Helmuth Rilling Conducts LA Chamber Orchestra in Mozart Program

Internationally acclaimed Grammy Award-winning conductor Helmuth Rilling, recipient of the 2011 Herbert von Karajan Music Prize, makes his 13th appearance with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra to guest conduct two performances of Mozart's sublime Requiem in D minor, K. 626, featuring soprano Stacey Tappan, alto Callista Hoffman, tenor Nicholas Phan, bass Michael Dean and the acclaimed USC Thornton Chamber Singers, under the direction of Jo Michael Scheibe, on Saturday, January 26, 8 pm, at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, and Sunday, January 27, 2013, 7 pm, at UCLA's Royce Hall. The all-Mozart program, which celebrates the legendary composer's 257th birthday, opens with his majestic Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, K. 543.

Concert Preludes, pre-concert talks held one hour before curtain and free for ticket holders, provide insights into the music and artists. Ticket holders can also meet LACO musicians immediately following the concerts at free after-parties, which feature appetizers and drinks in the lobby.

Rilling, renowned as a great pedagogue as well as a conductor, founded the Bach Collegium Stuttgart and has served as music director of the Oregon Bach Festival since 1970. Through these musical affiliations and others as well as through his vast body of recordings and countless guest performances around the globe, Rilling has made a striking and indelible impact on the classical music field. He fervently believes that "music should startle people and reach deep down inside them."

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is considered one of the world's premier chamber orchestras as well as a leader in presenting wide-ranging repertoire and adventurous commissions. Its 2012-13 season, the Orchestra's 44th, features a compelling mix of beloved masterpieces and genre-defying premieres from firmly established and notable up-and-coming composers programmed by Jeffrey Kahane, one of the world's foremost conductors and pianists, who marks his 16th season as LACO's music director.

Tickets ($25 - $110) are on sale now and may be purchased online at laco.org, by calling LACO at 213 622 7001, or at the venue box office on the night of the concert, if tickets remain. Discounted tickets are also available by phone for seniors 65 years of age and older and groups of 12 or more. College students may purchase rush tickets one hour before curtain; also available for college students is the $25 "Campus to Concert Hall All Access Pass" - good for all seven of LACO's Orchestral Series concerts at either the Alex Theatre or UCLA's Royce Hall, LACO's Discover Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 at Ambassador Auditorium and for all three Westside Connections concerts at The Broad Stage, plus other benefits. Student rush tickets ($10), based on availability, may be purchased at the box office the day of the concert.

HELMUTH RILLING is active as a conductor, pedagogue and an ambassador for the music of JS Bach worldwide. In 1954, he founded the Gächinger Kantorei and in 1965, the Bach Collegium Stuttgart. Additionally, Rilling is an advocate of "neglected" Romantic choral music, and of commissioning and performing contemporary choral music. In 1981, Rilling founded the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart dedicated to furthering the music of Bach through public concerts, master classes for singers and conductors, symposia and residencies all over the world. He is active on the international concert podium, performing regularly throughout Europe, US and Canada. 2011 included his first tour of China with the Gächinger Kantorei and the Bach Collegium Stuttgart. He has a special friendship dating back some 30 years with the Israel Philharmonic, and has been the artistic director of the Oregon Bach Festival since 1970. Among the many prizes Helmuth Rilling has received are the UNESCO International Music Prize (1994) and the Theodor Heuss Prize (1995). Most recently, Rilling was awarded the prestigious Herbert von Karajan Music Prize from the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in 2011.

Soprano STACEY TAPPAN has distinguished herself as an exceptional musical artist. Reviews praise her "witty and sexy" performances and she is hailed as a "tremendous American soprano" and "a magnificent discovery." Current engagements for Tappan include Lucia di Lammermoor with Arizona Opera and Clorinda in La cenerentola with LA Opera. Recent appearances have included Miss Wordsworth in LA Opera's Albert Herring and Krenek's Das Geheime Königreich with James Conlon; singing Wing on Wing, composed and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen with the LA Philharmonic; the Charmeuse in Thaïs at the Edinburgh Festival; the Ring Cycle with San Francisco Opera; and performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Mahler's Fourth Symphony and his "Symphony of a Thousand" at the Hollywood Bowl. Tappan made her professional debut with Houston Grand Opera as Beth in Little Women, broadcast on PBS' Great Performances and released on CD by Ondine and on DVD by Naxos. Her awards include grants from the Elardo Competition and the Solti Foundation US, as well as scholarships from Wolf Trap Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music.

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