TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012, AT 8 PM

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012, AT 8 PM

August 28 Media Sponsor: KUSC

WHAT:          

Renowned Spanish conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos returns to the Hollywood Bowl stage to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program on both the Classical Tuesday and Classical Thursday series, Tuesday, August 28, and Thursday, August 30, at 8pm. The first part of the evening presents Frühbeck de Burgos and the LA Phil with the women of the Los Angeles Master Chorale performing Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the second half of the program, Frühbeck de Burgos and the LA Phil are joined by soprano Laura Claycomb, tenor Nicholas Phan, baritone Hugh Russell, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus in Orff’s 1936 oratorio Carmina Burana, a work that spawned the sound of chorus and orchestra heard so widely in movies, videogames and on television. The 55-minute piece was last performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 2008.

A regular guest with North America’s top orchestras, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos will conduct the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, as well as the Boston, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Toronto Symphony Orchestras in the 2012/13 season. He appears annually at the Tanglewood Music Festival and regularly with the Chicago Symphony, the National Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. From 2004-2011, Frühbeck de Burgos was Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Dresden Philharmonic, and in the 2012/13 season begins his post as Chief Conductor of the Danish National Orchestra. In 2011, he was named Conductor of the Year by Musical America.

Native Texan Laura Claycomb excels in adventurous repertoire, ranging from Baroque music and bel canto masterpieces to 20th-century and contemporary compositions at major opera and concert venues. Her delicacy, refinement, and theatricality in high-flying repertoire make her one of the foremost lyric coloraturas of her generation. Claycomb made her debut at the Blossom Festival with the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst in Carmina Burana and most recently performed with the same orchestra Bach’s Lutheran Mass in F again under Welser-Möst. She also sang in Carmina Burana at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Frühbeck de Burgos and in Cincinnati with the Cincinnati Symphony under Paavo Järvi.

American Nicholas Phan continues to distinguish himself as one of the most compelling young tenors appearing on the prestigious concert and opera stages of the world. Phan has appeared with many of the leading orchestras in the United States and Great Britain, including the BBC Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Also considered one of the rising young stars of the opera world, Phan recently made his debut with the Seattle Opera as Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Canadian baritone Hugh Russell continues to receive high praise for his charisma, dramatic energy, and vocal beauty. He is widely acclaimed for his performances in the operas of Mozart and Rossini, and is regularly invited to perform with symphony orchestras throughout North America. At the center of his orchestral repertoire is Orff’s popular Carmina Burana, which Russell has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, and the Vancouver Symphony, among others.

Giving a voice to Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Grammy-nominated Los Angeles Master Chorale (LAMC), considered one of the world’s leading choirs, is led by Music Director Grant Gershon. The Los Angeles Times proclaims, “Under Gershon, the Master Chorale seems to be able to master anything”; The New York Times calls the choir “inspired”; and The New York Observer declares it “a superb vocal ensemble.” The Chorale is currently in its 48th season as a resident company of the Music Center of Los Angeles County and its 9th as the resident chorus at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Presenting its own concert series each season, it performs choral music from the earliest writings to the most recent contemporary compositions. To date, the choir has commissioned 27 and premiered 69 new works, of which 44 were world premieres, and has been awarded the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming three times – in 1995, 2003, and 2010. Additionally, the Chorale has performed in more than 270 concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, and has also appeared at the Ojai Festival, on the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center, and at Overture Center in Madison, Wisconsin, as well as in leading venues throughout the Southland.

Los Angeles Children's Chorus—described as “astonishingly polished,” “hauntingly beautiful,” and “one heck of a talented group of kids”—is recognized throughout the country for its exceptional artistic quality and technical ability. Founded in 1986, LACC performs with such leading organizations as LA Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Chamber

Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and POPs, and The Calder Quartet. The Chorus' roster includes more than 375 children aged 6-18 from 60 communities across Los Angeles in seven choirs and First Experiences in Singing classes for its youngest singers. LACC has toured North and South America, China, Europe and Australia, and will travel to South Africa in 2012.

Complete program:

MENDELSSOHN              Incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream

ORFF                             Carmina Burana

For full artist biographies, please visit http://HollywoodBowl.com/carminaburana

WHO:               LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

RAFAEL FRÜHBECK DE BURGOS, conductor

LAURA CLAYCOMB, soprano

NICHOLAS PHAN, tenor

HUGH RUSSELL, baritone

LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE

LOS ANGELES CHILDREN’S CHORUS

WHEN:           

Tuesday, August 28 and Thursday, August 30, 2012, 8 PM

WHERE:           

HOLLYWOOD BOWL

2301 N Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90068

HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS:         

Tickets for the Hollywood Bowl 2012 summer season are available now at HollywoodBowl.com or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. For more information, please call 323.850.2000.

8.23.12