Helene Grimaud Joins the LA Phil For Two Evenings of Brahms' First Piano Concerto, Beg. Tonight

Immensely talented pianist Hélène Grimaud comes to the Hollywood Bowl to perform Brahms' monumental First Piano Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, tonight and Thursday, August 6 and 8, at 8 pm. Leading the LA Phil on those evenings is rising-star American conductor, James Gaffigan, in his Hollywoood Bowl debut. Beethoven's Coriolan Overture and Strauss' Don Juan which round out the evening of Romantic music.

Brahms features prominently in Hélène Grimaud's programming repertoire throughout 2013. In the autumn, Grimaud will become the first woman of the 21st century to record the two Brahms piano concertos. Deutsche Grammophon releases her album of the two; the first concerto with Andris Nelsons conducting live the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the second recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic. When she took the Brahms on tour to Southeast Asia this year, The Straits Times of Singapore said: "Her playing was distinguished by superb timing and consistency of touch, and seamless interplay between piano and orchestra." In addition to being a deeply passionate and committed musical artist, Grimaud has established herself as a committed wildlife conservationist. She opened The Wolf Conservation Center, which has educated more than 30,000 visitors (nywolf.org), and she is also a member of Musicians for Human Rights, a worldwide network of musicians and people working to promote a culture of human rights and social change. The French artist has also found time to pursue writing; her first book, Variations Sauvages, was published in French in 2003, and subsequently translated into English, Japanese, Dutch and German. Her second book, Leçons particulières, which is part novel and part autobiography, followed in 2005.

Hailed for the natural ease of his conducting and the compelling insight of his musicianship, James Gaffigan continues to attract international attention and is considered by many to be the most outstanding young American conductor working today. In January 2010, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. At the beginning of the 2012/13 season, Gaffigan was named the first ever Guest Conductor of Cologne's Gürzenich Orchestra. Gaffigan has guest conducted the major orchestras of the U.S., and his festival engagements include appearances at Blossom, Aspen, Grand Teton, Grant Park and the Music Academy of the West and he has twice led the Juilliard Orchestra at Lincoln Center. He's also a sought-after guest conductor throughout Europe, working with prestigious orchestras such as the Munich and Rotterdam Philharmonics, Dresden Staatskapelle, Deutsches Symphony Orchestra Berlin, London and Czech Philharmonics, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Tonhalle Orchestra and the Camerata Salzburg among others. Gaffigan conducted Hélène Grimaud in Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra at the Lucerne Festival last summer, in a program that also included a new symphonic work by Wolfgang Rihm titled "Nähe Fern." A recording of "Nähe Fern" led by Gaffigan with the Lucerne Symphony was recently released on Harmonia Mundi. Currently in the process of recording the complete Prokofiev symphonies with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Gaffigan is also recording the nine Beethoven symphonies with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra in Doha for Naxos.

Complete program:

BEETHOVEN Coriolan Overture

STRAUSS Don Juan

BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1

For full artist biographies, please visit hbowl.com/HeleneGrimaud

WHO: LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

JAMES GAFFIGAN, conductor

HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD, piano

The concerts will take place on TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013, 8 PM and THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013, 8 PM at the HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, Calif. Subscriptions and single tickets are available now for the Hollywood Bowl 2013 summer season at HollywoodBowl.com or Ticketmaster.com, or via phone at 323.850.2000 or 800.745.3000 and in person at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office. For more information, call 323.850.2000.