Violin Virtuoso to Perform Barber Violin Concerto;

Program Also Features Works by Bernstein and Corigliano

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2005, AT 8 PM

This performance is generously sponsored by Acura.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association presents violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman and the National Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of maestro Leonard Slatkin, in an all-American program of music by Bernstein, Barber and Corigliano at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Wednesday, October 19, 2005, at 8 p.m. Perlman performs Barber's expressive Violin Concerto. The concert also features Bernstein's vibrant Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Corigliano's dramatic and emotional Symphony No. 1.

Slatkin, who recently completed his first season as Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, is in his tenth season at the helm of the National Symphony Orchestra, currently celebrating its 75th Anniversary. Generally recognized as one of today's finest orchestras, the National Symphony Orchestra appears as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Visiting Orchestras series. Perlman performs with the National Symphony throughout its 75th Anniversary tour. Later in the season, on January 14, 2006, the Visiting Orchestra series concludes when Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique performs at Walt Disney Concert Hall, with conductor John Eliot Gardiner, as part of the Mozart 250th birthday celebration.

ITZHAK PERLMAN enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Born in Israel in 1945, Perlman came to New York and soon was propelled into the international arena with an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1958. Perlman has since appeared with every major orchestra and in recitals and festivals around the world. During the past ten years, Perlman has also appeared on the conductor's podium with orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the National Symphony, the Boston Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and the New York Philharmonic. and has performed in duo recitals with Pinchas Zukerman in New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Miami. A major presence in the performing arts on television, Perlman has been honored with four Emmy Awards. He also collaborated as violin soloist with film score composer John Williams in Steven Spielberg's Academy Award-winning film Schindler's List and can be heard as violin soloist on composer Tan Dun's soundtrack to Zhang Yimou's film Hero. Perlman's recordings regularly appear on the best-seller charts and have garnered 15 Grammy Awards. Perlman devotes considerable time to education, both in his participation each summer in the Perlman Music Program and his teaching at the Juilliard School, where he holds the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation Chair. He was awarded an honorary doctorate and a centennial medal on the occasion of Juilliard's 100th commencement ceremony in May 2005.

Combining the roles of internationally celebrated conductor, staunch advocate for music education, and champion of American music and musicians, LEONARD SLATKIN has been praised by critics and audiences around the world for his imaginative programming and interpretations of a vast range of repertoire. Among his distinctions are a White House celebration honoring the National Symphony Orchestra and Slatkin for advocacy of America's artistic heritage; a Grammy for Best Classical Recording; awards for programming; and the National Medal of the Arts, the nation's highest honor for a performing artist. Slatkin has made regular appearances over the last two decades with virtually all the major international orchestras and opera companies, including the New York and Berlin Philharmonics, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, as well as the Metropolitan Opera and the Vienna Staatsoper. He is conductor laureate of the St. Louis Symphony, following his highly successful 17-year music directorship and has just completed his tenure as Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Slatkin's discography includes more than 100 recordings recognized with five Grammy Awards and more than 50 other Grammy nominations. Slatkin is also extremely active as a broadcaster on musical topics. During his career he has had his own radio program, his own television program, and has been a guest commentator on NPR's Performance Today. An important hallmark of Slatkin's career is his extraordinary commitment to arts education and to reaching diverse audiences, reflected in his work with student orchestras at various conservatories and across the country both independently and through the National Symphony Orchestra American Residencies program. His advocacy of the D.C. Youth Orchestra enabled 130 children to continue their music education in the public schools. Slatkin, who recently completed his first season as principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, is in his tenth season at the helm of the National Symphony Orchestra, currently celebrating its 75th Anniversary.

The NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA regularly participates in events of national and international importance, including performances for state occasions, presidential inaugurations, and official holiday celebrations. Through its tours of four continents and performances for heads of state, the National Symphony also fills an important international role. Officially founded in 1931, throughout its history the orchestra has been committed to both artistic excellence and music education. In 1986 the National Symphony became the artistic affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the nation's center for the performing arts, where it has presented a concert season annually since the Center opened in 1971. The orchestra itself numbers 100 musicians, presenting a 52-week season of approximately 175 concerts each year. The orchestra has commissioned more than 60 works. The National Symphony has long been distinguished for its nurturing of young American conductors; that commitment has escalated with the creation in 2000 of the National Conducting Institute, of which Music Director Leonard Slatkin is founder and director. Another important project is the National Symphony Orchestra American Residencies for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which has so far taken the NSO to 14 states. This venture encompasses sharing all elements of classical symphonic music with a specific state, exploring its diversity of musical influences, and giving the state a musical voice in the nation's center for the performing arts through exchanges, training programs, and commissions. Throughout its history, the National Symphony Orchestra has served the nation through tours, broadcasts, and other special projects.

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:

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2005 at 8 PM

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

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

LEONARD SLATKIN, conductor

ITZHAK PERLMAN, violin

BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story"

BARBER Violin Concerto

CORIGLIANO Symphony No. 1

This performance is generously sponsored by Acura.

Tickets ($37-$129) 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 all information, please call 323.850.2000.

# # #