Vassily Sinaisky Leads the LA Phil in Holst's The Planets, Now thru 1/12

Internationally-acclaimed conductor Vassily Sinaisky returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in three evening performances, tonight through Saturday, January 10 - 12, at 8 pm. The program includes Liadov's Eight Russian Folk Songs, Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 and Holst's The Planets, which has served as great inspiration for many composers of science fiction and fantasy film scores. Leonidas Kavakos, The Strad's "violinist of violinists," plays Prokofiev's concerto, which was the composer's last Western commission.

In keeping with The Planets theme of the evening, interested concert attendees will be provided telescopes to view the planets following the concerts. The L.A. Astrological Society will provide telescopes following the Thursday and Saturday concerts, and Sidewalk Astronomers will do so for the Friday concert.

Vassily Sinaisky's international career was launched in 1973, when he won the Gold Medal at the prestigious Karajan Competition in Berlin. Soon after, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, a post he held from 1976 to 1987. He then became Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic, leading numerous high-profile projects with the orchestra, both in Russia and on tour. In 2010, Sinaisky was announced as the new chief conductor and music director of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Sinaisky additionally holds the positions of conductor emeritus of the BBC Philharmonic and honorary conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra in Sweden with whom he recorded a four-disc series of the symphonies of Franz Schmidt for Naxos. Other recordings include many with the BBC Philharmonic, including works by Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Shchedrin, Glinka, Liadov, Schreker and Szymanowski. Sinaisky is also a noted and influential teacher and holds the position of professor of conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire.

Leonidas Kavakos has established himself as a violinist and artist of rare quality, known at the highest level for his virtuosity, superb musicianship and the integrity of his playing. International recognition first came while Kavakos was still in his teens, winning the Sibelius Competition in 1985 and, three years later, the Paganini Competition. Kavakos now works with the world's major orchestras and conductors - Vienna Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Royal Concertgebouw, London Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Budapest Festival, La Scala Philharmonic, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has been invited as tour soloist with the Leipzig Gewandhaus/Chailly, Vienna Philharmonic/Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw/Jansons, and in the 2012/13 season, he is the focus of the London Symphony Orchestra's UBS Soundscapes LSO Artist Portrait and is also the Berlin Philharmonic's Artist in Residence.