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Prometheus with Esa-Pekka Salonen

Salonen kicks off the Body and Sound festival with a production of Scriabin’s Poem of Fire, conducting the orchestra under a spectacular lighting sculpture.

Esa-Pekka Salonen

Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Liv Redpath

Grant Gershon

Jenny Wong

Jingjing Xu

Friday's concert includes a complimentary pre-concert drink in our rooftop garden.

Grimanesa Amorós

Lighting sculpture rendering by Grimanesa Amorós

Prometheus with Esa-Pekka Salonen

Fri Jan 9, 2026 8pm Walt Disney Concert Hall

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The LA Phil’s Conductor Laureate returns to lead the first performances of the Body and Sound festival, a series of concerts showcasing the ways we experience music with our entire beings.

Scriabin’s Prometheus lays out the mythic tale of humanity receiving the gift of fire. The Russian composer, who described himself as synesthetic, envisioned a color organ for the piece that would project various hues of light that he associated with each musical tone or chord. Through his mystical music and a spectacular lighting sculpture by multimedia artist Grimanesa Amorós, this production simultaneously interweaves the audience’s sense of sight and hearing.

In the first half of the program, Salonen leads Sibelius’ shimmering depiction of nymphs at play in the vast ocean, followed by a recent work by the environmentally conscious composer, Gabriella Smith. Rewilding is inspired by Smith’s climate activism and lifelong passion for backpacking and bicycling. By using twigs, walnuts, bike wheels, and other objects as percussion instruments, she creates her idea of the sound of restoring, or “rewilding,” an ecosystem.

Afterward, Salonen guides Debussy’s radiant, Impressionistic cantata, La damoiselle élue, with soprano Liv Redpath, mezzo-soprano Jingjing Xu, and the voices of the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

This performance is generously supported in part by the Kohl Virtuoso Violin Fund.

Classical