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  • PERCUSSIONIST EVELYN GLENNIE JOINS MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA AND THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC FOR SCHWANTNER CONCERTO
  • Mar. 28, 2002
  • DOROTHY CHANDLER PAVILION, MARCH 28 AND 30 AT 8 PM

    Scottish percussion virtuoso Evelyn Glennie joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic as soloist for Joseph Schwantner's Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra under the baton of Associate Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Thursday, March 28 and Saturday, March 30 at 8 PM. The orchestra also performs Harbison's The Most Often Used Chords and Antonin Dvorák's Symphony No. 7. The concerts feature Upbeat Live, a free pre-concert discussion, with music scholar/composer Stephen Hartke in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion's Grand Hall one hour before each performance.

    The concert opens with The Most Often Used Chords by John Harbison. The American composer brings an Italian music instruction notebook to life in this playful and invigorating orchestral romp. The four movements of the piece are based upon musical concepts that beginning musicians must learn, for example, the first movement "Toccata" is built upon the Major and Minor scales and the five other modes.

    Percussion instruments take the spotlight as soloist Evelyn Glennie performs Joseph Schwantner's Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra. Schwantner composed the piece, which illustrates the many various colors in the percussion palette, in 1994 for the New York Philharmonic's 150th anniversary, and it was premiered in 1995 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher. The concerto, in three movements, presents the full range of percussion's capabilities: from the other-worldly sound of the "water gong" to the sound of the bowed vibraphone, from the evocative clang of the Almglocken to the sheer power of the rock-and-roll drum solo.

    Many music scholars believe that the Seventh Symphony of Antonin Dvorák is the Czech composer's greatest symphonic work. Written in 1884-85, when Dvorák was in his 40s, it has greater dramatic power, deeper emotional feeling and a breadth of vision unparalleled in his previous works. The success of the symphony's London premiere cemented his reputation as an internationally important composer.

    The world's first percussionist to gain true international acclaim, EVELYN GLENNIE single-handedly popularized percussion music, establishing timpani and percussion as solo instruments. With her characteristic sensitivity, Glennie plays all of the traditional Western percussion instruments such as timpani, xylophone and marimba, as well as dozens of instruments that are traditional in other parts of the world such as the Peking gongs and the Japanese uchiwa daiko. A native of Scotland, Glennie was trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London, receiving the school's highest honor. Since then, Glennie has worked with leading international orchestras including the London Symphony, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic; has performed at the BBC Proms; and completed numerous tours of Australia, New Zealand and the Far East. Glennie often collaborates with Icelandic vocalist Björk and frequently composes for radio, television and film.

    Composer JOSEPH SCHWANTNER was born in Chicago and studied at the Chicago Conservatory and Northwestern University. Schwantner's recent work, Beyond Autumn, "poem" for horn and orchestra, was commissioned by the International Horn Society with additional support from the Barlow Endowment. The work received its premiere in Fall 1999 by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra with conductor Andrew Litton and principal horn Gregory Hustis as soloist. Schwantner has received commissions from the New York Philharmonic, the Boston, Saint Louis, Dallas, and San Diego symphonies, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Performances by chamber ensembles and orchestras include the London Sinfonietta, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Solisti New York Chamber Orchestra. Schwantner's music can be heard on the Koch International Classics, EMI/Virgin Records, New World Records, Klavier Records, Nonesuch, Mercury, CRI, GM Recordings, Delos, Laurel, Crest, the Smithsonian Collection of Recordings and Sony Classical labels. Several recordings of his works by the Saint Louis Symphony have received Grammy Award nominations and his orchestral work Aftertones Of Infinity received the Pulitzer Prize in 1979.

    Los Angeles Philharmonic Associate Conductor MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA is Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony, a title he holds with both the Eugene Symphony in Oregon and the Auckland Philarmonia in New Zealand. One of the most exciting young conductors in America, his active guest conducting schedule includes appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, the Quebec Symphony, the Puerto Rico Symphony, and the Mexico National Symphony. Festival appearances include Grant Park, Tanglewood, Rencontres Musicales d'Evian in France, the Domaine Forget International Festival in Quebec, and the Musicarchitettura International Festival in Italy. Born in 1968 in Lima, Peru, Miguel Harth-Bedoya holds degrees in conducting from The Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School.

    EDITORS- PLEASE NOTE:

    Thursday, March 28, 8 PM

    Saturday, March 30, 8 PM

    DOROTHY CHANDLER PAVILION, 135 N. Grand Ave in Los Angeles

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA, conductor

    EVELYN GLENNIE, percussion

    Harbison: The Most Often Used Chords

    Schwantner: Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra

    Dvorák: Symphony No. 7

    Upbeat Live, a free pre-concert discussion with music scholar Stephen Hartke, takes place in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion's Grand Hall one hour before each performance.

    Single tickets ($12-$78) are available at the the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion box office, all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons-May, Tower Records, Ritmo Latino, Tu Música, and selected Wherehouse locations), and by credit card phone order at 213/365-3500. Tickets are also available on-line at laphil.com. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full time students may be available 2 hours prior to the performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion box office. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person. Groups of 10 or more may be eligible for special discounts. For further information, please call 323/850-2000.

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  • Contact:

    Elizabeth Hinckley, 323/850-2047; David Barber, 323/850-2023