Program Includes Works by Mahler, Ticheli and Tower

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2006, 7:30 PM

Noted violinist Michelle Kim, assistant concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic and USC alumna, makes a special guest appearance with USC's Thornton Symphony, led by Principal Conductor Carl St.Clair, to open the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Sounds About Town series on Sunday, October 15, 2006, at 7:30 p.m., at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The program juxtaposes Mahler's monumental Symphony No. 1 with works by two contemporary American composers: Joan Tower's virtuosic and lyrical Violin Concerto and Frank Ticheli's Shooting Stars, which was commissioned by the Pacific Symphony for its 25th anniversary and was debuted by that orchestra in 2003 under St.Clair's baton.

Sounds About Town, which showcases top youth ensembles, continues on October 28, 2006 with the Colburn Orchestra conducted by Yehuda Gilad with guest violinist Joshua Bell. The American Youth Symphony, under the baton of Music Director Alexander Treger, appears on April 22, 2007, and the series concludes with the YMF Debut Orchestra in a special Shadow of Stalin program, led by conductor Sean Newhouse on May 27, 2007.

Music Director of the Pacific Symphony in Orange County, CARL ST.CLAIR has become one of America's most distinguished conductors. Under his dynamic leadership, the Pacific Symphony has risen to national prominence through acclaimed recording projects, commissions of new works, world premieres, live broadcasts, and innovative music education programs. St.Clair celebrated his sixteenth season at the Pacific Symphony with the orchestra's first European tour, and the inauguration of the Symphony's new Segerstrom ConcertHall and. St.Clair is also General Music Director and Chief Conductor of the German National Theater and Staatskapelle in Weimar and is the first non-European to hold this position. He has guest conducted the Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Houston, San Francisco, Seattle and Indianapolis symphonies, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has also conducted orchestras in Germany, Jerusalem, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. His summer festival appearances include the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Pacific Music Festival in Japan (with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra), Round Top Festival, Breckenridge, Texas Music Festival and Tanglewood. Equally at home in the theater, St.Clair began a Ring cycle last season in Weimar leading the German National Theater in a production of Das Rheingold. He has also been guest conductor at the opera house in Bonn, the Staatstheater in Hannover and the Austin Lyric Opera. He recorded the complete Villa-Lobos symphonies with the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra and has also made numerous recordings with the Pacific Symphony, including a Grammy-nominated CD of two piano concerti by Lukas Foss, released on the Harmonia Mundi label in 2000; and Elliot Goldenthal's Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio (commissioned by the Pacific Symphony) for Sony Classical featuring the Pacific Chorale and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. St.Clair has been Principal Conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra and Music Director of the Ann Arbor Symphony and served as assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony. Winner of the 1990 NEA/Seaver Conductors Award, St.Clair holds a master's degree in operatic and orchestral conducting from the University of Texas. He is principal conductor of the Thornton orchestras and lecturer of conducting at USC.

A prolific young performer, MICHELLE KIM joined the New York Philharmonic as Assistant Concertmaster in 2001. Previously she was concertmaster of the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra, the 20th Century Unlimited Chamber Orchestra, the Fresno Philharmonic, the Riverside Philharmonic, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, and the Asia America Symphony Orchestra, among other ensembles. As a soloist, Kim has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, and New Jersey Symphony, and in 1999, she was invited to become first violinist of the Rossetti String Quartet. Kim is also an active chamber musician and has performed with Christopher O'Riley, Gary Hoffman, Cho-Liang Lin, David Golub, and Yefim Bronfman; the Aeolian and Palos Verdes chamber music series; and La Jolla Chamber and Santa Fe music festivals. A student of Professor Robert Lipsett, Kim attended the University of Southern California/Thornton School of Music as a Starling Foundation scholarship recipient and the Colburn School of Performing Arts. She received additional coaching and master class training from such master musicians as Dorothy DeLay, Yehudi Menuhin, Michael Tree, Cho-Liang Lin, Josef Gingold, Pinchas Zukerman, Lynn Harrell, and the Amadeus Quartet. In 1991, Kim was named a Presidential Scholar and performed in recital at the Kennedy Center and the White House. Since 1996, Kim has served on the faculties of the University of Southern California and the R.D. Colburn School of Performing Arts.

Since its inception in the early 1900s, the USC THORNTON SYMPHONY has been a visible artistic presence in the Los Angeles music community. It works regularly with some of the world's greatest conductors, composers, and musicians, such as Henryk Górecki, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas, Joan Tower, Jacek Kaspszyk, the Romeros, the late Isaac Stern, and most recently Yo-Yo Ma. This continues a long-standing tradition of collaborations with major figures in the field of music, from Bruno Walter and Leopold Stokowski to Witold Lutoslawski - historic collaborations that define this orchestra as one with tremendous range and ability. Górecki claimed it to be the best musical ensemble he had personally worked with after he conducted his Third Symphony in its West Coast premiere on the Bovard stage in 1997.

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:

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2006, 7:30 PM

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

Sounds About Town

USC Thornton Symphony

Carl St.Clair, conductor

Michelle Kim, violin

TICHELI Shooting Stars

TOWER Violin Concerto

MAHLER Symphony No. 1

Tickets ($15-$39) 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. When available, choral bench seats ($15) will be released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital, and Baroque Variations performances beginning at noon on the Tuesday of the second week prior to the concert. 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.

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