Kirk Choir From Pasadena Presbyterian Church and Coventry Choir From
All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena, Also Featured

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9 AT 8 PM

AT WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL

Concert sponsored by the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles

Garrison Keillor, Grammy Award-winning author and beloved host of A Prairie Home Companion headlines a program of witty story-telling and music for the holiday season with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Philip Brunelle at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Thursday, December 9 at 8 p.m. "A Holiday Evening with Garrison Keillor," which is part of the Deck the Hall holiday series of concerts, also features Pasadena Presbyterian Church's Kirk Choir, Gregory Norton, Minister of Music, and All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena, Coventry Choir, James Walker, director.

Keillor and Brunelle have performed together with many orchestras, including the Chicago, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Dallas, and National symphonies, and have appeared at Wolf Trap and Carnegie Hall and other major concert halls. Brunelle has appeared frequently on Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion throughout the years beginning with the radio program's very first show.

GARRISON KEILLOR began his radio career as a freshman at the University of Minnesota, went to work for Minnesota Public Radio in 1969, and on July 6, 1974, hosted the first broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion in St. Paul. It is now heard each week by over 3.3 million listeners on more than 535 public radio stations. Keillor also hosts a daily five-minute radio program, The Writer's Almanac and is the author of 13 books. His latest works are Lake Wobegon Summer 1956, published in 2001, his photographic essay, In Search of Lake Wobegon, and Good Poems, a collection of poetry selected by Mr. Keillor and featured on The Writer's Almanac. Keillor's recording of his book Lake Wobegon Days received a Grammy Award; he received two ACE Awards for cable television and a George Foster Peabody Award. In 1994, he was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame at Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications. In March 2001, Keillor was elected to membership in the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters for his contribution to literature. as a member of The Hopeful Gospel Quartet; and he has performed on his own in one-man shows across the country and in tour broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion. In May of 2002, Garrison Keillor made his opera debut as author and narrator of a new Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra production titled Mr. and Mrs. Olson aired on many public radio stations.

PHILIP BRUNELLE, artistic director of VocalEssence (founded as the Plymouth Music Series), is an internationally renowned conductor, choral scholar and performer. He has worked enthusiastically--and tirelessly--to expand audiences for rarely heard works of the past and new vocal, choral, operatic and orchestral music. Brunelle has appeared as a conductor with countless major orchestras and opera companies including the Chicago Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Symphony, Berkshire Choral Festival, Washington Opera, England's Aldeburgh Festival, Swedish Royal Opera and Semper Oper in Dresden. He was the music director of the Minnesota Opera for seventeen years. He has also been active in arts public policy and professional service endeavors, having served on the board of directors of Chorus America, the Minnesota State Arts Board and the National Council on the Arts, which oversees the activities of the National Endowment for the Arts. Among his many awards are the Kodály Medal from the government of Hungary, the Stig Andersson Award for contributions to Swedish music, and the Royal Order of the Polar Star from the King of Sweden. In 2001, he was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame; he also was honored with the U.S. Bank Sally Ordway Irvine Award for Commitment, recognizing lifetime achievement, contribution and leadership in culture and the arts. National audiences recognize him through frequent appearances on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, beginning with the very first show in 1974. Brunelle served as President of the Sixth World Symposium on Choral Music, bringing together thousands of choral singers and conductors from around the world.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:



THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, at 8 PM

Walt Disney Concert Hall

111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

A HOLIDAY EVENING WITH GARRISON KEILLOR



LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

PHILIP BRUNELLE, conductor

GARRISON KEILLOR, mixed baritone

KIRK CHOIR, PASADENA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Gregory Norton, Minister of Music

COVENTRY CHOIR, ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL CHURCH, PASADENA, James Walker, director

This concert is generously sponsored by the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles.

Tickets ($36 - $89) 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 all information, please call 323.850.2000.

# # #