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  • ALEXANDER MICKELTHWATE CONDUCTS SIXTH ANNUAL COMMUNITY CONCERT BY LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC IN POMONA
  • May. 12, 2005
  • Tony-Award Winning Baritone Ben Davis is Soloist

    THURSDAY, MAY 12, AT 8 PM, AT FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF POMONA

    Alexander Mickelthwate, Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, leads the orchestra in a program of works by Smetana, Brahms, Dvorák and Mozart, featuring Tony-Award winning baritone soloist Ben Davis, on Thursday, May 12, at 8 p.m., at the First Baptist Church of Pomona, located at 601 North Gary in Pomona, Calif. Tickets to this Community Concert are $5, and go on sale on April 25 in the city's Community Services Department in Pomona City Hall, 505 S. Garey Avenue. Proof of residency required.

    The orchestral works on the program are by renowned European and Eastern European composers, and include Smetana's Overture to The Bartered Bride, Brahms' Symphony No. 3 and three Slavonic Dances by Dvorák. Ben Davis, who portrays Papageno in Kenneth Branagh's upcoming film version of Mozart's opera, The Magic Flute and whose Broadway credits include La bohème, Les Miserables and Thoroughly Modern Millie, performs two arias from The Magic Flute.

    The Association's Neighborhood Concert series, created in 1991, encourages involvement in the classical arts within the increasingly diverse communities of greater Los Angeles. The events, many of them free of charge, take place in churches, schools, and other venues throughout Los Angeles. Neighborhood Concerts are made possible, in part, by grants from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, David and Linda Shaheen Foundation, and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

    This community event receives primary support from Cal Poly Pomona, the city of Pomona, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona Unified School District, Mount San Antonio College, First Baptist Church of Pomona, Bank of America, Foothill Transit and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

    ALEXANDER MICKELTHWATE joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Assistant Conductor at the start of the 2004/2005 season. Most recently, he served as Assistant Conductor at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, where, n addition to his ASO duties he served as co-artistic director and conductor of the Atlanta-based contemporary music ensemble Bent Frequency, which he co-founded in May 2003. In the summer of 2002, he was Conductor in Residence and Director of Conducting Studies for the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and he is a member of the conducting faculty at Kennesaw State University in Georgia and artist in residence at Georgia State University. Though still in the early stages of his career, Mickelthwate has already conducted the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, New Jersey, and Oregon, as well as the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Eos Orchestra, and Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and worked as cover conductor for the Boston Symphony.

    Raised in Indianapolis, BEN DAVIS comes directly from the critically acclaimed production of 110 In The Shade at the Pasadena Playhouse where he played the role of File. Bringing him to L.A. was Baz Luhrmann's production of Puccini's La bohème at The Ahmanson in which he played the painter, Marcello. It was for this role on Broadway that he received a 2003 Tony Award. Davis continued his luck in working with great directors with Michael Mayer in the Broadway production of Thoroughly Modern Millie where he played the quintessential Arrow Collar Man, Trevor Graydon. His first Broadway show was Les Miserables, in which he played the role of the student leader, Enjolras. He is one of very few actors to have performed both Enjolras and Marius. Davis can be heard on the original cast album for Baz Luhrmann's production of La bohème.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    THURSDAY, MAY 12, AT 8 PM

    First Baptist Church of Pomona

    601 North Garey, Pomona

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor

    Ben Davis, baritone

    SMETANA Overture to The Bartered Bride

    BRAHMS Symphony No. 3

    DVORÁK Slavonic Dance, Op. 72, No. 1

    MOZART "Der Vogelfaenger," from Act 1of The Magic Flute

    DVORÁK Slavonic Dance, Op. 72, No. 2
    MOZART "Suicide Scene" from Act 2 of The Magic Flute

    DVORÁK Slavonic Dance, Op. 72, No. 7

    Tickets will be on sale beginning Monday, April 25, in the city's Community Services Department in City Hall, 505 S. Garey Ave. The first week of sales, through April 29, are exclusively for Pomona residents and businesses, who must bring proof of residency. For more information, call Pomona's Community Services Department at (909) 620-2321.

    Los Angeles Philharmonic Neighborhood Concerts are made possible, in part, by funding provided by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and the David and Linda Shaheen Foundation. These programs are also supported by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and Cultural Affairs Department of the City of Los Angeles.

    This community event receives primary support from Cal Poly Pomona, the city of Pomona, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona Unified School District, Mount San Antonio College, First Baptist Church of Pomona, Bank of America, Foothill Transit and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

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  • Contact:

    Cathy Williams: 213.972.3689; photos: 213.972.3034