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  • LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC'S "BUILDING MUSIC" PROJECT FEATURES WORKS COMPOSED FOR LANDMARK ARCHITECTURAL SPACES
  • Apr. 6, 2004
  • Concerts in Building Music Series Include World Premieres of New Works by Liza Lim and Esa-Pekka Salonen and U.S. Premiere of Work by Poul Ruders

    Click here for the Building Music brochure.

    The Los Angeles Philharmonic's Building Music project-a groundbreaking collaboration with the Getty Research Institute exploring the relationship between music and architecture-includes a series of concerts featuring works of music written for specific landmark architectural spaces. The project's concert series features the world premieres of two new works inspired by the architecture of Walt Disney Concert Hall: Australian composer Liza Lim's Ecstatic Architecture, and Esa-Pekka Salonen's Wing On Wing, a gift from the composer to the Los Angeles Philharmonic commemorating the inaugural season at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The project also includes the U.S. premiere of Poul Ruders' glOrIA.

    Concerts in the Building Music project include performances of Berlioz' Requiem, which was composed for Les Invalides in Paris; Henry Brant's Verticals Ascending, inspired by Watts Towers in Los Angeles; Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel, which was a tribute to the Houston chapel and the painter who decorated it; Iannis Xenakis' Metastaseis, whose curved musical trajectories formed the basis of the design of the Philips Pavilion at the Brussels Exposition in 1958; Edgard Varèse's Poème électronique, which was composed to be heard in that Pavilion; and Claudio Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine, whose sonorities recall the spacious grandeur of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, where Monteverdi was maestro di capella for the last three decades of his life.

    The Project's Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts begin Saturday, May 22, with the final Los Angeles Philharmonic's Toyota Symphonies for Youth program of the season. The next week, Salonen conducts the world premiere of Lim's Ecstatic Architecture, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 19 in F major, K. 459 (with Mitsuko Uchida), and Brahms' Second Symphony (May 28-30). The Brant, Feldman, Varèse, and Ruders works comprise the June 1 Green Umbrella program. Along with the Berlioz Requiem (June 3, 4, and 6), the Project continues with a special June 5 concert, when Salonen leads Wing On Wing in its world premiere, plus Lim's new works and Xenakis' Metastaseis. Boston Baroque, under the direction of Martin Pearlman, performs Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine on the final program of the Baroque Variations series, June 8.

    The Building Music project concludes with additional performances of Salonen's Wing On Wing, as well as Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1 (with Yefim Bronfman) and Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring, a final resonance of the season-opening creation theme in the Project's and the season's last concerts (June 11-13).

    Download the color Building Music brochure as a pdf.

    Saturday, May 22, at 11 AM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    Yasuo Shinozaki, conductor

    Toyota Symphonies for Youth

    Building Music: The Concert Hall

    Program details to be announced.

    Sponsored by Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A

    Friday, May 28, at 8 PM

    Saturday, May 29, at 8 PM

    Sunday, May 30, at 2 PM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

    Mitsuko Uchida, piano

    LIM Ecstatic Architecture (World premiere; Los Angeles Philharmonic commission)

    MOZART Piano Concerto No. 19 in F major, K. 459

    BRAHMS Symphony No. 2

    May 28 generously sponsored by Acura; May 28, 29, and 30 supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

    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.


    Tuesday, June 1, at 8 PM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC NEW MUSIC GROUP

    Bradley Lubman, conductor

    RUDERS glOrIA (U.S. premiere)

    FELDMAN Rothko Chapel

    BRANT Verticals ascending

    VARÈSE Poème électronique

    Supported by grants from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music and the National Endowment for the Arts.

    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.

    Wednesday, June 2, at 8 PM GREAT SEATS AVAILABLE
    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    - Building Music panel discussion -

    Site Specific Work: How Does Location Affect Creation?

    Esa-Pekka Salonen, Frank Gehry, and Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen discuss the relationship between space and the art it is designed to contain. Thomas Crow moderates. Introduction by Deborah Borda. Tickets: $15, available by calling (323) 850-2000, at the box office, or online.

    Thursday, June 3, at 8 PM

    Friday, June 4, at 8 PM

    Sunday, June 6, at 2 PM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE

    Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

    Eric Cutler, tenor

    BERLIOZ Requiem

    Supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

    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.

    Saturday, June 5, at 3 - 5:30 PM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    Day Two: SYMPOSIUM AND MUSICAL INTERLUDES

    Three scholars talk about music written for a specific
    building or space. Members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform between talks. Free to the public.

    • Glenn Watkins on Stravinsky's Canticum sacrum (San Marco, Venice)
    • Thomas Crow on Feldman's Rothko Chapel (Houston)
    • Olivia Mattis on Varèse's Poème électronique (Philips Pavilion, Brussels)

    In addition, at Upbeat Live, John Adams speaks on Salonen's Wing On Wing (free to ticket holders of that evening's concert; see below).

    Saturday, June 5, at 8 PM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

    LIM Ecstatic Architecture (Los Angeles Philharmonic commission)

    XENAKIS Metastaseis

    SALONEN Wing On Wing (World premiere)

    Supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place one hour prior to each concert in the main auditorium at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and are free to all ticket holders.

    Tuesday, June 8, at 8 PM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    BOSTON BAROQUE

    Martin Pearlman, director

    MONTEVERDI Vespers

    Supported by grants from the Michael J. Connell Foundation and the E. Nakamichi Foundation.

    Friday, June 11, at 11 AM

    Saturday, June 12, at 8 PM

    Sunday, June 13, at 2 PM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

    Yefim Bronfman, piano

    SALONEN Wing On Wing

    SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concerto No. 1

    STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring

    June 12 generously sponsored by Acura; June 11, 12 and 13 supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts; additional media support for June 13 provided by KCET.

    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place one hour prior to each concert in the main auditorium at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and are free to all ticket holders.

    Tickets ($15 - $120) are on sale now at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, online at LAPhil.com, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. 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 more information, please call 323.850.2000.

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  • Contact:

    Ryan Jimenez, 213.972.3405; for photos: Ellie Lloyd, 213.972.3448