Casual Friday Program Features Music of Rodrigo and Tchaikovsky; Program Expands for Saturday and Sunday Performances to Include Music by Toru Takemitsu

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18 and 19 at 8 PM;
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20 at 2 PM

November 18 is generously sponsored by Gallo of Sonoma; November 19 is generously sponsored by Acura.

Under the baton of conductor Marin Alsop, renowned guitarist Eliot Fisk performs at Walt Disney Concert Hall, making his solo debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, on Friday, November 18, at 8 p.m., as part of the Casual Friday Series; Saturday, November 19, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, November 20, at 2 p.m. The programs conclude the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s nine-day Art of the Guitar Festival, designed to showcase the instrument’s remarkable versatility in folk, country-rock, classical, chamber and jazz settings.

Fisk, the last direct student of classical guitar pioneer Andrés Segovia – who proclaimed him to be “at the top line of our artistic world” – has expanded the repertoire for the guitar enormously through countless groundbreaking transcriptions of works by Bach, Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart, Paganini, among others, as well as through commissions from numerous leading contemporary composers.

Alsop conducts her first concerts in Los Angeles since being named Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony. When she assumes the post beginning with the 2007/2008 season, she will be the first woman to head a major American orchestra. On Friday, she conducts Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. On Saturday and Sunday, the expanded program also includes Spirit Garden by Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.

An Upbeat Live pre-concert event takes place one hour prior to each concert with composer Daniel Catán in BP Hall at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and is free to all ticket holders. Born in Mexico, Catán studied philosophy and music at Sussex and Southampton universities and received graduate degrees from Princeton University. He has written works for stage, orchestra, chamber ensemble, and film. Currently based in Los Angeles, he is the 1998 recipient of the Hispanics for Los Angeles Opera’s Plácido Domingo Award.

Conductor MARIN ALSOP, a New York native, recently made history with her appointment as Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony beginning in 2007/08. She will be the first woman to head a major American orchestra, which mirrors her ongoing success in the U.K. as Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony since 2002. She has also just been named a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, the first conductor ever to receive this most prestigious American award. The first artist to win Gramophone's Artist of the Year award and the Royal Philharmonic Society's conductor's award in the same season, Alsop also recently won the Classical Brit Award for Best Female Artist of 2005. She is a regular guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. She is also one of the few conductors to appear every season with both the London Symphony and the London Philharmonic orchestras and has appeared as a guest conductor with many other distinguished orchestras worldwide, including the Orchestre de Paris, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and Tokyo Philharmonic. Alsop made her debut with the Opera Theater of St. Louis conducting John Adams' Nixon in China and conducted a fully staged production of Bernstein's Candide with the New York Philharmonic in 2004, which was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2005. After a highly successful 12-year tenure as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony, Alsop continues her association as Conductor Laureate; she also continues in her 14th season as Music Director of the highly acclaimed Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California.

A creative innovator linked to the great romantic tradition of the past, guitarist ELIOT FISK is one of the most exciting and unique artists performing today. He earned critical and public acclaim in recital, as soloist with major orchestras and in a variety of chamber music combinations in most of the world’s great concert halls. Fisk has expanded the guitar repertoire enormously through countless ground breaking transcriptions of works by Bach, Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart, Paganini, and others as well as through commissions from such leading composers as Luciano Berio, Leonardo Balada, Robert Beaser, William Bolcom, Xavier Montsalvatge, Nicholas Maw, George Rochberg and Kurt Schwertsik. His numerous transcriptions and editions are published by Universal, Presser, Ricordi and Guitar Solo Publications. Fisk, who studied with Andres Segovia, also studied interpretation under the legendary harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick at Yale University, from which he graduated summa cum laude in 1976. Fisk is a professor at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, where he teaches in five languages, and in Boston at the New England Conservatory. He has recorded for the Musical Heritage Society, DG, Arabesque, and EMI labels.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, presents the finest in orchestral and chamber music, recitals, new music, jazz, world music and holiday concerts at two of the most remarkable places anywhere to experience music — Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to a 30-week winter subscription season at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil presents a 12-week summer festival at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the Association’s involvement with Los Angeles extends to educational programs, community concerts and children's programming, ever seeking to provide inspiration and delight to the broadest possible audience.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2005 at 8 PM

WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

Marin Alsop, conductor

ELIOT FISK, guitar

RODRIGO Concierto de Aranjuez

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2005, at 8 PM

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2005, at 2 PM

WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

Marin Alsop, conductor

ELIOT FISK, guitar

TAKEMITSU Spirit Garden

RODRIGO Concierto de Aranjuez

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5


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. Composer Daniel Catán hosts.

Tickets ($15-$129) 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, 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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