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  • CONDUCTOR JONATHAN NOTT AND SOPRANO MARY WILSON MAKE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC DEBUTS AT WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL IN PROGRAM OF MAHLER’S SYMPHONY NO. 4
  • Oct. 20, 2005
  • Program Also Features Martin Chalifour Performing Korngold’s Violin Concerto

    THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2005, AT 8 PM,

    FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2005, AT 11 AM,

    SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2005, AT 8 PM

    Conductor Jonathan Nott and soprano Mary Wilson make their Los Angeles Philharmonic debuts at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Thursday, October 20, at 8 p.m. Nott leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, featuring Wilson, and Korngold’s Violin Concerto, performed by Martin Chalifour. The program repeats on Friday, October 21, at 11 a.m., and Saturday, October 22, at 8 p.m. Nott is currently principal conductor of the Bamberg Symphony. Wilson, hailed as “brilliant” by The New York Times, is acknowledged as one of today’s most exciting young artists. Chalifour has served as the Philharmonic’s principal concertmaster since 1995.

    JONATHAN NOTT assumed the post of principal conductor of the Bamberg Symphony in January 2000. Since his appointment, he has taken the orchestra on tour regularly – to South America, Russia, the Edinburgh Festival and most recently to Japan. British-born, Nott studied in Cambridge, Manchester and London. In 1988 he made his conducting debut at the Opera Festival in Battignano, and was appointed Kapellmeister at Frankfurt Opera in the following year. In 1991 he was appointed first Kapellmeister at the Hessian National Theater Wiesbaden and he went on to become interim Chief Music Director for the 1995/96 season. During that time he conducted an extensive repertoire of opera, ballet and musicals, including the major works of Mozart, Verdi and Puccini, as well as his first complete Ring Cycle. He went on to become Music Director of the Lucerne Theatre and Principal Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. Nott has guest-conducted many renowned orchestras including the WDR Cologne, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Tonhalle, NDR Hamburg, NHK Symphony and Orchestre de Paris. He has worked with the Berlin Philharmonic, with whom he recorded some of the orchestral works – including the Requiem – of György Ligeti. Made for Warner Classics, the recordings have received great critical acclaim. A great champion of contemporary music, Nott has given world premieres of works by Ferneyhough, Rihm and Lachenmann. In August 2000 he became Principal Conductor of the Ensemble Intercontemporain, and he is Chief Guest Conductor of the Ensemble. He was guest conductor of the Ensemble Modern in a program of Nancarrow and Boulez at the Salzburg Festival in August 2003.

    Cultivating a wide-ranging career singing chamber music, oratorio and operatic repertoire, MARY WILSON was named a 2004 “Emerging Artist” by Symphony Magazine, the first-ever compilation of recommended soloists and conductors by the American Symphony Orchestra League. Last season she made her debut with Boston Lyric Opera in a reprise of her critically acclaimed role of the Controller in Dove’s Flight and the role of Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo with the Berkshire Opera Company. The 2005-2006 season will see Wilson debut at Anchorage Opera as Elvira in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri and with Tulsa Opera as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos. In 2007, Wilson will join Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic for Konstanze in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Wilson recently created the role of Grand Duchess Christina in world premiere performances of Philip Glass’ Galileo Galilei in Chicago and New York, where Opera News lauded Wilson’s talent, saying “surely Glass intends for all of his singers to reflect the vocal lines as naturally as she does.” She sang the Missouri premiere of the Handel Gloria with the Bach Society of St. Louis, Carmina Burana with the Pennsylvania Ballet and Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Jacksonville Symphony. She sang her first Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte with Dayton Opera and the Goddess Diana in Rameau’s Hippolytus and Aricia at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. She was a 1999 National Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was awarded the Adams Fellowship at the Carmel Bach Festival in California. She is also the recipient of a career grant from Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ prestigious Richard Gaddes Fund for Opera Singers.

    MARTIN CHALIFOUR began his tenure as principal concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1995. The recipient of various grants and awards in his native Canada, he graduated with honors from the Montreal Conservatory at the age of 18 and then moved to Philadelphia to pursue studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. In 1986 Chalifour received a Certificate of Honor at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, and he was a laureate of the Montreal International Competition the following year. Since then he has concertized extensively, playing hundreds of concerto performances from a repertoire of more than 50 works. He has appeared as soloist with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, and Esa-Pekka Salonen and was a recent guest soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Auckland Philharmonic, the Queensland Symphony (Australia), and the Malaysian Philharmonic. Chalifour began his orchestral career in 1984 with the late Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony, playing as Associate Concertmaster for six years. Subsequently he occupied the same position for five years in the Cleveland Orchestra, where he also served as Acting Concertmaster under Christoph von Dohnányi. While in Cleveland, Chalifour taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music and was a founding member of two chamber ensembles, Myriad and the Cleveland Orchestra Piano Trio. Chalifour is a frequent guest at several summer music festivals, including the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Ottawa International Music Festival. Chalifour is also a professor at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.

    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

    THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2005, AT 8 PM,

    FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2005, AT 11 AM,

    SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2005, AT 8 PM

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

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    JONATHAN NOTT, conductor

    MARY WILSON, soprano

    MARTIN CHALIFOUR, violin

    MAHLER Symphony No. 4
    KORNGOLD Violin Concerto

    Tickets ($37-$129) 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. 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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  • Contact:

    Laura Stegman, 310.470.6321; Photos: 213.972.3034