Los Angeles Philharmonic Conductor Laureate presents an evening of music celebrating Pierre Boulez at 100

Acclaimed pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard joins Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Boulez’s Notations

L.A. Dance Project performs Rituel, choreographed by Benajmin Millepied

May 8-11, 2025, at Walt Disney Concert Hall

**

LOS ANGELES (November 5, 2024) – The Los Angeles Philharmonic presents Esa-Pekka Salonen, the LA Phil Conductor Laureate and a champion of the music of Pierre Boulez (1925-2016), examining works by the modernist icon 100 years after his birth alongside selections from Debussy and Bartók, Thursday through Sunday, May 8-11, at 8 p.m. at Walt Disney Concert Hall. He is joined in this program of orchestral and solo piano music by frequent collaborator and noted Boulez interpreter Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

Boulez was a composer and conductor of towering influence, and his intellectual heft shone equally in his precise interpretations of avant-garde works (his own and those of his contemporaries) and cerebral renditions of traditional repertoire. Developing a great affinity for the music of Claude Debussy, Boulez recorded the entirety of the composer’s catalog of orchestral works, receiving two of his 26 career Grammy Award wins for his 1970 recording of Debussy’s Images pour orchestre and 1996 album featuring La mer.

Boulez’s solo piano Notations (each only 12 bars) flow into versions for orchestra that explode the original musical idea with orchestral colors. Then, Aimard will join Salonen and the orchestra for Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto. After intermission, the program resumes with Debussy’s highly imagistic La mer. For its finale, L.A. Dance Project will join the ensemble for Boulez’s Rituel in a new dance choreographed by Benjamin Millepied. Rituel is a co-commission with the Orchestre de Paris - Philharmonie and the New York Philharmonic.

Speaking about Boulez’s music, Salonen says, “It can be complex without ever losing its clarity, it can be aggressive or delicate, hypnotic or kaleidoscopically flickering, ritualistic or virtuosic. But most importantly, it is often hauntingly beautiful.”

Tickets are available for purchase online at laphil.com or by phone at (323)-850-2000. Programs, artists, dates, prices and availability are subject to change. For more information, please visit https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/3127/2025-05-11/esa-pekka-salonen-leads-debussy-boulez. 

**

PROGRAM

Thursday, May 8, at 8:00 PM

Saturday, May 10, at 8:00 PM

Sunday, May 11, at 2:00 PM

Los Angeles Philharmonic

Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano

L.A. Dance Project

Benjamin Millepied, choreographer

BOULEZ Notations IV, for solo piano

Notations IV, for orchestra

Notations VII, for solo piano

Notations VII, for orchestra

Notations II, for solo piano

Notations II, for orchestra

BARTÓK Piano Concerto No. 3 in E Major

Intermission

DEBUSSY La mer

BOULEZ Rituel (with L.A. Dance Project)

**

ABOUT THE LA PHIL

Under the leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil offers live performances, media initiatives and learning programs that inspire and strengthen communities in Los Angeles and beyond. The Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra is the foundation of the LA Phil’s offerings, which also include a multi-genre, multidisciplinary presenting program and such youth development programs as YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). Performances are offered on three historic stages—Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and The Ford—as well as through a variety of media platforms. In all its endeavors, the LA Phil seeks to enrich the lives of individuals and communities through musical, artistic and learning experiences that resonate in our world today. 

ABOUT ESA-PEKKA SALONEN

Esa-Pekka Salonen is known as both a composer and conductor. He is the Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony and the Conductor Laureate for the Philharmonia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. As a member of the faculty of the Colburn School, he directs the pre-professional Negaunee Conducting Program. Salonen co-founded, and until 2018 served as the Artistic Director of, the annual Baltic Sea Festival.

This season, Salonen leads the San Francisco Symphony in world premieres of works by Nico Muhly, Xavier Muzik and Gabriella Smith, among many other programs. He also returns to the Philharmonia Orchestra—both in London and on tour in Italy—and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he leads wide-ranging programs including Bryce Dessner’s Violin Concerto with Pekka Kuusisto and Boulez’s Notations with Pierre-Laurent Aimard. With the Orchestre de Paris, Salonen conducts a reprise of his and Romeo Castellucci’s staged production of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” and a Boulez Centennial celebration with choreography by Benjamin Millepied, while a Salzburg Easter Festival residency with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra centers on a new Simon McBurney production of Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina.

Salonen’s compositions are programmed with thirteen different orchestras this season. He conducts his own Tiu, kínēma, and cello concerto with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra; he also conducts the cello concerto with The Cleveland Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony. With the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, he leads his Sinfonia concertante for organ and orchestra. His works, led by other conductors, also appear on programs at the Montreal and Aarhus symphony orchestras (Sinfonia concertante), Munich Philharmonic (Insomnia), Lahti Symphony Orchestra (kínēma), Netherlands Radio and Magdeburg philharmonic orchestras (Gemini), Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra (Nyx), Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra (Cello Concerto) and Ensemble intercontemporain (Meeting).

Salonen has an extensive and varied recording career. Releases with the San Francisco Symphony include recordings of Bartók’s piano concertos, spatial audio recordings of several Ligeti compositions and the world premiere recording of Saariaho’s Adriana Mater. Other recent recordings include Strauss’s Four Last Songs, Bartók’s Miraculous Mandarin and Dance Suite and a 2018 box set of his complete Sony recordings. His compositions appear on releases from Sony and Deutsche Grammophon, among others; his Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto and Cello Concerto all appear on recordings he conducted himself.

ABOUT PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD

“A brilliant musician and an extraordinary visionary” (Wall Street Journal), Pierre-Laurent Aimard is widely acclaimed as an authority in music of our time while recognized also for shedding fresh light on music of the past. His international schedule of creatively conceived concerts, broadcasts and recordings is complemented by a career-long commitment to teaching, and giving concert lectures and workshops worldwide.

Pierre-Laurent Aimard has had close collaborations with many leading composers including Helmut Lachenmann, Elliott Carter, Harrison Birtwistle, György Kurtág, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Marco Stroppa, Pierre Boulez and Olivier Messiaen. During the 2023/24 season he celebrates the music of György Ligeti with projects throughout Europe, North America, Japan and China. Guest Concerto appearances include Czech Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, Teatro alla Scala Milan, Orchestre National de France, Danish National Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic.

The season began with the September release of a new recording of the complete Bartók piano concertos with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. This record is the latest in a series of critically acclaimed collaborations with Pentatone, following Messiaen's Visions de l’Amen (2022) recorded with Tamara Stefanovich, Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata & Eroica Variations (2021) and Messiaen’s magnum opus Catalogue d’oiseaux (2018), which garnered multiple awards including the prestigious German music critic’s award Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.

Aimard is the recipient of many awards, receiving the prestigious International Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2017 in recognition of a life devoted to the service of music, and the Leonie Sonning Music Prize, Denmark’s most prominent music award, in 2022. A member of the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste, Aimard has held professorships at the Hochschule Köln and was previously an Associate Professor at the College de France, Paris.

ABOUT L.A. DANCE PROJECT

L.A. Dance Project is a nonprofit dance company under the Artistic Direction of Benjamin Millepied. Founded in 2012, LADP opened its studio and performance space in Los Angeles's downtown Arts District in 2017.

L.A. Dance Project is dedicated to the pursuit of artistic innovation and excellence in the realm of contemporary dance. Our mission is to explore the boundaries of movement, creativity and expression. Through experimentation and collaboration, we strive to create captivating performances that challenge, provoke and inspire audiences worldwide. Grounded in a commitment to artistic integrity and authenticity, we aim to cultivate a culture of curiosity, openness and growth within our company and beyond. With humility and passion, we seek to contribute to the evolution of dance as a dynamic and transformative art form, enriching lives and fostering connections across cultures and communities.