Peter Eotvos Plays Walt Disney Concert Hall, Now thru 1/20

Focus on Peter Eötvös, a mini-residency in which the Hungarian composer is participating, features two LA Phil-hosted programs at Walt Disney Concert Hall - a Green Umbrella series concert, tonight, January 15, at 8 pm, and an LA Phil concert featuring renowned violinist Midori, Friday, January 18, at 8 pm, and Saturday and Sunday, January 19 and 20, at 2 pm.

The Green Umbrella concert is dedicated to the West Coast premiere of Eötvös' operatic realization of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer-winning two-part play Angels in America. Vibrant Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado leads the LA Phil New Music Group along with a cast that includes baritone David Alan Moore, tenor Jonas Olofsson, countertenor Brian Asawa, soprano Janice Hall, baritone Kelly Anderson, mezzo-soprano Julia Migenes and soprano Measha Brueggergosman as The Angel. Due to delays in visa processing, baritone Omar Ebrahim, originally scheduled to play Joseph Pitt, has withdrawn from the production. The role will now be sung by Nikolas Nackley. David Gately, whose concert staging of the work for the BBC Symphony was widely praised in London, serves as stage director.

Later in the week, the LA Phil, also led by Heras-Casado, presents the world premiere of DoReMi, a violin concerto co-commissioned by the LA Phil with the BBC Proms and Leipzig Gewandhaus, written for the performer Midori. The all-Hungarian program also features Kodály's Háry János Suite and Bartók's virtuosic orchestral showpiece, Concerto for Orchestra.

Focus on Peter Eötvös - Walt Disney Concert Hall Programs:

January 15, 8 PM

EÖTVÖS Angels in America
Opera in two parts by Peter Eötvös
Based on the play by Tony Kushner
Libretto by Mari Mezei

January 18, 8 PM; January 19 - 20, 2 PM

KODÁLY Háry János Suite
EÖTVÖS DoReMi, Violin Concerto No. 2 (world premiere, LA Phil co-commission)
BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra

Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in Walt Disney Concert Hall's BP Hall one hour prior to the concerts, and are free to all ticket holders. Composer Veronika Krausas hosts prior to the Green Umbrella performance. Christopher Russell, Professor of Orchestral Conducting at Azusa Pacific University and Coordinator of the Orchestra Program at the Orange County High School of the Arts, hosts prior to the LA Phil concerts.

Partnering with the LA Phil in this project is the Santa Monica-based Jacaranda series, which presents the U.S. premiere of their co-commissioned work by Eötvös, Schiller: Energische Schoenheit, Saturday, January 12, with the composer conducting. The Calder Quartet with cello Eric Byers, piano Gloria Cheng, conductor Scott Dunn, the Jacaranda Chamber Singers and the Jacaranda Chamber Ensemble also perform in the program.

Jacaranda Series Program - First Presbyterian Santa Monica:

January 12, 8 PM

EÖTVÖS Korrespondenz, scenes for string quartet
LIGETI Piano Concerto
LIGETI Six Bagatelles for wind quintet
LIGETI Cello Sonata
EÖTVÖS Schiller: Energische Schoenheit (U.S. premiere)