Salerno-Sonnenberg Debuts at Walt Disney Concert Hall Performing Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1; Concert Program Also Includes Works by Mussorgsky and Ravel

FRIDAY and SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25 & 26, 2005, AT 8 PM;

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2005, AT 2 PM

The performance on November 25 is sponsored by Acura.

The media sponsor for November 27 is KCET.

Acclaimed violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg makes her Walt Disney Concert Hall debut performing Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 as Miguel Harth-Bedoya leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Friday and Saturday, November 25 & 26 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, November 27, at 2 p.m. The concert program also features the prelude to Mussorgsky’s historical opera Khovanshchina and two works by Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole, the composer’s first large-scale orchestral work, and La valse, his study of the waltz.

Harth-Bedoya, former Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is considered one of the most exciting young conductors in America with an active guest-conducting schedule that includes appearances with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, the Quebec Symphony, and the National Symphony of Mexico. Salerno-Sonnenberg, active as a musician, author, and teacher, is recognized in the field of classical music for her trademark individuality, passion, powerful sound, risk-taking persona and energetic presence. In September, as she approached the 25th anniversary of her debut, she has once again proved a musical iconoclast, this time launching her own recording label, NSS Music, and distributing through her Website, www.nssmusic.com and Koch Entertainment.

Musicologist Eric Bromberger discusses the Disney Hall concert program at Upbeat Live, a free pre-concert event open to all ticket holders, one hour before each concert in BP Hall.

MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA, winner of the 2002 Seaver/NEA Conductors Award, currently serves as Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony and Music Director of the Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand. In addition to his highly acclaimed six-year term as Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Harth-Bedoya has served as Music Director of the Eugene Symphony in Oregon and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Lima. He led the Juilliard Orchestra on highly successful tours of France and Japan and has collaborated with such distinguished soloists as Mstislav Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma, Gary Graffman, Joshua Bell, Midori, Garrick Ohlsson and James Galway. Festival appearances include the Hollywood Bowl, Grant Park, Tanglewood, Rencontres Musicales d'Evian in France, the Domaine Forget International Festival in Quebec, and the Musicarchitettura International Festival in Italy. Born in 1968 in Lima, Peru, Miguel Harth-Bedoya holds degrees in conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School.

NADJA SALERNO-SONNENBERG’s professional career began in 1981 when she won the Walter W. Naumburg International Violin Competition. Salerno-Sonnenberg is a highly acclaimed recording artist, whose numerous classical recordings are released on the Angel/EMI Classic and Nonesuch labels. Her own label, NSS Music, launched its first two recordings in September 2005. The first disc, entitled “Live!” and recorded in performance with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott at Lincoln Center, includes Schubert’s Rondo Brilliant, Poulenc’s Sonata for Violin & Piano and Beethoven’s Sonata No. 7 in c, Op. 30/2. The second disc is a concerto album featuring Tchaikovsky’s Concerto for Violin in D, Op. 35 and Clarice Assad’s Violin Concerto, both of which she recorded live in November 2004 at Denver’s Boettcher Concert Hall with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and conductor Marin Alsop. More releases are planned for the near future including a Christmas album, a disc with the Assad Brothers, with whom she frequently collaborates, a Prokofiev Sonata cycle recorded by McDermott, “Historic Live Recordings” of legendary horn player John Cerminaro, and a solo jazz album by Clarice Assad, pointing toward the development of an eclectic catalog that reflects her admiration for many musical genres. Salerno-Sonnenberg has performed with many of the world's greatest conductors and orchestras and at major international festivals and at the White House in a command performance for the Arts & Humanities Awards. She has also collaborated with such artists as Mandy Patinkin, Joe Jackson, Judy Blazer, Janice Siegel, the Assad brothers, Mark O'Connor, and Roger Kellaway. She is the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize (1999), she has been honored with an Avery Fisher Career Grant (1983), and in 1988 she was Ovation's Debut Recording Artist of the Year.

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:

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2005, AT 8 PM

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2005, AT 8 PM

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2005 AT 2 PM

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

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA, conductor

NADJA SALERNO-SONNENBERG, violin

MUSSORGSKY Prelude to Khovanshchina

SHOSTAKOVICH Violin Concerto No. 1

RAVEL Rapsodie espagnole

RAVEL La valse

The performance on November 25 is sponsored by Acura. The media sponsor for November 27 is KCET.



Musicologist Eric Bromberger discusses the concert program at Upbeat Live, a free pre-concert event open to all ticket holders, one hour before each concert in BP Hall.

Tickets ($15 -$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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