Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) is a 40-member American
chamber orchestra
based in Los Angeles
, California
, considered by music critic Jim Svejda
as "America's finest chamber orchestra".
, and Marriner used the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
as a guiding model for the ensemble. At the beginning of LACO's history, the orchestra did not have a residency at a single concert hall; it performed at the Mark Taper Forum
, Occidental College
(Thorne Hall), the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, and the Beckman Auditorium at Caltech
.
The LACO presents 14 Orchestral Series concerts annually at two theaters: the Alex Theatre
in Glendale
and UCLA
's Royce Hall
, and occasionally plays additional concerts at Zipper Hall
at The Colburn School and at Ambassador Auditorium
. In addition to its 14 concerts at the Alex Theatre and Royce Hall, LACO presents a Baroque Conversations series at Zipper Hall, a Family Series at the Alex Theatre and a chamber music series (Westside Connections) at the Broad Stage of the Santa Monica Performing Arts Center. The orchestra also presents an annual silent-film screening with live orchestral music at Royce Hall.
LACO's repertoire ranges from the Baroque
to newly commissioned works
(the latter presented through its patron-commissioning club, Sound Investment). The Orchestra is recognized for championing young artists at the beginning of their careers and working with leading artists. In celebration of the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's birth (27 January 2006), the orchestra performed all 23 of Mozart's piano concerti over a 15-month period, which no other U.S. orchestra had attempted. All 23 were conducted by Jeffrey Kahane
from the keyboard, as was the practice during Mozart's life. In April 2002 the orchestra made its Carnegie Hall
debut, and in June 2005 the LACO received the First Place Award for Programming of Contemporary Music from American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
(ASCAP) and the American Symphony Orchestra League. The orchestra has been honored with the Award for Adventurous Programming from ASCAP and the League of American Orchestras.
The LACO has performed by invitation in Carnegie Hall’s Chamber Music series under the Kahane's direction, and also in South America, Europe and Japan. On its most recent tour of European music capitals (including Paris, Vienna, Berlin and San Sebastián), LACO was praised for its “orchestral athleticism and dynamism” and the “tremendous precision of [its] ensemble playing”. The 2008-09 season marked the LACO's 40th anniversary. The season featured a world premiere by American composer Christopher Theofanidis (the eighth commission of Sound Investment); two world premieres of works composed by members of the orchestra; two U.S. premieres and the West Coast premiere of Osvaldo Golijov
's Azul with cellist Yo-Yo Ma
. The LACO also performs for local elementary-school students in its "Meet the Music" program. Through its "Neighborhood Concerts" program, the Orchestra provides opportunities for new and underserved audiences to experience live orchestral music.
, who expanded the orchestra's repertoire to include more American works. Iona Brown
was named the LACO's music advisor for the 1986–1987 season and became music director the next season, serving through 1992. Christof Perick
followed from 1992 to 1995. The orchestra's current music director is conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane, who has led the ensemble since 1997. In March 2008, Kahane extended his contract with LACO through the 2011–2012 season.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chamber orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
based in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, considered by music critic Jim Svejda
Jim Svejda
Jim Svejda is American music commentator and critic on the FM radio station KUSC. He is the host of the weekly syndicated classical music program The Record Shelf, which is broadcast on many NPR stations, and a local nightly classical program, Classical Music with Jim Svejda, as well as the host...
as "America's finest chamber orchestra".
History
LACO was founded in 1968 as an artistic outlet for the local film and record studios' most gifted musicians to perform the classical music repertoire for a chamber orchestra of about 40-45 members. The orchestra’s artistic founder, cellist James Arkatov, envisioned an ensemble which would allow conservatory-trained players to balance studio work and teaching with artistic collaboration. With the financial backing of philanthropist Richard Colburn and management from attorney Joseph Troy (the orchestra’s first president), LACO presented its first performance in the fall of 1969. Many of the orchestra's musicians are still employed by local recording and film studios. The LACO's first music director was Neville MarrinerNeville Marriner
Sir Neville Marriner is an English conductor and violinist.-Biography:Marriner was born in Lincoln and studied at the Royal College of Music and the Paris Conservatoire. He played the violin in the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Martin String Quartet and London Symphony Orchestra, playing with the...
, and Marriner used the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is an English chamber orchestra, based in London.Sir Neville Marriner founded the ensemble as The Academy of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields in London as a small, conductorless string group. The ensemble's name comes from Trafalgar Square's St Martin-in-the-Fields...
as a guiding model for the ensemble. At the beginning of LACO's history, the orchestra did not have a residency at a single concert hall; it performed at the Mark Taper Forum
Mark Taper Forum
The Mark Taper Forum is a 739 seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles...
, Occidental College
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...
(Thorne Hall), the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, and the Beckman Auditorium at Caltech
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
.
The LACO presents 14 Orchestral Series concerts annually at two theaters: the Alex Theatre
Alex Theatre (Glendale, California)
The Alex Theatre is a landmark located at 216 North Brand Boulevard in Glendale, California of the United States of America. It is currently owned by the City of Glendale and operated by Glendale Arts.-Architecture:...
in Glendale
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
and UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
's Royce Hall
Royce Hall
Royce Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles . Designed by the Los Angeles firm of Allison & Allison in the Italian Romanesque Revival style and completed in 1929, it is one of the four original buildings on UCLA's Westwood campus and has come to be the...
, and occasionally plays additional concerts at Zipper Hall
Zipper Hall
Herbert Zipper Concert Hall is a 415 seat music venue located on the campus of the Colburn School in Los Angeles, California, United States. In addition to serving as a performance space for the school, it also is home to Monday Evening Concerts, Southwest Chamber Music, Piano Spheres, and Musica...
at The Colburn School and at Ambassador Auditorium
Ambassador Auditorium
Ambassador Auditorium is located on the historic Ambassador College campus in Pasadena, California, USA. It was built under the guidance of Herbert W...
. In addition to its 14 concerts at the Alex Theatre and Royce Hall, LACO presents a Baroque Conversations series at Zipper Hall, a Family Series at the Alex Theatre and a chamber music series (Westside Connections) at the Broad Stage of the Santa Monica Performing Arts Center. The orchestra also presents an annual silent-film screening with live orchestral music at Royce Hall.
LACO's repertoire ranges from the Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
to newly commissioned works
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
(the latter presented through its patron-commissioning club, Sound Investment). The Orchestra is recognized for championing young artists at the beginning of their careers and working with leading artists. In celebration of the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's birth (27 January 2006), the orchestra performed all 23 of Mozart's piano concerti over a 15-month period, which no other U.S. orchestra had attempted. All 23 were conducted by Jeffrey Kahane
Jeffrey Kahane
Jeffrey Alan Kahane is an American classical music pianist and conductor. He is music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.-Personal history:...
from the keyboard, as was the practice during Mozart's life. In April 2002 the orchestra made its Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
debut, and in June 2005 the LACO received the First Place Award for Programming of Contemporary Music from American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization that protects its members' musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music, whether via a broadcast or live performance, and compensating them...
(ASCAP) and the American Symphony Orchestra League. The orchestra has been honored with the Award for Adventurous Programming from ASCAP and the League of American Orchestras.
The LACO has performed by invitation in Carnegie Hall’s Chamber Music series under the Kahane's direction, and also in South America, Europe and Japan. On its most recent tour of European music capitals (including Paris, Vienna, Berlin and San Sebastián), LACO was praised for its “orchestral athleticism and dynamism” and the “tremendous precision of [its] ensemble playing”. The 2008-09 season marked the LACO's 40th anniversary. The season featured a world premiere by American composer Christopher Theofanidis (the eighth commission of Sound Investment); two world premieres of works composed by members of the orchestra; two U.S. premieres and the West Coast premiere of Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
's Azul with cellist Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
. The LACO also performs for local elementary-school students in its "Meet the Music" program. Through its "Neighborhood Concerts" program, the Orchestra provides opportunities for new and underserved audiences to experience live orchestral music.
Leadership
Neville Marriner was LACO's first music director followed by Gerard SchwarzGerard Schwarz
Gerard Schwarz is an American conductor. He was music director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 2011.In 2007 Schwarz was named music director of the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, having served as principal conductor since 2005...
, who expanded the orchestra's repertoire to include more American works. Iona Brown
Iona Brown
Iona Brown, OBE was a British violinist and conductor.Elizabeth Iona Brown was born in Salisbury. Her parents Antony and Fiona were both musicians...
was named the LACO's music advisor for the 1986–1987 season and became music director the next season, serving through 1992. Christof Perick
Christof Perick
Christof Prick , who uses the name Christof Perick in English-speaking countries, is a German orchestra conductor. His father was the concertmaster of the Hamburg Philharmonic.Perick's conducting posts include:...
followed from 1992 to 1995. The orchestra's current music director is conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane, who has led the ensemble since 1997. In March 2008, Kahane extended his contract with LACO through the 2011–2012 season.