Carnegie Hall

The Los Angeles Philharmonic, under the vibrant leadership of Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, presents an inspiring array of music through a commitment to foundational works and adventurous explorations. Both at home and abroad, the LA Phil is leading the way in groundbreaking and diverse programming, onstage and in the community, that reflects the orchestra’s artistry and demonstrates its vision. The orchestra marks its 106th season in 2024–2025.

Nearly 300 concerts are either performed or presented by the LA Phil at its three iconic venues: the Frank Gehry–designed Walt Disney Concert Hall during its winter season, the world-famous Hollywood Bowl during the summer, and The Ford, which presents an eclectic summer season that is reflective of the communities that make up Los Angeles.

The orchestra’s involvement with Los Angeles extends far beyond its venues. Among its influential and multifaceted learning initiatives is YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). Through YOLA, inspired by Gustavo Dudamel’s own training as a young musician, more than 1,700 young musicians receive free instruments, intensive music training, and academic support. In fall 2021, YOLA opened its own permanent, purpose-built facility: the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center at Inglewood, designed by Frank Gehry.

The LA Phil has released an array of critically acclaimed recordings, including world premieres of the music of John Adams and Louis Andriessen, along with Grammy Award–winning recordings featuring the music of Brahms, Ives, Andrew Norman, and Thomas Adès—including a 2024 Best Orchestral Performance Grammy for the latter’s Dante.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic was founded in 1919 by William Andrews Clark, Jr., a wealthy amateur musician. Walter Henry Rothwell became its first music director, serving until 1927; since then, 10 renowned conductors have served in that capacity: Georg Schnéevoigt (1927–1929), Artur Rodziński (1929–1933), Otto Klemperer (1933–1939), Alfred Wallenstein (1943–1956), Eduard van Beinum (1956–1959), Zubin Mehta (1962–1978), Carlo Maria Giulini (1978–1984), André Previn (1985–1989), Esa-Pekka Salonen (1992–2009), and Gustavo Dudamel (2009–present).

Guided by an unwavering belief in the power of art to inspire and transform lives, Gustavo Dudamel has worked tirelessly to expand education and access for underserved communities and broaden the impact of classical music to new and ever-larger audiences. He currently serves as Music and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, and in 2026, he becomes Music and Artistic Director of the New York Philharmonic, continuing a legacy that includes Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, and Leonard Bernstein.

In appearances from the United Nations to the White House to the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, Mr. Dudamel has served as a passionate advocate for music education and social integration through art, sharing his own transformative experience in Venezuela’s El Sistema program as an example of how music can give a sense of purpose and meaning to young people and help them rise above challenging circumstances. In 2007, Mr. Dudamel, the LA Phil, and its community partners founded YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), which provides more than 1,700 young people with free instruments, intensive music instruction, academic support, and leadership training. In 2012, Mr. Dudamel launched the Dudamel Foundation with his wife, actress and director María Valverde, with the goal of expanding access to music and the arts for young people by providing tools and opportunities to shape their creative futures.

Mr. Dudamel is one of the few classical musicians to become a bona fide pop-culture phenomenon. He was the first classical artist to participate in the Super Bowl halftime show and the youngest conductor ever to lead the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Day Concert. He has performed at global events from the Academy Awards to the Olympics, and has worked with musical icons like Billie Eilish, Christina Aguilera, Ricky Martin, Gwen Stefani, Coldplay, and Nas. Mr. Dudamel conducted Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Bernstein’s West Side Story as well as the opening and closing credits of Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens. Other film and television appearances include Sesame Street, The Simpsons, Mozart in the Jungle, Trolls World Tour, and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. In 2019, he was honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

Alisa Weilerstein is one of the foremost cellists of our time. Known for her consummate artistry, emotional investment, and rare interpretive depth, she performs at the most prestigious international venues, such as Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Berliner Philharmonie, in partnership with the world’s preeminent conductors and orchestras. This season, she premieres three new concertos: Thomas Larcher’s with the New York Philharmonic and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Richard Blackford’s with the Czech Philharmonic, and Gabriela Ortiz’s with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, with whom she also tours to South America. Other 2024–2025 highlights include two solo appearances at Carnegie Hall as part of her FRAGMENTS series, which combines Bach’s cello suites with 27 new commissions in a production directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer, and return engagements with the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras. Her many accolades include a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship. She records exclusively for Pentatone.

Acclaimed film and television actress María Valverde made her concert stage debut in 2019, narrating Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream alongside her husband, conductor Gustavo Dudamel, at the Festival Castell de Peralada in Girona, Spain. Born in the Carabanchel neighborhood of Madrid, Ms. Valverde was discovered in 2002 at age 15 by director Manuel Martín Cuenca, who cast her as the lead role in his film The Weakness of the Bolshevik.

Ms. Valverde has since appeared in more than 20 films, performing in Spanish, English, and French and filming in locations that include Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela. Her credits include Cracks (2009), produced by Ridley Scott, directed by Jordan Scott, and co-starring Eva Green; Melissa P. (2005), directed by Luca Guadagnino; and Tres metros sobre el cielo (2010). Her television series credits include Brothers (2014) and The Escape (2012). She teamed up again with Mr. Scott for his film Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), also collaborating with Christian Bale. In the US, Ms. Valverde played the lead in Broken Horses, co-starring Anton Yelchin (2015), and appeared in The Limehouse Golem (2016), with Olivia Cooke and Bill Nighy; Plonger (2017), directed by Mélanie Laurent and co-starring Gilles Lellouche; Fever Dream (2021), directed by Claudia Llosa; Araña (2019), directed by Andrés Wood; and the Netflix hit Fuimos canciones (2021), directed by Juana Macías. She stars in the upcoming Viaje al sur en un coche naranja, directed by Alberto Arvelo. It was while immersed in the part of María Teresa Bolívar for the film Libertador (2013), also directed by Mr. Arvelo, that Ms. Valverde first collaborated with Mr. Dudamel, who composed the film’s soundtrack.

The Spanish Film Academy awarded Ms. Valverde a Goya and a CEC award for Best Newcomer for her role in The Weakness of the Bolshevik. She was named Best Actress at Screamfest ’08 in Los Angeles for her performance in El rey de la montaña and received the European Shooting Star award at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival.

Soprano Jana McIntyre is a George and Nora London Foundation Competition award winner as well as a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. In the 2023–2024 season, she returned to Opera Santa Barbara for La Divina: The Art of Maria Callas. Additional season engagements included debuts with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra, as well as appearances with San Francisco Opera.

Recent highlights include Giulia in Rossini’s La scala di seta at Opera Santa Barbara, Cinderella in Into the Woods for Tulsa Opera, and her debut in Carmina Burana with the Santa Barbara and Seattle symphonies. In addition, she made her Carnegie Hall debut with the American Symphony Orchestra singing the title role in R. Strauss’s Daphne, conducted by Music Director Leon Botstein. In the 2021–2022 season, Ms. McIntyre sang the title role in Semele with Opera Santa Barbara as well as Aminta in Die schweigsame Frau in a new production with Bard SummerScape Festival. She also performed in a chamber concert with Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and Tulsa’s Signature Symphony.

Ms. McIntyre’s other highlights include singing Ännchen in Heartbeat Opera’s production of Der Freischütz, the Santa Fe Opera workshop of the completed version of M. Butterfly in New York City, and her debut with the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera singing selections from Così fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro in its Mozart Favorites concert. Ms. McIntyre has performed with Toledo Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, and Arizona Opera; in addition, she covered the role of La Fée in Laurent Pelly’s production of Cendrillon at Lyric Opera of Chicago. She has won awards from The Gerda Lissner Foundation, Jensen Foundation, and Shoshana Foundation, and was a Young Artist with the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera and an Apprentice Artist with Santa Fe Opera.

Omani-born Canadian mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny gained recognition in major competitions while studying at Indiana University. She was awarded the André Bourbeau Award for Best Canadian Artist and the ICI Musique People’s Choice award at the 2022 Concours musical international de Montréal, and won the Western Canada District of the 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She joined Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in the 2022–2023 season, making her debut as Owen’s daughter in Omar by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels.

In North America, Ms. Johnny debuted as Meg Page in Falstaff at the Aspen Music Festival and School, as Cherubino in a new staging of Le nozze di Figaro at Opera San José, and at Los Angeles Opera as Mélisande in Impressions de Pelléas. She appeared as Carmen in Arden Opera’s production of The Tragedy of Carmen and as Suzuki in concert performances of Madama Butterfly with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. While at Indiana University, she appeared as Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and in the title roles of Handel’s Xerxes and Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea.

As part of the inaugural cast of The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions, an inspirational ensemble piece created by Ted Huffman and Philip Venables from the seminal LGBTQ+ rights text by Larry Mitchell, Ms. Johnny performed at the 2023 Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Bregenzer Festspiele, and at the Southbank Centre. Other recent highlights include the title role in Bizet’s Carmen at Opéra de Rouen Normandie, roles in Der Zwerg and La traviata under James Conlon at LA Opera, her Portland Opera debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, and Penelope in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

Ms. Johnny made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2022 as part of Renée Fleming’s SongStudio program. She was a fellow of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute and recently performed with West Virginia Symphony Orchestra as part of its Sounds of the Season concerts.

The mission of Musica Sacra is to create definitive and professional choral performances of the highest caliber: profound statements made simply and elegantly. It does so with concerts, recordings, commissioning and performing of new choral works, and collaborations with other top-tier performing arts organizations.

Under the artistic leadership of Kent Tritle, Musica Sacra presents performances each year at prestigious venues throughout New York, including the chorus and orchestra’s annual performances at Carnegie Hall. Recent highlights and collaborations include the New York Philharmonic’s performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Mozart’s Requiem, as well as performances of music from Amadeus, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and 2001: A Space Odyssey; the New York City Ballet’s performances of Les noces and A Midsummer Night’s Dream; the requiems of Brahms and Mozart and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Orchestra of St. Luke’s; Così fan tutte at the Mostly Mozart Festival; and the New York City Opera Renaissance production of Tosca.

Musica Sacra has recorded on the RCA, BMG, MSR Classics, and Deutsche Grammophon labels, including the first digitally recorded performance of Messiah, released in 1982 by RCA and reissued on High Performance, BMG’s audiophile label. Recent releases include Messages to Myself, the first Musica Sacra recording led by Kent Tritle; a disc of contemporary works that include commissions by Daniel Brewbaker and Michael Gilbertson; and Eternal Reflections, featuring recent choral compositions by Robert Paterson. Visit musicasacrany.com for more information.