SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2007, AT 8 PM

Acura Advance is the sponsor for the concert - All Acura vehicles park for free for the evening

Legendary Broadway songstress Barbara Cook celebrates the week of her 80th birthday in style with a return to Walt Disney Concert Hall on Saturday, October 27, 2007, at 8 p.m. Cook's performance features her latest presentation No One Is Alone - a celebration of the songs of Stephen Sondheim and his closest collaborators and friends, including Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Oscar Hammerstein, Richard Rodgers and Jule Styne. Grammy and Tony-winner Cook is joined on stage by Lee Musiker, music director and pianist; Peter Donovan, bass; and James Saporito, drums. The performance is a single-event special appearance to kick off the 2007/2008 Songbook Series, which features intimate performances by some of the foremost talents in contemporary American music.

Cook's silvery soprano, purity of tone and warm presence have delighted audiences around the world for more than 50 years. She is recognized by her peers as one of the premier interpreters of musical theater songs and standards. Cook's latest release, No One Is Alone, is an abridged performance of her November 2006 standing-room-only concert at Carnegie Hall.

Each year since its inception, the Songbook series has brought audiences some of the most cherished evenings of song. The 2007/2008 series includes: Neko Case: "Bittersweet Country" on November 16; Bernadette Peters: "Just a Broadway Baby" on February 17, 2008; and John Pizzarelli: "Dear Mr. Sinatra" on March 16, 2008.

BARBARA COOK most recently returned to Carnegie Hall, where she made her legendary solo concert debut over 30 years ago, to perform her sixth solo concert. Last year she made her solo concert debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera House, making her the first female solo pop singer to be presented in concert by the Met. A live performance CD of this event is her most recent release from DRG Records. This year she celebrates her 80th birthday with two bi-coastal concerts: in October at Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall, and in November at New York's Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic. Cook won a NY Drama Critics Circle Award and was nominated for a Drama Desk award for her concert Barbara Cook's Broadway and was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for her previous concert, Mostly Sondheim. Her many Broadway credits include the creation of three classic roles in the American musical theatre: Cunegonde in Leonard Bernstein's Candide, Marian the Librarian in Meredith Willson's The Music Man (Tony Award) and Amalia in Bock and Harnick's She Loves Me (Drama Desk Award). In 1975, Cook made her Carnegie Hall debut which was preserved as the live recording, Barbara Cook at Carnegie Hall. She then embarked on a second career as a concert and recording artist performing in most of the country's major concert halls and cabarets. In 1987, she won a Drama Desk Award for her Broadway show, A Concert for the Theatre. The Grammy Award-winner's most recent recordings for DRG Records include: Close as Pages in a Book, Barbara Cook: Live From London, Oscar Winners: The Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein, All I Ask Of You, The Champion Season: A Salute to Gower Champion, Mostly Sondheim, Barbara Cook's Broadway, the Grammy-nominated Count Your Blessings and Tribute, based on her sold-out concert at New York's Café Carlyle.

Pianist, conductor, music director, arranger and orchestrator, LEE MUSIKER brings a wealth of experience to the podium through his association with the premiere artists in the jazz, classical, Broadway and pop genres. For the past 25 years he has collaborated with stellar artists such as Tony Bennett, Mel Tormé, Barbara Cook, Maureen McGovern, Renée Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, Diana Krall, Kristin Chenoweth, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Norah Jones, Wynton Marsalis, John Pizzarelli, Joshua Bell and many others. Musiker also has guest conducted numerous symphony orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. As an arranger and orchestrator, he has written for symphonic pops, recordings, movies and television. Musiker, as an educator, has served on the faculties of Mannes College, The New School for Music and New York University. The native New Yorker received degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and the Eastman School of Music and made further studies at the Julliard School.

As an orchestral musician, bassist PETER DONOVAN has performed with the New York Philharmonic, New York Chamber Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke's, American Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Concordia Orchestra, New York Virtuosi, Iceland Symphony Orchestra and many others. His skills have enabled him to work with a wide range of musical genres including chamber music, jazz, Broadway and rock. He's also worked with vocal greats such as Dawn Upshaw, Barbara Cook, Liza Minnelli and Maureen McGovern. He leads his own jazz group, the Peter Donovan Band, and is a two-time recipient of the Meet the Composer grant for his jazz compositions. Additionally, he appeared with original members of The Who in Daltrey Plays Townshend at Carnegie Hall, MTV Unplugged with Bryan Adams and Net Aid with Bono from U2 and Quincy Jones. Donovan holds a bachelor's and a master's degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Eugene Levinson.

Since graduating from the Eastman School of Music, JAMES SAPORITO has enjoyed a flourishing career as a freelance drummer/percussionist in New York City. He has played on more than 60 major motion picture soundtracks and 150 records with artists that range from Marilyn Horne to Gladys Knight, Billy Joel to Barbara Cook and Tony Bennett to Celine Dion. He has been a member of countless Broadway show orchestras from the original "La Cage aux Folles" to last year's "The Wedding Singer." He often performs with the New York Philharmonic as their drummer and as a percussionist/drummer with the New York City Ballet. He is currently touring with Michael Feinstein, Linda Eder and Barbara Cook. Saporito is most proud of his two children and his wife, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Melinda Wagner.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2007 at 8PM

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

Songbook Series

BARBARA COOK CELEBRATES HER 80TH! NO ONE IS ALONE

BARBARA COOK, vocals

LEE MUSIKER, music director and piano

PETER DONOVAN, bass

JAMES SAPORITO, drums

The concert is generously supported by Acura Advance. Complimentary parking is being offered to all Acura vehicles entering Walt Disney Concert Hall that evening.

Tickets ($35-95) 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. 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 10 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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