What a great weekend! I will be the Upbeat Live speaker for a terrific program: a new work by American composer Jonathan Bailey Holland, Ravel’s Tzigane (spotlighting concertmaster Martin Chalifour) and Mother Goose Suite, and Saint-Saën’s glorious Third Symphony, featuring the Walt Disney Concert Hall’s “Hurricane Mama” organ with Joanne Pearce Martin at the keyboard. French conductor Louis Langrée—himself the son of a celebrated organist—will lead the performance.

I’m especially excited to have an opportunity to chat with Jonathan Bailey Holland about his new work, Assemble, an LA-Phil commission. The rest of my talk will look into the innovative yet accessible musical elements of Saint-Saëns’ thrilling “Organ” Symphony.