“LA’s other Top Orchestra” San Francisco Classical Voice
The Colburn Orchestra, the Colburn Conservatory of Music’s renowned flagship ensemble led by Music Director Yehuda Gilad, presents exhilarating performances by some of the world’s best young classical musicians, under the batons of internationally celebrated conductors.
The 2024–25 season will see the Orchestra perform for audiences across Los Angeles County with visiting conductors including James Conlon, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Stephane Denéve, Carlos Miguel Prieto, and Lidiya Yankovskaya.
Highlights include an all-Finnish program conducted by Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen at Walt Disney Concert Hall; Strauss’s Don Quixote conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya at Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium; also in Pasadena, Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto under the baton of Yehuda Gilad; and Gershwin’s An American in Paris led by Stephane Denéve at The Soraya in Northridge.
The Colburn Orchestra is generously underwritten by Eva and Marc Stern.
Wagner, Nielsen, and Brahms Saturday, September 28 at 7 pm Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena Carlos Miguel Prieto and Aleksandra Melaniuk, Conductors Bence Bubreg, Clarinet
The season opens with an evening of soulful masterworks rife with musical and emotional turmoil. The ever-shifting textures and styles of Nielson’s single-movement clarinet concerto are paired with Brahms’s Third Symphony, which exudes the composer’s characteristic angst as it alternates between major and minor. The moody prelude to Wagner’s opera Tristan and Isolde rounds out the program.
Program Information WAGNER Prelude from Tristan und Isolde NIELSEN Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra BRAHMS Symphony No. 3 in F Major
Book Tickets
Saturday, October 26 at 2 pm Walt Disney Concert Hall, DTLA
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Conductor Ray Ushikubo, Violin
Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall for an all-Finnish program featuring some of Sibelius’s greatest hits. After an ethereal piece by Kaija Saariaho–a work dedicated to Salonen himself–the violin shines in Sibelius’s brooding Violin Concerto before the soaring melodies and triumphant timbre of Sibelius’s Second Symphony close out the concert.
Program Information SAARIAHO Lumière et Pesanteur SIBELIUS Violin Concerto in D Minor SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2 in D Major
Saturday, November 23 at 7 pm Ambassador Auditorium
Lidiya Yankovskaya, Conductor Eugene Lin, Cello
Program Information STRAUSS Don Quixote ESMAIL RE|Member DEBUSSY La mer (The sea)
Immerse yourself in musical imagery that paints vivid pictures of literature and life. The journey of errant knight Don Quixote is depicted through solo instruments in Strauss’s tone poem of the same name. Debussy brings an undulating seascape to life in his famous La mer, and a piece by Renee Esmail uses a unique oboe duet to capture the uncertainty felt in concert halls in 2021.
Saturday, February 1 at 7 pm Ambassador Auditorium Tickets: $20, $45 Subscription: $100
Yehuda Gilad, Conductor Duncan McDougall, Violin
Program Information SARAH GIBSON Painting the Floor SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 6 TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto
The two critically panned works on this program have since become audience favorites. Shostakovich’s Sixth starts with an achingly emotional slow movement before plunging toward a fast and fiery finish. In Tchaikovsky’s lively Violin Concerto, the virtuosic demands made on the soloist never fail to leave audiences awestruck. A David Hockney-inspired piece by Sarah Gibson opens the concert.
This performance is generously supported by Beverly C. Marksbury.
Saturday, April 12 at 3 pm The Soraya, Northridge Stephane Denéve, Conductor
Program Information GERSHWIN An American in Paris RAVEL Piano Concerto in G Major DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8
This afternoon of playful pieces begins with Gershwin’s An American in Paris, which paints a vivid picture of life in the French capital—bustling streets, car horns, and all. The musical fireworks continue in a jazz-influenced piano concerto by Ravel before the lively spirit and dance-like melodies of Dvořák’s Eight Symphony close out the program.
The Colburn Orchestra is the renowned flagship ensemble of the Colburn Conservatory of Music, presenting exhilarating performances from some of the world’s best young classical musicians, led by internationally celebrated conductors. This package includes premium tickets to the Orchestra’s entire season at Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium.
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