Pianist Angela Cheng Performs Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4; Mahler's Symphony No. 1 Closes the Program

SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2009, AT 2 PM

The Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Bridget-Michaele Reischl, performs the world premiere of Hanging Cliffs, an Oberlin commission from critical favorite and Oberlin class of 2000 graduate Huang Ruo. Also featured on the program is Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, featuring pianist Angela Cheng, a member of the Oberlin faculty, and Mahler's Symphony No. 1.

Conductor Bridget-Michaele Reischl is the Music Director of the Oberlin Orchestras and Associate Professor of Conducting at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. In the 2005-06 season, she led the Oberlin Orchestra on a concert tour of China. A recording from that tour, The Oberlin Orchestra in China, was released in 2007 on the Oberlin Music label. Since becoming the first American to win Italy's Antonio Pedrotti International Conducting Competition in 1995, she has been an active guest conductor throughout the United States and internationally.

Steve Smith, writing in the New York Times, calls the Oberlin Conservatory of Music "a hotbed of contemporary-classical players." Vivien Schweitzer, also writing in the Times, praised the Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra's January 2007 Carnegie Hall appearance under the baton of Robert Spano, especially their performance of Bart^ok's Concerto for Orchestra, which was, she noted, "stellar."

Consistently cited for her brilliant technique, tonal beauty, and superb musicianship, Angela Cheng is one of Canada's brightest stars. She has appeared as soloist with virtually every orchestra in Canada, as well as the Alabama, Colorado, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Saint Louis, San Diego, Syracuse, and Utah symphony orchestras; the Buffalo and Louisiana philharmonic orchestras; and the Israel Philharmonic, among others. Cheng is Associate Professor of Piano at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Composer Huang Ruo is the 2008 winner of the International Composition Prize, sponsored by the Luxembourg Society for Contemporary Music. He also won the competition's special audience award. Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as "strikingly assured," Ruo's music has been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Juilliard Symphony and many more.

This concert is generously supported by Jolyon F. Stern (OC '61), President and CEO of DeWitt Stern Group, Inc.

An Upbeat Live pre-performance discussion, free to ticket-holders, will occur in BP Hall one hour prior to the concert. 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner and composer David Lang; award-winning composer Huang Ruo; LA Phil violinist Elizabeth Baker; and Dean of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music David H. Stull participate in Upbeat Live on Jan. 24.

The Sounds About Town concerts further the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association's goal of nurturing tomorrow's performers by providing opportunities for leading youth ensembles to perform at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The series continues on Wednesday, April 29, at 8 p.m. with the Colburn Orchestra in a performance of works by Corigliano, Mozart and Berlioz.

THE OBERLIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC, founded in 1865 and situated amid the intellectual vitality of Ohio's Oberlin College since 1867, is the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the United States. Renowned internationally as a professional music school of the highest caliber and pronounced a "national treasure" by the Washington Post, Oberlin's alumni have gone on to achieve illustrious careers in all aspects of the serious music world. Many of them have attained stature as solo performers, composers, and conductors, among them Jennifer Koh, Steven Isserlis, Denyce Graves, Franco Farina, Christopher Robertson, Lisa Saffer, George Walker, Christopher Rouse, Huang Ruo, David Zinman, and Robert Spano. All of the members of the contemporary sextet eighth blackbird, most of the members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, and many of the members of Apollo's Fire are Oberlin alumni. The Mir'o Pacifica, Juilliard, and Fry Street quartets, among other chamber ensembles, include Oberlin-trained musicians, as do major orchestras and opera companies throughout the world.

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:

SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2009, at 2 PM

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



Sounds About Town



OBERLIN CONSERVATORY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

BRIDGET-MICHAELE REISCHL, conductor

ANGELA CHANG, piano



HUANG RUO Hanging Cliffs (World Premiere)

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4

MAHLER Symphony No. 1

An Upbeat Live pre-performance discussion, free to ticket-holders, will occur in BP Hall one hour prior to the concert. 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner and composer David Lang; award-winning composer Huang Ruo; LA Phil violinist Elizabeth Baker; and Dean of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music David H. Stull participate in Upbeat Live on Jan. 24.

Tickets ($10-$20) 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. Groups of 10 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For more information, please call 323.850.2000.

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