British conductor Daniel Harding returns to Los Angeles on March 8, 9 and 10 to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic and trumpet virtuoso Håkan Hardenberger in the United States premiere of HK Gruber's Aerial, a work written specially for Hardenberger. The concert also provides audiences the opportunity to hear Central Park in the Dark by American composer Charles Ives and Strauss' tone-poem, Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life).

Special Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place one hour prior to each concert in the Grand Hall and are free to all ticket holders. Composer HK Gruber joins moderator Tom Neenan.

Known for writing works with musical duality, such as Central Park in the Dark, Ives is hailed as the founding father of American music. Now, Los Angeles audiences have the opportunity to hear this unique style in the piece that reflects New York City's Central Park on a hot summer night in the late 1800s. Central Park in the Dark features familiar evening sounds of America's most famous city, including traffic or "white noise" serving as a backdrop with independent voices growing out of the music - a street singer, the casino over the pond, a street car, a newsboy, dueling ragtime pianos and a fire engine.

Moving away from the familiar sounds of an American city on a summer night, the Los Angeles Philharmonic continues the program with the idiosyncratic harmonies of HK Gruber's, Aerial, in its U.S. premiere, with Hardenberger as trumpet soloist. This piece received its world premiere in 1999 by Hardenberger and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the London Proms.

The program ends with Richard Strauss' well-known tone-poem Ein Heldenleben. Considered one of the composer's most profound orchestral works, it is cited as influencing later generations - perhaps Ives and Gruber - of modernists in its orchestration and use of harmony.

British conductor DANIEL HARDING has a thriving international career. Since making his professional debut in 1994 with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, for which he won the Royal Philharmonic Society Best Debut Award, he has conducted such orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic and Rotterdam Philharmonic. He is currently in his third season as Music Director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, based in Bremen, Germany. Since 1997, he has been Principal Conductor of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra in Norway. Harding is also Principal Guest Conductor of Sweden's Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He is an exclusive EMI/Virgin Classics recording artist.

HÅKAN HARDENBERGER was born in Malmö, Sweden in 1961 and began studying the trumpet with Bo Nilsson in his hometown at the age of eight. He continued studying the instrument at the Paris Conservatoire under Pierre Thibaud and with Thomas Stevens in Los Angeles. Very quickly, Hardenberger became recognized as a virtuoso on his instrument, capable of a unique range of sound and expression. Throughout his career, Hardenberger has cooperated with a great number of major conductors and has managed to overcome the resistance prevailing against such an unusual solo instrument. He has also attracted the interest of major composers of our time, such as HK Gruber, Henze, Takemitsu and Ligeti. Hardenberger's repertoire list contains a great number of trumpet works written specially for him.

EDITOR'S PLEASE NOTE:

Friday, March 8, 8 PM

Saturday, March 9, 8 PM

Sunday, March 10, 2:30 PM

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

DOROTHY CHANDLER PAVILION

DANIEL HARDING, conductor

HÅKAN HARDENBERGER, trumpet

Ives: Central Park in the Dark

HK Gruber: Aerial, Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra (U.S. premiere)

R. Strauss: Ein Heldenleben

Tickets ($12 - $78) are on sale now at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion box office, all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons-May, Tower Records, Ritmo Latino, and selected Wherehouse locations) and by credit card phone order at 213/365-3500. Tickets are also available on-line at www.laphil.com. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full time students may be available 2 hours prior to the performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion box office. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person. Groups of 10 or more may be eligible for special discounts. For further information, please call 323/850-2000.