Jeffrey Milarsky Leads the LA Phil New Music Group in a Green Umbrella Series Concert Featuring the World Premiere of Joseph Pereira’s LA Phil-Commissioned Percussion Concerto

Program Update: Milarsky Replaces Gustavo Dudamel, Originally Scheduled to Lead the Performance; James Darrah Will Direct Berio’s Recital I (for Cathy)

Program Also Includes Music by Akiho and Berio and Features Percussionist Colin Currie and Soprano Kiera Duffy

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012, AT 8 PM

Media Sponsor: Los Angeles Times

WHAT:
Jeffrey Milarsky leads the LA Phil New Music Group in the season’s final Green Umbrella concert, at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Tuesday, May 8, at 8 pm. Joining is percussionist Colin Currie performing the world premiere of LA Phil Principal Timpanist Joseph Pereira’s LA Phil-commissioned Concerto for Percussion and Chamber Orchestra. The concert also features the Foundry Steel Pan Ensemble giving the West Coast premiere of Andy Akiho’s Alloy, and soprano Kiera Duffy in Luciano Berio’s theatrical Recital I (for Cathy), which will be directed by James Darrah. Duffy recently appeared with the LA Phil and Dudamel in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (“Symphony of a Thousand”) in Los Angeles and on tour in Caracas, Venezuela in a performance broadcast in select movie theaters throughout the world. Milarsky replaces Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, who has withdrawn from the Green Umbrella concert in order to devote sufficient time to preparations for the world premiere performances (May 31-June 3) of the recently delivered evening-length work, The Gospel According to the Other Mary by John Adams.

Percussionist Colin Currie has established a unique reputation for his charismatic and virtuosic performances of works by today’s leading composers, and has appeared with many of the world’s most important orchestras – the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra among them. Regularly commissioning and recording new works, he has made an inspirational and innovative contribution to the percussion repertoire. Currie is deeply committed to the development of new repertoire for percussion in its widest form – orchestral, solo and in chamber music, and his forthcoming commission projects include new works by composers such as Elliott Carter, James MacMillan and Steve Reich. Currie also performs extensively as recitalist and chamber musician. Following their hugely successful, sold-out performances of Steve Reich’s Drumming at the Southbank Centre, Currie’s recently-established ensemble The Colin Currie Group returned to the Southbank Centre and toured the UK giving further performances of this iconic work. Currie’s latest CD release features Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto conducted by Marin Alsop with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, a disc which won a 2010 Grammy Award. Currie’s recital disc Borrowed Time, which features music by British composer Dave Maric, is available on the Onyx label.

American soprano Kiera Duffy is recognized for both her gleaming high soprano and insightful musicianship in repertoire that encompasses Handel, Praetorius, Bach and Mozart along with the modern sounds of Berg, Carter, Glass and Zorn. Her 2011/12 season includes her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Schöenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire under Pierre Boulez and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Handel’s Messiah, as well as joining the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in their new original baroque fantasy The Enchanted Island. Duffy began her prolific concert career with her New York Philharmonic debut in Pierre Boulez’ Pli selon pli: “Improvisation II sur Mallarmé” under the baton of Lorin Maazel, then returned as Venus in the critically-acclaimed performances of György Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre under Alan Gilbert. Duffy was a finalist in the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and is featured in the film The Audition, which has recently been released on DVD by Decca.

Formed in 2009 and based in New York City, The Foundry Steel Pan Ensemble breaks through barriers of style with their deeply individual music and their high-energy performances. The ensemble, which is led by composer/steel pan virtuoso Andy Akiho, ventures into uncharted and genre-bending musical territories fusing everything from hip hop, jazz, reggae, and soca with contemporary classical techniques. The group’s inaugural appearance was marked by the premiere of Alloy at the World Financial Center and Winter Garden Theater for the 2009 Bang On a Can Marathon, an annual event that is a part of the River to River Festival in New York City. The Foundry Steel Pan Ensemble will give the west coast premiere of Alloy at Walt Disney Concert Hall for the 2012 Green Umbrella Series with the LA Philharmonic directed by Gustavo Dudamel.

Complete Program:

AKIHO Alloy
PEREIRA Concerto for Percussion and Chamber Orchestra (world premiere; LAPA commission)
BERIO Recital I (for Cathy)

An Upbeat Live pre-concert event takes place in Walt Disney Concert Hall’s BP Hall one hour prior to the concert, and is free to all ticket holders. Veronika Krausas, composer and professor at USC’s Thornton School of Music, hosts.

WHO:
LA PHIL NEW MUSIC GROUP
JEFFREY MILARSKY, conductor
JAMES DARRAH, director (Berio only)
COLIN CURRIE, percussion
KIERA DUFFY, soprano
FOUNDRY STEEL PAN ENSEMBLE

WHEN:
Tuesday, May 8, 2012, at 8 PM

WHERE:
WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

HOW TO PURCHASE:
Subscriptions and single tickets for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 2011/12 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall are currently available. To purchase, please visit LAPhil.com, the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office or any Ticketmaster outlet. To order by phone with credit card, please call the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office at 323.850.2000, or Ticketmaster at 800.745.3000. For more information, please call 323.850.2000.