MARQUEE FESTIVALS AND SERIES
- Mahler Grooves Festival led by Gustavo Dudamel
Mahler has been a specialty and obsession throughout Gustavo Dudamel’s career. Mahler Grooves is an exploration of Mahler’s monumental music and his inner world, with performances spanning Mahler’s Journey (Feb 20–23) featuring Blumine, Adagio, and Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Song of the Night (Feb 27–28, Mar 1) centering on the colossal journey of Mahler’s Seventh Symphony. The program’s title – Mahler Grooves – appeared on bumper stickers created in the 1970s by a society of LA-based Mahler lovers that became countercultural symbols for the then-cult status of Gustav Mahler among symphonic fans. - Handel Project Festival (Mar 21–23)
Baroque music icon Emmanuelle Haïm begins a three-year term as LA Phil Artist Collaborator with a mini-festival dedicated to Handel with music also from Bach and Rameau and performances by Le Concert d’Astrée, which she founded, and a celebrated cast of soloists. - Green Umbrella New Music Series
The annual Green Umbrella new music series was created to challenge assumptions of music and expand the field through exploratory and boundary-pushing works, many of which are commissioned by the LA Phil. Highlights of the program include:- Elements and Energy with John Adams (Jan 28) featuring soloist spotlights and a world premiere by Noah Jenkins
- To the Fullest: The Music of Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell (Mar 4) with Grammy nominated experimental orchestral collective WildUp
- Seoul Festival (June 3, 6–8) exploring the impact of South Korea on the American musical landscape, from K-pop to Classical. World premieres include:
- a violin concerto by Yie-Eun Chun, performed by SooBeen Lee
- reflective – silky and rough by Dongjin Bae, performed by flutist Yubeen Kim
- an orchestral piece by Kay Kyurim Rhie
- a viola Concerto by Texu Kim performed by Yura Lee
- an orchestral work by Sunghyun Lee commissioned by the LA Phil
CELEBRATED COLLABORATIONS
- Works under the Baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen
LA Phil Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen leads two programs this season: Beethoven & Dessner (May 2–4) and Debussy and Boulez featuring pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard (May 8, 10, 11) - Celebrating Michael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas has been part of the LA Phil family for more than five decades, and the orchestra celebrates MTT’s 80th birthday with a not-to-be-missed special night of music (Feb 1) - John Williams Spotlight
- Yo-Yo Ma, Williams & Dudamel (April 3–4) features concerts curated by the legendary composer Williams with music from the Golden Ages of Mexican and Hollywood film, including a program with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Dudamel, and Williams sharing the podium.
WORLD PREMIERES AND NEW COMMISSIONS
- Muhly’s Concerto Grosso as part of Rachmaninoff & Muhly (Jan 24–26)
Eun Sun Kim leads the LA Phil through the spiraling passages of Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony and the world premiere of a concerto grosso that spotlights the orchestra by composer Nico Muhly. Then, Alexandre Kantorow, winner of the Gilmore Artist Award, performs Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. - Carlos Simon’s Gospel Mass with Dudamel, plus Randall Goosby performing Florence Price (April 17–18)
Gustavo Dudamel leads the world premiere of Carlos Simon’s exalted Gospel Mass, a celebratory homage to Black joy, spiritual discovery, and the power of faith. The night opens with Leonard Bernstein’s Divertimento, before Randall Goosby performs Florence Price’s Second Violin Concerto. - A new concerto by Principal Timpanist Joseph Pereira as part of Tchaikovsky & Pereira (May 29)
This world premiere spotlights two of the LA Phil’s own as Principal Percussionist Matthew Howard performs the new concerto by Principal Timpanist and composer Joseph Pereira.