Seven members of the LPO have gone AWOL. Managing personnel and colleagues are requesting assistance from the citizens of New Orleans to help find these missing musicians. They are scheduled to perform this Friday, April 11, 2008 at a concert featuring some of the freshest faces of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Where could they be?

Reports state that the nine LPO musicians and two dancers were last seen leaving the campus of Loyola University after a concert on Saturday night. All that remained on the music stands of each musician was an old map of the historic Marigny district.

Breaking News: A report was received of a sighting of seven LPO musicians crossing Elysian Fields. Reportedly the group of musicians took off running in the direction of Chartres Street after a witness attempted to get the attention of the group - inquiring after their black clothing and large instrument cases. All that the witness could recall was hearing one of the violin players recite the following:

Last week as I played Brahms on strings,
I thought of strange and wondrous things.
You know what I would really wish?
To play before some jellyfish.
Lets play under their neon light,
At seven tolls on Friday night

Media Alert 3: Three days into the investigation of the strange disappearance of seven LPO musicians and another witness has come forward. Just hours ago, a person reported that he had heard mysterious Russian music coming from a nearby building while dining at Feelings Café.

After investigating the surrounding area, authorities located a jacket that is believed to have been lost by one of the LPO Cellists as she danced down the street. Upon closer inspection a jar of Cajun Caviar was found in the pocket of the jacket. Most curious is the jumble of letters written hastily across the jacket tag.

The LPO is optimistic that with the help of the citizens of New Orleans, all parties involved may indeed be very close to finding the missing musicians.

All information regarding the sighting of these musicians should be sent to findthephil@lpomusic.com. Please put the location where you believe our musicians are performing in the subject line of your email.

A reward of FREE TICKETS to Friday’s performance is being offered to the first ten detectives who can locate our missing musicians. Please help us find them.
The show must go on!

More information will be posted here and sent out as it becomes available.

Congratulations to the winners of Find the Phil. Thanks to your help, our musicians have finally been located. After extensive questioning, it appears that the group was rehearsing and preparing to host a fabulous event for us tomorrow, Friday, April 11 at 7 pm.

And the venue is…

Caviar Pie, graciously provided by the Louisiana Caviar Company, and sparkling wine will be served in celebration of a mystery well solved.

Doors open: 6:30 pm
Concert begins: 7:00 pm

Tickets are $10 at the door
All detectives can get in for $5 by providing their email address

Full Cast: Yui Asano, Ben Buddish, Andrew Dunn, Matthew Ernst, Naha Greenholtz, Jeanne Jaubert, Ila Rondeau, James Shaw, Kate Withrow, and dancers Erin Healan and Anna Morris.

In the past couple of years many fantastic musicians from all of the the country (and beyond) have auditioned to join the LPO.  This concert features several of our new members in an eclectic program of Russian chamber music and more.  Also on the program is a new choreographic work by LPO cellist Jeanne Jaubert, performed by acclaimed local dancers Anna Morris and Erin Healan.  With works by Tchaikovsky, Arensky, Stravinsky, Schnittke, Borodin and Lera Auerbach, there's a lot packed into this hour-long show that will take place in the strangely beautiful Venusian Gardens Art Gallery.