LA Phil Closes April, Opens May With Performances Led By Jaap van Zweden

Conductor Jaap van Zweden leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in three performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Friday and Saturday, April 29 and 30, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 1, at 2 p.m. The program features the LA Phil's first performances of Rudolf Escher's Musique pour l'esprit en deuil. Also on the program is Sergei Prokofiev's Sinfonia concertante, the composer's large-scale work for cello and orchestra, performed by LA Phil Principal Cellist Peter Stumpf. According to renowned cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who premiered the work, "Shostakovich thought that the Sinfonia concertante was Prokofiev's most brilliant work." The program closes with Ludwig van Beethoven's well-known Symphony No. 5.

Jaap van Zweden was born in 1960 in Amsterdam and began his musical life as a violinist before moving from stage to podium. He is presently Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Radio Kamer Filharmonie, and Chief Conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra. He began his violin studies at the Amsterdam Conservatory and at 19 became the youngest concertmaster ever of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Peter Stumpf became the Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the beginning of the 2002/03 season. A dedicated chamber music musician, he is a member of the Johannes String Quartet which has collaborated recently with the Guarneri Quartet on a tour including commissions from composers William Bolcom and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Complete Program:

ESCHER Musique pour l'esprit en deuil
PROKOFIEV Sinfonia concertante
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5

Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in Walt Disney Concert Hall's BP Hall one hour prior to the performances, and are free to all ticket holders. Christopher Russell, Director of Orchestral Studies at Azusa Pacific University and Coordinator of the Orchestra Program at Orange County High School of the Arts, hosts.

WHO: LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC
JAAP VAN ZWEDEN, conductor
PETER STUMPF, cello

For full artist biographies, please visit: http://www.laphil.com/

WHEN: FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011, AT 8 PM
SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2011, AT 8 PM
SUNDAY, MAY 1, 2011, AT 2 PM

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

HOW TO
PURCHASE: Tickets ($44 - $167) 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 ($18) will be released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Series, 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.