Friday, November 14, 2014, at 8 PM
Saturday, November 15, 2014, at 8 PM
Sunday, November 16, 2014, at 2 PM

WHAT: Rising conducting star Cristian Măcelaru makes his LA Phil and Walt Disney Concert Hall debuts leading the LA Phil in a program featuring the West Coast premiere of Penderecki’s Concerto Grosso for Three Cellos, Friday and Saturday, November 14 and 15, at 8 pm, and Sunday, November 16, 2014, at 2 pm. He replaces Charles Dutoit, who had to cancel due to a shoulder injury.

The program, which remains the same, opens with Ravel’s evocation of Spain, Rapsodie espagnole. Next is the West Coast premiere of Penderecki’s unique three-cello concerto, featuring accomplished cellists Claudio Bohórquez, Arto Noras and Li-Wei Qin. The program closes with Elgar’s much-loved Enigma Variations.

Winner of the 2014 Solti Conducting Award, Cristian Măcelaru has established himself as one of the fast-rising stars of the conducting world. With every concert he displays an exciting and highly regarded presence, thoughtful interpretations and energetic conviction on the podium. Cristian Măcelaru came to public attention in February 2012 when he conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a replacement for Pierre Boulez in performances which were met with critical acclaim. Since his Chicago debut, he has conducted that orchestra on subscription in three consecutive seasons including 2014/15. The Chicago Sun-Times has exclaimed: “Măcelaru is the real thing, displaying confidence without arrogance and offering expressiveness without excess demonstration.” Recently appointed Conductor-in-Residence of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Măcelaru made an unexpected subscription debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in April 2013. Since then, he has conducted Philadelphia in two further subscription programs in 2013/14 and will lead two subscription programs in 2014/15. The 2014/15 season sees Măcelaru make his Carnegie Hall debut on a program with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Replacing the orchestra’s Chief Conductor Rafael  Frühbeck de Burgos, Măcelaru will have the honor of conducting the ensemble in Denmark and on a German and U.S. tour in January and February 2015. The 11-concert project includes the Carnegie appearance, which features Anne-Sophie Mutter as violin soloist.

Claudio Bohórquez, a descendant of Peruvian and Uruguayan ancestors, has been hailed as one of the most exciting and fascinating musicians of his generation by conductors, audiences, concert presenters and critics alike. His recent tour with the National Symphony Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach with concerts in Washington and Latin America was a huge success. He played “unforgettably” and his interpretation of the Lalo Cello Concerto was “the most beautiful I have ever heard”, wrote a Washington Post critic. In the 2012/2013 season Claudio Bohórquez was able to display his talent as a chamber musician: he appeared in Madrid and Bilbao together with Jörg Widmann and Katia Skanavi and performed piano trios by Beethoven with Viviane Hagner and Jonathan Gilad during the Beethoven Marathon at Konzerthaus Berlin. Since 2003 he has been a guest professor at the 'Hanns Eisler' Academy of Music in Berlin and was appointed as Professor at the Stuttgart Music Academy in autumn 2011. Highlights of the 2014/15 season are several concerts in the U.S., in Washington, D.C. with the National Symphony Orchestra under Eschenbach and concerts in Finland with the Kymi Sinfonietta conducted by Andreas Delfs.

Arto Noras, Founder and Artistic Director of the Naantali Music Festival and the International Paulo Cello Competition, is one of Finland's most celebrated performers and among the world’s most outstanding cellists. He is known as an expressive and technically brilliant soloist as well as an intense and sensitive chamber musician. His extensive discography includes concerti with the Norwegian and Finnish Radio Orchestras, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw National Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared with most of the great orchestras of the world and in recital at the great concert halls. Last summer, he gave premieres of two compositions by Krzysztof Penderecki: Concerto doppio per violin, viola e orchestra in Noras’ own arrangement, and the Suite for Cello Solo. That fall he performed at the gala 80^th Birthday celebration for Penderecki in Warsaw. He played Penderecki’s Concerto grosso for three cellos with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in fall 2013 and will play this again in November 2014 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He gave the premiere of Kalevi Aho’s 2^nd Cello Concerto with Lahti Symphony under Osma Vänskä in June 2014 and toured the United States with colleagues from the Casals Festival, Prades in October 2014.

An exclusive Universal Music China Artist, Li-Wei Qin has appeared all over the world as a soloist and as a chamber musician. After achieving great success at the 11th Tchaikovsky International Competition, where he was awarded the Silver Medal, Li-Wei has also won the First Prize in the prestigious 2001 Naumburg Competition in New York. Li-Wei has enjoyed successful artistic collaborations with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, NDR-Sinfonierorchester Hamburg, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, Osaka Philharmonic, Basel Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, and Sinfonia Varsovia. Li-Wei has also appeared with the Kremerata Baltica, and the Munich, the Zurich, and the Australian Chamber Orchestras. Li-Wei’s recordings on Universal Music/Decca include the complete Beethoven Sonatas, Works of Rachmaninov with pianist Albert Tiu, Dvořàk Concerto with Singapore Symphony Orchestra and conductor Lan Shui and Elgar/Walton Concerti with the London Philharmonic. Most recently, courtesy of Universal Music, Li-Wei's 2013 live concert with the Shanghai Symphony and Maestro Yu Long has been released on Sony Classical.

Complete Program:

RAVEL                              Rapsodie espagnole
Krzysztof PENDERECKI      Concerto Grosso for Three Cellos (West Coast premiere)
ELGAR                              Enigma Variations

Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in Walt Disney Concert Hall’s BP Hall one hour before each concert and are free to all ticket holders. Conductor of the Azusa Pacific University Symphony and the Orange County School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra Christopher Russell hosts.

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

WHO:         LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC
                  CRISTIAN MĂCELARU, conductor
                  CLAUDIO BOHÓRQUEZ, cello
                  ARTO NORAS, cello
                  LI-WEI QIN, cello

WHEN:       Friday, November 14, 2014, at 8 PM
                  Saturday, November 15, 2014, at 8 PM
                  Sunday, November 16, 2014, 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 2014/15 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.

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