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  • ESA-PEKKA SALONEN AND LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC CONTINUE BERLIOZ BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION WITH VIOLIST NOKUTHULA NGWENYAMA AND THE USC THORNTON CHAMBER CHOIR
  • Jan. 22, 2004
  • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, AND FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, AT 8 PM
    SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, AT 2 PM

    Violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama makes her Los Angeles Philharmonic debut in the second weekend of the Berlioz Bicentennial celebration at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Thursday, January 22, and Friday, January 23, at 8 p.m. (a Casual Friday program) and Sunday, January 25, at 2 p.m. Ngwenyama, an alumna of the Colburn School and a past winner of an LA Philharmonic Fellowship for Excellence in Diversity, joins Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for performances of Berlioz' Harold in Italy. The program also features the USC Thornton Chamber Choir in Tristia (please note this piece is omitted for the Casual Friday performance on January 23), and opens with Royal Hunt and Storm from the opera The Trojans.


    Upbeat Live
    pre-concert events take place one hour prior to each concert in BP Hall at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and are free to all ticket holders.

    This program marks the second concert series in the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Berlioz Bicentennial Festival. In celebration of the 200th birthday of Hector Berlioz, the Los Angeles Philharmonic examines the life and work of this composer who personified revolutionary thinking and imagination. "He's my favorite mad genius of music-a restless soul whose innovative mind had no boundaries," says Salonen. Three weeks of all-Berlioz concerts, led by Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, culminate on January 29, 30, 31, and February 1 with a unique collaboration with England's Complicite and its Artistic Director Simon McBurney in an evening of music and theater inspired by the composer's life.

    A California native, violist NOKUTHULA NGWENYAMA is an alumna of the Colburn and Crossroads Schools, which she attended prior to studying at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music. Winner of the 1993 Primrose Competition, Ngwenyama came to national attention when she won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions - the first violist chosen in 14 years - at age 17. Three years later, she made her New York concerto debut at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall with the New York Chamber Symphony conducted by Lawrence Leighton Smith. Acclaim followed her debut recitals at the Kennedy Center and in New York's 92nd Street Y. In 1997, she received an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Since that time, Ngwenyama has enjoyed performances with many of the nation's great orchestras. Ngwenyama's Walt Disney Concert Hall performances mark her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

    Under the direction of William Dehning, the USC THORNTON CHAMBER CHOIR is the premier choral ensemble at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. Among their most recent achievements, the ensemble won the 2002 Grand Prix at a prestigious international choral competition in Tours, France. In addition, the Chamber Choir, along with the Thornton Concert Choir, has performed in recent years with Helmuth Rilling, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, AT 8 PM

    FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, AT 8 PM*

    SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, AT 2 PM

    Walt Disney Concert Hall

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, conductor

    NOKUTHULA NGWENYAMA, viola

    USC THORNTON CHAMBER CHOIR, William Dehning, director (except January 23)

    BERLIOZ Royal Hunt and Storm from Les Troyens

    BERLIOZ Tristia*

    BERLIOZ Harold in Italy

    *Please note: The concert on Friday, January 23, is a part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Casual Fridays Series. Berlioz' Tristia will be omitted from this program, which will be presented without intermission.

    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place one hour prior to each concert in BP Hall at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and are free to all ticket holders.

    Tickets ($15 - $120) are on sale now at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, online at LAPhil.com, 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 more information, please call 323.850.2000.

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  • Contact:

    Elizabeth Hinckley, 213.972.3034; Rachelle Roe, 213.972.7310; for photos: Beth Norber, 213.972.3409