Osmo Vänskä Makes His Walt Disney Concert Hall Debut Leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Three Performances

Clarinetist Martin Fröst Plays Aho’s Clarinet Concerto on the Saturday and Sunday Programs

FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 2012, AT 8 PM

SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 2012, AT 8 PM

SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 2012, AT 2 PM

The participation of Martin Fröst is supported by a generous grant from the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation for the March 24 and 25 Concerts

March 23 Media Sponsor: Univision/Telefutura

The March 24 Concert is Generously Sponsored by Acura, the Official Automotive Partner of the Los Angeles Philharmonic – All Acura Vehicles Park Free for the Evening

WHAT:

Osmo Vänskä makes his Walt Disney Concert Hall debut, leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic in three performances, Friday and Saturday, March 23 and 24, at 8 pm, as well as Sunday, March 25, at 2 pm. All three concerts feature Strauss’ Rosenkavalier Suite and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 6. The Saturday and Sunday program also includes Aho’s Clarinet Concerto performed by Martin Fröst, for whom the piece was commissioned by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust.

Osmo Vänskä is recognized for compelling interpretations of the standard, contemporary and Nordic repertoires, as well as the close rapport he establishes with the musicians he leads. In 2003, he became Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra and has since drawn extraordinary reviews for concerts at home and abroad. Vänskä’s recording with the Minnesota Orchestra of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 received a 2008 Grammy nomination for Best Orchestral Performance and future projects include the complete Sibelius Symphonies. Vänskä began his career as a clarinetist and, in recent years, has enjoyed a return to performing on the clarinet. He made his Twin Cities clarinet performance debut at the Sommerfest in 2005 and has played chamber music with members of the Minnesota Orchestra at the Mostly Mozart festivals, and in Finland.

Martin Fröst works throughout the world with repertoire which encompasses not only all of the mainstream clarinet works, but also a number of contemporary commissions which he has personally championed. Last season, he premiered a concerto by Rolf Martinsson (co-commissioned by the City of Birmingham and Malmö symphony orchestras) and in 2012/13 he performs a new concerto by Bent Sørensen with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Amsterdam and Cologne. Fröst is the Artistic Director of the Vinterfest in Mora, Sweden and Artistic Director of the International Chamber Music Festival in Stavanger, Norway. He has an extensive discography for BIS, with whom he has an exclusive contract; his CD of short encores Fröst and Friends received substantial critical acclaim. His next recording, Dances to a Black Pipe, includes dance music by Copland, Brahms, Lutos?awski and Piazzolla and was released in November 2011 to coincide with a European tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, with whom he made the recording.

The Friday concert is part of the LA Phil’s Casual Fridays series, which features a shorter program, is presented without intermission and encourages audience members to attend in comfortable attire. These Casual Fridays concerts also feature a free TalkBack discussion with musicians held on stage after the performance and a chance to mingle with members of the orchestra in the Concert Hall Café.

Complete Program:

STRAUSS Rosenkavalier Suite

AHO Clarinet Concerto (Except Friday)

SIBELIUS Symphony No. 6

Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in Walt Disney Concert Hall’s BP Hall one hour prior to the performances, and are free to all ticket holders. Christopher Russell, Director of Orchestral Studies at Azusa Pacific University and Coordinator of the Orchestra Program at Orange County High School of the Arts, hosts.

WHO:

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

OSMO VÄNSKÄ, conductor

MARTIN FRÖST, clarinet (Except Friday)

WHEN:

Friday, March 23, 2012, at 8 PM

Saturday, March 24, 2012, at 8 PM

Sunday, March 25, 2012, at 2 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.