Over 11 years and 570 episodes, John Rabe and Team Off-Ramp scoured SoCal for the people, places, and ideas whose stories needed to be told, and the show became a love-letter to Los Angeles. Now, John is sharing selections from the Off-Ramp vault to help you explore this imperfect paradise.
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Monday, the LA Philharmonic unveiled its new season, which will start by celebrating the tenth birthday of Walt Disney Concert Hall. The hall was designed by architect Frank Gehry, and the news conference featured a tape of Gehry and LA Phil President Deborah Borda reminiscing about the hall.
Before construction was complete Gehry says he called then-Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen and asked him to come over. Salonen brought Concertmaster Martin Chalifour, who played unaccompanied Bach on his violin as Salonen and Gehry listened, as Gehry described it, holding hands, they were so nervous. It sounded so good, the maestro broke into tears.
The 2013-2014 season features 11 world premieres, the first time all of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels will be played by an orchestra, and a series of free community concerts across LA. In athe news release for the new season, Dudamel said:
This season, I am excited by all of our musical offerings, from the works that inspired me to become a musician to the numerous commissions and premieres that have become a trademark of the LA Phil. An additional delight for me is to have my two musical families, the LA Phil and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, working together once again – this time with Tchaikovsky. As a young boy, I discovered Tchaikovsky through great recordings and he has had a very special place in my heart ever since. I hope that you will join us to celebrate this great hall and great music.