Colburn Orchestra Headlines The Broad Stage

The Colburn Orchestra makes its triumphant return to the Broad Stage on Thursday, March 1, for a program of classical greats: Rossini, Nielsen and Beethoven. Founded in 2003, the Colburn Orchestra is the flagship ensemble of the Colburn Conservatory of Music.

The Colburn Orchestra commences the evening with the overture for Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, which became Rossini's first real smash opera in 1813. In many ways, this overture set the pattern for the pop-favorite Rossini overtures that followed, featuring a theatrically slow introduction leading into an exciting Allegro. The evening continues with Carl Nielsen's Flute Concerto, written in 1926. Bachtrack said of the composer, "Nielsen had an exceptional understanding of the nuances of woodwind instruments, and when playing the parts he wrote for flautists, the affection is almost palpable."

The soloist for Nielsen's flute concerto is Joachim Becerra Thomsen, who is pursuing a Professional Studies Certificate at Colburn, and is principal flute for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Thomsen is the youngest musician appointed to a LACO principal chair position.

Lastly, Colburn Orchestra will perform Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 "Eroica." Regarded as a turning point in musical history, this symphony marks the beginning of Beethoven's career's second period. At the time, its length was unprecedented, however it "represented a crucial juncture in Beethoven's life as well as his relationship to the political events of the day, specifically to Napoleon," (NPR).

Tickets are on sale at www.thebroadstage.org or by calling 310-434-3200. This performance is generously supported by Barbara and Heinrich Schelbert.

About Colburn Orchestra
Now in its 15th season, the Colburn Orchestra is the flagship ensemble of the Colburn Conservatory of Music. Under the direction of Music Director Yehuda Gilad, the Colburn Orchestra performs for Southern California audiences at venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Ambassador Auditorium, Royce Hall, Segerstrom Concert Hall, and the Valley Performing Arts Center.

Since its inception, Gilad and the esteemed faculty at Colburn have invited leading guest artists to perform with the Colburn Orchestra to mirror a professional orchestral experience. Previous visiting conductors include James Conlon, Placido Domingo, Gustavo Dudamel, Jaime Laredo, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Nicolas McGegan, and Ludovic Morlot. Guest soloists include violinists Joshua Bell, Cho-Liang Lin, Elmar Oliveira, and Pinchas Zukerman; soprano Elizabeth Hynes; mezzo-sopranos Sasha Cooke and Michelle DeYoung; pianist Vladimir Feltsman; and saxophonist Claude Delangle. Acclaimed artists such as Mstislav Rostropovich and Itzhak Perlman actively worked with the orchestra during its inaugural year.

In 2012, the Colburn Orchestra opened the Grammy Foundation's 14th Annual Music Preservation Project, One Night Only: A Celebration of the Live Music Experience, sharing the stage with Grammy Award winners, nominees, and stars of the future from all musical genres. In 2010, Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer Michael Giacchino conducted the Colburn Orchestra at Royce Hall in a special concert "Lost" Live: The Final Celebration coinciding with the finale of the worldwide hit television show. In October 2007, the Colburn Orchestra participated in the International Youth Orchestra Festival in Los Angeles, together with the Sibelius Academy Youth Orchestra and the USB Verbier Festival Orchestra. The ten-day festival included the orchestra playing in master classes led by Esa-Pekka Salonen and his teacher, Jorma Panula, as well as performances with musicians from Finland's prestigious Sibelius Academy.

The Colburn Orchestra has made four commercial recordings. The first, released by Live Classics in 2006, features the music of Menachem Wiesenberg, including his Cello Concerto with Colburn faculty member Ronald Leonard as soloist. The orchestra's second album, If You Love For Beauty, recorded in Zipper Hall on the Colburn campus and released in August 2012 on the Yarlung Records label, features mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke in works by John Adams, Chausson, Handel, and Mahler. This was followed by the critically-acclaimed 2013 Bridge Records release, When Soft Voices Die, featuring Colburn faculty member Paul Coletti as soloist in the recording premiere of Paul Chihara's Concerto for Viola and Orchestra. Most recently, the orchestra's live performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 5, led by guest conductor Gerard Schwarz, was released by Yarlung Records in 2014. In 2012 and 2013, the Colburn Orchestra and Chamber Music Series concerts were recorded in HD and broadcast on the arts series Open Call on Southern California's independent television station KCET.

Dedicated to serving the greater Los Angeles community, the Colburn Orchestra performs for schools in neighboring communities twice a year, giving five concerts in a one-week period to school children of all ages.

Program

ROSSINI L'Italiana in Algieri Overture
NIELSEN Flute Concerto

Intermission

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 "Eroica"

Photo: Joachim Becerra Thomsen. Photo by Kim Matthai.

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