Nicholas McGegan to Conduct LA Phil in All-Mendelssohn Program at Hollywood Bowl, 8/22

English conductor and frequent Los Angeles Philharmonic guest conductor Nicholas McGegan returns to the Hollywood Bowl stage to lead the orchestra in an all-Mendelssohn program, Thursday, August 22, at 8 pm. He is joined by exuberant young violinist Ray Chen, in his LA Phil debut, performing the composer's Violin Concerto, which was written for Ferdinand David, Mendelssohn's concertmaster at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Also on the program are the Hebrides Overture and the "Scottish" Symphony, both inspired by Mendelssohn's first visit to Great Britain.

As he embarks on his fourth decade on the podium, Nicholas McGegan, hailed as "one of the finest baroque conductors of his generation" (London Independent), is increasingly recognized for his probing and revelatory explorations of music of all periods. He has been music director of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra for 28 years, and was Artistic Director of the International Handel Festival Göttingen for 20 years (1991-2011). Beginning in the 2013/14 season he becomes Principal Guest Conductor of the Pasadena Symphony. His approach to period style - intelligent, infused with joy and never dogmatic - has led to appearances with many major orchestras, including the New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong Philharmonics; the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Toronto and Sydney Symphonies; the Cleveland and the and Philadelphia Orchestra; and the Northern Sinfonia and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He is also at home in opera houses. English-born McGegan was educated at Cambridge and Oxford and was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to music overseas." His extensive discography includes six recent releases on Philharmonia Baroque's label, Philharmonia Baroque Productions (PBP), including Brahms Serenades; Berlioz Les Nuits d'été and Handel arias with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson; Haydn Symphonies Nos. 88, 101 and 104 (nominated for a Grammy award); Vivaldi The Four Seasons and other concerti with violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock; and Handel's Atalanta featuring soprano Dominique Labelle.

Winner of the Queen Elisabeth (2009) and Yehudi Menuhin Competitions (2008), Ray Chen is among the most compelling young violinists today. "Ray has proven himself to be a very pure musician with great qualities such as a beautiful youthful tone, vitality and lightness. He has all the skills of a truly musical interpreter," said the great Maxim Vengerov. Chen has released two critically acclaimed albums on Sony: a recital program "Virtuoso" of works by Bach, Tartini, Franck, and Wieniawski, and the Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky concertos with the Swedish Radio Orchestra and Daniel Harding. Following the success of these recordings, Chen was profiled by The Strad and Gramophone magazines as "the one to watch". "Virtuoso" was distinguished with the prestigious ECHO Klassik award. He is currently working on his third, all-Mozart album with Christoph Eschenbach and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, slated for release later this year. Followed by nearly 100,000 people on SoundCloud, Ray Chen looks to expand the classical music audience by increasing its appeal to the young generation via all available social media platforms. He is the first ever classical musician to be invited to write a regular blog about his life as a touring soloist for the largest Italian publishing house, RCS Rizzoli (Corriere della Sera, Gazzetta dello Sport, Max). In his unstinting efforts to break down barriers between classical music, fashion and pop culture, he is supported by Giorgio Armani and was recently featured in Vogue magazine.

Complete program:

MENDELSSOHN Hebrides Overture

MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto

MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3, "Scottish"

For full artist biographies and additional information, please visit hbowl.com/McGegan.

The LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC, featuring NICHOLAS McGEGAN, conductor and RAY CHEN, violin will perform on THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2013, 8 PM at the HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, Calif. Tickets for the Hollywood Bowl 2012 summer season are available now at HollywoodBowl.com or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. For more information, call 323.850.2000.

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