Hannah Montana? Not on Timo Andres’ iPod

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Timothy “Timo” Andres is prepping for the Tuesday night premiere of his chamber orchestra composition commissioned for the L.A. Philharmonic as part of the Green Umbrella series at Disney Hall.

It’s another piece to add to his already impressive resume. He’s also been asked to compose works for ACME String Quartet and New York Youth Symphony and an octet for members of the New World Symphony. And people are taking notice. The Boston Globe called his performance of Ives’ “Concord” Sonata “daring and authoritative.” His piece for ACME was deemed “fascinating” by the New York Times.

Did we mention he’s only 24? … And that this young composer, who is also an accomplished pianist, is also juggling a schedule that includes graduating from the Yale School of Music in the coming weeks?

So what does this musical prodigy listen to when he’s not composing or playing piano?

Arcade Fire. Radiohead. Johannes Brahms.

Wait. No guilty pleasures?

“I have a composer friend who insists there should be no such thing as a guilty pleasure,” Andres says. “Because if you like something, why should you feel guilty for it? I think he’s right.”

But mention a certain Disney star, and he changes his stance on the philosophy.

“If I was listening to Hannah Montana, I might feel guilty. I did see the trailers to her new movie and it almost caused physical illness.’

Enough said.

Read more about Timo Andres in my article.

--Yvonne Villarreal