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  • WDCH
  • AUSTRIAN CONDUCTOR HANS GRAF RETURNS TO LEAD LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC AT WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
  • Jan. 26, 2007
  • Grammy Winning Violinist Gil Shaham is Violin Soloist

    FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, AND SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 2007 AT 8 PM

    SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, AT 2 PM

    Acura is the sponsor for the January 27 Concert -
    All Acura vehicles on that date park for free

    Hans Graf, Music Director of the Houston Symphony, is guest conductor with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Friday, January 26, and Saturday, January 27, at 8 pm, and at 2 pm concert on Sunday, January 28, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Violinist Gil Shaham, internationally recognized as one of today's most virtuosic and engaging classical artists, is soloist in Stravinsky's Violin Concerto. Also on the program is Tchaikovsky's Hamlet Overture and Schumann's Symphony No. 2 in C Major.

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

    Known for his intensely musical interpretations of a wide range of repertoire and creative programming, the distinguished Austrian conductor HANS GRAF is one of today's most highly respected musicians. Currently the Music Director of the Houston Symphony, a post for which he was unanimously chosen in September 2000, Graf completed his eighth and final season as Music Director of the Calgary Philharmonic in May 2003 and concluded a six-year tenure as Music Director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine in June 2004. Hans Graf has led the orchestras of Cleveland, Philadelphia, New York, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Toronto, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Montreal, among many others, and participated in festivals including Blossom, Wolftrap, and the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. Over the past decade he has developed a close relationship with the Boston Symphony and appears regularly with the orchestra both during the subscription season and at the Tanglewood Music Festival. He made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Houston Symphony in January 2006; during the 2006/07 season he returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Detroit, St. Louis, and Indianapolis symphonies and makes his first appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, at the Aspen Music Festival, and with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall. He has participated in such prestigious European festivals as the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Bregenz, Aix en Provence, Orange, and Savonlinna in Finland, and he appeared at the Salzburg Festival for twelve consecutive seasons. During the 2006/07 season, Graf leads the Pittsburgh Symphony on a tour in Germany and conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. Born in 1949 near Linz, Hans Graf studied violin and piano as a child. He entered the Musikhochschule in Graz in 1967 and continued his conducting studies with Franco Ferrara in Siena, Sergiu Celibidache in Bologna, and Arvid Jansons in Weimar and Leningrad. His international career was launched in 1979 when he was awarded first prize at the Karl Böhm Competition. Graf was appointed Music Director of the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra in 1984, a post he held for ten years. In June 2002, Hans Graf was awarded the Chevalier de l'ordre de la Légion d'Honneur by the French government for championing French music around the world.

    Violinist GIL SHAHAM was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1971. In 1973 he moved with his parents to Israel, where he began violin studies with Samuel Bernstein of the Rubin Academy of Music. In 1981 he made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic; that same year he began his studies with Dorothy DeLay and Jens Ellerman at the Aspen Music Festival. In 1982, after taking first prize in Israel's Claremont Competition, he became a scholarship student at Juilliard, where he worked with DeLay and Hyo Kang. He was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990. Shaham is one of the most prolific recording artists of our time. His many recordings include concertos by Mendelssohn, Bruch, Paganini, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Barber, and Korngold. His 1999 recording of Bartók's Second Concerto with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony earned two Grammy nominations, and he won a Grammy award for his 1998 recital album American Scenes with André Previn at the piano. His most recent releases are a disc of Prokofiev works for violin and piano and The Fauré Album (Canary Classics/Artemis Classics). Shaham plays the 1699 "Countess Polignac" Stradivarius. He lives in New York City with his wife, the violinist Adele Anthony, and their son, Elijah.

    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, JANUARY 26, 2007 AT 8 PM

    SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 2007 AT 8 PM

    SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2007 AT 2 PM

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

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMOIC

    HANS GRAF, conductor

    GIL SHAHAM, violin

    TCHAIKOVSKY Hamlet Overture

    STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto

    SCHUMANN Symphony No. 2

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

    Acura is the sponsor for the January 27 Concert. Complimentary parking is being offered to all Acura vehicles entering Walt Disney Concert Hall for the Saturday, January 27 concert. Also, all members of the audience are welcome to enjoy desserts and coffee immediately after the concert, courtesy of Acura.

    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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  • Contact:

    Adam Crane, 213.972.3408, acrane@laphil.org; Rachelle Roe, 213.972.7310, rroe@laphil.org; Photos: 213.972.3034