Program Includes Works by Berlioz and Tchaikovsky; Features Mezzo-Soprano Lauren McNeese

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, at 7:30 pm

This event is sponsored by the Cultural Alliance-a group of organizations, including Cal Poly Pomona, Western University of Health Sciences, Mount San Antonio College, Pomona Unified School District, State Farm Agent John Forbing, and Pomona First Baptist Church.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic performs a community concert at the First Baptist Church of Pomona on Wednesday, February 6, at 7:30 p.m. Conductor Ward Stare leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program that includes Berlioz’s Hungarian March and “D’amour l’ardente flame” from La damnation de Faust, featuring mezzo-soprano soloist Lauren McNeese, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F Minor.

General admission tickets for the concert are five dollars and may be obtained through the Pomona City Hall's Community Services Office located at 505 S. Garey Ave. in Pomona, or by calling 909.620.2321.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Neighborhood Concerts in the community include orchestra, chamber music and jazz concerts in churches, community centers and other local venues around Southern California. The Los Angeles Philharmonic has been presenting neighborhood concerts for the past 16 years, as part of the organization’s dedication to making music accessible to the widest possible audience. This is its eighth annual concert in Pomona.

In the fall of 2007, WARD STARE began his tenure as the Los Angeles Philharmonic's American Symphony Orchestra League Conducting Fellow. Stare was trained as a trombonist at the Juilliard School and, at the age of 18, was appointed Principal Trombone of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He has performed as guest trombonist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, among others. As a soloist, he has given performances in both Europe and the U.S. Stare studied conducting with Janos Furst and Jorma Panula, as well as composition and musical analysis with Michel Merlet. He spent two summers working with David Zinman in the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival, and was awarded both the Robert J. Harth Conductor Prize (2006) and the Aspen Conducting Prize (2007). In August 2007, Stare made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra at the famed Blossom Music Center. Other recent engagements include appearances with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, in both Russia and the U.S., as well as an invitation to perform for the King of Thailand as part of the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra's "Great Artists of the World" Series. Upcoming engagements include concerts with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, and the UBS Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, as well as concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on both the Toyota Symphonies for Youth and Neighborhood Concert series.

Ward Stare is a Conducting Fellow of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and a member of the American Conducting Fellows Program, a national conductor training program developed and managed by the American Symphony Orchestra League. The program supports the musical and leadership development of exceptionally talented conductors in the early stages of their professional careers. It aims to improve the qualifications of American conductors to assume leadership roles as music directors of American orchestras. Funding for the American Conducting Fellows Program is provided by a major grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Mezzo-soprano Lauren MCNeese made her LA Opera debut in 2006 as Tebaldo in Don Carlo, then returned as Javotte in Manon. She is an alumna of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, where she appeared as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Siébel in Faust and in such works as The Pirates of Penzance, Die Walküre, Thaïs, La Traviata, Street Scene and Die Zauberflöte. She has since returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago as a guest artist to perform the roles of Lapak the Dog in The Cunning Little Vixen, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte as well as Wellgunde in Das Rheingold, Rossweisse in Die Walküre, and Wellgunde in Götterdämmerung in the 2005 Lyric Opera Ring Cycle. Other recent engagements include Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Minnesota Opera and Isolier in Wolf Trap Opera’s Le Comte Ory. Later this season, she will return to Lyric Opera of Chicago for her role debut of Dorabella in Così fan tutte. Future engagements also include a return to Minnesota Opera and Michigan Opera Theater and Toronto Symphony debuts.

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, February 6, 2008, at 7:30 PM

First Baptist Church of Pomona

601 N. Garey Ave., Pomona



LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

WARD STARE, conductor

LAUREN MCNEESE, mezzo-soprano



Berlioz Hungarian March from La Damnation de Faust

BERLIOZ “D’amour l’ardente flame” from La Damnation de Faust

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

Tickets are $5 and are available at the Pomona City Hall's Community Services Office, 505 S. Garey Ave. in Pomona. Information is available by calling 909.620.2321. Los Angeles Philharmonic information is available by calling 323.850.2000 or visiting LAPhil.com.

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