LACO Announces 2022-23 Season

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Music Director Jaime Martín and Executive Director Ben Cadwallader have announced the Orchestra’s 2022-23 Season, an ambitious set of programs showcasing LACO’s virtuosity and versatility through new and iconic works.

The season launches on October 15, 2022, and concludes on May 21, 2023, with LACO presenting a total seven orchestral programs, six of which Martín will conduct—showcasing three LACO-commissioned world premieres by Sound Investment Composers Juan Pablo Contreras (Lucha Libre!), Shelley Washington (Both) and Marc Lowenstein—and such classical music touchstones as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, “Choral,” which LACO will perform with a chorus comprised of singers from a constellation of Southland choirs who will join together as one communal voice to sing the final movement’s uplifting anthem of hope and humanity, “Ode to Joy.”

The Orchestra embraces the familial as well with two programs featuring compelling child-parent links, including the LACO co-commissioned West Coast premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s Heirloom Piano Concerto, performed by his father, acclaimed pianist and LACO Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane, and the LACO debut of sitarist Anoushka Shankar performing Concerto No. 3 for Sitar composed by her legendary father, Ravi Shankar, who helped bring the sitar into the mainstream through his work with such pop groups as The Beatles.

Distinguished guest artists returning to LACO are violinist Gil Shaham, applauded as an American master, performing Dvorák’s Violin Concerto in A Minor, and British cello virtuoso Sheku Kanneh-Mason playing Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D Major. Making their LACO debuts are violist Masumi Per Rostad, praised for his “burnished sound” (The New York Times), featured on Jessie Montgomery’s LACO co-commissioned L.E.S. Characters Viola Concerto; and pianist and The Colburn School faculty member Hye-Jin Kim, “one of South Korea’s most thrilling young classical stars” (Florida Weekly), interpreting Gershwin’s original 1924 version of Rhapsody in Blue. Additional highlights include such classical cornerstones as Dvorák’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major; Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 in D Major, “London”; Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5 in D Major, "Reformation”; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F Major, “Pastoral”; and Bizet’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major. 

“The diverse repertoire and extraordinary artistic collaborations we’re presenting during the 2022-23 season reflect LACO’s core values and my personal artistic belief that music can enrich, connect, and expand our community of music lovers in Los Angeles,” says Music Director Jaime Martín. “LACO also augments the classical canon with several world and West Coast premieres by some of today’s finest composers, including Juan Pablo Contreras, Shelley Washington and Marc Lowenstein, all commissioned through LACO’s Sound Investment program. Plus, we welcome to the stage LACO’s own Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane and five other world-class guest artists whose music and humanity have touched audiences around the globe. The Orchestra’s own virtuosic artists will be spotlighted throughout the season as well.”

LACO Executive Director Ben Cadwallader states, “LACO continues is forward trajectory as one of the nation’s leading chamber orchestras with Jaime shaping its extraordinary sound through his exceptional artistic leadership and immense respect for LACO’s artists. The Orchestra is proud of its longstanding commitment to offering performances at convenient and iconic venues in both the east and west sides of Los Angeles.”

LACO will appear at UCLA’s Royce Hall and Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium. (LACO’s Chamber Music series and venues will be announced at a later time.)

ORCHESTRAL PROGRAMS DETAILED

Beethoven’s Ninth Washington
October 15, 8 pm, Royce Hall; October 16, 2022, 7 pm, Ambassador Auditorium
LACO’s 2022-23 season-opener launches with Music Director Jaime Martín conducting the world premiere of Shelley Washington’s Both, a LACO Sound Investment-commission, and concludes with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, “Choral,” which features a chorus comprised of singers from a constellation of Southland choirs joining together as one communal voice to sing the final movement’s uplifting anthem of hope and humanity, “Ode to Joy.” Washington’s profoundly-felt music, “turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life” (The Washington Post), interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation and social justice. She was LACO’s 2021-22 Sound Investment Composer. Sound Investment is a groundbreaking program LACO established in 2001 to engage audience members in developing new classical works. Joining Sound Investment members in sponsoring Washington’s commission is New Music USA’s Amplifying Voices, a new program that fosters collaboration and collective action toward equitable representation of composers in classical music. Four partnering orchestras will subsequently present regional premieres of Both, including the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony.

Shaham Plays Dvorák
December 11, 2022, 8 pm, Ambassador Auditorium
The second Orchestral program led by Martín features the return appearance of Gil Shaham, “among the most inspired violinists of his generation” (The Guardian), performing Dvorák’s dazzling Violin Concerto in A minor, colored with the folk music of the composer’s Czech roots. Shaham previously recorded with LACO a Close Quarters digital episode that has more than 51,000 views on YouTube. The live concert also includes two distinctive works shaped by Romanian folk music: Ligeti’s Concert Românesc and Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances for Winds. Additionally, Martín conducts Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, reflecting the music of the composer’s childhood in Slovakia, and opens the concert with the world premiere of Juan Pablo Contreras’ Lucha Libre!, a LACO Sound Investment commission that pays tribute to Mexican masked wrestling, the unique cultural phenomenon watched by the composer while growing up in Guadalajara. Subtitled Sinfonia Concertante for Chamber Orchestra, the piece, which LACO initially slated to premiere in March 2020 but was postponed due to the global pandemic, focuses on a "battle" among LACO’s master musicians, whose instruments represent Contreras' favorites of the iconic Lucha Libre characters. Contreras, who served as LACO's 2019-20 Sound Investment composer and received a Latin Grammy Best Arrangement nomination for the title track of his debut orchestral album, Mariachitlán, is “one of the most prominent young composers of Latin America" (Milenio). His music “masterfully portrays the Mexican identity" and is "colorfully orchestrated, emotionally intense and rhythmically vibrant” (El Informador).

Sheku Plays Haydn
January 14, 8 pm, Royce Hall; January 15, 2023, 7 pm, Ambassador Auditorium

Cello virtuoso Sheku Kanneh-Mason returns to LACO to perform Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D Major. Initially slated to appear on LACO’s Orchestral Series in 2018, the engagement was postponed after he was invited to perform the same weekend at the Royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, an event that drew some some 1.9 billion television viewers and made him a household name. Kanneh-Mason first came to prominence as the winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician competition, the first black musician to win the award since its launch in 1978. He has since performed in illustrious venues around the globe, drawing praise for his “bold, charismatic musical storytelling” (The New York Times). He previously appeared under LACO’s umbrella in 2019 a concert co-produced with The Colburn School. This program, conducted by Martín, concludes with Dvorák’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major, a joyous celebration of nature’s wonder.

Kahane Plays Kahane
March 11, 8 pm, Royce Hall; March 12, 2023, 7 pm, Ambassador Auditorium

In the fourth Orchestral program, “Kahane Plays Kahane,” family legacy runs deep. LACO Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane, “a smart and sensitive musician, a celebrated pianist, and a precise and demanding presence on the podium” (Orange County Register) returns to perform the West Coast debut of his son Gabriel Kahane’s Heirloom Piano Concerto, which Gabriel calls “an aural family scrapbook” that he composed for his father. Christopher Rountree conducts the work. In a review of its world premiere in Kansas City, KC Studio Magazine describes the work as “an homage to the intergenerational connections and musical influences that shape Kahane’s life: his parents’ love of folk music, his grandmother’s relationship with Germanic classical music, having escaped Germany in 1938, and his own daughter’s energy and innocence.” The magazine declares Heirloom a “successful fusion of different musical styles and backgrounds, a captivating, contemporary work that sounded suited to our current century, the sort of work that both captures the sounds of today and pushes forward the evolution of orchestral music. Jeffrey Kahane then takes the podium to conduct Haydn’s Symphony No. 5 in D Major, "Reformation.”

Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue

April 1, 8 pm, Ambassador Auditorium; April 2, 2023, 7 pm, Royce Hall

South Korean Pianist Hye-Jin Kim, praised for her “passionate, polished and expressive” performances” (Florida Weekly), joins LACO to interpret Gershwin’s original 1924 version of Rhapsody in Blue. The Colburn School faculty member and recording artist has toured internationally and is a laureate of the Hong Kong Piano Competition, DAAD Prize and Busoni Piano Competition. The program, led by Martín, also features Schoenberg’s lush and melodious Chamber Symphony No. 2; the Adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, considered one of his most popular works; and Mendelssohn’s majestic Symphony No. 5 in D Major, "Reformation.”

Ives, Montgomery Beethoven
April 22, 8 pm, Royce Hall; April 23, 2023, 7 pm, Ambassador Auditorium

The 2022-23 season continues with Jaime Martín leading Jessie Montgomery’s L.E.S. Characters Viola Concerto, a LACO co-commission written for and featuring Grammy Award-winning violist Masumi Per Rostad, who has been praised for his “burnished sound” (The New York Times). The concerto was co-commissioned by the Grant Park Music Festival, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, CityMusic Cleveland, Interlochen Center for the Arts and LACO. Montgomery’s work, described as “exploding with life” (The Washington Post), skillfully weaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, language and social justice. The program is bookended by Ives’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Symphony No. 3, "The Camp Meeting," and Beethoven’s joyful Symphony No. 6 in F Major, “Pastoral.”

Shankar Plays Shankar
May 20, 8 pm, Ambassador Auditorium; May 21, 2023, 7 pm, Royce Hall

For LACO’s season finale, family figures prominently, again, with sitarist Anoushka Shankar making her LACO debut, under Jaime Martín’s baton, with a performance of Concerto No. 3 for Sitar composed by her legendary father, the late Ravi Shankar, who brought the sitar into the mainstream through his pop music collaborations with The Beatles and others. Anoushka, heralded for her “lush mediations…dazzling runs and leaps,” has forged a “Grammy-nominated career (that) has carried the family business to new cross-cultural heights” (New York Classical Review). LACO also presents a world premiere by 2022-23 Sound Investment composer Marc Lowenstein, the founding music director of The Industry, Los Angeles’ groundbreaking and widely acclaimed experimental opera company, whose music is infused with a searching sense of narrative and mysticism. De Falla’s colorful The Three-Cornered Hat Suite No.1 opens the program, which wraps with Bizet’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major, written when the composer was just 17-years-old.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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.

TICKETS/INFORMATION

For additional information about Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s 2022-23 season or to order tickets, please visit www.laco.org or call 213 622 7001 x1.