Final Concert of this Season's Colburn Celebrity Recital Series

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2005 AT 8 PM

Colburn Celebrity Series is generously supported by the Colburn Foundation

Pianist André Watts, who performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in its inaugural season at Walt Disney Concert Hall, returns to the venue for a solo recital on Wednesday, May 18, at 8 p.m. His performance concludes the 2004/2005 Colburn Celebrity Series, featuring the world's leading virtuosos and presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.

Watts' program opens with two pieces from the late Baroque era by Scarlatti: the F Minor Sonata, L. 187 and A Major Sonata, L. 391; followed by Mozart's Rondo in D Major, K. 485 and Rondo in A minor, K. 511. The first half concludes with Schubert's Three Piano Pieces, D. 946, which, although dated May 1828, were left untitled and not published until they were collected and edited by Brahms (anonymously) in 1868.

Watt continues his performance with two selections from Ravel's Miroirs and four pieces from Ligeti's Musica ricercata. He then focuses on three compositions by Liszt including Bagatelle sans tonalité,; Schlaflos, Frage und Antwort, Unstern!; and La lugubre gondola No. 2. Finishing the program is Debussy's La plus que Lente and Danse.

André Watts' recital is the eighth and final concert in the Colburn Celebrity Recital series this season at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

ANDRÉ WATTS burst upon the music world at the age of 16, when Leonard Bernstein chose him to make his debut with the New York Philharmonic in their Young People's Concerts, broadcast nationwide on CBS-TV. Only two weeks later, Bernstein asked him to substitute at the last minute for the ailing Glenn Gould in performances of Liszt's E-flat Concerto with the New York Philharmonic, thus launching his career in storybook fashion. More than 40 years later, André Watts remains one of today's most celebrated and beloved superstars. His performances each year with the world's great orchestras and conductors and his sold-out recitals and appearances at the most prestigious international festivals bring him to every corner of the globe. During the 2004/05 season, Watts returns to the Philadelphia Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of Houston, Dallas, Indianapolis and Colorado as well as to Tanglewood and Saratoga, and performs recitals in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Atlanta, the New Jersey Performing Center and at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Watts has had a long and frequent association with television, having appeared on numerous programs produced by PBS, the BBC and the Arts and Entertainment Network, performing with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center among others. Watts' latest recording release features both Liszt piano concertos and MacDowell's Concerto No. 2 with the Dallas Symphony, led by Andrew Litton, on the Telarc label. A much-honored artist who has played before royalty in Europe and heads of government in nations all over the world, André Watts was selected to receive the Avery Fisher Prize in 1988. At age 26, he was the youngest person ever to receive an Honorary Doctorate from Yale University. Previously an Artist-in-Residence at the University of Maryland, it was announced in May 2004 that he will fill the newly created Jack I. and Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in Music at Indiana University and began teaching there in September 2004.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2005 at 8 PM

Walt Disney Concert Hall

111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

Colburn Celebrity Series

ANDRÉ WATTS, piano

SCARLATTI Sonata in F Minor, L. 187

SCARLATTI Sonata in A Major, L. 391

MOZART Rondo in D Major, K. 485

MOZART Rondo in A Minor, K. 511

SCHUBERT Three Piano Pieces (Drei Klavierstücke), D. 946

RAVEL Selections from Miroirs

LIGETI Selections from Musica ricercata (I, II, III, IV, IX)

LISZT Bagatelle sans tonalité

LISZT Schlaflos, Frage und Antwort

LISZT La lugubre Gondola No. 2

DEBUSSY La plus que Lente

DEBUSSY Danse

The Colburn Celebrity Series is generously supported by the Colburn Foundation

Tickets ($15 - $78) 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 Series, 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.

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