James Conlon Leads the LA Phil and Yuja Wang at Walt Disney Concert Hall, 11/4-6

Los Angeles Opera Music Director James Conlon returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in three performances of music by Benjamin Britten, Sergei Prokofiev and Antonín Dvorák, Friday, November 4, at 11 a.m., Saturday, November 5, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, November 6, at 2 p.m. Brilliant 24-year-old pianist Yuja Wang, whose performance of Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto at the Hollywood Bowl earlier this summer mesmerized the audience, plays Prokofiev's popular Third Piano Concerto in the program.

The concert opens with Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, which is part of Conlon's three-year homage to the composer, set to culminate in 2013, during the 100th anniversary of his birth. The program continues with Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 and closes with Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 7.

James Conlon, one of today's most versatile and respected conductors, has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire. Since his 1974 debut with the New York Philharmonic, he has conducted virtually every major American and European symphony orchestra. Through worldwide touring, an extensive discography and videography, numerous essays and commentaries, frequent television appearances and guest speaking engagements, Conlon is one of classical music's most recognized interpreters. In addition to his position with the LA Opera, he is also Music Director of the Ravinia Festival and the Cincinnati May Festival.

Yuja Wang is widely recognized for playing that combines the spontaneity and fearless imagination of youth with the discipline and precision of a mature artist. She is regularly lauded for her controlled, prodigious technique, and her command of the piano has been described as "astounding" and "superhuman." She has been praised for her authority over the most complex technical demands of the repertoire, the depth of her musical insight, as well as her fresh interpretations and graceful, charismatic stage presence. One of her recent concerts was described by the San Francisco Chronicle as "the latest installment in an unbroken, and growing string of musical triumphs. With her, there just doesn't seem to be any other kind." Wang is an exclusive recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon.

Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in Walt Disney Concert Hall's auditorium one hour and 15 minutes prior to the Friday concert and in BP Hall one hour prior to the Saturday and Sunday concerts, and are free to all ticket holders. Eric Bromberger, violinist, Fulbright nominee and recipient of a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship at Yale University, hosts.

For more information and complete artist biographies, please visit:  www.laphil.com.

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