PLEASE NOTE: Playlists for this program can be found on the right-hand side of the WFMT Orchestra Series page! Please subscribe to the WFMT Orchestra Series on PRX by following the link on the right hand sidebar.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, under the vibrant leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, presents an inspiring array of music through a commitment to foundational works and adventurous explorations. Both at home and abroad, the LA Phil – recognized as one of the world’s outstanding orchestras – is leading the way in groundbreaking and diverse programming, on stage and in the community, that reflects the orchestra’s artistry and demonstrates its vision.
Now a part of the WFMT Orchestra Series, the 2024 season kicks off in July with a stunning set of 13 concert broadcasts. Elim Chan conducts a vibrant opening to our season with Jessie Montgomery’s Coincident Dances, painting a vivid auditory picture of New York City’s dynamic multicultural soundscape. Igor Levit brings his distinctive touch to George Gershwin’s Concerto in F, followed by Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances (WOS 24-01/ LAP 24-01). This season also includes:
- Journey through Mozart’s musical genius as Gemma New conducts the elegant and complex Symphony No. 38, “Prague”, and Igor Stravinsky’s Danses concertantes. Paired with Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto featuring the refined clarinetist Boris Allakhverdyan (WOS 24-03/ LAP 24-03).
- Experience the rich dialogues of Johannes Brahms’ Double Concerto with the sublime collaboration between violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and cellist Pablo Ferrández. Gustavo Dudamel guides the LA Phil through the youthful vigor of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 1, offering a majestic blend of melodic sweetness and fiery power (WOS 24-04/ LAP 24-04).
- Thomas Adès and Kirill Gerstein deliver an audacious performance of Adès’ Concerto for Piano and Orchestra and Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, capturing the intensity and depth of these modern masterpieces. Adès also leads Ravel’s hauntingly beautiful La valse (WOS 24-05/ LAP 24-05).
- Daniil Trifonov tackles the profound complexity of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, under the baton of Susanna Mälkki. This concert also features the U.S. premiere of Enno Poppe’s Fett, an innovative exploration of sound (WOS 24-06/ LAP 24-06).
- Victor Wooten redefines the electric bass in his piece La Lección Tres, a pioneering blend of jazz and orchestral elements, which we will hear in this concert with the composer as soloist. This is also complemented by works from Leonard Bernstein and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor all conducted by Thomas Wilkins (WOS 24-07/ LAP 24-07).
- Explore the urban landscapes of John Adams’ City Noir, a nocturnal journey through Los Angeles, alongside the world premiere of Timo Andres’ Made of Tunes performed by pianist Aaron Diehl. This program captures the city’s eclectic, cinematic vibe with the includsion of Copland’s Quiet City (WOS 24-08/ LAP 24-08).
- Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony emerges under Louis Langrée’s direction, featuring LA Phil’s own Joanne Pearce Martin, and the world premiere of Assemble from Jonathan Bailey Holland. The performance also includes Ravel’s intricate violin showpiece Tzigane with soloist Martin Chalifour and the whimsical Mother Goose Suite (WOS 24-10/ LAP 24-10).
- Closing the season, Maria João Pires joins to perform the world premiere of Andreia Pinto Correia‘s Cortejo, with Gustavo Dudamel conducting a profound interpretation of Strauss’ Don Quixote with featured performers Robert deMaine and Teng Li (WOS 24-13/ LAP 24-13).
About the LA Phil:
More than 250 concerts are either performed or presented by the LA Phil at the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall and the famed Hollywood Bowl. 2020 marked the first year that the LA Phil operated The Ford, continuing the historic venue’s longstanding tradition of providing access to performance experiences representative of L.A. County’s multifaceted communities. Collectively, the presentations at the LA Phil’s three iconic venues represent a breadth and depth unrivaled by other orchestras or cultural institutions.
During its winter season, with approximately 165 performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil creates festivals, artist residencies, and other thematic programs designed to enhance the audience’s experience and delve further into artists’ or composers’ work. The organization’s commitment to the music of our time is also evident throughout the season in the groundbreaking Green Umbrella series and the LA Phil’s extensive commissioning initiatives. For its recent Centennial season (September 2018 through October 2019), the LA Phil invited people from Los Angeles and all around the world to join in a variety of celebrations, learning initiatives, artistic collaborations, and an unprecedented number of commissioned works, prompting the Los Angeles Times to hail, “No orchestra has been this ambitious, ever.”
Since 2003, the LA Phil’s winter home has been the inimitable Walt Disney Concert Hall. Praise for both the design and the acoustics of Walt Disney Concert Hall has been effusive, and the building embodies the energy, imagination, and creative spirit of the city of Los Angeles and its orchestra. As Time magazine noted, “With its curvaceous exterior and acoustically adroit interior, Gehry’s building bestowed on the city an important architectural landmark and proved that L.A. residents actually do go to the symphony,” while The Washington Post stated, “At last this orchestra has a hall worthy of its stature.”
Since its official opening in 1922, the Hollywood Bowl has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the Hollywood Bowl plays host to the finest artists from all genres of music. The Hollywood Bowl has been named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue 15 times by Pollstar and has been twice awarded the Top Amphitheater prize at the Billboard Live Music Awards. For millions of music lovers across Southern California, the Hollywood Bowl is synonymous with summer.
The Ford is one of the oldest performing arts venues in Los Angeles, with an outdoor 1,200-seat amphitheater and a rich history dating back to 1920. Situated in a 32-acre park and under the stewardship of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Ford presents an eclectic summer season of music, dance, film, and family events that are reflective of the communities that comprise Los Angeles.
The orchestra’s involvement with Los Angeles extends beyond its venues, with performances in the schools, churches, and neighborhood centers of a vastly diverse community. Among its wide-ranging learning initiatives is YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). Inspired by Venezuela’s revolutionary El Sistema, the LA Phil and its community partners seek to democratize music education by offering free, high-quality instrumental music instruction in under-resourced neighborhoods across Los Angeles. Through YOLA National, the LA Phil extends its reach nationwide and celebrates the work that’s done around the country by programs similar to YOLA and convenes young people each summer in Los Angeles at the YOLA National Festival. The Frank Gehry-designed Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen Center at Inglewood, YOLA’s first permanent, purpose-built facility, will serve 500 students annually from the surrounding community while also providing a facility that can bring together students from existing and future YOLA venues when it opens in August 2021.
Always inspired to expand its cultural offerings, the LA Phil produces concerts each season at Walt Disney Concert Hall that features distinguished artists in recital, jazz, world music, songbook, and visiting orchestra performances, in addition to special holiday concerts and series of chamber music, organ recitals, and Baroque music.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic continues to broaden its audience by broadcasting concerts on radio and television. Thirteen concerts featuring performances from previous seasons and its acclaimed SOUND/STAGE online concert-video series will be broadcast in partnership with Classical KUSC and the WFMT Radio Network.
The orchestra has a substantial catalog of concerts available online, including the first full-length classical music video released on iTunes. In November 2018, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel released Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker in partnership with Deutsche Grammophon. March 2019 saw the release of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Cello Concerto featuring Yo-Yo Ma and a live recording featuring Dudamel and the LA Phil performing the music of John Williams. For its Centennial, the LA Phil released a limited-edition, 32-CD and 3-DVD comprehensive box set. In August 2019, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in partnership with Deutsche Grammophon, released the live, world premiere recording of Andrew Norman’s Sustain, which won a GRAMMY® Award for Best Orchestral Performance. And in January 2021, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in partnership with Deutsche Grammophon, released the CD edition of Charles Ives: Complete Symphonies, which garnered the orchestra a second-year-in-a-row GRAMMY® Award for Best Orchestral Performance.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic was founded by William Andrews Clark, Jr., a millionaire and amateur musician, who established it as the city’s first permanent symphony orchestra in 1919. Walter Henry Rothwell became its first Music Director, serving until 1927; since then, 10 renowned conductors have served in that capacity:
- Georg Schnéevoigt (1927-1929)
- Artur Rodziński (1929-1933)
- Otto Klemperer (1933-1939)
- Alfred Wallenstein (1943-1956)
- Eduard van Beinum (1956-1959)
- Zubin Mehta (1962-1978)
- Carlo Maria Giulini (1978-1984)
- André Previn (1985-1989)
- Esa-Pekka Salonen (1992-2009)
- Gustavo Dudamel (2009-present)
