On your birthday, you might get someone with a karaoke-level voice crooning “Happy Birthday.” A state deserves better—say, a Philharmonic orchestra serenading it with Mendelssohn and Debussy.
If you don’t know what birthday gift to buy for a state—say, Nevada, celebrating its 150th this year, its sesquicentennial—your attendance at the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s Battle Born-Nevada Proud! concert at 7:30 p.m. January 18 at The Smith Center is a good start.
Conducted by onetime Las Vegas resident and UNR graduate (and current San Francisco Symphony conductor) Donato Cabrera, the concert will feature four works: Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with Alina Ming Kobialka; Benjamin Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes” from his opera Peter Grimes; Equus for orchestra by Reno-raised and UNLV-schooled Eric Whitacre; and Claude Debussy’s La mer. (Tickets are $25-$94 at LVPhil.org.)
The concert launches the Philharmonic’s 2014 season. A talk by Cabrera at 6:45 p.m. will precede the performance.
Gorillaz are coming to Las Vegas for the first time ever. 2016’s Grammy winner for best new artist, Chance the Rapper, will return. English rockers Muse will bring their dizzying live show to the streets of Downtown. And that’s just the top of an eclectic bill that features more than 70 acts, along with comedy, interactive art installations, a group art exhibit featuring the work of Mark Ryden, Tara McPherson and Shepard Fairey and much more. Last year saw more than 137,000 attendees trod the festival footprint. Who’s ready for more?
