Performs Organ Works by Messiaen, Franck, Scarlatti and More

SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2009, AT 7:30PM

Celebrated organist Dame Gillian Weir graces Walt Disney Concert Hall with her mastery of the instrument, Sunday, March 15, at 7:30 PM. The program ranges widely, with works from composers Messiaen, Scarlatti and Franck among others.

As an internationally acclaimed concert organist, Dame Gillian is renowned for her artistry, virtuosity and integrity, her reputation extending well beyond the world of the organ. She has performed the complete works of Bach as well as those of Messiaen and others, and her pre-eminent position as a Messiaen interpreter has been underlined with the release of the composer’s complete organ works on compact disc.

An Upbeat Live pre-concert event takes place one hour prior to the concert in BP Hall at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and is free to all ticket holders. On March 15 at 6:30 PM, Upbeat Live is hosted by Tom Neenan, Music Director and Conductor of the St. Matthews Chamber Orchestra and lecturer in Music History and Music Theory at CalTech.

British organist DAME GILLIAN WEIR is one of the musical world’s foremost artists. Her renown as a performer, which has stimulated numerous young players to follow her, is backed by her scholarly reputation; she is in demand as an adjudicator for all the leading international competitions and as a lecturer, broadcaster, teacher and writer, while her television appearances have reached vast new audiences. She is a distinguished artist in residence at the John Hopkins University’s Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland, holds the International Chair in Organ at the Royal Northern College of Music in England, and is Prince Consort Professor of Organ at London’s Royal College of Music. Dame Gillian’s concert repertoire is exceptional in its breadth and variety, stretching from the Renaissance to the contemporary. She has received a host of prizes, awards and honors, and in 1996 was created Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of her distinguished services to music, after having been made CBE in 1989. This year she will continue her recording projects, adding to the series for PRIORY on both new and historic organs, and which have documented among others the organs of the Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Halls in London as well as the Bach organ of St Thomas, Leipzig. She will be a featured soloist at the RCCO National Convention in Toronto in a programme of concertos and solos, as well as at the Arizona AGO Convention. In Europe she performs again at the famous Gewandhaus in Leipzig as well as the Philharmonie in Berlin, and she will chair the Jordan International Organ Competition in the fall. The final two-CD set in her re-released series of the organ works of Messiaen has again been acclaimed as “definitive” and “the first choice” among those available. Containing the three works published after Messiaen’s death, it is one of only two sets worldwide to be complete. Her Priory series will continue with recordings on many of the world’s most famous organs, adding to the series of which the BBC Music Magazine wrote “The more I hear of this series, the more I feel them to be a priceless store of treasures, bearing witness to one of the world’s finest players.” For more information about Dame Gillian, please visit her website: gillianweir.com

The WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL ORGAN was inaugurated at the opening of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in fall of 2004. Designed by Frank Gehry and Manuel Rosales of Rosales Organ Builders, the Walt Disney Concert Hall organ contains pipes ranging in size from a pencil to a telephone pole, and is voiced with a wide dynamic range from pianississimo to a breathtaking fortissimo. The specially curved wood façade pipes were made by Glatter-Götz Orgelbau of solid, vertical grain Douglas fir and consist of the Violone and Bassoon basses. Behind the facade are three levels of pipes, including metal pipes made of tin and lead alloys and wood pipes made of Norwegian pine.

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:

SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2009, at 7:30 PM

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



GILLIAN WEIR, organ



DE GRIGNY Dialogue sur les grands jeux

DE GRIGNY Récit de tierce en taille

BUXTEHUDE Ciaccona in E minor

MESSIAEN “Joie et clarté,” from Les Corps Glorieux

MESSIAEN “Combat de la Mort et de la Vie,” from Les Corps Glorieux

MESSIAEN “Les anges” from La nativité du Seigneur

MESSIAEN “Dieu parmi nous” from La nativité du Seigneur

SCARLATTI Three Sonatas for Organ

FRANCK Choral No. 2 in B minor

PEETERS Toccata, Fugue, and Hymn on Ave maris stella

DURUFLÉ Scherzo

SLOMINSKY Toccata

MUSHEL Toccata

Tickets ($24 - $49) are on sale now online at LAPhil.com, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, 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 10 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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