THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9 - 10, 2008, AT 8 PM
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11 – 12, 2008, AT 2 PM

Oct. 9 Media Sponsor: KUSC
The Oct. 10 Concert is Generously Sponsored by Acura – All Acura Vehicles Park Free for the Evening

Celebrity pianist Yefim Bronfman joins long-time friend and collaborator Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall in four concerts of Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, Thursday and Friday, October 9 and 10, at 8 p.m., as well as Saturday and Sunday, October 11 and 12, at 2 p.m. Bronfman is one of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 2008/09 season’s On Location artists, all of whom have been chosen because of their close friendship with Salonen.

The connection between Salonen and Bronfman is not the only one in the all-Russian program. Stravinsky was a great admirer of Tchaikovsky and considered his affection for ballet music, in addition to their Russian heritage, a link between the two. Another intra-program connection is that Stravinsky’s Fireworks, which opens the concert, led to the commission of the composer’s full-length ballet, The Firebird, which closes the concert. Though brief, at only five minutes, Fireworks is considered the first work in which Stravinsky’s voice is heard. It was written as a wedding gift to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s daughter and one of Stravinsky’s most important teachers, Maximilian Steinberg. The Firebird tells the triumphant story of a prince who, through the powers bestowed to him by the Firebird, destroys an evil ogre, freeing his former captives. Sandwiched between the Stravinsky pieces is Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The work was such a great success at its premiere in Boston that it launched a string of American performances that increased Tchaikovsky’s popularity in the U.S.

As an On Location artist with the LA PHIL for the 2008/09 season, Bronfman will appear in two series of subscription concerts as well as a tour of the Far East with the orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen in addition to a chamber music concert with the orchestra’s musicians. The LA PHIL’s On Location program brings celebrated arts figures to Los Angeles for extended stays. Other 2008/09 On Location artists are director Peter Sellars, composer John Adams and soprano Dawn Upshaw – all, like Bronfman, frequent collaborators with Salonen.

Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in BP Hall one hour prior to each concert, and are free to all ticket holders. Veronika Krausas, composer and professor at USC’s Thornton School of Music, hosts.

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, who was born in Helsinki in 1958, studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland. In 1979, he made his conducting debut with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1984. He was recently appointed Principal Conductor of London's Philharmonia for this season, his last with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In addition, Salonen has won acclaim for his work as a composer. Among the many highlights of Salonen's career with the Los Angeles Philharmonic have been world premieres of works by composers John Adams, Franco Donatoni, Anders Hillborg, William Kraft, Magnus Lindberg, Witold Lutoslawski, Bernard Rands, Kaija Saariaho, Rodion Shchedrin, Steven Stucky, Tan Dun, and Augusta Read Thomas, as well as his own works. He has led critically acclaimed festivals of music by Ligeti, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Berlioz, and Beethoven, and the Tristan Project. He and the Philharmonic have toured extensively since 1992. In October of 2003, Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic opened Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry. In March 2003, Salonen signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. The following year, DG released a disc devoted to his recent orchestral works, featuring Foreign Bodies, Insomnia, and Wing on Wing. In January 2006, Salonen and the Philharmonic recorded their first CD together for DG, the first live recording at Walt Disney Concert Hall. (Salonen and the Philharmonic also have four live concert recordings available for download on iTunes from DG Concerts.) Before signing with DG, Salonen recorded regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Sony Classical. Salonen is the recipient of several major awards including the Siena Prize from the Accademia Chigiana in 1993, the first conductor ever to receive the prize; the Royal Philharmonic Society's Opera Award in 1995; and their Conductor Award in 1997. In 1998, he was awarded the rank of Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Musical America named him 2006 Musician of the Year.

YEFIM BRONFMAN is widely regarded as one of the most talented virtuoso pianists performing today. His commanding technique and exceptional lyrical gifts have won him consistent critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences worldwide, whether for his solo recitals, his prestigious orchestral engagements or his rapidly growing catalogue of recordings. Other highlights of Bronfman’s 2008/09 season include a duo recital tour with Emanuel Ax including performances at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall and Carnegie Hall; and a solo recital tour traversing the U.S. and Europe and culminating in performances at London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and in St. Petersburg. North American engagements include opening the 2008/09 season with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas and with the New York Philharmonic and Lorin Maazel, as well as performing with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Montreal Symphony and Toronto Symphony, among others. In Europe, he appears with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra, Orchestre Nationale de France, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival and the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. As a “Perspectives” artist at Carnegie Hall for the 2007/08 season, Bronfman partnered with some of the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors. Bronfman appears regularly with such celebrated ensembles as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, London’s Philharmonia, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He has worked with an equally illustrious group of conductors, including Daniel Barenboim, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yuri Temirkanov, Franz Welser-Möst and David Zinman. Summer engagements have regularly taken him to the Aspen, Bad Kissingen, Blossom, Hollywood Bowl, Lucerne, Mann Music Center, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Salzburg, Saratoga, Tanglewood and Verbier festivals. Bronfman has won widespread praise for his solo, chamber and orchestral recordings. He won a Grammy award in 1997 for his recording of the three Bartók Piano Concertos with Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His discography also includes the complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas; all five of the Prokofiev Piano Concertos, nominated for both Grammy and Gramophone awards; and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3. His most recent releases are Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 with Mariss Jansons and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, a recital disc, Perspectives, which complements Bronfman’s designation as a Carnegie Hall “Perspectives” artist for the 2007/08 season, and recordings of all the Beethoven piano concerti as well as the Triple Concerto with violinist Gil Shaham, cellist Truls Mork and the Tönhalle Orchestra Zürich under David Zinman for the Arte Nova/BMG label. Fall 2008 sees the release of the Tchaikovsky Trio in A minor with partners Gil Shaham and Truls Mork. Bronfman was born in Tashkent, in the Soviet Union, on April 10, 1958. He became an American citizen in July 1989.

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 9, 2008, at 8 PM

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008, at 8 PM

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2008, at 2 PM

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2008, at 2 PM

WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL

111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles



LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, conductor

YEFIM BRONFMAN, piano



STRAVINSKY Fireworks

TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1

STRAVINSKY The Firebird (complete)



Oct. 9 Media Sponsor: KUSC

The Oct. 10 concert is generously sponsored by Acura – all Acura vehicles park free for the evening.



Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in BP Hall one hour prior to each concert, and are free to all ticket holders. Veronika Krausas, composer and professor at USC’s Thornton School of Music, hosts

Tickets ($17 - $125) are on sale now at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, online at LAPhil.com, or via credit card by phone at 323.850.2000. When available, choral bench seats ($17), will be released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital, 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 information, please call 323.850.2000.

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