Skip to page content
  • WDCH
  • LA PHIL'S CDMX FESTIVAL TO EXPLORE MUSIC OF MEXICO CITY
  • Aug. 2, 2017
  • OCTOBER 9-17, 2017

    PROGRAM INCLUDES:

    NOCHE DE CINE FEATURING LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC AND GUSTAVO DUDAMEL, CURATED BY ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU AND DANIELA MICHEL

    NATALIA LAFOURCADE PERFORMING WITH LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC FOR THE FIRST TIME, CONDUCTED BY GUSTAVO DUDAMEL

    CAFÉ TACVBA PERFORMING WITH ORCHESTRA FOR THE FIRST TIME, WITH LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC CONDUCTED BY GUSTAVO DUDAMEL

    THE SCORE OF BIRDMAN PERFORMED LIVE-TO-PICTURE BY ANTONIO SANCHEZ

    PERFORMANCES FROM MEXRRISSEY, LA ÚNICA INTERNACIONAL SONORA SANTANERA, NAAFI AND MORE

    WORLD PREMIERES FROM COMPOSERS ARTURO MÁRQUEZ, GABRIELA ORTIZ, ÉDGAR GUZMÁN, JUAN FELIPE WALLER, IVÁN NARANJO, DIANA SYRSE, & ALEJANDRO CASTAÑOS

    Create Your Own LA Phil packages available to purchase now. Single tickets for CDMX go on sale August 6, 2017 at 10 AM.

    Los Angeles, CA (August 2, 2017) - The Los Angeles Philharmonic announced today additional programming details for its CDMX festival at Walt Disney Concert Hall, October 9-17, 2017.

    CDMX will offer a window into Mexico City's colorful music scene, exploring its vibrant contemporary music communities and rich, centuries-old musical traditions. Spanning six concerts, CDMX will include a diverse selection of music with orchestral, rock, alternative, electronic, film score and more. The series will feature Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing with Natalia Lafourcade and Café Tacvba for the first time, a night of film music co-curated by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Daniela Michel, and performances from artists including Antonio Sanchez, Mexrrissey, NAAFI, and many more. CDMX will also present seven world premieres and LA Phil commissions from composers including Arturo Márquez, Gabriela Ortiz and more. Preceding each concert from October 12 to 15 will be organilleros (organ grinders), cranking out songs on traditional barrel organs. A signature sound of the city, four organilleros will generate different sets of songs in lobby spaces of Walt Disney Concert Hall.

    On October 9, Mexican percussionist, composer and five-time Grammy®-winner Antonio Sanchez will perform his unique and vibrant percussion-only score live-to-picture for a screening of Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Birdman, which won the Oscar® for Best Picture in 2014.

    On October 12, seven-time Latin Grammy®-winner Natalia Lafourcade will perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, for the first time. Lafourcade is one of Mexico's biggest contemporary music stars, whose music weaves sounds from her native country with elements of jazz, rock, bossa nova and folk. The performance will be prefaced by an orchestral program, which will include the world premiere of a new work by Gabriela Ortiz, Téenek Invenciones de territorio, commissioned by the LA Phil.

    October 13 will feature Noche de Cine, an evening of film music co-curated by four-time Academy Award®-winning director, writer and producer Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Morelia Film Festival Director Daniela Michel. With Mexico City as the center of the Latin American film scene, Noche de Cine will include scores, songs and film clips accompanied live-to-film by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. Selections range from classics sung by Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante, to present day cult favorites, including music from Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth.

    On October 14, CDMX: Now! will present a snapshot of Mexico City's colorfully vibrant music community with established and emerging acts who highlight its rich traditions and contemporary creativity. The performance will feature Mexrrissey, a group composed of a Who's Who of Mexico's rock and pop world, performing brass and string-led reinventions of Morrissey's and The Smiths' songs. Joining the bill will be La Única Internacional Sonora Santanera, an orchestra playing tropical music from Mexico with over 60 years of history; Ampersan, who present an audiovisual journey which mixes traditional instruments with modern genres such as rock, jazz and electronic; and NAAFI, a community-cultivating group of artists on the edge of Mexico City's DJ culture who push the peripheral rhythms of techno, hip hop and pop to their musical and cultural breaking points.

    On October 15, Café Tacvba will perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, for the band's first concert with full orchestra in their 28 years. Considered the "greatest rock band in Mexico... and... possibly even the world" by The New York Times, Café Tacvba will celebrate their new record, Jei Beibi, and showcase their catalog with imaginative new arrangements. The performance will be prefaced by an orchestral program, which will include the world premiere of an LA Phil commission from Arturo Márquez, Danzón No. 9. 

    On October 17, Carlos Miguel Prieto, who holds titles as Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, Music Director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director of the YOA Orchestra of the Americas, will conduct a Green Umbrella program of contemporary material with the LA Phil New Music Group, including five LA Phil commissions and world premieres. The program will feature Édgar Guzmán's new work for brass and percussion, Juan Felipe Waller's new work for ensemble, Iván Naranjo's new work for ensemble, Diana Syrse's new work for ensemble and voice, and Alejandro Castaños' new work for string quartet.

    CDMX is part of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, an initiative of the Getty with arts institutions across Southern California. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America. Major support provided through grants from the Getty Foundation.

    PROGRAM DETAILS:

    Monday, October 9, 2017, at 8 PM
    Jazz
    -in/SIGHT-
    CDMX: BiRDMAN LiVE

    Antonio Sanchez
     

    Thursday, October 12, 2017, at 8 PM
    World Music
    CDMX: Natalia Lafourcade

    Los Angeles Philharmonic
    Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
    Natalia Lafourcade

    Javier ÁLVAREZ Metro Chabacano
    Enrico CHAPELA Inguesu
    Gabriela ORTIZ TéenekInvenciones de territorio (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
    Natalia Lafourcade with LA Phil

    Program preceded by organilleros in lobby
     

    Friday, October 13, 2017, at 8 PM
    -in/SIGHT-

    CDMX: Noche de Cine
    Curated by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Daniela Michel

    Los Angeles Philharmonic
    Gustavo Dudamel, conductor

    Selections range from classics sung by Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante, to present day cult favorites, including music from Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth.

    Program preceded by organilleros in lobby

    Saturday, October 14, 2017, at 7 PM
    CDMX: Now!

    Mexrrissey
    La Única Internacional Sonora Santanera
    Ampersan
    NAAFI

    Program preceded by organilleros in lobby

    Sunday, October 15, 2017, at 7:30 PM
    CDMX: Café Tacvba

    Los Angeles Philharmonic
    Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
    Café Tacvba

    Arturo MÁRQUEZ Danzón No. 1
    Arturo MÁRQUEZ Danzón No. 2
    Arturo MÁRQUEZ Danzón No. 8
    Arturo MÁRQUEZ Danzón No. 9 (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
    Café Tacvba with LA Phil

    Program preceded by organilleros performing in lobby

    Tuesday, October 17, 2017, at 8 PM
    Green Umbrella
    CDMX: New Music from Mexico

    LA Phil New Music Group
    Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor

    Édgar GUZMÁN new work for brass and percussion (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
    Juan Felipe WALLER new work for ensemble (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
    Iván NARANJO new work for ensemble (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
    Diana SYRSE new work for ensemble and voice (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
    Alejandro CASTAÑOS new work for string quartet (world premiere, LA Phil commission)

    Single tickets for CDMX will go on sale August 6. Subscriptions for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2017/18 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall are currently available. To purchase, please visit LAPhil.com or the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office. For more information, please call 323.850.2000.

    The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under the vibrant leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel (find more information on Gustavo Dudamel here), presents an inspiring array of music from all genres - orchestral, chamber and Baroque music, organ and celebrity recitals, new music, jazz, world music and pop - at two of L.A.'s iconic venues, Walt Disney Concert Hall (www.laphil.com) and the Hollywood Bowl (www.hollywoodbowl.com). The LA Phil's season at Walt Disney Concert Hall extends from September through May, and throughout the summer at the Hollywood Bowl. With the preeminent Los Angeles Philharmonic at the foundation of its offerings, the LA Phil aims to enrich and transform lives through music, with a robust mix of artistic, education and community programs.

    Academy Award®-winning director, writer, and producer, Alejandro G. Iñárritu is one of the most acclaimed and respected filmmakers working today. Most recently, Iñárritu presented the VR installation CARNE y ARENA (Virtually present, Physically invisible), which previewed at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival as the first VR project ever included in the official selection of the festival, receiving international critical acclaim. The installation is currently in exhibition at Fondazione Prada in Milan, LACMA in Los Angeles and Tlatelolco in Mexico City. In 2016, Iñárritu won his second consecutive Academy Award for Best Director for The Revenant starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy, which he also produced and co-wrote with Mark L. Smith. The film heroically captures one man's powerful tale of revenge set against the harrowing backdrop of the 19th-century American frontier. The year prior, Iñárritu won the Best Director Oscar for Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). The dark comedy, which he also co-wrote and produced, took home the prize for Best Picture as well as Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography at the 87th Academy Awards. With four total wins, Iñárritu is the first Mexican filmmaker ever to be nominated for either director or producer in the history of the Academy Awards. Other previous credits include the Spanish-language and Oscar-nominated Biutiful; Babel, which garnered seven Oscar nominations and earned Iñárritu the Best Director Award at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival; and the critically-acclaimed 21 Grams, which received Oscar nominations for Naomi Watts and Benicio del Toro's performances. Iñárritu made his feature directorial debut in 2001 with Academy Award-nominated Amores Perros, a drama that explored Mexican society through the perspective of three intertwining stories connected by a car accident in Mexico City. Iñárritu first began his career as a radio host and radio director at Mexican rock radio station WFM before transitioning to writing, producing, and directing short films and commercials under his Z Films company.

    ###

  • Contact:

    Sophie Jefferies, sjefferies@laphil.org, 213.972.3422
    Lydia Fong, lfong@laphil.org, 213.972.3689