The Toyota Symphonies for Youth 2001/2002 concert series, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, continues with world-renowned percussionist Evelyn Glennie in “BAM! Focus on Percussion” with conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and host John de Lancie on Saturday, March 30 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Children and families are invited to take part in the percussion-related pre-concert activities including arts, crafts, dance, and storytelling, which begin at 10 AM with the one-hour concert following at 11 AM.
Percussion instruments take the spotlight as soloist Evelyn Glennie performs excerpts from Joseph Schwantner’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra. Schwantner composed the piece, which illustrates the 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 sound of the “water gong” to the bowed vibraphone, from the evocative clang of the Almglocken to the sheer power of the rock-and-roll drum solo.
Evelyn Glennie will also perform Askell Masson’s Prim on solo snare drum. Masson wrote Prim specifically for the snare drum and named it after the idea upon which it is based – the first 16 prime numbers. The entire six-minute piece revolves around the rhythmic patterns that these numbers create as a unit of pulse.
Held on Saturday mornings, Toyota Symphonies for Youth are entertaining concerts designed for children ages 5-11 and their families. Families should plan to arrive early and spend the morning making music, meeting musicians, listening to stories, learning to sing, and creating art projects – all activities that introduce the day’s featured musical instrument. Actor John de Lancie, best known as “Q” on Star Trek, The Next Generation, returns for a fourth season as host. The concerts feature real-time images of the musicians projected on a screen above the orchestra.
The 2001/2002 season, the 7th year that Toyota has sponsored the series, includes one more Toyota Symphonies for Youth with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The remaining concert is “Shall We Dance?” on May 11, 2002.
Toyota Symphonies for Youth receive additional support from the following: Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, The William Randolph Hearst Foundations, Morgan Stanley, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, and the California Arts Council, a State agency. Toyota Symphonies for Youth are supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.
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. She has also 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.
Los Angeles Philharmonic Associate Conductor MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA was recently appointed Music Director for the Fort Worth Symphony, a title he holds with both the Eugene Symphony in Oregon and the Auckland Symphony of 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 Seattle Symphony, the Quebec Symphony, the Puerto Rico Symphony, the Mexico National Symphony, and the Auckland Philharmonia. 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.
Host JOHN DE LANCIE’s career spans the areas of stage, movies and television where he has proven himself to be an actor, director and producer of note. He has appeared in nearly 100 TV shows, including his best-known role as Picard’s bothersome adversary “Q” on Star Trek, The Next Generation. He co-owns, with Leonard Nimoy, Alien Voices (a production company), which has produced projects for Simon & Schuster, TNT, New Line, The Sci-Fi Channel, and California School Systems. Mr. de Lancie’s love of music began as a child in Philadelphia, where he listened to Saturday night concerts at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music. He has performed as a speaker and narrator with the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Milwaukee Symphony.
EDITORS - PLEASE NOTE:
Toyota Symphonies for Youth
Saturday, March 30, 11 AM
(pre-concert activities begin at 10 AM)
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave (at First), Los Angeles
Los Angeles Philharmonic
MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA, conductor
EVELYN GLENNIE, percussion
JOHN DE LANCIE, host
Program to include excerpts from:
SCHWANTNER: Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra
MASSON: Prim
MARQUEZ: Danzon No. 2
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade
HAYDN: Symphony No. 3
Tickets ($10-12) (extremely limited) may be available at 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. For further information, please call 323/850-2000.
Elizabeth Hinckley, 323/850-2047; Melanie Gravdal, 323/850-2021