LA Opera music director James Conlon to conduct performance at UCLA

The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music welcomes Los Angeles Opera music director James Conlon to UCLA to conduct a special performance featuring Arnold Schoenberg's "A Survivor From Warsaw" (for narrator, male chorus and orchestra, Op. 46) and works by Franz Schreker (Intermezzo for strings, Op. 8, and "Valse Lente") and Alexander Zemlinsky (Psalm 83 for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Op. 46, and Psalm 13 for chorus and orchestra, Op. 24).

Conlon will be joined by UCLA professor and director of orchestral studies Neal Stulberg as narrator, the UCLA Philharmonia, the UCLA University Chorus and the UCLA Chamber Singers.

The performance, part of the LA Opera's Ring Festival LA, is made possible through the generous support of the Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music at UCLA.

WHO: James Conlon, music director of the Los Angeles Opera

WHEN: 8 p.m., Thursday, May 27

WHERE: Royce Hall, on the UCLA campus

TICKETS: Tickets are $35 VIP (which includes premium seating and a post-concert reception), $12 general admission and $5 for UCLA faculty, staff and students (with ID); they can be purchased through the Central Ticket Office at 310-825-2101 or online at www.tickets.ucla.edu.

BACKGROUND: A 20th-century masterpiece, "A Survivor From Warsaw" is an abstract musical account of the atrocities of the Holocaust depicting the struggle and strength of interned Jews. Conlon is a master conductor who is dedicated to performing the works of Jewish composers, including Schoenberg, Schreker and Zemlinsky, silenced during World War II because of anti-Semitism.

Ring Festival LA: From April 15 through June 30, the LA Opera joins with more than 75 cultural and educational institutions in Los Angeles to stage the Ring Festival LA, a collection of special exhibitions, performances, symposia and events centered around the opera's upcoming presentation of composer Richard Wagner's Ring epic four-opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen" (May 29–June 26) — the first time the masterwork will be presented in its entirety in Los Angeles. Events take place in a variety of venues throughout Southern California, with each organization providing its own unique view on the influences of Wagner's art and philosophy from the 19th century to the present day. For more information, visit www.ringfestivalla.com.

PARKING: Event parking ($10) and handicap parking ($3) are available in Parking Structure 5. (Directions: From Sunset Boulevard, enter the north side of campus at Royce Drive, between Weswood Boulevard and Hilgard Avenue. Proceed straight ahead to Structure 5.)