Michele Zukovsky is Featured in the Clarinet Concerto

THURSDAY AND SATURDAY, APRIL 24 AND 26, 2008, AT 8 PM

FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2008, AT 11 AM

The Media Sponsor for the April 24 Concert is The Korea Times: Official Korean Media Sponsor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Hollywood Bowl. The April 26 Concert is Generously Sponsored by Breguet: The Official Timepiece of the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in three performances featuring Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Thursday and Saturday, April 24 and 26, at 8 p.m., as well as Friday, April 25, at 11 a.m. The program also includes Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Clarinetist Michele Zukovsky.

Bruckner is known today for having transformed the symphonic tradition of Beethoven and Schubert as well as having influenced the younger generation that included Mahler, Sibelius and Strauss. For much of his life he was lauded as an organist, but by the time he composed his Sixth Symphony, he began gaining recognition as a composer as well.

Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto is evidence of the composer’s mastery of concerto form and is one of three of his warmest masterworks dedicated to his dear friend, Viennese clarinetist Anton Stadler. The clarinet is provided with a wealth of material, songful and technical. The fact that there is no cadenza, a departure from the hallowed concerto tradition, has puzzled observers and possibly vexed clarinetists.

Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in BP Hall one hour prior to the Thursday and Saturday concerts and one hour and 15 minutes prior to the Friday matinee, and are free to all ticket holders. Russell Steinberg, composer, conductor, performer, Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra and a UCLA faculty member, hosts.

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, who was born in Helsinki in 1958, studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland. In 1979, he made his conducting debut with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1984. He was recently appointed Principal Conductor of London's Philharmonia. In addition, Salonen has won acclaim for his work as a composer. Among the many highlights of Salonen's career with the Los Angeles Philharmonic have been world premieres of works by composers John Adams, Franco Donatoni, Anders Hillborg, William Kraft, Magnus Lindberg, Witold Lutoslawski, Bernard Rands, Kaija Saariaho, 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 Sibelius, Ligeti, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Berlioz and Beethoven, as well as the Tristan Project. He and the Philharmonic have toured extensively since 1992. In October of 2003, Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic opened Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry. In March 2003, Salonen signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. The following year, DG released a disc devoted to his recent orchestral works, featuring Foreign Bodies, Insomnia and Wing on Wing. In January 2006, Salonen and the Philharmonic recorded their first CD together for DG, the first live recording at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Salonen and the Philharmonic also have four live concert recordings available for download on iTunes from DG Concerts. Before signing with DG, Salonen recorded regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Sony Classical. Salonen is the recipient of several 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. Musical America named him 2006 Musician of the Year.

Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Clarinetist MICHELE ZUKOVSKY has appeared frequently as soloist with the Philharmonic, both at the Hollywood Bowl and at the Music Center. She has been a guest soloist with many orchestras throughout the world including the world premiere performance of John Williams' Clarinet Concerto with the Boston Pops. Zukovsky also performs regularly at the Philharmonic's Chamber Music Society concerts and she has participated in a number of premieres as a soloist with the Orchestra's New Music Group. She has collaborated with a number of chamber ensembles, most notably the Angeles and the St. Petersburg String Quartets, and appears frequently in New York with the "Concerts at the Y," Ravinia, Lincoln Center, and "Mostly Mozart" ensembles. Zukovsky is active as a teacher of master classes, and is currently on the faculty of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. She studied clarinet with her father, Kalman Bloch, himself a former principal with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Zukovsky has recorded for London/Decca, Avant, Nonesuch, Philips and Summit Records. Her recent Summit recordings present works by Martinu with the Bohemian Ensemble of Los Angeles.

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:

THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2008, at 8 PM

FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2008, at 11 AM

SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 2008, at 8 PM

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



LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, conductor

MICHELE ZUKOVSKY, clarinet



MOZART Clarinet Concerto

BRUCKNER Symphony No. 6



The media sponsor for the April 24 concert is The Korea Times: Official Korean Media Sponsor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Hollywood Bowl. The April 26 concert is generously sponsored by Breguet: The Official Timepiece of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.



Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in BP Hall one hour prior to the Thursday and Saturday concerts and one hour and 15 minutes prior to the Friday matinee, and are free to all ticket holders. Russell Steinberg, composer, conductor, performer, Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, and a UCLA faculty member, hosts.

Tickets ($40 - $142) 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) are released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital, and Baroque Variations performances two weeks 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 10 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For information, please call 323.850.2000.

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