Esa-Pekka Salonen, Philharmonia Orchestra, London

Esa-Pekka Salonen and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra return with three ambitious programs that include a recent cello concerto by Salonen himself and the West Coast premiere of a Cal Performances co-commission exploring the lives of Bay Area immigrants.
Dreamers
Engaging with an issue that speaks uniquely to our times, acclaimed Peruvian composer Jimmy López will compose Dreamers, a new oratorio informed by interactions with Bay Area and campus immigrant communities, telling deeply personal stories through music and opening his process to audiences through a series of public programs. For Dreamers, he teams up with a frequent collaborator as librettist—the Pulitzer Prize-winning, Cuban American playwright Nilo Cruz.
Additional Residency Highlights
Salonen conducts the rarely performed complete score for The Firebird. Bartók’s virtuosic Concerto for Orchestra, his last completed work, is paired with Salonen’s dazzling 2017 Cello Concerto, featuring Norwegian cellist Truls Mørk, and Sibelius’ evocative The Oceanides. And Bruckner’s magnificent Seventh Symphony shares a program with Schoenberg’s moody tone poem for strings, Verklärte Nacht.