HK Gruber made his first visit to Los Angeles in October to conduct and sing an all-Gruber programme with the LA Philharmonic New Music Group. As the LA Times critic pointed out, it was a visit that was long-overdue, as Gruber's music "couldn't fit better into our own city's musical landscape. Here is something that reconciles the tensions between Stravinsky and Schoenberg, the competing 20th century musical giants who were practically Southland neighbors; and here also is something that reconciles the grave high art of both of them with the popular culture of the movies, comic strips and also with the rebellious political spirit of the '60s." Other firsts for Gruber this season were concerts with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (including works by British composers Colin Matthews, Judith Weir and Simon Bainbridge), the Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa (in Lisbon), and Collegium Novum Zurich at the Zurich Tonhalle. Gruber was also busy anticipating the Kurt Weill centenary in 2000, already conducting Die sieben Todsünden around Austria and at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Symphony No 2 with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, and a recording of Die Dreigroschenoper with Ensemble Modern for BMG (scheduled for release in October 1999). Next season's activities include dates with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, RSO-Frankfurt, Stuttgart Staatsorchester, London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.