Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's 2022-23 Chamber Music Series, Curated by Concertmaster and Director of Chamber Music Margaret Batjer, Announced

Series Features Three Programs, Including

Echoes of Austria: Ligeti at 100,

Baroque Concerti, and Masterworks for String Orchestra

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) will present three programs in its 2022-23 chamber music series curated by Concertmaster and Director of Chamber Music Margaret Batjer. Each program, presented at various Westside and/or Eastside venues, highlights a different facet of the diverse chamber repertoire, including Echoes of Austria: Ligeti at 100, Baroque Concerti, and Masterworks for String Orchestra. The chamber music series, which is independent from LACO’s Orchestral Series announced in April, showcases smaller groups of musicians on chamber works from the 12^th century and early Baroque schools through the 20^th century. The performance venues include The Huntington's Rothenberg Hall in San Marino, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, and Zipper Hall in downtown Los Angeles.

Echoes of Austria: Ligeti at 100, which opens the chamber music series, spotlights LACO’s stellar solo winds and acclaimed guest pianist Fabio Bidini, the Carol Colburn Grigor Piano Chair at Colburn School (Sunday, November 6, 2022, 7:00 pm, at Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles). Celebrating the 100^th anniversary of Ligeti’s birth in 1923, the program includes two wind quintets considered among the wind repertoire’s most important 20^th century additions – Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles, arranged for wind quintet from his noted piano cycle Musica ricercata, and Barber’s Summer Music, evocative of the sounds and feel of summer. Also featured are Schubert’s early piano quartet Adagio and Rondo in F major, D. 487, and Brahms’ exquisite and powerful Piano Quintet in F minor, Op.34.

The series continues with Baroque Concerti, a program of virtuosic chamber performances (Saturday, January 28, 7:30 pm, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills; Sunday, January 29, 2023, 7:00 pm, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino). Newly appointed LACO Principal Viola Yura Lee is featured on one of the earliest known viola concertos, Telemann's Concerto in G major, and Principal Trumpet David Washburn performs the pre-classical Concerto for Trumpet in E flat, a hidden gem by little-known Czech composer Johann Baptist Georg Neruda. The program also features Corelli's festive Concerto Grosso in D major, Op. 6 No. 4; Geminiani's charming Concerto Grosso in D major; and Handel's A major Concerto, one of the most celebrated works for strings from the Baroque era. The program is dedicated to the memory of Warner W. Henry, LACO Board Director Emeritus and a champion of chamber and Baroque music.

Masterworks for String Orchestra caps LACO’s chamber series with a selection of rich and varied compositions for string orchestra spanning more than 800 years (Tuesday, May 2, 7:30 pm, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall; Saturday, May 6, 2023, 7:30 pm, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.) LACO presents 12^th century German Saint Hildegard Von Bingen’s “O Virtus Sapientiae”; Britten’s enchanting Simple Symphony, rife with sophisticated orchestration; the compact and lively 10^th Symphony in B minor composed by a teenaged Mendelssohn; Hindemith’s compelling Five Pieces for Strings; and Grieg’s popular Holberg Suite, which blends baroque-style dance with melodic Nordic harmonies.

LACO recognizes the generous support of the Colburn Foundation and the Mellon Foundation. The Orchestra also receives public funding via grants from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. LACO gratefully acknowledges Hogan Lovells US LLP for generous pro bono support.

Steinway is the official piano of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

For information and tickets to Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s 2022-23 chamber music series, please visit www.laco.org or call 213 622 7001 x1.

COVID SAFETY PROTOCOLS
LACO is committed to the health and safety of its patrons, artists and staff. For the most current information on LACO’s COVID safety protocols, visit LACO.org/covid-19.

LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (LACO) ranks among the world’s top musical ensembles. Beloved by audiences and praised by critics, the Orchestra is a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks and, with eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, a champion of contemporary composers. Headquartered in the heart of the country's cultural capital, LACO has been proclaimed “America’s finest chamber orchestra” (Public Radio International), “LA’s most unintimidating chamber music experience” (Los Angeles magazine), “resplendent” (Los Angeles Times), and “one of the world's great chamber orchestras"(KUSC Classical FM). Performing throughout greater Los Angeles, the Orchestra has made 32 recordings, including, most recently, a 2019 BIS Records release of works for violin and chamber orchestra that features Concertmaster Margaret Batjer and the world premiere recording of Pierre Jalbert’s Violin Concerto (a LACO co-commission). In 2020, due to the global pandemic, LACO pivoted from presenting live performances to producing the groundbreaking CLOSE QUARTERS interdisciplinary digital series melding musical and visual arts, which has garnered more than 1.8 million views across social media platforms since its debut in November 2020. The “digitally native” programs, created specifically for streaming and applauded as “musically and artistically compelling” (Los Angeles Times) have “redefined how classical music can be presented in the 21st century (Cultural Attaché). LACO, with offices located in downtown Los Angeles, has toured Europe, South America and Japan, and performed across North America. www.laco.org.

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CHAMBER MUSIC PROGRAMS

Echoes of Austria: Ligeti at 100

Sunday, November 6, 2022, 7:00 pm, Zipper Hall

BARBER Summer Music
LIGETI Six Bagatelles
SCHUBERT Adagio and Rondo Concertante in F major, D. 487

BRAHMS Piano Quintet in F minor, Op.34.

Baroque Concerti

Saturday, January 28, 2023 7:30 pm, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Sunday, January 29, 2023, 7:00 pm, Rothenberg Hall

Yura Lee, viola

David Washburn, trumpet

TELEMANN Concerto in G Major

JOHANN BAPTIST GEORG NERUDA Concerto for Trumpet in E flat

CORELLI Concerto Grosso,  Op. 6 No. 4

GEMINIANI Concerto Grosso in D major

HANDEL Major Concerto
The program is dedicated to the memory of Warner W. Henry, LACO Board Director Emeritus and champion of chamber and Baroque music.

Masterworks for String Orchestra

Tuesday, May 2, 7:30 pm, Rothenberg Hall
Saturday, May 6, 2023, 7:30 pm, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

VON BINGEN “O Virtus Sapientiae”
BRITTEN Simple Symphony
MENDELSSOHN 10^th Symphony in B minor
HINDEMITH Five Pieces for Strings

GRIEG Holberg Suite

TICKETS/INFO

For information about the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s 2022-23 season or to order tickets, please call 213 622 7001, or visit www.laco.org

VENUE ADDRESSES

Rothenberg Hall, The Huntington, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108

Zipper Hall, The Colburn School, 200 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 9390 N. Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

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Artists, dates, times, locations and programs subject to change.