Violinist Frank Huang Makes Bowl Debut

TUESDAY, JULY 26, AT 8 PM

Classical Tuesdays at the Bowl are sponsored by Fidelity Investments; Media sponsor: K-MOZART 105.1

Guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero returns to the Hollywood Bowl following his successful debut last summer to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in two works by Stravinsky: Fireworks and Petrushka, and Sibelius' Violin Concerto with violinist Frank Huang on Tuesday, July 26 at 8 p.m. Guerrero is music director of the Eugene Symphony, and Huang, 2003 Naumburg Competition winner, makes his Bowl debut in this performance.

Stravinsky's Petrushka, opened to overwhelming success on June 13, 1911, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, conducted by Pierre Monteux. Petrushka's success lay in its brilliant depiction of life through a symbolic, archetypal reality, and the musical devices Stravinsky presented freed rhythm and harmony in a down-to-earth manner. Fireworks was supposedly written to celebrate the marriage of the daughter of one of Stravinsky's most important influences, Rimsky-Korsakov. Stravinsky scholar Richard Taruskin suggests, however, that the work was composed well after the wedding (he calls Fireworks "a belated wedding present"), most likely in the fall of 1908. Stravinsky was still refining the orchestration in May of the following year, and it was finally premiered in January 1910.

Sibelius' Violin Concerto was composed initially in 1903, premiered in Helsinki to disastrous reviews, and famously revised for a 1905 premiere in Berlin with Richard Strauss conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. Virtuosos have taken it to heart, making it the most often recorded 20th-century concerto.

Since beginning his tenure as music director of the Eugene Symphony, Giancarlo Guerrero has undertaken a series of all nine Beethoven symphonies. In June 2004, he received the Helen M. Thompson Award - an honor that recognizes outstanding young Music Directors and Orchestra Managers - by the American Symphony Orchestra League. Previously, Guerrero served as Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra and before that as music director of the Tachira

Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela. He is equally at home with opera and has worked regularly with the Costa Rican Lyric Opera. He last performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 2004. Born in Nicaragua and raised in Costa Rica, Guerrero received his bachelor's degree in percussion from Baylor University in Texas and his master's degree in conducting from Northwestern University in Illinois.

Violinist Frank Huang won first prize in the Hanover International Violin Competition, the Kingsville International Competition, the Music Academy of the West Concerto Competition, the Irving M. Klein International Competition and the D'Angelo International Competition. Holding a Master's degree from The Juilliard School, Huang has played with major orchestras all over the world, including The Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony and the Genoa Orchestra. He began playing violin when he was seven years old and gave his orchestra debut a mere two years later.

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 37th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2005, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue at the 16th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; it is no wonder that the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

TUESDAY, JULY 26 AT 8 PM

HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood

STRAVINSKY'S PETRUSHKA

Los Angeles Philharmonic

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor

Frank Huang, violin

STRAVINSKY Fireworks

SIBELIUS Violin Concerto

STRAVINSKY Petrushka

Classical Tuesdays at the Bowl are sponsored by Fidelity Investments
Media sponsor: K-MOZART 105.1

Tickets ($1 - $92) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records, and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at HollywoodBowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details.
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