Alexander Mickelthwate Conducts all-Mozart Program

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, AT 8 PM
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, AT 7:30 PM

Neighborhood Concerts are made possible by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, Los Angeles Philharmonic Affiliates, MetLife Foundation, David and Linda Shaheen Foundation, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic gives two free performances to kick off the 2006/07 Neighborhood Concert series. Associate Conductor Alexander Mickelthwate leads the Philharmonic in an all-Mozart program featuring soprano Hanan Alattar. The first performance, presented in association with the Culver City Redevelopment Agency and the Culver City Unified School District, is held at the Robert Frost Auditorium on the campus of Culver City High School on Tuesday, December 12, at 8 p.m. The second performance of the same program, presented by The Wilshire Ministry and Wilshire United Methodist Church, is held at Wilshire United Methodist Church on Thursday, December 14, at 7:30 p.m.

Admission to the concerts is free; tickets are required. Priority seating is given to those who arrange tickets in advance and arrive early. Ticket information for the Culver City performance is available by calling 310.253.5716, and for the Wilshire United Methodist Church performance by calling 213.427.6001.

Both Neighborhood Concerts feature three works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Three German Dances, K. 605, Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165, and Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551, "Jupiter." The one-hour concert performance is presented without an intermission.

ALEXANDER MICKELTHWATE is the newly appointed Music Director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and was recently promoted to Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the 2006/2007 season. As Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the past two years, Mickelthwate led the orchestra in programs at Walt Disney Concert Hall, appeared on the Green Umbrella new music series, education and community concerts, and at the Hollywood Bowl. In January 2006, following a performance of Boulez's Le Marteau Sans Maître with the Philharmonic's New Music Group, Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Alexander Mickelthwate has been a fearless assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mickelthwate conducted very much in the Boulez manner: calm under pressure, sure of ever-changing meters…" As a guest conductor, Mickelthwate has appeared with the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Nashville, New Jersey, Oregon, and Toronto; the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Eos Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa). Abroad, Mickelthwate made his European debut with the Hamburg Symphony in April 2006. During his tenure as assistant conductor with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, which he completed at the end of the 2003-04 season, he co-founded the new music ensemble, Bent Frequency, which was hailed by Gramophone Magazine as "one of the brightest ensembles on the scene." Always striving to engage young people in music, he conducted more than 60 Young People's Concerts with the Atlanta Symphony, and organized an exchange between the Atlanta Youth Symphony and Berlin Youth Orchestra during the summer of 2003, hosting concerts in both cities.

This season, soprano HANAN ALATTAR, returns to the Los Angeles Opera for productions of Don Carlo, Manon, and L'incoronazione di Poppea, and appears as Gilda in Rigoletto at Opera Santa Barbara and Pousette in Manon at the Berlin Staatsoper. She also sings Haydn's The Seasons with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and will be presented in recital in New York's Weill Hall by the Marilyn Horne Foundation. Allatar recently appeared as a Dragonette in the world premiere of Elliot Goldenthal's Grendel, directed by Julie Taymor, at both the Los Angeles Opera and the Lincoln Center Festival. Other recent opera engagements have included Water in The Little Prince, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and First Maid in Daphne at the New York City Opera; Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd at Wolf Trap Opera, Alceste in Arianna in Creta at the Gotham Chamber Opera, and Sacagawea in Stephen Mager's new children's opera Dream of the Pacific at the Opera Theater of Saint Louis. As a New Horizon Scholar at the Aspen Music Festival, her many appearances there included Blanche in Dialogues des Carmélites, Giorgetta in Il Tabarro, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, and concert performances of Barber's Prayers of Kierkegaard, and Stravinsky's Les noces. On the concert platform, Alattar sang the role of Bubikof in Victor Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis in performances with the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the New World Symphony, and at the Spoleto Festival in Italy and the Central Synagogue in New York City, all conducted by James Conlon. She has also performed Rossini's Petite Messe at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, and the title role in Rusalka in concert performances with Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the Forth Worth Symphony. Alattar received an Artist Diploma and a Masters of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and a Bachelor of Music Degree from University of Texas at Austin. She was also the recipient of a 2004 Sullivan Foundation Award, the winner of the 2002 Aspen Concerto Competition, and a finalist in the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association's Neighborhood Concert series, created in 1991, encourages involvement in the classical arts within the increasingly diverse communities of greater Los Angeles. The events take place in churches, schools, and other venues throughout Los Angeles. 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:

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2006, AT 8 PM

ROBERT FROST AUDITORIUM, CULVER CITY HIGH SCHOOL, 4401 Elenda St., Culver City

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

ALEXANDER MICKELTHWATE, conductor

HANAN ALATTAR, soprano

Admission is free. Information is available by calling the Culver City Cultural Affairs Hotline, 310.253.5716. Los Angeles Philharmonic information is available by calling 323.850.2000 or visiting the website at LAPhil.com.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2006, AT 7:30 PM

WILSHIRE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, 4350 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

ALEXANDER MICKELTHWATE, conductor

HANAN ALATTAR, soprano

Admission is free, and advance tickets are available by calling queens ticket service, 213.427.6001. Limit: 4 per person. Priority seating is given to ticket holders who arrive early and seating is also available without advance tickets. Doors open at 6:45 for ticket holders. Seating for people without tickets will begin at 7:15 p.m. Parking is available in nearby lots for $5 per car. Los Angeles Philharmonic information is available by calling 323.850.2000 or visiting the website at LAPhil.com.

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