Sunday, April 22, 2007 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall

Concert, Conducted by Music Director Grant Gershon, Also Includes Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramírez with Renowned Flamenco Dancer Ornili Azulay Adding Her Unique Choreography to Performance

The Los Angeles Master Chorale, with special guest the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, rolls out part two of “Homage to Haydn” on April 22, 2007, Earth Day, with the Lord Nelson Mass (Missa in Angustiss), arguably the most popular of Haydn’s final six masses. Soloists for the Haydn work include Chorale members Deborah Mayhan, soprano; Adriana Manfredi, alto; Kevin St. Clair, tenor; and Steve Pence, bass. The program also includes the Misa Criolla (Creole Mass), a lively work steeped in Latin American folk traditions that is considered prolific Argentinean pianist-composer Ariel Ramírez’s most famous work. Tenors Pablo Corá and Shawn Kirchner, both members of the Chorale, are the featured soloists, and providing a vivid visual element is world-renowned flamenco dancer Ornili Azulay, who adds her stunning choreography to the performance. Listen “Up!”, a pre-concert talk at 6 p.m. in BP Hall, is hosted by KUSC’s Alan Chapman and features Gershon. The concert is sponsored in part by Mellon Financial Corporation and the E. Nakamichi Foundation.

Already an international celebrity, Haydn wrote the Lord Nelson Mass in 1798, in the midst of the uncertainties of the Napoleonic War, in just 53 days. However, like his other famous masses, it is reconciled and filled with vigor and joy punctuated by blazing trumpets, soaring organ and thundering timpani.

Ramírez’s Misa Criolla, composed in 1964, embraces the spirit of Argentine Creoles, who are descendents of a cross section of Europeans, the country’s indigenous Indians and people of many other races, making it one of the first masses in the national idiom. Numerous artists have recorded the mass since it debuted, including legendary tenor José Carreras, Mercedes Sosa and Javier Rodriguez.

Tickets to the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s concert range from $19 to $109. Student Rush seats are $10 and are available at the box office two hours before the performance. For tickets and information, please call (800) 787-5262 (outside California call 213-972-7282), log on to www.lamc.org or visit the box office at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., located at 111 South Grand Avenue at First Street in downtown Los Angeles.

Dancer/choreographer ORNILI AZULAY – described by Classical Magazine as “a brilliant dancer” — is acclaimed for her artistic interpretations of Flamenco and classical Spanish dance, and for weaving them into other musical styles, including classical music, world music and jazz. Performing on stage, television and film, she has appeared with many of Spain’s top Flamenco artists, Juan Maya Marote, Antonio Canales and Tomas De Madrid among them. Her music video credits include Josh Groban’s “Mi Morena,” David Broza’s “Isadora,” and “Take Your Time” with Emergency Exit, and she has also performed with such leading orchestras as the Israeli Philharmonic and the Brazilian orchestra OSB. Among other credits, Azulay created and choreographed “The Flame and the Frost — A Dialogue for a Dancer and an Orchestra,” a solo dance performance accompanied by symphony orchestra. Azuly, who speaks English, Spanish and Hebrew fluently and is conversant in French and Arabic, studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London as well as at the Lee Strasberg Institute in Los Angles.

The LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA was founded in 1968 as an artistic outlet for the film and recording studios' most gifted musicians. Since then, the 40-member orchestra has gained a reputation for both virtuosic music making and dynamic programming. Renowned pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane has led the group since 1997, continuing the standard of excellence set by the orchestra's first four music directors, Sir Neville Marriner, Gerard Schwarz, Iona Brown, and Christof Perick. The orchestra performs repertoire ranging from Baroque masterpieces to new works commissioned annually by its Sound Investment program. LACO maintains its local presence with an annual home season of 15 concerts at two historic theaters, the Alex in Glendale and UCLA's Royce Hall. KUSC’s Jim Svejda recently praised LACO as "America's finest chamber orchestra."

The Grammy-nominated LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE, a resident company of the Music Center, has been cited as a national leader for its innovative and dynamic programming. Recognized as one of the city’s cultural treasures and one of the world’s premier choruses, the Chorale, a founding resident company of the Music Center, has played a leading role in the ongoing resurgence of interest in choral music. Los Angeles Times proclaims the Los Angeles Master Chorale “has become the most exciting chorus in the country under Grant Gershon.”

Event	Haydn/Ramírez Los Angeles Master Chorale Grant Gershon, Conductor Special Guests: Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Ornili Azulay, Flaminco dancer/choreographer
Performance Date	Sunday, April 22, 2007, 7 p.m. (Listen Up! pre-concert talk, 6 p.m.)
Program	HAYDN: Lord Nelson Mass (Missa in Angustiss)    Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra    Deborah Mayhan, soprano    Adriana Manfredi, alto    Kevin St. Clair, tenor    Steve Pence, bass RAMÍREZ: Misa Criolla (Creole Mass)    Pablo Corá, tenor    Shawn Kirchner, tenor    Ornili Azulay, Flamenico dancer/choreographer
Theater	Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Ticket Prices	$19 - $109 Student Rush seats available at box office two hours before the performance.
Ticket Information	800-787-5262; outside California call 213-972-7282 www.lamc.org or at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office

Program, prices and artists subject to change.

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2-23-06