Composer

Pekka Kuusisto returns to the ACO after nearly a decade to direct music from four prodigious talents. Kuusisto is an artist unbound by convention, who embodies an artistic freedom that is unexpected and thrilling. As a renowned virtuoso and boundary-crossing composer, he pushes the limits of performance into exciting new realms, championing contemporary music with an openness and warmth that captivates audiences.

Pekka Kuusisto: Legends & Luminaries

ACO On The Pier

Anything can happen when Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor and violinist Pekka Kuusisto takes the stage. This time, he presents a musical journey of discovery with Anne Sofie von Otter, with focus on man and nature.

Pekka Kuusisto & Anne Sofie von Otter

Göteborgs Symfoniker

From the eventful French premiere of Body Cosmic to the relaxed classicism of César Franck, this concert opens up the palette of styles, with the diabolical Brahms' Concerto as pièce de résistance, magnified by Janine Jansen's infallible bow.

Orchestre de Paris / Klaus Mäkelä

Philharmonie de Paris

Mozart’s enduring Requiem owes some of its timeless staying power to the composer’s death prior to its completion—further made a thing of mystery and “what if?” by the Oscar-winning film Amadeus—but its true appeal is plain to hear in Mozart’s final musical expression of humanity and mortality. The New York Times has praised James Gaffigan’s interpretation of the Requiem for its “uncommon drama,” and the conductor leads Mozart’s memorable funeral mass with a stellar cast of soloists and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. In the first half, Gaffigan navigates Ellen Reid’s Body Cosmic, which offers a meditation on the surreality of pregnancy, as well as Brahms’ “Song of Destiny,” a brief but masterful choral and symphonic that has been called a “Little Requiem.”

EPSG:4326

Mozart's Requiem

Hollywood Bowl

Festival of Contemporary Music: TMC Orchestra Perform Ortiz, Reid, and Smith

Tanglewood Music Center

Festival of Contemporary Music: The Natural World

Equally at home in the opera pit and the concert stage, guest conductor Daniela Candillari debuts with the Kansas City Symphony in a program that she has carefully crafted to explore dichotomies. Opening the program, Pulitzer Prize-winner Ellen Reid’s Floodplain explores the dualities inherent to its namesake: rich fertility and possible danger. Resplendent with trills that suggest cascading water, Floodplain has a broad sweep — expansive, with wide vistas

Classical Series Concert #7

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Amsterdam’s historic Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra performs back-to-back concerts with its incoming chief conductor Klaus Mäkelä, one of the music world’s brightest rising stars. The program opens with a US premiere by the orchestra’s composer in residence, Pulitzer Prize–winning American composer Ellen Reid. World-renowned violinist Lisa Batiashvili, described by London’s The Times as “the complete musician,” joins as soloist in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2. The second half of the concert features one of Rachmaninoff’s most expansive achievements: the lush and passionate Second Symphony.

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Carnegie Hall

Composers Now presents members of The Harlem Chamber Players in a concert featuring music by living women composers, including a world premiere by Milena Casado.

Composers Now | Cheswatyr Commissions Concert

Columbia University

Between Late Romanticism and Modernity: Klaus Mäkelä conducts Rachmaninoff’s lush Second Symphony, preceded by Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto featuring Lisa Batiashvili and a newly commissioned work by Ellen Reid.

Klaus Mäkelä and Rachmaninoff

The Concertgebouw

Experience the enchanting melodies of Elgar's Enigma Variations at the Miller Outdoor Theatre, presented by the Houston Symphony under the baton of Music Director Juraj Valčuha. This concert promises an evening of virtuosic performances and emotional depth, featuring the talented Annelle K. Gregory. Known for her impeccable intonation, Gregory will also dazzle audiences with Alexander Glazunov’s lush and bittersweet Violin Concerto in A minor, Opus 82.

The highlight of the evening, Elgar's Enigma Variations, stands as a touching tribute to the composer's closest friends and loved ones, showcasing why it remains one of the most beloved pieces in Western classical music. The program also includes the evocative "Floodplain" by E. Reid, adding to the night's exploration of musical landscapes.

This concert is set to take place on July 19, 2024, at 8:30 PM at the iconic Miller Outdoor Theatre, located at 6000 Hermann Park Drive. Admission is free, making it accessible to all who wish to immerse themselves in the beauty of classical music under the stars. While parking is complimentary, it is limited, and attendees are encouraged to consider using METRORail for transportation to and from the event.

This performance is graciously sponsored in part by the City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board, ensuring a night of unforgettable musical experiences. Don't miss this opportunity to witness the Houston Symphony's tribute to friendship and love through the timeless language of music.

Elgar’s Enigma Variations

Miller Outdoor Theatre

**Event Description:**

**Title:** Magdalene - A Chamber Opera in Thirteen Movements

**Presented by:** Beth Morrison Projects, Danielle Birrittella, Zoe Aja Moore, and Marie Howe at REDCAT

**Dates:** June 4-5, 7-8

**Time:** 8 PM (TUE-WED, FRI-SAT)

**Duration:** Approx. 75 minutes, no intermission

**Location:** REDCAT, USA

**Ticket Price:** $50

**Genres:** Music, Theater

**Season:** Winter/Spring 2024

**About the Event:**

"Magdalene" is a transformative chamber opera that invites audiences into the profound interior world of Mary Magdalene, exploring themes of desire, transformation, and the sacred versus the sexual. This unique opera, set to Marie Howe’s evocative "Magdalene" poems, is a collaborative masterpiece scored by fourteen women composers: Leila Adu, Ruby Kato Attwood, Danielle Birrittella, Sheena Birrittella, Christina Courtin, Gabrielle Herbst, Molly Joyce, Emma O’Halloran, Tanner Porter, Ellen Reid, Kamala Sankaram, Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir, Annika Socolofsky, and Gyða Valtýsdóttir. Through a series of vivid scenes—from wandering through a hotel to lighting birthday candles and making love in the ocean—Magdalene seeks transcendence in the mundane, striving to become the subject of her own story.

This West Coast Premiere is a wild meditation on transformation and desire, enlarging the figure of Mary Magdalene to cross time and space, appearing as a woman alive now, who navigates the unyielding split between the sacred and the sexual.

**Special Features:**

- **Post-Show Talks:** Engage with the cast and creative team on June 5, 7, and 8, offering deeper insights into the production.
- **Content Advisory:** Please note that "Magdalene" contains nudity and mature content, catering to an adult audience.

**About the Artists:**

"Magdalene" is produced and co-presented by Beth Morrison Projects, a leading force in the creation and production of new opera-theatre and music theatre. The opera is commissioned and produced by PROTOTYPE Festival, a partnership between Beth Morrison Projects and HERE, and premiered at the PROTOTYPE Festival 2020. The production has received funding from OPERA America’s Opera Fund and support from the New York State Council on the Arts.

**Join Us:**

Don't miss this breathtaking opera that merges the contemporary with the timeless, offering a powerful narrative through the collective voice of an all-female composer team. Buy your tickets now for an unforgettable experience of "Magdalene" at REDCAT this Winter/Spring 2024 season.

Beth Morrison Projects, Danielle Birrittella, Zoe Aja Moore, and Marie Howe

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Ellen Reid is this season's Composer in Residence at The Concertgebouw. During her Amsterdam adventure, she’s writing a piece for the Concertgebouw Orchestra as well as performing with them. ‘The most important thing is that the evening tells a story.’

Composer in Residence Ellen Reid

A new opera by Ellen Reid, artist-in-residence of The Concertgebouw and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, performed under the direction of Manoj Kamps by members and Academy members of the orchestra.

The Shell Trial

Nationale Opera & Ballet

MSM Symphony conducted by Daniela Candillari featuring James C. Harris, baritone

The Riverside Church

Gustavo Dudamel, the charismatic Music & Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 2009, whose fiery baton has made him one of classical music’s most recognizable figures, will be departing his post at the LA Phil in September 2026 to become the new Music Director of the New York Philharmonic beginning September 2026. Don’t miss the upcoming opportunity on May 28 to experience Gustavo Dudamel’s dynamic presence on the podium as he leads the LA Phil in the closing concert of CAMA’s 2023/2024 International Series season.

The May 28 concert will feature Gustavo Dudamel conducting Ludwig van Beethoven’s high-spirited Symphony No.7 in A Major, Op.92, plus two world premieres of works by noted American composers Ellen Reid and Gabriella Smith, with cellist Gabriel Cabezas as soloist in Smith’s Lost Coast, inspired by her reflections on climate change.

Los Angeles Philharmonic

Granada Theatre

The thrilling way Beethoven treats different dance rhythms in his Seventh Symphony made it a hit from the start, and Dudamel is the perfect interpreter to bring out its vibrant and whirling character. Gustavo also leads Gabriella Smith’s brand-new Lost Coast, a cello concerto played by Gabriel Cabezas. For Thursday and Saturday night audiences, Lost Coast is paired with Ellen Reid’s West Coast Sky Eternal, another world premiere.

Dudamel Leads Beethoven and Smith

The final concert of the season opens with Jaime premiering a LACO-commissioned work from Composer-in-Residence and Artistic Advisor Ellen Reid. Then, LACO’s Concertmaster Margaret Batjer and Principal Cello Andrew Shulman perform the beloved Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, fulfilling a dream over ten years in the making for Margaret. Beethoven’s titanic fifth symphony closes the season. 

REID, BRAHMS + BEETHOVEN

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Royce Hall

Ambassador Auditorium

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra performs Brahms' Double Concerto—his final orchestral work and a rare pairing of violin and cello—featuring LACO concertmaster Margaret Batjer and principal cellist Andrew Shulman. Also on the program is Beethoven's famous Fifth Symphony and a newly commissioned work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

The adventurous Pekka Kuusisto, who successfully premiered Daníel Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto at the Hollywood Bowl 2019, returns as the protagonist for the recent piece by the prolific Nico Muhly, conducted by the one-and-only Esa-Pekka Salonen. Kuusisto also collaborates on this program with composer and sound artist Ellen Reid (p r i s m), who will share some of her own extraordinary music.

Pekka Kuusisto + Ellen Reid

2005 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World — soprano Nicole Cabell — joins force with conductor Grant Gershon on Lumee’s Dream from Ellen Reid’s Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, p r i s m.

"Lumee's Dream" from p r i s m

In this star-studded episode, guest conductor Grant Gershon leads a LACO-commissioned world premiere by Sound Investment Composer Peter S. Shin, Lumee’s Dream from Ellen Reid’s Pulitzer Prize-winning opera p r i s m, and Britten’s Les illuminations. Shin’s premiere incorporates animation and drawn portraiture by visual artist Jian Lee. The pioneering nature of this collaboration lies in the fact that Shin and Lee are actively working together to conjure up visuals as the piece is written in real time throughout the multi-month artistic process. Britten’s Les illuminations and Ellen Reid’s Lumee’s Dream spotlights internationally renowned soprano and native Californian Nicole Cabell in her LACO debut.  The Britten and Reid selections are cinematic in nature, and will be woven together by a new opera dance-theater film by director George Miller and choreographer Rebecca Steinberg—exploring the deeply complex array of relationships present throughout this wisely-curated pair of repertoire.

Shin, Reid + Britten

Beethoven’s heroic voice is on full display with his greatest piano concerto performed by award-winning pianist Alessio Bax, whom Gramophone called “clearly among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public,” in their review of his recording of the same work. Reid’s Petrichor redefines ‘surround sound’ with spatialized musicians, shimmering strings and bright winds throughout the hall. Lockington is sure to deliver Latin sizzle with the rapturous rhythms and sultry melodies of DeFalla and Marquez. 

Beethoven "Emperor" Piano Concerto

With a view of the New York City skyline, Philharmonic musicians perform music with a story to tell by Pulitzer Prize winners Ellen Reid, John Luther Adams, and Jacob Druckman, plus Thea Musgrave. Hosted and curated by <strong>Nadia Sirota, Creative Partner.

Composer

Ellen Reid

Events

Past events

3 - 19 Oct, 2026

Pekka Kuusisto: Legends & Luminaries · Australian Chamber Orchestra

28 - 29 Jan, 2026

Pekka Kuusisto & Anne Sofie von Otter · Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

About

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