LACO's All-Digital Season Launches with Back-to-Back Programs

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), launches its all-digital 2020-21 season, entitled LACO: Close Quarters, with back-to-back “Border Crossings” programs curated and led by LACO Principal Keyboard Patricia Mabee from the harpsichord and featuring compelling visual elements directed by groundbreaking director/designer/artist James Darrah, LACO 2020-21 Creative Director of Digital Content. Episode 1, “Border Crossings Part I,” showcasing Baroque works and Baroque-inspired composers from Bolivia, Mexico and Spain, opens the season, premiering on Friday, November 6, 2020, 6:30 pm (PT). Episode 2, “Border Crossings Continued,” premiering on Friday, November 20, 2020, at 6:30 pm (PT), explores works by Spanish Baroque composers Josep Pla and Santiago de Murcia, and 20^th Century Brazilian composer Hieto Villa-Lobos. The “digitally native” programs, created specifically for streaming, are each between 30 and 40 minutes in length and are filmed at The Colburn School’s Olive Rehearsal Hall. In addition, Darrah has established a creative hub for developing artistic media content with L.A.-based artists and filmmakers at a first-of-its-kind LACO digital studio at Wilhardt & Naud, a film studio and multidisciplinary arts campus located in Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles. The artists, inspired by the Orchestra’s musical programming, will create works in a variety of mediums that will factor into the broadcasts and endure long after the season concludes. Thanks to the generosity of individual donors, these programs are available to the public at no cost. Broadcasts can be streamed at LACO.org/laco-at-home, and on LACO’s YouTube channel and Facebook live.

“Conceptually, we are adding visual artists to LACO’s musician’s roster so they are part of the orchestra for the 2020-21 season,” says Darrah. “While each episode of LACO Close Quarters contains certain content-driven elements, the visual elements are intentionally designed to evolve over the course of the season and feature overarching themes. The first two programs, for example, introduce the notion of a blank slate that will be built upon in coming episodes. None of the artists we’re featuring have previously worked with an orchestra in a collaborative capacity.”

LACO Close Quarters builds upon the highly successful LACO SummerFest series, the Orchestra’s first foray into streaming that concluded in September and featured five digital chamber music concerts that have attracted nearly 140,000 views to date.

Subsequent LACO Close Quarters episodes premiere on Fridays, December 4 and 18, 2020, January 1, 15 and 29, February 12 and 26, March 12 and 26, April 9 and 23, May 7 and 21, and June 4, 2021, at 6:30 pm (PT).

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. James Darrah at LACO is generously underwritten by Ruth Eliel and Bill Cooney. The premiere episode of LACO Close Quarters on November 6, 2020, is sponsored in part by Anne and Jeff Grausam. The first two episodes of Close Quarters are dedicated to the memory of Warner Henry. For episode #4 premiering on December 18, 2020, Jaime Martín and Jeffrey Kahane at LACO are generously sponsored by Ned and Dana Newman. Juan Pablo Contreras and episode #5 premiering on January 15, 2020, are generously sponsored by Anne-Marie and Alex Spataru. To support LACO, its stellar artists and digital programming, please visit LACO.org/donate or call (213) 622-7001, EXT. 4.

The broadcasts will be available on demand at laco.org/laco-at-home, LACO’s YouTube channel and Facebook live.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), led by Music Director Jaime Martín, ranks among the world’s top musical ensembles. Beloved by audiences and praised by critics, LACO 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). Martín, who builds upon LACO's rich legacy, made his first appearance as LACO's Music Director Designate in early 2019 in a concert described by the Los Angeles Times, as "a thrilling performance, and the orchestra played like it was having the time of its life," adding, "he will make fans very quickly." 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.” Performing throughout greater Los Angeles, the Orchestra presents orchestral, Baroque and chamber concerts as well as salon evenings in private spaces and unique experiences that explore classical music's cutting-edge sounds. 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). LACO, with offices located in downtown Los Angeles, has toured Europe, South America and Japan, and performed across North America.