Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra launches season with Mozart Beethoven

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra returns to the stage, launching the 2021-22 Season with two celebrated masterworks on Saturday, November 13, 8 pm, at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Music Director Jaime Martín leads acclaimed pianist Jeffrey Kahane, LACO’s Conductor Laureate, on Mozart’s enchanting Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat major, noted for its colorful interplay between piano and woodwinds. Martín also conducts Beethoven’s deeply emotional Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Eroica, considered among the composer’s greatest works. The concert, which marks the Orchestra’s full return to the concert hall since the global pandemic shuttered live performances more than a year and a half ago, is the first of 13 orchestral, chamber and new music programs offered this season by LACO.

“We have planned a wonderful musical celebration to welcome patrons back to the concert hall to, once again, savor LACO’s artistry and experience the power, emotion and joy of live music,” says Martín, whose contract was recently extended through 2027. “It will be a true ‘family affair’ with LACO’s remarkable Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane joining us on piano to open the program. I have tremendous respect and admiration for Jeffrey and am deeply honored to, once again, share the stage with him, especially for this significant concert.”  Regarding Beethoven’s Eroica, Martín adds, “I selected this sublime work because it is such a fitting statement about humanity at this particular time in the world.”

“LACO is thrilled to return to a full season of live performances,” states LACO Executive Director Ben Cadwallader. “The opening program embraces the Orchestra’s legacy as one of the world’s leading Mozart interpreters while also showcasing its stellar artistic leadership with both Music Director Jaime Martín, and his predecessor, Jeffrey Kahane, LACO’s Conductor Laureate, on stage together to launch the season.”

LACO recognizes the generous support of the Colburn Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Steinway is the official piano of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. 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.  “Mozart Beethoven” is generously sponsored by Jim Mulally.

Tickets start at $29 and may be purchased online at laco.org or by calling LACO at 213 622 7001 x1. Discounted tickets are also available by phone for seniors 65 years of age and older and for students.

COVID SAFETY PROTOCOLS
LACO is committed to the health and safety of its patrons, artists and staff and will require proof of full vaccination for everyone attending in-person LACO events. Social distancing will be implemented and, under current Los Angeles County guidelines, masks will be required indoors at all times. LACO will continue to exceed state and local guidelines, recommendations and requirements for indoor activities. For the most current information on LACO’s COVID safety protocols, visit LACO.org/covid-19.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

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 1.6 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.

In September 2019, JAIME MARTÍN assumed his LACO post and also became Chief Conductor of the RTE National Symphony Orchestra. In LACO concert reviews, the Los Angeles Times has hailed Martín’s “infectious music making,” noting “the musicians seem to be having a blast. The audience is invited to the party.” Overseas, he has been praised as "a visionary conductor, discerning and meticulous" (Platea Magazine), and London's The Telegraph said, "his infectious enjoyment of the music communicated to the orchestra and audience alike.” He has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Gävle Symphony Orchestra since 2013 and is the Artistic Advisor of the Santander Festival.  He was also a founding member of the Orquestra de Cadaqués, where he was Chief Conductor from 2012 to 2019. Having spent many years as a highly regarded flautist, Martín turned to conducting full-time in 2013, and very quickly became sought after at the highest level.  Recent and future engagements include appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Antwerp Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony and Gulbenkian orchestras, as well as a nine-city European tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Martín has recorded a series of highly acclaimed Brahms discs for Ondine Records with the Gävle Symphony and various discs with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra for Tritó Records. He has also commissioned multiple world and regional premieres of works by composers including Ellen Reid, Andrew Norman, Missy Mazzoli, Derrick Spiva, Albert Schnelzer and Juan Pablo Contreras. As a flautist, Martín was principal flute of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, English National Opera, Academy of St Martin the Fields and London Philharmonic Orchestra. Jaime Martín is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music, London, where he was a flute professor.

JEFFREY KAHANE appears as soloist with major orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Chicago and San Francisco symphonies, among many others. He is also a popular artist at major U.S. summer music festivals, including Aspen, Blossom, Caramoor, Mostly Mozart and Ravinia. In May 2017, Kahane completed his 20th and final season as music director of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. During his highly successful tenure, he spearheaded the creation of numerous new initiatives, including Westside Connections, a chamber music series that brings together LACO musicians and guest artists with speakers from a wide range of disciplines; Baroque Conversations, which presents chamber and orchestral music of the 17th and 18th centuries with spoken program notes and audience Q and A; “Discover” concerts, evenings devoted to the exploration of a single work involving an hour long lecture with the orchestra on stage, followed by a complete performance; and Sound Investment, a commissioning club whereby for a modest investment, LACO patrons can participate in the commissioning of a major new work and interact with the composer from the very first stages of its conception to the performance. Between this program and the regular commissioning of new pieces, over 50 works were premiered by LACO during his tenure. Kahane has recorded for the SONY, EMI, Telarc, RCA, Nonesuch, Deutsche Grammophon, Virgin Records, Decca/Argo and Haenssler labels in collaboration with the New World, Cincinnati, Bournemouth and Oregon Bach Festival symphonies. He has also recorded works by Gershwin and Bernstein with Yo-Yo- Ma, the complete works for violin and piano by Schubert with Joseph Swensen, and Bach concertos with LACO and Hilary Hahn.