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  • DONALD CROCKETT LEADS THE USC THORNTON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ENSEMBLE AT WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
  • Apr. 26, 2004
  • Green Umbrella Program Highlights Music from the Pacific Rim

    MONDAY, APRIL 26, at 8 PM

    The USC Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble, under the direction of Donald Crockett, performs a program of new music at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Monday, April 26, at 8 p.m. as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella series. The program features works by five composers-P.Q. Phan, Lou Harrison, Liza Lim, Maria Grenfell, and Earl Kim-each of whose music was influenced by musical cultures bordering on the Pacific.

    Phan's focus is on composing music which integrates the musical aesthetics of Southeast-Asia and the West. Residence on the West Coast intensified Harrison's involvement of sounds from the Pacific region. Lim draws her compositions from her native Australia. Ceol na Fidhle for violin and percussion by New Zealander Maria Grenfell takes much of its influence from non-Western music and literature. A third generation Korean American, Kim's work is deeply influenced by the experiences of his life.

    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place one hour prior to each concert in BP Hall at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and are free to all ticket holders.

    The April 26 program is the fourth of five concerts in the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella new music series. The series concludes on June 1 with Bradley Lubman conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group in a concert featuring works of music composed for landmark architectural spaces.

    Composer/conductor DONALD CROCKETT was born in Pasadena, California and has received commissions from the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (composer-in-residence 1991-97), Kronos Quartet, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Stanford String Quartet, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Charlotte Symphony, Music from Angel Fire and the California EAR Unit, among many others. Crockett's music has also been widely performed by ensembles including the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Collage and the Arditti Quartet, at the Tanglewood, Aspen and Piccolo Spoleto festivals, and by artists including violinist Ida Kavafian, mezzo soprano Janice Felty, oboist Allan Vogel, and conductors Jorge Mester, JoAnn Falletta, Hugh Wolff, Sergiu Comissiona and Christof Perick. He has received the Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a commission from the Barlow Endowment, an Artist Fellowship from the California Arts Council, an Aaron Copland Award and the first Sylvia Goldstein Award from the Copland House, a Kennedy Center Friedheim Award, as well as grants and awards from the American Music Center, BMI, Composers Inc., the Copland Fund, Meet the Composer and the National Endowment for the Arts. Also active as a conductor of new music, Crockett has presented many world, national and regional premieres with the Los Angeles-based new music ensemble Xtet, the USC Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble, and as a guest conductor with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, Hilliard Ensemble, the California EAR Unit and the USC Thornton Symphony. His recordings as a conductor can be found on the ECM, New World and CRI labels. Crockett is currently professor of composition and director of the Contemporary Music Ensemble at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, and senior composer-in-residence with the Chamber Music Conference and Composers' Forum of the East.

    USC THORNTON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ENSEMBLE was founded in 1976 by Robert Wojciak. Since 1984, the Thornton CME has been under the direction of Donald Crockett. Comprised of some of the finest student musicians of the Thornton School of Music, the ensemble has presented an annual series of concerts at USC for many years, has been a guest on the Monday Evening Concerts and Green Umbrella series, has performed as soloists with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and has presented concert tours in Berlin, Paris and Lyons. Under Donald Crockett, the Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble has presented numerous premieres, and has been coached and/or conducted by such composers as Witold Lutoslawski, John Harbison, Donald Erb, Henryk Gorecki, Joan Tower, Steven Stucky, Judith Weir and the members of the USC Thornton composition faculty.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    Monday, April 26, 2004 at 8 PM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    USC THORNTON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ENSEMBLE

    DONALD CROCKETT, conductor

    GRENFELL Ceol na Fidhle

    LIM The Heart's Ear

    HARRISON The Perilous Chapel

    KIM Now and Then

    PHAN AC/DC

    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place one hour prior to each concert in BP Hall at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and are free to all ticket holders.

    Tickets ($15 - $40) are on sale now at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, online at LAPhil.com, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. When available, choral bench seats ($15) will be released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital, and Baroque Variations performances beginning at noon on the Tuesday of the second week prior to the concert. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full time students may be available at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office two hours prior to the performance. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person; cash only. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For all information, please call 323.850.2000.

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  • Contact:

    Ryan Jimenez, 213.972.3405; for photos: Beth Norber, 213.972.3409