Emanuel Ax's Brahms Project Kicks Off with Robin Ticciati Leading the LA Phil at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Conductor Robin Ticciati returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the first weekend of Emanuel Ax's Brahms Project, Friday, January 17, at 8 pm, as well as Saturday and Sunday, January 18 and 19, at 2 pm. All three performances feature Ligeti's rarely heard Melodien and Ax playing Brahms' monumental First Piano Concerto. Schumann's Symphony No. 1, "Spring" will be played Saturday and Sunday.

The Friday concert is part of the LA Phil's Casual Fridays series, which features a shorter program, is presented without intermission and encourages audience members to attend in comfortable attire. These Casual Fridays concerts also feature a free TalkBack discussion with musicians held on stage after the performance and a chance to mingle with members of the orchestra in the Concert Hall Café.

For his Brahms Project, Emanuel Ax invited several of today's top composers to create pieces to be paired with Brahms' timeless music. Remaining Ax Brahms Project performances include Ax with the following: mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, Jan. 21; cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Feb. 25; Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil, May 1 - 4.

Robin Ticciati is in his fifth season as Principal Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. In 2014, he will begin his tenure as Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera, becoming only the seventh conductor to hold this post in the festival's 77 year history, following on from Fritz Busch, Vittorio Gui, John Pritchard, Bernard Haitink, Andrew Davis and Vladimir Jurowski. His association with Glyndebourne began in 2004 as Assistant Conductor for performances of Die Zauberflöte for Glyndebourne on Tour, when he was just 21 years old. Since then Ticciati's collaboration with Glyndebourne has included four productions for Glyndebourne on Tour and four productions for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, including performances of Hänsel und Gretel, Macbeth, Jenufa, Die Fledermaus, Don Giovanni, and most recently Le nozze di Figaro. Ticciati's guest conducting engagements this season include debuts with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and return engagements with the London Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic. After four years as Principal Guest Conductor of the Bamberger Symphoniker, he will also return to the orchestra for concerts and recordings. Ticciati's discography includes two Berlioz discs with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on Linn Records (Symphonie fantastique - Les Nuits d'Été; La Mort de Cléopâtre, Roméo et Juliette) which both received unanimous critical acclaim, as well as two Brahms discs with the Bamberger Symphoniker for Tudor Records one of which attracted Germany's prestigious Echo Klassik award.

Emanuel Ax's 2013/14 season began with appearances at the Barbican Centre followed by Lincoln Center with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bernard Haitink as well as collaborations with the Concertgebouworkester and Mariss Jansons in Amsterdam, Bucharest, China and Japan during their world-wide centenary celebrations. The second half of the season sees the realization of a project inspired by Brahms which includes new pieces from composers Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly and Brett Dean, all producing works linked to Brahms commissioned jointly between the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cal Performances Berkeley, Chicago Symphony and Carnegie Hall with the participation of collaborators Anne-Sofie von Otter and Yo-Yo Ma. To conclude the season, Ax will travel to Hong Kong and Australia for a complete cycle of Beethoven concerti with incoming Chief Conductor David Roberston in Sydney and with Sir Andrew Davis in Melbourne. A Sony Classical exclusive recording artist since 1987, Ax's recent releases include Mendelssohn Trios with Yo-Yo- Ma and Itzhak Perlman, Strauss's Enoch Arden narrated by Patrick Stewart, and discs of two-piano music by Brahms and Rachmaninoff with Yefim Bronfman. He has received Grammys for the second and third volumes of his cycle of Haydn's piano sonatas. He has also made a series of Grammy-winning recordings with cellist Yo-Yo Ma of the Beethoven and Brahms sonatas for cello and piano.

Complete Program:

LIGETI Melodien

SCHUMANN Symphony No. 1, "Spring" (except Friday)

BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1

Upbeat Live pre-concert events takes place in Walt Disney Concert Hall's BP Hall one hour prior to each concert, and are free to all ticket holders. Conductor, pianist and harpsichordist Lucinda Carver hosts.

For full artist biographies, please visit: laphil.com

WHO: LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

ROBIN TICCIATI, conductor

EMANUEL AX, piano

WHEN: Friday, January 17, 2014, at 8 PM

Saturday, January 18, 2014, at 2 PM

Sunday, January 10, 2014, at 2 PM

WHERE: Walt Disney CONCERT HALL

111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

HOW TO

PURCHASE:

Subscriptions and single tickets for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2013/14 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall are currently available. To purchase, please visit LAPhil.com, the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office or any Ticketmaster outlet. To order by phone with credit card, please call the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office at 323.850.2000, or Ticketmaster at 800.745.3000. For more information, please call 323.850.2000.

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