LACO Presents Baroque Concertos for Violin, Oboe, Flute and Harpsichord

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra this season offers a wide range of musical programs, including six intimate chamber presentations curated by Concertmaster and Director of Chamber Music Margaret Batjer, each featuring a smaller compliment of LACO’s superlative artists who elevate gems familiar and new from the prodigious chamber music repertoire. The first of LACO’s chamber presentations spotlights Baroque concertos for violin, oboe, flute and harpsichord on Saturday, December 4, 2021, 8 pm, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino. The program opens with Concerto in A Major for Harpsichord and Strings by Seixas, a preeminent 18^th century composer and harpsichord virtuoso, and also includes Vivaldi’s popular Oboe Concerto in F Major, Pergolesi’s lyrical Violin Concerto in B-flat Major, Haydn’s virtuosic String Quartet Op. 1 No. 1, and Telemann’s Concerto in A minor for Violin, Flute, Oboe and Continuo. LACO artists featured are Tereza Stanislav, violin; Jason Issokson, violin; Catherine Baker, flute; Claire Brazeau, oboe; and Patricia Mabee, harpsichord.

The concert celebrates the life of Warner Henry (March 26, 1938 – August 1, 2020) as well as his generous support, along with his wife, Carol, of LACO and the broader classical music community in Los Angeles. An enthusiastic advocate for the arts and particularly passionate about Baroque music, Warner was an inaugural board member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He and Carol were also generous donors to LACO for more than four decades, giving more than $3 million in support. Additionally, Warner and Carol were instrumental in the formation of the Los Angeles Opera and underwrote several LA Opera productions over the years. The Henry Fund for Mozart Opera continues to underwrite all LA Opera productions of Mozart. Warner and Carol were both longtime members of the LA Opera Executive Committee, Carol most recently as its former chair. Warner was a crucial early benefactor of the Colburn School, sponsoring several of its students and guiding its growth, remaining on its board. He was a longtime supporter of Camerata Pacifica and Musica Angelica, and in recent years had brought the Los Angeles chamber music community together under the aegis of Chamber Music Los Angeles (CMLA). He was also an inaugural board member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

“Warner’s influence on the arts in Los Angeles will be felt for generations to come,” says Batjer, who considered Warner both a friend and arts colleague. “It is an honor for LACO to recognize his tremendous impact on classical musical with an entire program of Baroque works, music that he loved dearly. LACO has always embraced the chamber music genre, in all of its iterations, just like Warner did. The concept for the six conductorless chamber programs LACO is presenting this season, goes back to the Orchestra’s roots – during the time Warner was serving on the Board –  when the orchestra often played without a conductor. Communication between the musicians becomes paramount and is almost palpable, making for particularly exciting performances.”

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.

Tickets are $58 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.

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.