Post-It keeps in mind commemorating the well known mountain lion called P-22 cover a display wall at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. The popular puma acquired popularity as P-22 and shone a spotlight on the struggling population of California’s threatened mountain lions and their reducing hereditary variety. After the huge cat’s death, he was eulogized in front of 5,000 individuals at the Greek Theatre on Feb. 4. Now, the Los Angeles Philharmonic has actually commissioned a musical structure in his honor. It will debut on Sept. 12, 2023 at the Hollywood Bowl. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
It might be the classiest homage of them all.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra has actually commissioned a musical structure in honor of P-22, that precious mountain lion who was euthanized last December and was buried in the Santa Monica mountains by tribal leaders. The brave cougar, who made his home in Griffith Park for ten years, was famed for venturing from the far-off Simi Hills and securely crossing both the 101 and 405 highways — the just one of his kind to finish both of those dangerous crossings unharmed.
The piece, a five-minute excitement entitled “Cool Cat,” was made up by Adam Schoenberg, an Emmy-winning and Grammy-chosen author for movie, television and orchestras around the world who lives in Eagle Rock. It will premiere on Sept. 12 at the Hollywood Bowl as an opener for LA Phil’s program that includes works by Philip Glass and Gustav Holst.
P-22, (P means puma, another name for mountain lions, likewise called cougars) belonged to a two-decade long research study by the U.S. National Park Service of approximately 50 cougars in the Santa Monica Mountains hemmed in by highways and threatened with inbreeding and termination. His dad was P-1.
The slick, stealth and sometimes lively male lion who would venture outdoors park limits to take advantage of animal chihuahuas and appeared in close-ups on numerous house owner video feeds, caught internal injuries after being struck by a vehicle.
He reached Hollywood star status for his perseverance and city survival impulses, qualities shared by his human next-door neighbors, and ended up being the topic of murals, posters, museum shows, school art and science jobs — and on Feb. 4 his own memorial event in front of 5,000 individuals at the Greek Theatre.
There’s a Congressional effort to put his image on a U.S. postage stamp. The Los Angeles City Council on March 15 passed a resolution to commission a statue for the Tom LaBonge Panorama Trail, a treking course by the Griffith Observatory, near where P-22 lived his last ten years wandering for food however never ever discovering a mate. Efforts continue to celebrate him amongst the stars of Tinsel Town on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
And his similarity might appear at the biggest wildlife crossing being developed to cover the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills. That significant accomplishment, stimulated on by the love affair Angelenos had with the wild monster, might cause a safe crossing for lions and other wildlife frequently killed on L.A.’s highways.
As the drive to save the Santa Monica Mountain cougars grew in a city of 3 million individuals mostly since of the story of P-22, so have the variety of homages to the “Hollywood Cat.”
“You cannot over-memorialize this cat,” said Beth Pratt, P-22’s representative and self-described BFF of the well-known cat. Her main title is California local executive director for the National Wildlife Federation.
But this nod to P-22’s tradition might be the most unique, she said.
“This latest one, we were all like, wow. This has a little upside,” she said on Thursday, April 6. “We’ve already bought tickets and we will all be there.”
Schoenberg, whose other job is teaching music at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, called his piece a positive lead-in to the night of symphonic music. “Cool Cat is a celebration more than anything else, as I was specifically asked to not write an elegy,” he said on April 6.
“It’s very rhythmic, lively and energetic,” said Schoenberg, 42. “The piece starts with strings and then the orchestra comes in with brass. After a huge climax, the piece rebuilds to a bigger climax.” In the middle, it decreases as the music pictures the cat’s fantastic journey. “I wanted it to be the exploratory of how P-22 survived in the habitat of Griffith Park,” he explained.
The piece functions Afro-Cuban and Japanese-design drums in addition to “a fun trumpet solo,” he said. It’s devoted to his 7-year-old kid, Leo, an energetic boy who likes soccer.
A wild mountain lion is not your normal muse. “No one ever asked me before to write a piece of music based on an animal,” he said.
Many musical works have actually been made up as tributes to well-known individuals, however this one is distinct, said Meghan Umber, LA Phil’s senior vice president of shows, in an emailed reaction. “But this is the first piece in honor of a wild cat to my knowledge.”
Schoenberg was asked to compose the piece quickly after P-22’s death. He composed it in 3 weeks, stating he was influenced by P-22’s story. He sent a digital mockup to the LA Philharmonic so the orchestra might get a feel for what it seems like.
“I can’t wait to hear it played live at the Hollywood Bowl – the orchestra will add so much energy and spirit to the score,” said Umber.
