretty darn cool, indeed.

The London Connection

March 15, 2013 | Posted by Elizabeth Baker, Violin in London

This time 10 years ago, I was living in Hong Kong with my husband. We had relocated there so we could be together as a family while my husband was working on a project for his company. The LAPhil had granted me a Leave of Absence so that we could make this move. During our time there we met other "Expats" who had moved from other parts of the world for similar reasons. We had friends from Scotland, England, the US, and also Hong Kong.

After we moved back to LA to resume our lives and professions we stayed in contact with all these friends. Over the years, some friends repatriated to their countries of origin. Two couples from England moved back and one couple we knew from LA moved to London.

Just The Two of Us...

March 15, 2013 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in London

John Adams and Gustavo share a moment backstage at the Barbican Centre. John just led the LA Phil New Music Group in his Son of Chamber Symphony and has passed the baton off to Gustavo, who is ready to conduct Unsuk Chin's Graffiti and Josesph Pereira's "Concerto for Percussion and Chamber Orchestra."

This is why we go on tour.

We go on tour to promote the orchestra. We go on tour to play in front of audiences that might not have the chance to see us otherwise. We go on tour to play a program that leaves everyone saying "Wow - that's a program that only the LA Phil would play."

And we go on tour for moments like this.

London Calling

March 14, 2013 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in London

YOLA Students

Our young musicians from YOLA have had a busy few days - on top of traveling to London to participate in the Future Play symposium at the Barbican Centre, they've also had to rehearse, meet new friends and basicallly do all the things you'd expect of young people who are traveling to London for the first time. Added bonus? Some of them got to see snow fall for the first time.

Here they are - with 90 of their fellow young musicians from London El Sistema-based programs - rehearsing for the Discover Dudamel event.

This Is The BBC

March 14, 2013 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in London

BBC Studios

We've mentioned already how jam-packed the orchestra's schedule is on any given tour. After all, playing 11 concerts in four cities on two continents would be challenging for even the most adept tour planners - but when you toss a staged two-hour production of a brand-new oratorio into the mix, as well as an educational symposium that spans three days at the outset of the tour...well, then you're getting into "crazy busy" territory, especially when you ask orchestra members and your Music Director to go on the radio to promote your concerts.

Behind the Music

March 14, 2013 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Getting There

Caption goes here

The LA Phil's road crew - (from l-r) Jesse Kolouch, Production Director Paul Geller, Alex Quintanar and Chris Duarte (not pictured - Production Manager Jeff Wallace)

Putting a tour together takes work. It's not all standing ovations and sightseeing - it's WORK. Travel schedules are brutal, rehearsal times short and hotel checkouts early. And, indeed, when the orchestra arrives in a location, the road crew has likely gone ahead of them to make sure the aforementioned time crunches affect the performances as little as possible.

We're YOLA and We're Coming To The U.K.

March 13, 2013 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in London

A typical LA Phil tour has a lot of components. Not only does the orchestra play concerts in varied cities in equally varied destinations, but there's also - as befits an orchestra with a Music Director like ours - often an educational component to the proceedings. In 2011, members of the LA Phil stopped by the Barbican Centre to lead a master class or two; in 2012, the entire orchestra traveled to Caracas to see Gustavo's El Sistema in action; and now, in 2013, the orchestra is evolving yet again as members of our very own Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) travel to London to participate in the LA Phil co-hosted (along with the Barbican Centre and Take A Stand) Future Play Symposium.

Go on Tour With Gustavo

March 12, 2013 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Los Angeles

Audiences in Europe and New York aren't the only ones excited for the LA Phil's 2013 Tour - Music Director Gustavo Dudamel is eager to hit the road with an especially "LA Phil-esque" repertoire of some 20th century favorites as well as some newer works. We'll let him tell the rest of the story:

Moving Out

March 11, 2013 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Los Angeles

LA Phil on tour -- loading time.

Despite what you might think, it’s not that easy to pack up a 105-member orchestra, complete with instruments and wardrobe, and move them approximately 12,500 miles in three weeks time.

It's especially tricky when you consider the fact that the orchestra is taking a staged production – John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary – to four cities on two continents, in addition to its more expected orchestral fare such as Stravinsky’s Firebird and Debussy’s La mer.

On the Road Again...

March 8, 2013 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Los Angeles

It’s that time of year again.

It’s the time of year when cellos, basses and percussion are packed into road cases, when instrument cases are lovingly carried onto airplanes, when the orchestra staff scrambles to make arrangements and the LA Phil heads out on the road to take its unique brand of innovative, daring and classic programming to audiences worldwide.

It’s tour time again.

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