Scenes from BBC/Discovery Channel Production Featured on Bowl's Giant Screens Accompany Fenton's Emmy Award-Winning Score

FRIDAY, JULY 18 AND SATURDAY, JULY 19 AT 8:30 PM

"The Blue Planet Live," a visual and musical extravaganza, receives its United States premiere on Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19, 8:30 pm, at the Hollywood Bowl when composer George Fenton leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a live version of his Emmy Award-winning score for the acclaimed BBC/Discovery Channel TV series, The Blue Planet - Seas of Life. The performance features breathtaking scenes of the sea from the acclaimed documentary shown on the Bowl's giant screens.

Wildly popular around the world, the series features more than 3,000 hours of original footage to create one of the most comprehensive ocean wildlife films of all time. The ambitious project offers a look into nearly every element of marine life using spectacular cinematography. When the series was assembled, the producers approached George Fenton, one of the foremost British composers for television and film, to write the lengthy score required for the 10-hour series.

In addition to offering the first U.S. performances, this presentation marks Fenton's Hollywood Bowl debut. It is the second of the Bowl's Weekend Spectacular series offered during the 2003 summer season. Weekend Spectaculars provide a mix of musical styles and performers, each program
enhanced by one of the Hollywood Bowl's two resident ensembles - the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

British composer GEORGE FENTON began composing in 1975 and soon penned music for such British theater directors as Peter Gill, Howard Davis, Adrian Noble, and Richard Eyre. His efforts paid off as he won BAFTA and Ivor Novello awards for his work. His greatest accomplishments were yet to come. Beginning in 1983, Fenton successfully made the transition from theater to movies, receiving Oscar nominations (Best Musical Score) for the movies Gandhi, Dangerous Liaisons, Cry Freedom, The Fisher King, and Dangerous Beauty. Although he occasionally conducts concerts of his work, Fenton spends most of his time composing for orchestra and lecturing at film festivals and colleges. He also founded the Association of Professional Composers.

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of just under 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and, in 1991 gave its name to The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. A hit from its very first season, the Hollywood Bowl has remained popular and accessible to a wide cross-section of Southern California's diverse population. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 35th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and last summer, close to one million admissions were recorded. It is no wonder that the Bowl's summer music festivals have become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers and Disneyland.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19, 8:30 PM

HOLLYWOOD BOWL (2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood)

The Blue Planet LIVE!

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

George Fenton, conductor

Ed Begley, Jr., narrator

Tickets ($3 - $105) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl box office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at hollywoodbowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details. For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.

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