The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is one of the world’s great symphony orchestras. It is considered one of America’s most forward-looking orchestras. In 2017, New York Times classical music critic Zachary Woolfe, called the LA Phil, “the most important orchestra in America. Period.”
Los Angeles Philharmonic in New York City
Venezuelan, Chinese, and Argentine Classical Music Gala
Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic play Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night Gala, with piano soloist Lang Lang playing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concert No. 2, and Venezuelan baritone Gustavo Castillo singing Argentine composer Ginastera’s ballet “Estancia.” It’s on the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall; on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 7pm. 🇻🇪 🇨🇳 🇦🇷
German and Mexican Classical Music
Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with Spanish narration of the associated poem by Spanish actress María Valverde, with New York’s Musica Sacra choir, soprano Jana McIntyre, and Omani Canadian mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny. There is also the New York Premiere of a Carnegie Hall co-commission of Gabriela Ortiz’ “Dznonot,” with MacArthur Fellow cello soloist Alisa Weilerstein. It’s in the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall; on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 8pm. From $42. 🇩🇪 🇲🇽 🇴🇲 🇪🇸 🇻🇪
Mexican Classical Music
Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic host 17-time Latin Grammy winner, Mexican alternative singer Natalia Lafourcade. The orchestra also plays Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz’ “Antrópolis,” Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra’s “Alegría,” and Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’s “Danzón No. 9.” It’s in the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall; on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 8pm. From $91. 🇲🇽 🇵🇷 🇻🇪
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Classical music has a glorious past, but the LA Phil is about creating the future with a focus on commissions and world premieres. The orchestra’s conductors are a who’s who of legendary classical conductors. It is also a leader in collaborations with great non-musical artists of the day.
Founded in 1919, the LA Phil now performs on three home stages: the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, and in summer at the Hollywood Bowl and The Ford. The Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl is a big deal for Angelenos.
Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Dudamel is a renowned multi-Grammy winning conductor, originally from Barquisimeto, Venezuela. He is a very contemporary thinker in the Classical Music context who has become a Pop star himself.
The man works like a New Yorker. He is Music & Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Music Director of the Opéra National de Paris and Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. He became Music Director of the Simón Bolívar orchestra when he was just 18.
Dudamel is known for conducting Mahler, and promoting the music of the Americas. He officially took the helm as LA Phil music director in 2009. He was one of “Time” magazine’s 100 most influential people that year.
Artists
Gabriela Ortiz
Gabriela Ortiz, from Mexico City, is one of Mexico’s leading classical composers. Known for her serious, but accessible compositions, Ortiz is commissioned by orchestras around the world.
She is a Guggenheim Fellow, Fulbright Fellow, and has been awarded Mexico’s highest cultural honor, the National Prize for Arts and Literature.
Dudamel has called her “one of the most talented composers in the world” (NPR). He described her composition “Téenek,” as “one of the most brilliant I have ever directed. Its color, its texture, the harmony and the rhythm that it contains are all something unique. Gabriela possesses a particular capacity to showcase our Latin identity.”
Ortiz dedicated “Altar de Cuerda” for violin and orchestra to María Dueñas who plays its NY Premiere in this concert series.
María Dueñas
María Dueñas is a Spanish classical violinist who is one of the instrument’s most exceptional rising stars. She came up through the world’s violin competitions, and is busy making classical music cool for young people again. She is young, but is already working with stars like Dudamel and Ortiz.
Arturo Márquez
Arturo Márquez is a classical composer from Álamos, Mexico. One of the most important Mexican composers of his generation, he is known for classical compositions inspired by Mexican folk traditions.
His father was a Mariachi in Mexico and Los Angeles. Márquez is known for his Danzónes which are inspired by the Spanish contradanza ballroom dance. His Danzónes are being used for ballets.
Anne Akiko Meyers
Anne Akiko Myers is an American concert violinist who has been one of America’s top-selling classical artists. She was trained by legendary Juilliard teacher Dorothy DeLay. Myers plays a 1741 Guarneri, which some say is the finest sounding violin in existence.
She is another forward looking classical artist. Myers asked Arturo Márquez to write “Fandango” for her, and premiered it with Dudamel and the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl in 2021.