The Colburn School's Gala Concert Added to the 2011/12 Season at WDCH

The Colburn School's gala concert marking the centenary of founder, the late Richard D. Colburn, was just added to the 2011/12 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall.  Taking place on Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 6:30 PM, the concert features The Colburn Orchestra led by conductor Sir Neville Marriner and The Colburn School's Music Director Yehuda Gilad.  Marriner will be honored with the Richard D. Colburn Award, which recognizes and honors an individual whose lifelong dedication, work, talent and reputation enhance the teaching and performance of classical music or dance in the Southern California community.

One of the world's most recorded conductors, Sir Neville Marriner was the first Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in 1969.  He began his professional life as a violinist, performing with many of London's top ensembles, including many years as principal second violin of the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1959, he founded the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, which he directed from both the concertmaster's chair and conductor's podium. In 1969, Sir Neville co-founded the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, while at the same time extending the repertoire of the Academy and guest-conducting symphony orchestras around the world. He has served as Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Sudwest Deutsche Rundfunk Orchestra in Stuttgart, all while continuing to record with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, one of the most comprehensively recorded chamber orchestras in the world. He has twice been honored for services to music in his native Great Britain and received additional honors in Germany, France and Sweden.

"Sir Neville shaped the artistic landscape of Los Angeles with his time as the Music Director of LACO and inspired and mentored our students during his guest conductor residency in 2011," commented Sel Kardan, President and CEO of the Colburn School. "We are thrilled to honor him with a special night of performance and celebration." 

Upon receiving the award announcement, Marriner commented, "Richard Colburn has had an indelible impact on the arts in Southern California. His monumental and unwavering passion for classical music in Los Angeles has paved the way for the talents coming out of the Colburn School. I am enormously proud, in what would have been his 100th year, to receive the Richard D. Colburn Award. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate this tremendous legacy than in Disney Hall, performing with the next generation of great classical musicians in The Colburn Orchestra." 

The Colburn School's gala concert begins with The Colburn School's Music Director and Conductor Yehuda Gilad leading The Colburn Orchestra in Rossini's William Tell Overture. The program continues with Barber's Violin Concerto, featuring Colburn Academy violinist Mayumi Kanagawa, the 2011 winner of the Irving M. Klein International String Competition. The evening concludes with Sir Neville Marriner conducting The Colburn Orchestra in Elgar's Enigma Variations. 

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