LACO, Led by Music Director Jaime Martín, Features Cello Virtuoso Sheku Kanneh-Mason on Haydn’s Iconic Cello Concerto in D Major

Program also Includes Works by Bologne and
Siblings Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn

Saturday, January 14, 8 pm, at UCLA’s Royce Hall

Sunday, January 15, 2023, 7 pm, at Glendale’s Alex Theatre

(Los Angeles, CA) Cello virtuoso Sheku Kanneh-Mason joins Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Jaime Martín, to perform Haydn’s iconic Cello Concerto in D Major in back-to-back concerts on Saturday, January 14, 8 pm, at UCLA’s Royce Hall, and Sunday, January 15, 2023, 7 pm, at Glendale’s Alex Theatre. Spotlighting the remarkable diversity of the classical era, LACO also performs Bologne’s Symphony No. 1 in G Major and the works of siblings Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, including Overture in C Major by Fanny (Hensel), one of the few surviving works by the beloved older sister of Felix, whose own Symphony No. 4 in A Major, “Italian,” caps the program. 

Kanneh-Mason was Initially slated to appear on LACO’s Orchestral Series in 2018 but 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 nearly two billion television viewers globally 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 in a concert co-produced with The Colburn School.

LACO recognizes the generous support of the Colburn Foundation and the Andrew W. 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. 

Royce Hall is located at 340 Royce Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90095. The Alex Theatre is located at 216 North Brand Boulevard, Glendale, CA 91203. For tickets ($29 - $133) and information, please visit www.laco.org or call 213 221 3920.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

SHEKU KANNEH-MASON, a Decca Classics recording artist, is already in great demand from major orchestras and concert halls worldwide. His latest album, Song, showcases his lyrical playing with a wide selection of arrangements and collaborations. His 2020 album Elgar reached No. 8 in the main UK Official Album Chart, making him the first ever cellist to reach the UK Top 10. Since his debut in 2017, Kanneh-Mason has performed every summer at the BBC Proms, including in 2020 when he gave a breath-taking recital performance with his sister, Isata, to an empty auditorium due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He was selected to appear in the coveted role as guest soloist at the 2022 Last Night of the Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. A graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music where he studied with Hannah Roberts, Kanneh-Mason was appointed in May 2022 as the Academy’s first Menuhin Visiting Professor of Performance Mentoring. He is an ambassador for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Future Talent, and Music Masters. Kanneh-Mason was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List. He plays a Matteo Goffriller cello from 1700 which is on indefinite loan to him.

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.

JAIME MARTÍN assumed his LACO post and also became Chief Conductor of Ireland’s RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in September 2019. 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 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.

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