Mezzo-Soprano Michelle DeYoung, Women of the Pacific Chorale and The Los Angeles Children's Chorus are Featured

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 AND 30, 2006 AT 8 PM

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2006 AT 2 PM

Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 on Friday and Saturday, September 29 and 30 at 8:00 p.m., and on Sunday, October 1 at 2:00 p.m., as the fourth season at Walt Disney Concert Hall gets underway. Featured guests include three time Grammy award-winner mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, the internationally renowned Pacific Chorale with artistic director John Anderson, and the Los Angeles Children's Chorus, one of the nation's leading children's choirs, with artistic director Anne Tomlinson. The Los Angeles Philharmonic dedicates these three performances to the memory of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.

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 event features an interview with Philharmonic Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen by Deborah Borda, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.

Mahler's Symphony No. 3 has played an important part in the career of Esa-Pekka Salonen. Salonen first came to international attention as a conductor in September 1983 when he stepped in for an indisposed Michael Tilson Thomas at the last minute to lead London's Philharmonia Orchestra in a performance of the piece, after having learned the score in a matter of days. Mahler's Third also marked the beginning of Salonen's tenure as the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Music Director. He led the mammoth work in October 1992 at the opening concert of his first season at the helm of the orchestra, and it was the performance for the final concert with the Philharmonic in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

The Third Symphony, Gustav Mahler's longest, was composed during the early- to mid-1890s, with the bulk written during the summer of 1895 (completed in 1896) while the composer was on a break from his duties as music director of the Hamburg Opera. In the outline upon which he based the thematic ideas of the Third Symphony, Mahler wrote extensive notes and gave creative titles to each of the six movements which were inspired by nature, such as "Summer marches in" and "What the morning bells tell me." He later removed the titles and descriptions, but his ideas, having already been published, survived. Symphony No. 3 premiered in its entirety (an hour-and-a-half long) at a festival of new music in the Rhineland city of Krefeld in 1902, with Mahler conducting.

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, the tenth conductor to head the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is currently in his 15th season as Music Director. He made his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in November 1984, and he has conducted the orchestra every season since. His current tenure is the second-longest in Philharmonic history, and he recently extended his contract through the 2007/08 season. Alongside his activities as a conductor, Salonen has also won acclaim for his work as a composer. Among the many highlights of Salonen's activities with the Philharmonic have been world premieres of works by composers John Adams, Franco Donatoni, William Kraft, Witold Lutoslawski, Magnus Lindberg, Bernard Rands, Rodion Shchedrin, Steven Stucky, Tan Dun, and Augusta Read Thomas, as well as his own works. He has led critically acclaimed festivals of music by Ligeti, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and Berlioz, and has served as Music Director of the Ojai Music Festival. He and the Philharmonic have toured extensively since 1992, including extended residencies at the Salzburg Festival and at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Salonen's latest orchestral work, Wing on Wing, received its world premiere in June 2004 as part of the Philharmonic's Building Music Festival. In March 2003 Salonen signed an exclusive four-year recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon; in February 2005, the label released Wing on Wing, a disc devoted to his recent works. Before signing with DG, Salonen recorded regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Sony Classical. A Sony disc of Salonen's compositions, including LA Variations, Five Images After Sappho, Giro, Gambit, and Mania, has garnered critical acclaim throughout the U.S. and in Europe. Salonen and the Philharmonic's discography also include the debut recording of John Adams' Naive and Sentimental Music - a work that the orchestra premiered - for the Nonesuch label. Salonen was born in Helsinki in 1958, and after studies at the Sibelius Academy in Finland and with private teachers Franco Donatoni and Niccolò Castiglioni in Italy, he made his conducting debut with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1979. He is the recipient of many major awards including the Siena Prize from the Accademia Chigiana in 1993, the first conductor ever to receive the prize; the Royal Philharmonic Society's Opera Award in 1995; and their Conductor Award in 1997. In 1998 he was awarded the rank of Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government; in 2003 he received an honorary doctorate from the Sibelius Academy in Finland.

Mezzo-soprano MICHELLE DeYOUNG has already established herself as one of the most exciting artists of her generation. In the past few seasons, DeYoung has been seen on the concert platforms of many of the world's leading orchestras, including most major orchestras in the U.S. DeYoung's opera engagements in the U.S. have included Dido in a new production of Les Troyens at the Metropolitan Opera; Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, and Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde at the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Venus in Tannhäuser at the Houston Grand Opera, Brangäne at the Seattle Opera, and the title role in The Rape of Lucretia at the Glimmerglass Opera. In Europe she has appeared as Kundry in a new production of Parsifal, conducted by Boulez, and opening the Bayreuth Festival; as Jocaste in Oedipus Rex and Gertrude in Hamlet at the Théâtre du Châtelet, and as Fricka in semi-staged performances of both Das Rheingold and Die Walküre at the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Concertgebouw, and the Birmingham Symphony Hall. Michelle DeYoung's most recent recording; Kindertotenlieder and Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony's own label, SFS Media, was awarded the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Classical Album. She also won Grammy Awards in 2001 for Best Classical Album and Best Opera Recording for Les Troyens (the role of Dido) with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra. Her growing discography also includes Bernstein's Symphony No. 1 ("Jeremiah") with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin for Chandos, Das Klagende Lied with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas for BMG, Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with the Cincinnati Symphony and Jesus Lopez-Cobos for Telarc and Das Lied von der Erde with the Minnesota Orchestra for Reference Recordings. Her first solo disc was released on the EMI label.

LOS ANGELES CHILDREN'S CHORUS (LACC), noted for its exceptional artistic quality and technical ability and considered one of the nation's leading children's choirs, is currently celebrating its 21st season. LACC, founded in 1986 and currently under the leadership of Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson, has appeared over the past two decades in more than 300 performances with the LA Opera, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Pasadena Symphony, among others. Few children's choirs in the world are capable of covering the wide range of repertoire required to perform at this level. This demanding schedule requires tremendous musicianship, skill, and dedication, which are honed through LACC's comprehensive and rigorous music program. Committed to expanding the repertoire for children's choirs, LACC, has, over the years, commissioned new works by such noted composers as Paul Gibson, Ruth Watson Henderson and James Mulholland. The choir has commissioned a major children's opera, Keepers of the Night, composed by Peter Ash with libretto by Donald Sturrock, which will be premiered by LACC in 2007. The choir has toured in Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Brazil and Australia as well as too many parts of the United States and Canada. The choir has also garnered national exposure through radio and television appearances.

Founded in 1968, PACIFIC CHORALE is internationally recognized for exceptional artistic expression, stimulating American-focused programming, and influential education programs. Pacific Chorale presents a substantial performance season of its own at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and is sought regularly to perform with the nation's leading symphonies. Under the inspired guidance of Artistic Director John Alexander, Pacific Chorale has infused an Old World art form with California's hallmark innovation and cultural independence. Pacific Chorale is comprised of 170 professional and volunteer singers. Pacific Chorale, the seventh largest-budgeted chorus in the United States, has received numerous awards, including Chorus America's prestigious "Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence," the first national "Educational Outreach Award," and the 2005 ASCAP Chorus America Alice Parker Award for adventurous programming. Pacific Chorale appears in an average of 16 performances annually, heard by nearly 40,000 audience members. The Chorale's reach is extended through radio broadcasts of its concerts on KMZT, 105.1 FM in Los Angeles. Pacific Chorale's outstanding performances can be heard on seven CDs; their newest recording, Christmas Time Is Here, was recently released on the Gothic Records label.

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, SEPTEMBER 29 AT 8 PM

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 AT 8 PM

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1 AT 2 PM

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

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, conductor

MICHELLE DEYOUNG, mezzo-soprano

PACIFIC CHORALE with artistic director John Anderson

LOS ANGELES CHILDREN'S CHORUS with artistic director Anne Tomlinson

MAHLER Symphony No. 3

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 event will feature an interview with Philharmonic Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen by Deborah Borda, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.

Tickets ($15 - $135) are on sale now online at LAPhil.com, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, 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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