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  • VIOLINIST LEILA JOSEFOWICZ PERFORMS JOHN ADAMS CONCERTO WITH MIKKO FRANCK LEADING LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC AT WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
  • Nov. 5, 2004
  • Works by Sibelius and Shostakovich Also Featured in Program That Continues Los Angeles Philharmonic's Shostakovich Cycle

    FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5 AT 8 PM

    SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6 AT 8 PM

    SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7 AT 2 PM

    Violin virtuoso Leila Josefowicz performs John Adams' passionate Violin Concerto with the young Finnish conductor Mikko Franck leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic in performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Friday and Saturday, November 5 and 6, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, November 7, at 2 p.m.

    Franck, music director and chief conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra, makes his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program that also includes Sibelius' evocative Karelia Overture and Shostakovich's expressive Symphony No. 12, "The Year 1917." The concert continues the Philharmonic's Shostakovich Cycle, a five-year survey of the complete symphonies and string quartets of the composer begun by the Los Angeles Philharmonic during its 2001/2002 season.

    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place one hour and fifteen minutes prior to each concert in the auditorium at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and are free to all ticket holders. Musicologist Christopher Russell hosts and members of the Philharmonic perform Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 12.

    MIKKO FRANCK, still only in his 20s, has rapidly established himself as one of the most exciting international conductors, building up a wide range of repertoire both with symphony orchestras and in the opera house. He first established his credentials with many of Finland's orchestras and now regularly conducts some of the world's greatest orchestras. Franck is currently Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra, and has recently been appointed General Music Director of the Finnish National Opera, a post that he takes up from the 2006/2007 season. He has worked with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Israel Philharmonic and Washington National orchestras, Berlin Staatskapelle, Super World Orchestra Japan, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and both the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He has toured Japan with both the Bamberger Symphoniker and the Belgian National Orchestra, and in May 2002 was artistic director of a Rautavaara Festival with the Helsinki Philharmonic. Mikko Franck's recording of Sibelius' En Saga and Lemminkainen Legends with the Swedish Radio Symphony received outstanding reviews throughout the international press and was nominated for a Grammy Award (Best Orchestral Performance) in 2001. Franck began to play the violin at the age of five and entered Helsinki's Sibelius Academy in 1992, subsequently studying in New York, Israel and Sweden. He began conducting studies in 1995 first with Jorma Panula and then at the Sibelius Academy.

    Violinist LEILA JOSEFOWICZ came to national attention in 1994 when she made her Carnegie Hall debut performing the Tchaikovsky Concerto with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. The performance was immediately followed by her debut recording of the Tchaikovsky and Sibelius concertos for Philips Classics. Since that time, she has appeared with many of the world's most prestigious orchestras, including the Boston and Chicago symphonies, Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra and collaborated with such eminent conductors as Seiji Ozawa, Valery Gergiev, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Charles Dutoit, and Franz Welser-Möst among others. No stranger to television, Ms. Josefowicz has appeared on numerous national broadcasts such as The Tonight Show, Evening at Pops and PBS' Live from Lincoln Center. A recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1994, Josefowicz is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Jaime Laredo and Jascha Brodsky. In addition to her solo work, she studied chamber music at Curtis with Felix Galimir and participated at several Marlboro Music Festivals. In recent seasons she has collaborated with artists such as Martha Argerich, Thomas Hampson, Jaime Laredo, Sylvia McNair, Andras Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida, and André Watts. A leading interpreter of the work of John Adams, Josefowicz's performance of Adams' Road Movies was recently released by Nonesuch. In January 2002, her performance of Adams' Violin Concerto with the composer conducting the BBC Symphony was televised and broadcast throughout Europe and subsequently released on CD.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 8 PM

    SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 8 PM


    SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2 PM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    MIKKO FRANCK, conductor

    LEILA JOSEFOWICZ, violin

    SIBELIUS Karelia Overture

    ADAMS Violin Concerto

    SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 12, "The Year 1917"


    Upbeat Live
    pre-concert events take place one hour and fifteen minutes prior to each concert in the auditorium at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and are free to all ticket holders. Musicologist Christopher Russell hosts and members of the Philharmonic perform Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 12.

    Tickets ($15 - $125) 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:

    Laura Stegman, 310.645.1755; Rachelle Roe, 213.972.7310; photos: 213.972.3034