from the executive director dear friends,
It is a season of change at LACO as new faces shift into leadership roles, and we continue to expand into new venues. Music director designate Jaime Martín visits often, culminating in a two-week April and May residency to conduct Mozart’s Requiem and Bryce Dessner’s Voy a Dormir, appear throughout the community and lead a Spanish-themed Gala – mark your calendars for Thursday, May 2, 2019.
Long-time LACO supporter Leslie Lassiter began her term as Board Chair over the summer, bringing to the helm her lifelong passion and advocacy for orchestral and chamber music, as well as her commitment to commissioning the country’s leading young West Ryan photo composers. I know that Leslie is eager to hear your thoughts as we continue to foster the dialogue that exists among LACO’s audiences, musicians, board and the wider community.
Derrick Spiva, Jr., whose infectious music you’ve now heard twice on our Orchestral Series, has been appointed Artist Educator, a role that places him at the creative intersection of our concert and community offerings, strengthening each through the belief that great artistry and authentic outreach are mutually-reinforcing endeavors. On October 4, you can peek into Derrick’s curatorial mind with SESSION at Hauser & Wirth in downtown’s Arts District. He also hosts Meet the Music concerts for Los Angeles-area schoolchildren and mentors four of the newest members of the LACO family, the first class of The LA Orchestra Fellowship participants. These four early-career musicians of color will take a two-year journey with LACO, Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and USC Thornton School of Music to prepare them to be virtuoso performers – and virtuoso agents of change – across the classical music field. Our LACO musicians – renowned not only for their on-stage artistry, but also as some of the region’s top teachers – will be there guiding the fellows towards their musical and career goals. Learn more about The LA Orchestra Fellowship on page 15.
As for those new venues? LACO expands its commitment to the Westside with Baroque Conversations at the St. Monica and First Presbyterian churches in Santa Monica while extending our Valley presence through another partnership with the Soraya at CSU Northridge in November. We return to Santa Barbara’s Granada Theatre in December, presented by the Community Music and Arts Association, to honor that storied institution’s centennial and the resilience of the Santa Barbara community this past year.
On December 11, 13 and 14, mandolin phenom Avi Avital joins Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for his plucky take on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. On pages 51-55, journalist Donald Munro explores why the seasons – with their association with change, renewal, birth and passing – have fascinated composers and creators across multiple genres and successive centuries.
In the spring, we return to the Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall, scene of last year’s sold out inaugural In Focus concerts. Curated by concertmaster Margaret Batjer, In Focus is your chance to experience LACO on a more intimate scale. We also step into the recording studio this fall with Margaret and conductor laureate Jeffrey Kahane for a forthcoming release of concertos for violin and chamber orchestra.
As LACO's new season begins, our legacy of intimate and transformative musical and community experiences continues. We are, as always, humbled to be taking this journey with you, inspired and sustained by your support.
Best,
Scott Harrison Executive Director los angeles chamber orchestra / 3 programs at a glance
beethoven’s “pastoral” (p.43) orchestral series fri nov 16 @ 8 pm • The Soraya, Northridge sat @ 8 pm • Alex Theatre hilary hahn plays bach (p.25) nov 17 sat sep 29 @ 8 pm, Alex Theatre sun nov 18 @ 7 pm • Royce Hall sun sep 30 @ 7 pm, Royce Hall David Danzmayr conductor Jennifer Koh violin Gemma New conductor Hilary Hahn violin Korngold Straussiana Margaret Batjer violin Ligeti Violin Concerto Beethoven Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral” Andrew Norman Try Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D minor Bach Violin Concerto in E major mozart + beethoven’s fifth (p.57) Donatoni Eco (US Premiere) sat @ 8pm • Alex Theatre Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4, “Italian” jan 26 sun jan 27 @ 7pm • Royce Hall Peter Oundjian conductor sibelius’ third (p.31) Jonathan Biss piano sat oct 27 @ 8 pm • Alex Theatre Sarah Gibson warp & weft (Sound Investment commission, sun oct 28 @ 7 pm • Royce Hall world premiere) Thomas Dausgaard conductor Mozart Piano Concerto No. 17 Anthony McGill clarinet Seeger Andante for Strings Beethoven Symphony No. 5 Grieg Two Norwegian Airs Nielsen Clarinet Concerto Arvo Pärt Silouan’s Song Sibelius Symphony No. 3
4 / los angeles chamber orchestra programs at a glance baroque conversations claire brazeau on sonatas for oboe (p.37) thu nov 8 @ 7:30 pm • Zipper Hall fri nov 9 @ 7:30 pm • St. Monica Catholic Church Claire Brazeau leader & oboe Sammartini Sonata in G major for cello and continuo Graun Trio for Violin, Horn & Bassoon Telemann Trio No. 3 Couperin Thirteenth Concert from The Reunited Tastes, or New Concerts Adès Sonata da Caccia Pla Sonata for Oboe, Violin & Basso Continuo Telemann Paris Quartet No. 6 avi avital & the four seasons (p.48) tue dec 11 @ 7:30 pm • Granada Theatre, Santa Barbara thu dec 13 @ 7:30 pm • Zipper Hall fri dec 14 @ 7:30 pm • St. Monica Catholic Church Avi Avital leader & mandolin (The Four Seasons) Maraget Batjer violin Tereza Stanislav violin Josefina Vergara violin Sarah Thornblade violin Vivaldi Concerto for Two Violins in G minor Vivaldi Concerto for Two Violins in A minor Vivaldi The Four Seasons monica huggett leads bohemian trumpets (p.61) thurs feb 7 @ 7:30 pm • Zipper Hall fri feb 8 @ 7:30 pm • First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica Monica Huggett leader & violin David Washburn trumpet Vejvanovsky Serenade in C Major Schmelzer The Fencing School Melani Sonata à 5 Muffat Concerto Grosso No. 1 Rittler Ciaccona Biber Battalia additional events acoustic caffeine with LACO free and open to the public Chamber music every fourth Wednesday of the month through October 2018, in the concourse of Bank of America Plaza, DTLA. Presented in partnership with Arts Brookfield. as part of the Brookfield Arts series. thu oct 4 @ 8 pm • Hauser & Wirth, DTLA Derrick Spiva Jr. curator
los angeles chamber orchestra / 5 los angeles chamber orchestra roster
2018-19 season
Jaime Martín, music director designate Jeffrey Kahane, conductor laureate Andrew Norman, creative advisor & composer-in-residence Derrick Spiva Jr., artist educator Sarah Gibson, 2018-19 sound investment composer
violin I bass harp Margaret Batjer David Grossman JoAnn Turovsky concertmaster principal principal Tereza Stanislav assistant flute keyboard concertmaster Sandy Hughes Patricia Mabee Jacqueline Brand principal Jennifer Munday oboe Julie Gigante Claire Brazeau timpani/ Maia Jasper White principal percussion Tamara Hatwan Allan Vogel chair, Wade Culbreath Susan Rishik endowed by the principal Henry Family violin II the los angeles Josefina Vergara clarinet orchestra principal Joshua Ranz fellowship Sarah Thornblade principal Sydney Adedamola associate principal Chris Stoutenborough violin Cheryl Norman-Brick Ayrton Pisco Connie Kupka bassoon violin Carrie Kennedy Kenneth Munday Bradley Parrimore Joel Pargman principal viola Damian Montano Juan-Salvador Carrasco viola cello Victoria Miskolczy horn associate principal Michael Thornton librarian Robert Brophy principal Serge Liberovsky Carole Castillo Kristy McArthur Morrell personnel cello trumpet manager Andrew Shulman David Washburn Ryan Sweeney principal principal Armen Ksajikian associate principal Trevor Handy Giovanna Clayton
Our thanks to Dana & Ned Newman for their generous gift to the endowment in support of the Dana & Ned Newman Musician’s Lounge. board of directors officers emeritus honorary council Leslie Lassiter board of directors Alan Chapman chair James Arkatov Plácido Domingo Ruth L. Eliel founder Dustin & Lisa Hoffman vice chair Suzanne Lloyd Raymond Lowe Hilda Herrera Adler Ginny Mancini treasurer Roberto Apelfeld Zev Yaroslavsky Shaheen Nanji Bob Attiyeh secretary Titus Brenninkmeijer Scott Harrison Bruce Broughton chairs emeriti executive director Nicholas G. Ciriello Richard D. Colburn, David Cohen in memoriam Jennifer Diener Robert DeWitt, members at large Russell B. Faucett in memoriam Ahsan Aijaz John Fibiger Jennifer Diener Julie Andersen Joyce Fienberg Lois Evans, Lee Chu Sanford Gage in memoriam June Li Debra Gastler J. Stuart Fishler, Jr. Dana Newman David L. Gersh David L. Gersh Eugene M. Ohr Ahmad Gramian, David K. Ingalls Gene Shutler in memoriam Morton B. Jackson, Anne-Marie Spataru Anne Grausam in memoriam Warner Henry Walter McBee, David K. Ingalls in memoriam advisory council Stephen A. Kanter, MD Dana Newman Alan Arkatov in memoriam Edward J. Nowak Stephen Block Hanna M. Kennedy Frederic M. Roberts NancyBell Coe Stuart Laff Michael Rosen Gail Eichenthal Gary Larsen Ronald S. Rosen, Kay Duke Ingalls Edward J. Nowak in memoriam Charmaine Jefferson Martin C. Recchuite Carol D. Ross Allan Kotin Judith Rosen Gene Shutler Saul Levine Carol Ross Gregory J. Soukup Toby Mayman Gregory J. Soukup Joseph Troy, Winifred White Neisser Brigitta Troy in memoriam Bruce Ross Edith H.L. Van Huss Stephen F. Weiner Gil Tong Richard S. Volpert Les J. Weinstein
8 / los angeles chamber orchestra administration executive finance & marketing, sales & Scott Harrison administration communications executive director Karin Burns Justus Zimmerman director of finance director of marketing Lacey Huszcza & administration associate executive director Coleman Richardson Zachary Olea ticket services & patron accounting assistant experience manager advancement Julia Paras Mike Mancillas director of advancement & artistic operations & digital strategy & leadership giving community programs design manager Kate Kammeyer Isabel De Boel general manager Stephanie Yoon assistant director of ticket services assistant advancement operations Gregg Gleasner senior artistic advisor Marika Suzuki Brandon Faber marketing assistant individual giving & Taylor Lockwood advancement manager operations & community Libby Huebner programs coordinator Laura Stegman Beverly Wu public relations events manager David Rakita artistic & community Alana Miles programs coordinator executive & advancement associate
official sponsors of los angeles chamber orchestra
Special thanks to Dennis Bade for his collaboration in editing this program book. Thanks also to Los Angeles County Summer Intern Alana Yee for her assistance in preparing the program book.
los angeles chamber orchestra / 9 los angeles chamber orchestra
os Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), ranked among the world’s top musical ensembles, marks the 2018-19 season with more artistic energy and creative impulse coursing through its musical Lveins than at any time in its history. Enhancing the intimacy and precision that is the Orchestra’s hallmark, LACO has named Jaime Martín as music director designate. Praised as “a visionary conductor, discerning and meticulous” (Platea Magazine), Martín takes the podium as music director in the 2019-20 season. The Orchestra, beloved by audiences and praised by critics, is known as a champion of contemporary composers, with eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, as well as a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks. 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). In 2018-19, LACO spotlights its rich legacy and highlights the ensemble’s depth and range with favorite works, including the Mozart Requiem, Beethoven’s Fifth and Sixth Symphonies and Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony. Explored, too, is the intimate side of the last century, with works by Korngold, Ligeti, Seeger and Arvo Pärt. As part of MusicLAb, the Orchestra’s signature commitment to new music and pushing the envelope, the season also features world premieres by esteemed film composer James Newton Howard, Los Angeles-based composer Sarah Gibson and highly regarded Latin American composer Juan Pablo Contreras, and a West Coast premiere by Bryce Dessner, best known as a member of the Grammy Award-nominated band The National. American composer Andrew Norman continues as LACO’s Creative Advisor and Composer-in-Residence. Performing throughout greater Los Angeles, the Orchestra presents eight Orchestral Series concerts at Glendale’s Alex Theatre and UCLA’s Royce Hall; four Baroque Conversations at downtown LA’s Zipper Hall and three at Santa Monica’s St. Monica Church or the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica; three In Focus chamber music concerts in partnership with The Huntington and at Santa Monica’s New Roads School; and three SESSION experiences that explore classical music’s cutting- edge sounds and challenge traditional concert-going expectations. Long committed to the power of collaboration, LACO has partnered with the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and USC Thornton School of Music to create The Los Angeles Orchestra Fellowship, which, in September, welcomed its inaugural cohort of four top-tier post-graduate string musicians from underrepresented communities. The comprehensive training program addresses the lack of diversity within American orchestras with a rigorous curriculum that includes artistic mentoring, rehearsal, performance and auditioning opportunities over the course of two years. Further advancing the Orchestra’s mission to nurture future musicians and composers as well as inspire in young people a love of classical music, LACO presents an array of education and community programs, such as Meet the Music, Community Partners, Campus to Concert Hall and the LACO/USC Thornton Strings Mentorship Program. Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1968 as an artistic outlet for the recording industry’s most gifted musicians. Founder and cellist James Arkatov envisioned an ensemble that would allow these conservatory-trained players to balance studio work and teaching with pure artistic collaboration at the highest level. LACO presented its first performances with the financial backing of philanthropist Richard Colburn and managerial expertise from attorney Joseph Troy, who also became the Orchestra’s first president. Sir Neville Marriner, Gerard Schwarz, Iona Brown, Christof Perick and Jeffrey Kahane, LACO’s illustrious Music Directors, each built upon a tradition of joyous music-making performed by exceptional artists as adept in the Baroque as in the music of today. Jaime Martín continues this tradition beginning in 2019-20. The Orchestra has made 31 recordings, toured Europe, South America and Japan, and performed across North America. LACO’s offices are located in downtown Los Angeles. 10 / los angeles chamber orchestra from the music director designate
On January 31, 2018, after a concert with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, I received a call from executive director Scott Harrison, incoming board chair Leslie Lassiter and search committee chair Dana Newman. They had called to offer me the position of music director.
My first contact with the Orchestra took place only four months earlier, in the first concert of the 2017-18 season, with music by Mozart, Bernstein and Brahms and with Joshua Bell as soloist. From the very first rehearsal I felt the enormous energy, virtuosity, finesse, flexibility, commitment, musicality and friendliness of this unique group of musicians. I have also had the opportunity to meet many of the Orchestra’s friends and benefactors, and these people all have one thing in common: they talk about LACO the same way they talk about their family. The way they care about the Orchestra is truly touching and inspiring, and I cannot wait to work with each of them in building LACO’s future.
I will be in LA frequently this fall and winter to plan our future seasons and to be part of auditions for LACO’s open positions. In April, I will conduct the Mozart Requiem concerts in which we’ll also perform the West Coast premiere of Bryce Dessner’s Voy a Dormir, a co-commission by LACO, Carnegie Hall and the Orchestra of St Luke’s. Then, on Thursday, May 2, I’ll lead a program of Spanish music for the 2019 Gala – save the date and stay tuned for more details!
This is also the season we start The LA Orchestra Fellowship, a new project that brings together the Orchestra, the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and USC Thornton School of Music. The Fellowship aims to identify and coach aspiring professional string players from communities underrepresented in orchestras. You’ll find the Fellows this season sharing the stage and being mentored by LACO musicians, as well as performing as a quartet around the county.
There is a lot of work to do, but it’s very exciting and necessary work. Los Angeles inspires me. It is a city that welcomes so many cultures, so many different ways of thinking and celebrates the arts in all of its manifestations. I believe that the way LACO connects with the city is a crucial factor in its success. I will try to get close to the audience that has been following this amazing orchestra for years, and, at the same time, try to convince new audiences to participate and be inspired by the fun that we have on the stage.
See you soon!
Jaime Martín Music Director Designate
12 / los angeles chamber orchestra
los angeles chamber orchestra / 17
conductor’s circle
LACO deeply appreciates the extraordinary generosity of our Conductor’s Circle donors, a group of Orchestra stakeholders who significantly contribute to the ongoing success and stability of the Orchestra through leadership annual fund giving. Conductor’s Circle donors receive exclusive benefits, including behind-the-scenes access to musicians and soloists and a preview of the upcoming season. To learn more about the Conductor’s Circle, please call 213 622 7001 x 4.
$100,000+ $15,000–24,999 Warner & Carol Henry Lynn K. Altman Terri & Jerry Kohl Evelyn & Stephen Block Carol Colburn Grigor & June & Simon Li Murray Grigor Ann Mulally Russell & Carol Faucett Ned & Dana Newman Howard & Judith Jelinek Thierry & Katharina Leduc Raulee Marcus $50,000—99,999 Shaheen & Anil Nanji Ruth Eliel & Bill Cooney Cheryl K. Petersen & Sanford M. & Pat Gage Roger H. Lustberg James Mulally Catherine & Eugene Ohr $10,000–14,999 Hilda Herrera Adler Gene Shutler Ken & Christine Bender David Colburn $25,000—49,999 Ray Duncan & Lauren Crosby Friend of LACO Carol Eliel & Tom Muller Leslie Lassiter Gumpertz Charitable Gift Fund Scott Harrison & Angela Detlor Ray & Ann Lowe Dr. Diane Henderson Robert & Ann Ronus Ann Horton Elizabeth & Justus James Newton Howard Schlichting Kay & David Ingalls Ellen & Harvey Knell Marilyn Ziering Allan & Muriel Kotin Gary & Sandi Larsen Pauline Mayer Rudy & Peekie Schaefer Anne-Marie & Alex Spataru This list reflects gifts made to the annual fund between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018. Recognition of all LACO donors of $250 or more begins on page 85. Our annual fund donors also give generously to special events, endowment and other LACO programs. 22 / los angeles chamber orchestra first chair
LACO is grateful to First Chair donors, who invest in the future of the Orchestra by making an annual fund gift of $2,500 or more. First Chair supporters gain access to special benefits, including the donor lounge at LACO concerts and two exclusive musicales at private residences. To learn more about becoming a member of First Chair, please call 213 622 7001 x 4.
$5,000—9,999 Kay & Bob Rehme Dr. & Mrs. William M. Duxler Julie Andersen & Gregory J. Soukup & Ann Graham Ehringer William Pfeiffer Mary Jo Carr Dr. & Mrs. Caleb Finch J. Robert & Howard & Raye Stapleton Marc I. & Stephanie M. Barbara Bragonier Brigitta B. Troy & Hayutin Jane & Louis Castruccio Alden Lawrence Dr. Ellen J. Lehman & Mr. Nicholas & Les & Karen Weinstein Dr. Charles Kennel Dr. Janet Ciriello John & Samantha Williams Saul Levine NancyBell Coe & Susan Zolla Agnes Lew William Burke Dwight & Rhoda Makoff Lee G. & Ann Cooper $2,500—4,999 Leslie Mitchner John & Ginny Cushman Ahsan Aijaz Randall & H. Allen Evans & Robert C. Anderson Gretchen Newman Anna Rosicka James & Salome Arkatov David Orenstein & Dixon Lu Debra A. Gastler & Clare Baren & Phil Alden Robinson & Andrew Malloy David Dwiggins Paulette Bartlett Anne & Jeffrey Grausam Barbara Byrne Dr. & Mrs. Hervey D. Segall Jeffrey & Martha Kahane John & Phyllis Conkle Ms. Abby Sher Ernest Meadows Sharon K. DeMuth & Robert & Kerry Shuman Paul & Arlene Meadows Hugh Watts Eric W. Sigg & Linda & Stuart Nelson Philip & Claudia Dichter Michael Mackness Mahnaz & David Newman Jennifer Diener Barry & Diane Woods Phyllis Parvin & BJ Dockweiler & Sheldon Slaten Frank Stiefel
This list reflects gifts made to the annual fund between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018. Recognition of all LACO donors of $250 and above begins on page 85. Our annual fund donors also give generously to special events, endowment and other LACO programs.
los angeles chamber orchestra / 23 hilary hahn plays bach part of the Orchestral Series Gemma New conductor (pg. 69) Hilary Hahn violin (pg. 67) Margaret Batjer violin (pg. 65)
29 sat • 8 pm 30 sun • 7 pm sep Alex Theatre Royce Hall
ANDREW NORMAN Try
BACH Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, BWV 1043 Vivace Largo, ma non tanto Allegro Ms. Hahn, Ms. Batjer BACH Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 Allegro Adagio Allegro assai Ms. Hahn
intermission
DONATONI Eco (US Premiere)
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, “Italian” Allegro vivace Andante con moto Con moto moderato Saltarello: Presto Celebrate that start of the season at an after party with members of the Orchestra and your fellow patrons.
This concert is made possible, in part, by Gene Shutler in remembrance of his fellow Board member and friend, Ahmad Gramian. Hilary Hahn & Margaret Batjer are sponsored by Jerry & Terri Kohl los angeles chamber orchestra / 25 program notes
Andrew Norman Try (2011) tonight in Orchestration: flute; oboe; clarinet; bassoon; horn; trumpet; trombone; LACO history percussion; piano; strings Estimated Duration: 15 minutes In September 2003, Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043 (1718) Hilary Hahn released Orchestration: 2 solo violins; strings; continuo her album of Bach Estimated Duration: 17 minutes violin concertos with Los Angeles Chamber Bach Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 (1718) Orchestra. Tonight, she Orchestration: solo violin; strings; continuo returns to perform two Estimated Duration: 19 minutes of the pieces from the Donatoni Eco (1986) album: the Concerto Orchestration: 2 flutes; 2 oboes; 2 horns; strings for Violin in E major, Estimated Duration: 11 minutes and the Concerto for Two Violins in D minor. Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, “Italian” (1833) The Orchestra then Orchestration: 2 flutes; 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; 2 horns; 2 trumpets; revisits Mendelssohn’s timpani; strings Symphony No. 4, Estimated Duration: 30 minutes most recently performed in 2009 Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s 2018-19 season opens with an all-woman, under the direction all-star cast and revisits a major recording milestone for the Orchestra. of conductor laureate Guest conductor Gemma New joins LACO for the first time, conducting Jeffrey Kahane. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins featuring concertmaster Margaret Batjer performing alongside three-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Did you know? Hilary Hahn. Hilary made her orchestral debut at age In 2003, Hahn recorded Bach: Violin Concertos with Los Angeles Chamber 12 with the Baltimore Orchestra at Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles. The recording, her first Symphony Orchestra. for German record label Deutsche Grammophon, cemented her growing reputation as one of the finest violinists of our time.
Guest conductor Gemma New has long been an admirer of Hahn. “Growing up in New Zealand as a young violinist,” writes New via email, “I was absolutely inspired by experiencing her stunning performances of the Paganini and Sibelius violin concertos when she visited our country. The strong core to her sound, her flawless technique, and the passion and character of the music was presented so clearly.”
The evening also features work by twentieth-century Italian composer Franco Donatoni and a recent piece by LACO’s artistic advisor and composer-in- residence Andrew Norman. Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony rounds out a concert brimming with energy, ideas and great music.
26 / los angeles chamber orchestra program notes
The influences of LACO creative advisor and composer-in-residence Did you know? Andrew Norman range from visual art and video games to architecture and Hilary keeps track of all technology. “Andrew Norman's music speaks to all of us, now,” stresses the concerts she plays. New. “It takes us on an adventure, and thrills and delights us along the way. To date, she has Just have a look at the narrative behind Try. We can all relate to trying again given a whopping and again to achieve perfection on a project, pushing through challenges and 1,594 performances. finally breaking out into success and satisfaction.” Try honors the process of attempting something—perhaps unsuccessfully Did you know? at first. As the composer himself describes it, Norman repeated his musical Hilary was admitted to themes in different guises. “It does things over and over, trying them out in as the Curtis Institute of many different ways as it can,” writes Norman on his website. “It circles back Music at age 10, where on itself again and again in search of any idea that will stick, that will lead it she studied with forward to something new. ” The attempts grow ever more excited until an Jascha Brodsky. idea emerges that finally “gets it right.” “Bach is, for me, the Try was composed in 2011 to fulfill a joint commission between the LA Phil touchstone that keeps and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. my playing honest. Keeping the intonation Bach’s Concerto in D minor for Two Violins bears the nickname “Double” pure in double stops, for the solo instruments at its heart. Bach studied the work of the Italians, bringing out the various particularly Vivaldi, whose skill as a composer of concertos was legendary. voices where the Inspiration from collections like Vivaldi’s L’estro armonico helped Bach to phrasing requires it, conceive of and compose the two concertos on this program. crossing the strings so that there are not The first movement of the “Double” gets right down to business, with the inadvertent accents, ensemble presenting the main theme. Soloists have moments of brilliance, presenting the structure with intertwined solo lines. The central movement is slow, but there is still in such a way that it’s exuberant activity in the flowing lines of the soloists. In the finale, Bach shows clear to the listener off the complexity and melodic intricacy the Baroque period is known for, without being pedantic - with the soloists leading the entire ensemble to a breathless finish. one can’t fake things in Bach, and if one gets Bach’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in E major was composed around the all of them to work, the same time as the “Double.” The overall mood of this concerto is quite a bit music sings in the most different. The opening motive has a stately, almost courtly quality. Bach uses wonderful way.” the ritornello form Vivaldi was fond of: passages by the orchestra alternate with parts for the soloist. The second movement mimics an operatic lament (Excerpt from liner with the voice of the solo violin providing counterpoint to the morose mood notes on Bach: Violin of the orchestral music. The finale is a rondo form, with returns to an opening Concertos) theme. The soloist enters between recitations of the rondo theme, playing virtuosic material that builds on the main musical idea.
Italian composer Franco Donatoni began his musical study with the violin, which he started learning at the age of seven. His musical education took place all over Italy, and he also attended summer courses at Darmstadt in the 1950s. A notable pedagogue as well as composer, Donatoni taught modern musical icon Esa-Pekka Salonen. He was influenced by Béla Bartók early in his career but later experimented with both serialism and chance procedures.
los angeles chamber orchestra / 27 program notes
Eco for Chamber Orchestra was composed in the mid-1980s, in what would be Donatoni’s late period. Like much of the composer’s music from this time, Eco has an insistent rhythmic drive and frequent textural shifts. The piece begins with the strings and woodwinds in conversation with each other. The brass joins in, offering some phrases in the lower register as well as some new motives. Short melodic fragments bounce around from section to section. A lengthy pizzicato section in the center of the single movement provides a transition into the second half of the work. Musical ideas echo among the instruments, and the conversation continues—sometimes heatedly, sometimes resolutely—until the final notes.
Mendelssohn’s joy at seeing Italy was effusive. Such enthusiasm is obvious in the opening theme of the composer’s Fourth Symphony, known as the “Italian.” Mendelssohn wrote a complete version of the “Italian” and conducted the premiere in 1833. Ultimately unhappy with the piece, he would not allow publication until he had undertaken revisions. Unfortunately, Mendelssohn did not get to complete the changes, and the work was eventually published four years after his death.
The “Italian” follows the traditional four-movement structure of the traditional Classical symphony. Mendelssohn was influenced by Mozart and Beethoven, and the style he developed, which often leaned towards convention over innovation, reflects this. There are some unique Romantic touches in the work, especially in the harmony. The first movement is relentlessly lively and joyful. In a letter to his sister and fellow composer, Fanny, he even described his work as the “jolliest” piece he had ever composed. He composed the slow movement in Naples, where he observed a religious procession, and Mendelssohn musically painted a picture of the scene. The walking bassline suggests the steps of those in the parade, while the minor mode evokes the solemnity of the occasion. The third movement draws upon the minuet and trio traditional in Classical symphonies but takes on a more Romantic flavor when Mendelssohn brings out the brass in the contrasting second part. This section calls to mind the composer’s work in more dramatic genres, heard for instance in his famous music for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The final movement captures the flavor of Italy with two traditional Italian dances, the Saltarello and the Neapolitan Tarantella. The minor mode and the highly rhythmic nature of the themes suggest agitation, but Mendelssohn might well have described the music as animated and fiery, a tribute to the spirited and impassioned culture and people he encountered on his Italian journey.
By Christine Gengaro, PhD
28 / los angeles chamber orchestra
sibelius’ third part of the Orchestral Series
Thomas Dausgaard conductor (pg. 67) Anthony McGill clarinet (pg. 69)
27 sat • 8 pm 28 sun • 7 pm oct Alex Theatre Royce Hall
GRIEG Two Norwegian Airs, Op. 63 I Folketonestil (In Folk Style) Kulokk & Stabbelåten (Cow-call and Peasant Dance) NIELSEN Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57 Anthony McGill
intermission
ARVO PÄRT Silouan’s Song
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52 Allegro moderato Andantino con moto, quasi allegretto Moderato – Allegro ma non tanto
Anthony McGill is the 2018-19 Shaheen & Anil Nanji Guest Artist-in-Residence.
los angeles chamber orchestra / 31 program notes
Grieg Two Norwegian Airs, Op. 63 (1895) tonight in Orchestration: strings LACO history Estimated Duration: 11 minutes Nielsen Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57 (1928) The program tonight Orchestration: solo clarinet; 2 bassoons; 2 horns; percussion; strings features pieces never Estimated Duration: 24 minutes before performed by LACO. First on the Arvo Pärt Silouan’s Song (1991) program is Grieg’s Orchestration: strings Two Norwegian Estimated Duration: 5 minutes Airs. Next, Anthony Sibelius Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52 (1907) McGill’s performance Orchestration: 2 flutes; 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; 4 horns; 2 trumpets; 3 of Nielsen’s Clarinet trombones; timpani; strings Concerto introduces the Estimated Duration: 30 minutes composer to LACO’s repertoire. Then, hear One thinks of Edvard Grieg as the voice of Norway, but it was not always the Orchestra perform so. In his youth, he was far more accustomed to the music and customs of Arvo Pärt’s Silouan’s neighboring Denmark. It wasn’t until he was 21 that he really started to hear Song and Sibelius’ and understand the role that Norwegian folk music would play in his Symphony No. 3 for the style. In the summer of 1864, Grieg stayed with famous violinist Ole Bull, who first time. may have passed along his love of Norwegian folk music. Following that, Grieg met fellow composer Rikard Nordraak, a Norwegian nationalist Did you know? who composed what would become the Norwegian National Anthem. Anthony McGill performed with Yo-Yo A few years after these meetings, Grieg composed Two Norwegian Ma, Itzhak Perlman Airs, Op. 63. He called the first Norwegian Air “I folketonestil” or “In Folk and Gabriela Montero Style” and the second “Kulok and Stabbelåten” or “Cow-call and Peasant at President Barack dance.” These tunes first appeared in Grieg’s Op. 17, a set of piano pieces. Obama’s Inauguration “I folketonestil” begins with a melody that, especially in the low strings, in 2009. feels quite mournful. Grieg adds warmth with rich, sublime harmony, and with each passing variation the melody grows ever more achingly lovely. Occasional use of more folk-like rhythms adds energy, but the melancholy nature of the tune never entirely dissipates. “Cow-call and Peasant dance” provides contrast, with a rolling, almost lullaby-like feel in “Cow-call” and an old fashioned rustic celebration in “Peasant dance.” The dance starts with open fifths in the strings. Playful pizzicato follows, and an enjoyable mood permeates this joyful dance.
In the early 1920s, Danish composer Carl Nielsen had the opportunity to hear the Copenhagen Wind Quintet perform. He was impressed by their performance and was inspired to write a concerto for each member of the group. Only two were completed, including a flute concerto for Paul Hagemann and the Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, Op. 57, heard this evening.
32 / los angeles chamber orchestra program notes
The Concerto is in one single movement, but it has four contrasting sections. A Musical Family- Nielsen was in his sixties when he composed this work, and much has Anthony’s brother been made about the sense of conflict—intensified by the use of the snare Demarre is the Principal drum—in this piece. Though there are two keys that seem to be at odds, Flute of the Dallas there is also a great sense of convivial conversation around the main folk- Symphony Orchestra, like theme, which appears throughout the entire first section. A lengthy and, like Anthony, is a cadenza for the soloist allows this voice a moment alone in the spotlight. frequent soloist with The second tempo, a Poco Adagio, is introduced by two bassoons (who also top orchestras. had a significant part in the first section) and the horn. The soloist gets a brief break before coming in with their own version of this second theme. Did you know? The tranquility of this section does not last, as the pace picks up and the Arvo Pärt championed snare’s steady hits interrupt. In the next section, the solo takes on an almost a new compositional dance-like character; a second cadenza appears, this one more percussive technique called than the first. This leads into the final section, where familiar gestures return, tintinnabuli. Influenced including references to the opening tune. One gets the feeling that Nielsen by sacred Renaissance will end things in a rollicking mood, but instead, he chooses a gradual music, tintinnabuli slowdown to a surprising and much quieter ending. employs a numerical algorithm that is Estonian composer Arvo Pärt is most closely associated with a style he used to construct himself pioneered: mystic minimalism. Pärt’s devout religious beliefs are melodic voices. closely intertwined with his compositional style. In the 1970s he undertook a contemplative study of Gregorian chant and early choral music, and this Did you know? experience changed his music greatly. Silouan's Song was inspired by Saint An avid smoker, Sibelius Silouan of Athos, an Eastern Orthodox monk who lived from 1866 to 1938. was diagnosed with In this short, single-movement work from 1991, there is little sense of pulse throat cancer in 1907 at or meter, just a focus on harmony and dynamics. age 40. Operations to remove the malignant Finnish composer Jean Sibelius wrote his Symphony No. 3, Op. 52 in 1907. tumors were successful, While his Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 are very much in a late Romantic style, and Sibelius lived well Symphony No. 3 reverts to a much simpler idiom. This was problematic for into his 90’s. critics at the time who saw this work as a step backwards from the Second Symphony. While the Symphony does look back to Beethoven’s development of themes, it also looks ahead to the neo-classical movement.
There are three movements in the Symphony. The opening theme begins in the low strings but soon moves up into a jaunty tune—likely based on the folk music of Finland—in the full orchestra. A pensive theme in a minor key soon follows. A few instruments have solo lines that rise up out of the orchestral texture. There are a few moments of great intensity in this first movement and no shortage of musical ideas. The second movement begins with a simple tune, which Sibelius brings back in various guises. The recurring theme suggests a rondo form, but there are many internal intricacies to the structure that keep it fresh and surprising. The final movement can be interpreted as two movements played without
los angeles chamber orchestra / 33 program notes
pause and thematically connected. Sibelius called this section of the work “the crystallization of thought from chaos.” As in certain symphonies by Beethoven, themes from previous movements return and more themes are introduced. One of the most notable ideas begins—like the opening theme— in the low strings. It begins to take over the “chaos” of musical fragments heard at the beginning of the third movement and, indeed, crystallizes the disparate musical thoughts into a cohesive chorale-like tune.
By Christine Gengaro, PhD
34 / los angeles chamber orchestra
sonatas for oboe part of Baroque Conversations
Claire Brazeau leader & oboe (pg. 66)
8 thu • 7:30 pm 9 fri • 7:30 pm nov Zipper Hall St. Monica Catholic Church
G SAMMARTINI Sonata in G major Allegretto Andante Allegro GRAUN Trio in D major for Violin, Horn and Bassoon Allegretto Andante Allegro TELEMANN Trio No. 3 in G minor, TWV 42:g5 from Music Tutorials Mesto Allegro Andante Vivace COUPERIN Thirteenth Concert from The Reunited Tastes, or New Concerts Vivement Air Sarabande Chaconne THOMAS ADÈS Sonata da Caccia, Op. 11 Gravement Gayëment Naïvement Galament PLA Sonata in D minor for Oboe, Violin and Basso Continuo Allegro Andante Allegro TELEMANN Paris Quartet No. 6 in E minor, TWV 43:e4 V. Distrait
Claire Brazeau holds the Allan Vogel Chair, endowed by the Henry Family. This series is generously sponsored by Carol & Warner Henry, a Friend of LACO and the Ronus Foundation Thanks also to the many patrons who contributed to the Carol & Warner Henry Challenge. program notes
GB Sammartini Sonata in G major tonight in Orchestration: solo oboe, cello, harpsichord LACO history Estimated Duration: 10 minutes Graun Trio in D major for Violin, Horn, Bassoon and Harpsichord Tonight’s concert Orchestration: violin, horn, bassoon, harpsichord features many pieces Estimated Duration: 10 minutes that are new to LACO repertoire. However, Telemann Trio No. 3 in G minor, TWV 42:g5 from Music Tutorials the Telemann Trio Orchestration: oboe, violin, cello, harpsichord No. 3 was last Estimated Duration: 10 minutes performed in 2003, Couperin Thirteenth Concert from The Reunited Tastes, or New Concerts with Margaret Batjer. Orchestration: cello, bassoon Estimated Duration: 7 minutes Did you know? Tonight’s concert is Thomas Adès Sonata da Caccia, Op. 11 (1993) led by principal oboe Orchestration: oboe, horn, harpsichord Claire Brazeau. Claire Estimated Duration: 12 minutes is a former student of Pla Sonata in D minor for oboe, violin and basso continuo Allan Vogel, who served Orchestration: oboe, violin, theorbo, cello, harpsichord as LACO’s principal Estimated Duration: 11 minutes oboe for 44 years, from 1973-2016. LACO’s Telemann Paris Quartet No. 6 in E minor, TWV 43:e4 principal oboe chair Orchestration: oboe, violin, cello, bassoon, theorbo, harpsichord was renamed the Allan Estimated Duration: 3 minutes Vogel chair in 2017 after a generous Most of the composers on this evening’s concert straddled the line between endowment gift from the end of the Baroque period and the beginning of the Classical. To even the Henry Family. say there is a line is a bit deceiving, as the evolution happened in different times in different places, and there was not a wholesale changeover of musical practices. With this program, the Orchestra explores the changing musical landscape through the lens of trios and quartets through a transitional moment, and through one piece that looks back to this time from the vantage point of the 1990s.
Giuseppe Sammartini (1695-1750) was an oboe virtuoso, and his compositions were widely recognized only after his death. Musical Director of the Chamber Concerts to Frederick, Prince of Wales, he wrote many works for organ, violin, harpsichord and flute. A close collaborator with Haydn, he played a great part in the development of Haydn’s classical style and also in the development of the symphony as a classical form.
38 / los angeles chamber orchestra program notes
German composer Johann Gottleib Graun (1703-1771) studied in both Germany and Italy. In addition to composing, he also played the violin and Did you know? taught JS Bach’s son Wilhelm Friedemann. In the 1730s, Graun worked at the Towards the end of court of the Prussian Prince (who would go on to be Frederick the Great), his life, Debussy set and took over the Berlin Opera in 1740. He was known for instrumental out to compose six works, like the Trio for Violin, Horn and Bassoon on this concert, although instrumental sonatas. he did write a significant amount of vocal music, including songs and operas. His fourth instrumental sonata combined oboe, Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was an incredibly successful, self-taught horn and harpsichord, musician and composer. Extremely influential, he held various positions but was left unfinished in Germany before landing a prestigious job in Hamburg in 1721. He was as Debussy passed the musical director of the five main churches there, where he composed away mid-composition. prodigiously. He knew many of the important composers of the time, such Thomas Adès wrote his as Bach and Handel. He was even the godfather of Bach’s son Carl Phillip Sonata da Caccia as Emanuel. Telemann’s style shows the hallmarks of the music of different an homage to Debussy countries, as he gathered them through his travels. This openness to and his French Baroque musical ideas and influences allowed him to be both au courant and predecessor Couperin. forward-looking.
François Couperin (1668-1733) was known for his keyboard works and his skill on the organ and harpsichord. A member of a family full of musicians, François was known as Couperin le Grand. He was likely given his first music instruction by his father Charles, who was the organist at Paris’ Church Saint- Gervais. After the untimely death of his father, François was taught by the organist Jacques-Denis Thomelin, who groomed young Couperin to take over for his father. His considerable talent and a dose of good luck put him in contact with influential colleagues and prospective employers. His most important contributions to music were his collections of harpsichord music, Pièces de clavecin. In addition, Couperin composed some chamber music, an example of which you will hear tonight. The four movements show great interplay between the two instruments of this duet. It begins with a sprightly Vivement followed by a lyrical Air. The third movement borrows the dance form, the Sarabande, and a contrapuntal Chaconne provides the final word.
Thomas Adès composed his Sonata da Caccia in 1993. It was written for oboe, horn and harpsichord; this was an ensemble Debussy intended for an instrumental sonata that he never got to compose. Adès’ piece was also influenced by Couperin. The tradition of musical homages of this type is not new, and in fact, Couperin himself wrote musical homages to Corelli and Lully. Adès endeavors in this work to write in a Baroque style, while addressing the passage of time and the centuries of development between Couperin and Debussy and between those composers and himself. The harmonic language will definitely sound a bit different from the other pieces on the program, but the structures and ornaments—especially those of the first movement—mimic those of Couperin. The second movement, Gayëment, suggests something else, perhaps even nods to the jazz developing during Debussy’s time. The third movement changes mood again, and Couperin-like gestures in the keyboard are balanced by a single- note drone in the horn. The final movement is rhythmically complex with a fascinating texture.
los angeles chamber orchestra / 39 program notes
The Pla family produced three musical brothers. Joan (c. 1720-1773) was a successful oboist and bassoonist who played in ensembles all over Europe, eventually settling in Lisbon. Manuel (c. 1725-1766) was a violinist and harpsichordist who worked in Madrid. Josep (c. 1728-1762), the youngest, was primarily a composer. Joan and Josep often composed together, and they produced a large body of work, including numerous trio sonatas and flute concertos. The Sonata for Oboe, Violin and Basso Continuo is a three-movement work that demonstrates the focus on counterpoint of the late Baroque and the emphasis on structure of the early Classical period.
By Christine Gengaro, PhD
40 / los angeles chamber orchestra los angeles chamber orchestra / 41 beethoven’s “pastoral” part of the Orchestral Series David Danzmayr conductor (pg. 66) Jennifer Koh violin (pg. 68)
16 fri • 8 pm 17 sat • 8 pm 18 sun • 7 pm nov The Soraya Alex Theatre Royce Hall
KORNGOLD Straussiana Polka Mazurka Waltz
LIGETI Violin Concerto Praeludium: Vivacissimo luminoso Aria, Hoquetus, Choral: Andante con moto Intermezzo: Presto fluido Passacaglia: Lento intense Appassionato: Agitato molto Ms. Koh
intermission
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, “Pastoral” Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside, Allegro ma non troppo Scene by the brook, Andante molto mosso Merry gathering of country folk, Allegro Thunderstorm, Allegro Shepherd's song- cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm, Allegretto
los angeles chamber orchestra / 43 program notes
Korngold Straussiana (1953) tonight in Orchestration: 2 flutes; piccolo; oboe; 2 clarinets; bassoon; 2 horns; 2 trumpets; LACO history 2 trombones; timpani; percussion; harp; piano; strings Estimated Duration: 6 minutes Tonight’s program Ligeti Violin Concerto (1993) features Beethoven’s Orchestration: solo violin (scordatura tuning); viola (scordatura tuning); 2 flutes Symphony No. 6, which (1st- recorder, alto flute; nd2 - recorder, piccolo); oboe (ocarina); 2 clarinets has been performed (1st- Eb clarinet, ocarina, 2nd- bass clarinet, ocarina); bassoon (ocarina); 2 horns; five times in LACO trumpet; trombone; timpani; percussion; strings history. LACO’s second Estimated Duration: 30 minutes music director Gerard Schwarz added the Beethoven Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, “Pastoral” (1808) symphony to the Orchestration: 2 flutes; piccolo; 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; 2 horns; Orchestra’s repertoire 2 trumpets; 2 trombones; timpani; strings in 1984. Beethoven’s Estimated Duration: 40 minutes Sixth was most recently performed in 2013, The three composers on this program have all had their music heard in films. under the direction of Erich Wolfgang Korngold was one of the most important film composers in guest conductor Hollywood’s Golden Age. Although it wasn’t György Ligeti’s intention to be Hans Graf. a film music composer, his music gained a wider audience after appearing in three films by Stanley Kubrick. Beethoven’s death in 1827 occurred a century before the invention of sound film, yet his music has appeared in innumerable films. Tonight is one of his most picturesque works, the “Pastoral” Symphony.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was born in Austria in 1897. A child prodigy, he was composing by the age of seven. By the time he was a teenager, his work was being played by major ensembles and famous performers. His career benefitted from continuous productivity and excellent connections. He wrote his first film score in 1934, adapting and expanding Mendelssohn’s incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream for a film of the play. The following year he wrote the score for Captain Blood and earned an Oscar nomination for it. When Hollywood came calling again, asking him to write the score for Robin Hood in 1938, Korngold chose to stay in the U.S. The Nazis had taken his home and put his family (which was of Jewish descent) at risk. He became a U.S. citizen in 1943. After the war, he could not regain his international reputation as a composer of music for the concert hall, but he had already made his mark as one of the most important composers of both art music and film music.
44 / los angeles chamber orchestra program notes
Korngold’s Straussiana was written in 1953 and is based on some lesser- Did you know? known works by Johann Strauss, Jr. Korngold was an expert in the works Beethoven’s Symphony of Strauss, having learned about many of them in the 1920s during a period No. 6 was featured in of intense interest in Strauss’ operettas. Korngold’s Straussiana is in three the classic Walt Disney parts: Polka, Mazurka and Waltz. There is a sense of joy in this music, but film, Fantasia. The it’s also somewhat bittersweet. Perhaps Korngold longed for the pre-war piece accompanies days when his music was celebrated in the concert halls of Vienna. His scenes from Greek orchestration and reimagining of these Strauss themes was one of his final mythology and depicts works. The “Polka” section is relentlessly charming. The “Mazurka” takes a world full of centaurs, us dancing with a sweeping, lilting melody. The finale, “Waltz,” is fittingly gods and pegasi. dazzling and extravagant, as we might expect coming from Strauss, the “Waltz King.” The melodies are quite delicate and lovely, and the clarity of Did you know? Korngold’s orchestration is truly stunning. In addition to being a gifted concert György Ligeti began composing the Violin Concerto in the early 1990s. composer, Ligeti is It began as a three-movement work, but Ligeti was not satisfied with it well known for his in this form. It evolved over time to contain five movements. There were collaborations with eight movements planned, but Ligeti never completed the last three. Stanley Kubrick. Ligeti Intended soloist Saschko Gawriloff and Ligeti wove the unfinished pieces contributed music to into a cadenza for the final movement (although Ligeti was open to soloists 2001: A Space Odyssey, creating their own cadenzas). This work is an encapsulation of many stylistic The Shining and Eyes turns Ligeti had musically explored up to this point, among them textural Wide Shut. play, microtonal ideas, alternate tunings, polymeters and folk melodies. The solo part is virtuosic and challenging, asking everything from flowing melodic lines to disjointed fragments and varied moods and colors.
The first three movements are played without pause. The opening movement, Praeludium, is a mix of different musical motives and timbres. The orchestra provides a kaleidoscope of sound while the soloist contributes extended techniques and interesting tone colors. The second movement starts with a melodic statement by the soloist. The melody seems related to a couple of Ligeti’s own earlier works. It is both modal and folk-like. It is interrupted by the strident sounds of ocarinas. The third movement returns to the fragmentary nature of the first movement. The clarinets begin the fourth movement, Passacaglia: Lento intenso, and the soloist adds a line high above them. Little by little, voices are added to the colorful layers of long notes. The pensive mood of the sustained notes is broken by a few dramatic strokes. The final movement, Appassionato: Agitato molto, begins with the orchestra laying down a blanket of sound. The soloist plays a dynamic and active line over this, and other members of the orchestra begin to react to that. The final movement requires the soloist to perform a cadenza which appears almost out of nowhere; the soloist simply seems to outlast the orchestra, talking long after they’ve stopped. The orchestra does re-enter, but for just a moment before the work concludes.
los angeles chamber orchestra / 45 program notes
Many music-lovers will place Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony as part of his Heroic period, which began with his Third Symphony (the Eroica). At this point, Beethoven began to come to terms with both his progressing deafness and his expressive ideals as an artist. The Sixth Symphony is one of the first major examples of a programmatic symphony, a work that is suggestive and evocative in a concrete way. Beethoven gave names to the five movements: 1. Pleasant, cheerful feelings aroused on approaching the countryside; 2. Scene by the brook; 3. Happy Gathering of Villagers; 4. Thunderstorm; 5. Shepherd’s Song, Grateful thanks to the Almighty After the Storm. This structure of five evocative movements was echoed years later by Hector Berlioz when he composed his Symphonie Fantastique (1830). Beethoven, in contrast to Berlioz, did not want to depict specific events in the music, only to express certain emotions. He would go on to explain that his music was “more the expression of feeling than a painting.” The movements evoke simple, rustic joy in the countryside. Even the appearance of a thunderstorm cannot dampen the lively spirits of the villagers who have been dancing and frolicking. The final movement is a solemn and religious hymn of thanks to God for deliverance from the storm.
By Christine Gengaro, PhD
46 / los angeles chamber orchestra avi avital & the four seasons part of Baroque Conversations
Avi Avital leader & mandolin (pg. 65) Margaret Batjer violin (pg. 65) Tereza Stanislav violin (pg. 70) Josefina Vergara violin (pg. 71) Sarah Thornblade violin (pg. 71)
11 tue • 7:30 pm 13 thu • 7:30 pm 14 fri • 7:30 pm dec Granada Theatre, Santa Barbara Zipper Hall St. Monica Catholic Church
VIVALDI Concerto in G minor for Two Violins, RV 517 Allegro Andante Allegro VIVALDI Concerto in A minor for Two Violins, RV 522 Allegro Larghetto e spiritoso Allegro Ms. Batjer, Ms. Stanislav, Ms. Vergara, Ms. Thornblade VIVALDI The Four Seasons Concerto in E major, Op. 8, No. 1, La primavera (Spring) Allegro Largo Danza pastorale Concerto in G minor, Op. 8, No. 2, L’estate (Summer) Allegro non molto Adagio e piano - Presto e forte Presto Concerto in F major, Op. 8, No. 3, L’autunno (Autumn) Allegro Adagio molto Allegro Concerto in F minor, Op. 8, No. 4, L’inverno (Winter) Allegro con molto Largo Allegro Mr. Avital This series is generously sponsored by Carol & Warner Henry, a Friend of LACO and the Ronus Foundation Thanks also to the many patrons who contributed to the Carol & Warner Henry Challenge. program notes
Vivaldi Concerto in G minor for Two Violins, RV 517 (c. 1725) Orchestration: 2 solo violins; strings; continuo tonight in Estimated Duration: 11 minutes LACO history Vivaldi Concerto in A minor for Two Violins, RV 522 (1711) Orchestration: 2 solo violins; strings; continuo The Four Seasons is Estimated Duration: 12 minutes a LACO staple and has been performed Vivaldi Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), Op. 8, Nos. 1-4 (1715) by the Orchestra over Orchestration: solo mandolin; strings; continuo 35 times. Tonight, Avi Estimated Duration: 37 minutes Avital presents his own arrangement of Antonio Vivaldi wrote more than 500 concertos in his lifetime. Some featured the classic baroque a solo instrument with an orchestra (the violin was most often the solo concertos as he instrument), while some concertos, like the first two this evening were “doubles,” performs the solo violin with two solo instruments. Some featured groups of soloists with an orchestra, part on the mandolin. a genre known as the concerto grosso. In 1711, Vivaldi published an incredibly influential collection of concertos called L’estro armonico, of which the A-minor Did you know? Concerto for Two Violins was part. It was more than a decade later that Vivaldi was a redhead, Vivaldi began writing his most famous works, a set of four concertos called which prompted his Le quattro stagioni, better known as The Four Seasons. Vivaldi’s works were friends to nickname him a great source of inspiration for later composers like J.S. Bach, who copied “the Red Priest.” out many of Vivaldi’s works for study or arrangement. For example, Bach adapted the A-minor Concerto for Two Violins as an organ work. Did you know? Through his extensive work in the genre, Vivaldi standardized some of the Historians believe that characteristics we associate with the concerto. For instance, he regularly Vivaldi suffered from composed his concertos with quick outer movements and a slower central asthma or another movement, a structure that was the norm for the whole of the Baroque severe respiratory period. He used ritornello form in the fast movements of his concertos, a disease. The composer form that allowed for give and take between soloist and orchestra. Vivaldi’s often wrote about his RV 517 and RV 522 are fine examples of double concertos. The two works “chest ailment,” and have a few things in common: they are both in minor keys and both follow how he found it difficult the traditional three-movement structure. In each, the two solo violins spend to breathe after long much of the time in the quick movements trading musical material or playing periods of speaking in harmony with one another. These are two of Vivaldi’s most recognizable or walking. concertos—their melodies are beautifully crafted and evoke a sense of both drive and drama. The central movements of each provide contrast, with slower tempos and more pensive moods. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, known in Italian as Le quattro stagioni, were published in 1725 as part of a set of twelve concertos. It was Vivaldi’s eighth opus, and he called it Il cimento dell’armonica e dell’inventione, or The Contest of Harmony and Invention. The Concertos were inspired not just by the seasons themselves, but by a set of four sonnets written about spring, summer, autumn and winter. The authorship of these sonnets is questionable, but most historians believe that it was Vivaldi himself. This makes sense because each sonnet is broken down into three sections, each section corresponding to a movement in the Concerto. The Four Seasons can therefore be classified as “programmatic,” music that intends to evoke something extra-musical. Originally written for solo violin, tonight’s performance features Avi Avital’s virtuosic arrangement for solo mandolin. All of the Concertos demonstrate virtuosic musical displays by all players, but especially by the soloist. “La primavera,” or Spring, begins with the crispness los angeles chamber orchestra / 49 program notes
and clarity of a cloudless spring day, and features singing birds and murmuring streams. A sudden quick thunderstorm invades, but birdsong soon regains control. The second movement illustrates a peaceful day, the quiet disturbed only by a barking dog. The final movement is a lively dance for countryfolk who seem to be celebrating the return of life after a long winter. The first movement of Summer, “L’estate,” begins slowly, almost as if it’s too hot to move. The birds sing lazily, and the air is mostly still, until a breeze whips up, a warning of a gathering storm. The most striking moment of this Concerto is the hailstorm that rains down in the third movement, a perfect contrast to the tranquility of the opening. Autumn, “L’autunno,” returns to the clarity we heard in Spring. The musical themes in both first movements are similar. Once again, the countryfolk are celebrating, but this time they are rejoicing in their successful harvest. Wine is part of this merriment, and the slowing of the tempo and the quieting of the dynamics seems to reflect the peaceful sleep that overtakes some of the party- goers. The last part of the Concerto illustrates a hunt with horn calls. A chase ensues, harkening back to the fourteenth century tradition of the Italian genre called the “Caccia,” songs that glorified the hunt through vocal canons (literally one voice chasing another). Finally, there is winter, “L’inverno.” The opening sounds like a shivering person rhythmically stamping his feet to stay warm. The soloist provides the icy winds, and the ensemble responds with chattering teeth. The middle movement describes the peaceful pleasure of warming up inside by a crackling fire. In the final movement, those outdoors walk carefully on the icy paths, while those inside feel winter’s chill relentlessly finding its way into the house. But still, Vivaldi reminds us, winter—like all the other seasons—has its specific charms and moments of contentment.
By Christine Gengaro, PhD
50 / los angeles chamber orchestra Cover art from the Orchestra’s 1980 recording of The Four Seasons under the baton of former music director Gerard Schwarz. Photos by Ken Veeder. the four seasons by Donald Munro For Patricia Mabee, who adores Vivaldi’s After experiencing hot, humid summers The Four Seasons but isn’t quite so infatuated and freezing winters, it’s no wonder he was with commuting through all of them, always so glad to see spring and autumn “winter” in LA is thankfully a gentle term. (especially without air conditioning or central It doesn’t involve a thick parka rated to 10 heating). Vivaldi probably would have loved below zero. No slushy streets. Freezing her the weather in LA Everyone else does, right? fingers because of forgotten gloves? Not a chance. For that, the longtime Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra principal keyboard has “I love traveling to cold to get out of town. places like Scandinavia, “I love traveling to cold places like Canada and New York Scandinavia, Canada and New York in the winter,” she says, “but no more than a few in the winter but no more weeks at a time, please!” than a few weeks at a Then it’s back to Los Angeles, which has, at the most -- two seasons? One? The matter is time, please!” up for debate. Antonio Vivaldi wrote his famed The Four — Patricia Mabee Seasons when he was living in Mantua, — LACO principal keyboard Italy, a place that definitely has all four. los angeles chamber orchestra / 51 52 / los angeles chamber orchestra los angeles chamber orchestra / 53 54 / los angeles chamber orchestra los angeles chamber orchestra / 55 Did You Know? Young people who participate in the arts for at least three hours on three days each week through at least one full year are: • 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement • 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools • 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair • 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
• 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem
56 / los angeles chamber orchestra mozart + beethoven’s fifth part of the Orchestral Series
Peter Oundjian conductor (pg. 70) Jonathan Biss piano (pg. 66)
26 sat • 8 pm 27 sun • 7 pm jan Alex Theatre Royce Hall
SARAH GIBSON warp & weft (LACO Sound Investment commission, world premiere)
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453 Allegro Andante Allegretto Mr. Biss
intermission
SEEGER Andante for Strings
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 Allegro con brio Andante con moto Scherzo — Allegro
The appearance of Jonathan Biss at Royce Hall is made possible by the Lois Evans Guest Artist Fund
los angeles chamber orchestra / 57 program notes
Sarah Gibson warp & weft tonight in Orchestration: 2 flutes (2nd- piccolo); 2 oboes (2nd- English horn); 2 clarinets LACO history (2nd- bass clarinet); 2 bassoons (2nd- contrabassoon); 2 horns; 2 trumpets; timpani; piano; strings Tonight’s program Estimated Duration: 15 minutes begins with the world premiere of Sarah Mozart Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453 (1784) Gibson’s Sound Orchestration: solo piano; 1 flute; 2 oboes; 2 bassoons; 2 horns; strings Investment commission. Estimated Duration: 30 minutes Next on the program, hear Jonathan Biss Seeger Andante for Strings (1931) perform Mozart’s Piano Orchestration: strings Concerto No. 17. LACO’s Estimated Duration: 4 minutes first music director, Sir Neville Marriner, Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (1808) introduced this concerto Orchestration: 3 flutes (3rd- piccolo); 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 3 bassoons (3rd- into LACO repertoire contrabassoon); 2 horns; 2 trumpets; 3 trombones; timpani; strings over 40 years ago in Estimated Duration: 30 minutes 1975. The Orchestra has performed it five times Tonight’s concert presents an evening of brand new music and old favorites. since, most recently in LA-based composer Sarah Gibson opens the evening with her commission May 2016 under the for LACO’s Sound Investment program. Soloist Jonathan Biss follows with direction of conductor Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17. Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Andante for Strings laureate Jeffrey Kahane. showcases her forward-looking style, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 anchors it all.
Award-winning composer and pianist Sarah Gibson has written warp & weft, this year’s Sound Investment commission. Inspired by the act of weaving and sewing, Gibson’s work aims to represent these disciplines — arts long associated with women’s activities in the home — in musical line and form.
As a young boy, Mozart practiced his skills by arranging four piano concertos by other composers. He then began to write his own works in the genre, completing twenty-three original piano concertos during his career. He composed a number of them for himself, writing them to display his considerable performing skills and his genius for improvisation. During Mozart’s life, the piano gained prominence as an instrument, and the genres of piano sonata and piano concerto moved to the center of the repertoire. Mozart composed piano concertos as a way to strengthen his reputation as both a composer and a performer. He presented a few new concertos each year from 1782 to 1785, and his concerts were very well attended. He reaped considerable profits from these ventures and began living in a manner that he couldn’t have hoped to maintain; Mozart and his family would run into serious financial difficulties in the ensuing years. After 1785, Mozart shifted his focus to opera, and what was once a flood of concertos became a trickle.
Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major was composed in 1784. It has the standard three-movement structure common to classical concertos. It may be that Mozart didn’t premiere the work, but rather Barbara Ployer, his student. If Ployer indeed introduced the work, she would have premiered it at a concert
58 / los angeles chamber orchestra program notes
to which Mozart invited fellow opera composer Giovanni Paisiello. This is one While Beethoven’s of only half a dozen piano concertos published when Mozart was alive. Symphony No. 5 is one of the more popular The opening Allegro has the character of a march, but a courtly and stately pieces in the classical one. The orchestra presents the two main themes of this movement before repertoire, LACO has the soloist plays a note. Once they are done, the soloist presents his/her own only performed the version of these themes. In the center of the movement is the development, symphony twice in a musical journey that refers to the main themes, which are sometimes in its 50 year history. fragmented forms or in new keys. The development section leads back to LACO first featured the the main themes as they were stated in the exposition. Towards the end symphony in 2009, of this recap, the soloist breaks off and performs a cadenza. These were and then again in 2014, traditionally improvised and could go on for an indeterminate amount of time. both under the direction These days, a soloist might choose to play one published by the composer of conductor laureate (or perhaps even by later composers), or they might write their own. The Jeffrey Kahane. soloist gives the orchestra a signal—usually a trill on a certain chord—and then all of the players come in to bring the movement to a satisfying close. Did you know? Beethoven is often The second movement is an Andante. It has a contrasting character and remembered for being a much more complex tonality. The third movement begins gently but temperamental in his soon picks up speed. It’s a theme and variations, where each one gets later years, but as a more complicated. child, he had quite the sense of humor. Ruth Crawford Seeger is one of the most important and forward-looking When he was 12, he composers from her generation. As one of the first prominent female composed “Elegie auf composers, she broke down barriers as she pushed relentlessly forward. She den Tod eines Pudels,” studied at the American Conservatory in Chicago during the early 1920s and which translates directly developed a modernist style that was influenced by the music of Scriabin. to “Elegy on the Death She then moved to New York in 1929 to study music with Charles Seeger, of a Poodle.” who had a reputation for teaching mavericks. Crawford was a maverick herself, being the first woman to win a Guggenheim Fellowship. After her Did you know? fellowship years in Europe she returned to the U.S. and to Seeger, whom she Sarah Gibson is would marry in 1931. She composed the majority of her original works in just LACO’s 13th Sound a few years. Investment Composer, and 3rd consecutive Andante for Strings began life as part of Crawford Seeger’s String Quartet female composer. from 1931. It has been excerpted and transcribed for string orchestra. The String Quartet is a landmark in her output. It is inventive and experimental, Did you know? and its complexity suggested that her future works would continue in a Ruth Crawford Seeger similar vein. Just five years later, Crawford would begin the other important was stepmother to musical journey of her life, arranging and transcribing American folk music. popular folk musician Her shift in focus makes the String Quartet and its further fruit, the Andante Pete Seeger. for Strings, even more precious. The music she created was part of a tradition of “dissonant music,” and this piece delivers on that. It’s a study of dynamics and musical color, but it does so without a steady rhythmic drive. It relies on the swell of dynamics. She transcribed this work for string orchestra in 1938, two years after beginning her work with the Archive of American Folk Song in Washington, DC, which, in many ways, would become her enduring legacy.
los angeles chamber orchestra / 59 program notes
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 has probably the most famous opening of any symphonic work in the classical repertoire. Interestingly, the piece barely made a ripple when it was first premiered. In December of 1808, Beethoven planned a massive concert for the Theater an der Wien featuring over four hours of his music. The evening started with the Sixth Symphony, and the first half ended with the Fourth Piano Concerto. After intermission, the Fifth Symphony was premiered, but it was soon followed by excerpts from the Mass in C major, an improvised piano piece by Beethoven and his Choral Fantasy. Critics and contemporary reviewers were likely to have lost the Symphony in such an extensive program.
Beethoven spent a lot of time ruminating over the musical material for the Symphony. He started sketching out ideas pretty soon after finishing the Third Symphony, but left them to simmer while working on other music. Beethoven worked on what would become his Fourth Symphony, his only opera, Fidelio, the Appassionata piano sonata, a piano concerto and a few string quartets in the time between the Third and Fifth Symphonies. He completed the Fifth Symphony in 1808, and it was during the years 1807 and 1808 that Beethoven was writing the Sixth Symphony, which received its premiere on the same night. When the Fifth Symphony was published, Beethoven dedicated it to Prince Franz Joseph Lobkowitz and Count Razumovsky.
Not only does the four-note “short-short-short-long” musical motif have importance to the opening movement, it is an important idea that pervades the entire Symphony. It links the movements together in a thematic way that hadn’t been explored quite like this before. Finding this musical motive throughout the Symphony can be something of a scavenger hunt, but one that rewards the vigilant. There’s a lot of tumult in that first movement. The second and third movements provide their own diversions from this. The second movement offers a theme and variations with two themes, one sweet and melodic, and the other grand and noble. Beethoven’s skill in building on these themes proves that he can command the listener’s attention as much with lyricism and hope as he can with turmoil and bluster. The third movement brings back the short-short-short-long rhythm in the scherzo, and it seems to be everywhere. The contrasting trio theme shows Beethoven’s ability to write dynamic counterpoint. The transition from the end of the third movement to the beginning of the fourth movement is a wonder—there is no break between the movements—and one that Beethoven agonized over. The final movement refers back to C major rather than C minor and also brings back part of the scherzo. A few years later, he would do something similar in the Ninth Symphony.
More than a year after the work’s premiere, E.T.A. Hoffman sang the work’s praises and presented the narrative that we now associate with this symphony: tragedy becomes triumph, tumult becomes exultation. We do know that at this time Beethoven was coming to terms with his deafness and trying to figure out how he would live the rest of his life. Whether those struggles entered into his mind as he wrote, we simply don’t know.
By Christine Gengaro, PhD
60 / los angeles chamber orchestra monica huggett leads bohemian trumpets part of Baroque Conversations
Monica Huggett leader & violin (pg. 68) David Washburn trumpet (pg. 71)
7 thu • 7:30 pm 8 fri • 7:30 pm feb Zipper Hall First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica
VEJVANOVSKY Serenade in C major, MAB 36 Andante Grave Sarabande Presto Conclusion Mr. Washburn SCHMELZER The Fencing School Aria I Aria II Sarabande Courante Fechtschule Bader Aria MELANI Sonata à 5 in C major Adagio – Allegro Allegro Canzona – Grave Vivace Mr. Washburn MUFFAT Concerto Grosso No. 1 in D minor, “Bona nova” Sonata: Grave – Allegro Ballo: Allegro Grave Aria Giga RITTLER Ciaccona Mr. Washburn BIBER Battalia Sonata Die liederliche Gesellschaft von allerley Humor Presto Der Mars Presto Aria Die Schlacht Adagio: Lamento der Verwundten Musquetierer This series is generously sponsored by Carol & Warner Henry, a Friend of LACO and the Ronus Foundation los angeles chamber orchestra / 61 Thanks also to the many patrons who contributed to the Carol & Warner Henry Challenge. program notes
Vejvanovsky Serenade in C major, MAB 36 tonight in Orchestration: 2 solo trumpets; strings; continuo LACO history Estimated Duration: 9 minutes Schmelzer The Fencing School (1668) Tonight, Monica Orchestration: 2 violins; viola; continuo Huggett returns to Estimated Duration: 9 minutes LACO for the first Sonata à 5 in C major time since 2012. A Melani Orchestration: 2 solo trumpets; strings; continuo leading Baroque Estimated Duration: 10 minutes violin performer and expert on historical Muffat Concerto Grosso No. 1 in D minor, “Bona nova” (1701) performance, her Orchestration: most recent LACO Estimated Duration: 10 minutes performance featured Rittler Ciaccona (1678) compositions by Orchestration: 2 solo trumpets; strings; continuo Vivaldi, Locatelli Estimated Duration: 5 minutes and Leclair. Biber Battalia (1673) Orchestration: strings; continuo Estimated Duration: 13 minutes
British conductor and violinist Monica Huggett leads this evening’s concert, a curated collection of music featuring composers who were each virtuosos in their own right. Many of these composers knew each other or crossed paths during the course of their careers.
Czech-Moravian composer Pavel Josef Vejvanovsky (c.1630s-1693) specialized in music for his own instrument, the trumpet. He worked at the court of Prince-Bishop Karl Liechtenstein-Castelcorno in Moravia. He served the Prince as the leader of the court ensemble and composer of many works for its use but also maintained a stellar music library, filled with important works of the time that Vejvanovsky himself copied out. This would become a significant archive of the music from central Europe as well as music Vejvanovsky collected on his travels. As a trumpet virtuoso, Vejvanovsky composed impressive works for the instrument. In his other works for different ensembles, he favored a folk-like style. Other musicians at the Prince-Bishop’s court include fellow composers on this program Heinrich Biber and Philipp Jakob Rittler. In the opening movement of Vejvanovsky’s Serenade in C major, the strings and brass offer alternating phrases and then join forces to provide a stately and noble opening to this evening of fine music. The second movement has a slower tempo and a more intimate feel. The third movement feels like a processional. The fourth movement is lively and the final movement brings everything to a regal close. Two shorter works which the composer designated as sonatas offer further validation of his mastery.
62 / los angeles chamber orchestra program notes
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (c. 1623–1680) was an Austrian violinist who played and composed at the Habsburg court, eventually attaining the position of Kapellmeister a few months before his untimely death from the plague. His virtuosity helped him develop violin technique that was influential on players at the time. Schmelzer also helped popularize certain genres in Austria, including the sonata and the suite. He was a great influence on another composer on the program, Biber. The Fencing School, which dates from 1668, is a multi-movement work that features percussion, strings and recorders. It is a charming work, and the presence of percussion makes it feel particularly festive.
Italian composer Alessandro Melani (1639-1703) came from a musical family. One brother was a composer and another was a castrato singer. Alessandro Melani composed primarily in Rome and wrote a lot of music for the church, including motets and oratorios. He worked in numerous churches, spending over three decades at San Luigi dei Francesi. Pope Clement IX and Pope Innocent XI were both fans of Melani’s work and commissioned pieces from him. His Sonata à 5 features two trumpets and a small string ensemble. This work and others of his trumpet sonatas date from the 1660s and are some of the earliest examples of this genre.
Composer Georg Muffat (1653-1704) was very much influenced by his contemporaries in both France and Italy. In Paris, he likely studied with Jean Baptiste Lully. Later, in Italy, he studied organ with Bernardo Pasquini. His primary instrument was the organ, but he wrote sonatas for other instruments and concertos for ensembles. He composed many works for strings, which were published in collections called Florilegium Primum and Florilegium Secundum. He composed a dozen concerti grossi in 1701, which were some of his latest works. Concerto Grosso No. 1 bears the nickname “Bona nova” and has five movements.
Composer and priest Philipp Jakob Rittler (c. 1637-1690) worked primarily in Austria and Moravia. He made contact with Vejvanovsky while in Moravia, and it is likely he also met Heinrich Biber there, as well. He began working at the court of the Bishop of Olomouc as chaplain, but he was more interested in a musical job. Eventually, he got his wish when he was hired at the Wenceslas Cathedral. He was the conductor of the choir there until his death. His Ciaconna was composed for two trumpets, strings and continuo.
los angeles chamber orchestra / 63 program notes
Heinrich von Biber (1644-1704) was a violin virtuoso who lived and worked in Austria. He worked for the Archbishop in the city of Salzburg. His Battalia was composed for string orchestra and is part of a tradition of musical depictions of battle started by earlier composers like Clément Janequin and William Byrd. Biber uses a number of novel techniques to show war-like actions. In the first movement, the strings are told to play col legno, where the string players use the wood of the bow to play the instrument, rather than the hair of the bow. The second movement, which is quite dissonant, mirrors the drunken singing of various factions, and uses different folk tunes played simultaneously. In the third movement, one of the instruments mimics the snare drum by introducing a piece of paper into the strings to create a percussive buzz. There are eight movements in total, ending with a solemn lament. Biber’s musical take on warfare ends in sadness and loss, bringing a dose of reality, balancing the playfulness of the earlier movements and reminding us of the cost of battle.
By Christine Gengaro, PhD
64 / los angeles chamber orchestra about the artists
Avi Avital mandolin The first mandolin soloist to be nominated for a classical Grammy, Avi Avital is one of the foremost ambassadors for his instrument. A Deutsche Grammophon artist, he has recently appeared with the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and St. Louis Symphony, and in 2018-19 makes his debut with the San Diego, Seattle and Detroit symphonies, as well as his debut on the main stage of Carnegie Hall with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Born in southern Israel, Avital began learning the mandolin at the age of eight. He later graduated from the Conservatorio Cesare Pollini in Padua, Italy, where he studied with Ugo Orlandi. credit Harold Hoffman Harold credit Margaret Batjer violin Margaret Batjer, who has served as concertmaster of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 1998, made her first solo appearance at the age of 15 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with a succession of major orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the St. Louis, Seattle and Dallas symphony orchestras. Batjer has also performed with such European ensembles as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Prague Chamber Orchestra and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. As an esteemed chamber musician, she has appeared regularly at the Marlboro Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Sarasota Music Festival and the Salzburg Festival, and is the curator of LACO’s chamber music series, In Focus. She is on the violin Burke Michael credit faculty at USC, Thornton School of Music and the Colburn School.
los angeles chamber orchestra / 65 about the artists
Jonathan Biss piano Jonathan Biss is a world-renowned pianist. He shares his deep musical curiosity with classical music lovers in the concert hall and beyond. Jonathan represents the third generation in a family of professional musicians that includes his grandmother Raya Garbousova, one of the first well-known female cellists (for whom Samuel Barber composed his Cello Concerto), and his parents, violinist Miriam Fried and violist/violinist Paul Biss. Growing up surrounded by music, Jonathan began his piano studies at age six and later studied at Indiana University and at the Curtis Institute of Music. Jonathan has served on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music since 2010. courtesy Jonathan Biss Jonathan courtesy Claire Brazeau oboe Allan Vogel chair, endowed by the Henry Family Claire Brazeau is the principal oboe of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, where her career began as second oboe, a position she held from 2014-16. An active soloist and chamber musician, Claire was also an awarded finalist in the International Gillet-Fox Oboe Competition in 2017. She is a faculty member at California State University in Long Beach. She received a Bachelor of Music in Oboe Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies and Piano Performance from Bard College and Conservatory in New York and an Artist Diploma from the Colburn School where she studied with Allan Vogel. credit Jordan Kirschner Jordan credit David Danzmayr conductor David Danzmayr is widely regarded as one of the most talented European conductors of his generation. David is Chief Conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and also serves as music director of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, an orchestra comprised of musicians from all over the USA. David previously served as music director of the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra in Chicago, where he was praised regularly by both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Classical Review. courtesy David Danzmayr David courtesy about the artists
Thomas Dausgaard conductor Thomas Dausgaard is Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Music Director Designate of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra (2019-20), the Principal Guest Conductor and Music Director Designate (2019-20) of the Seattle Symphony, Honorary Conductor of the Orchestra della Toscana (ORT) and Honorary Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. He is renowned for his creativity and innovation in programming, the excitement of his live performances, and his extensive catalogue of critically acclaimed recordings. credit Thomas Grndahl Thomas credit
Hilary Hahn violin Three-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn is renowned for her virtuosity, expansive interpretations and creative programming. Hilary took her first violin lessons in the Suzuki program of the Peabody Institute in her hometown of Baltimore at the age of three, and at ten, Hilary was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia to study with Jascha Brodsky. Hilary completed her university requirements at sixteen, having already made her solo debuts with the Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Utah symphony orchestras; the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras and the New York Philharmonic, among others. Hilary’s first Grammy came in 2003 for her Brahms and Stravinsky concerto album. In 2010 she premiered her recording of Jennifer Higdon’s Violin O’Leary Patrick Michael credit Concerto, which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize.
los angeles chamber orchestra / 67 about the artists
Monica Huggett violin Born in London to a family of Irish descent, Monica Huggett began violin lessons at age six. She was admitted to the Royal Academy of music at 16, where she studied modern violin and started to take interest in historical performance. Eventually the Baroque violin won the battle for her heart, and in her mid- twenties she gave up the modern violin for good.
In 1980 she was chosen by Ton Koopman to be the leader of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. She is also the founder of the London-based ensemble Sonnerie. She is currently Artistic Director of the Portland Baroque Orchestra (USA) and Artistic Director Emerita of the Irish Baroque Orchestra. courtesy Monica Huggett Monica courtesy
Jennifer Koh violin Violinist Jennifer Koh is recognized for intense, commanding performances, delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance. A forward-thinking artist, she is dedicated to exploring a broad and eclectic repertoire, while promoting diversity and inclusivity in classical music. She has expanded the contemporary violin repertoire through a variety of commissioning projects and has premiered more than 70 works written for her. Her quest for the new and unusual, sense of endless curiosity, and ability to lead and inspire a host of multidisciplinary collaborators, truly set her apart. Her album of works by Kaija Saariaho, with whom she has long championed and closely collaborated, will be courtesy Jennifer Koh Jennifer courtesy released by Cedille in November.
68 / los angeles chamber orchestra about the artists
Anthony McGill clarinet Clarinetist Anthony McGill is one of classical music’s most recognizable and brilliantly multifaceted figures. He serves as the principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic and is the orchestra’s first African- American principal player. McGill was honored to take part in the inauguration of President Obama, premiering a piece by John Williams alongside violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Gabriela Montero.
McGill appears regularly as a soloist with top orchestras around North America including the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, Baltimore Symphony, San Diego Symphony and Kansas City Symphony. Finlayson David credit
Gemma New conductor Sought after for her insightful interpretations and dynamic presence, New Zealand-born conductor Gemma New is currently Music Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra in Ontario, Canada and Resident Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
In the 2018-19 Season, Gemma enjoys guest engagements with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, CMI Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio and Santa Fe Pro Musica, as well as the Philharmonic Orchestras of Calgary, Louisiana and Rochester, the symphony orchestras of Charlotte, Detroit, Drummondville, Jacksonville, North Carolina, San Diego, Toronto,
Tucson and Winnipeg, the Florida Orchestra and the New Gemma courtesy Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester in Germany.
los angeles chamber orchestra / 69 about the artists
Peter Oundjian conductor A dynamic presence in the conducting world, Peter Oundjian is renowned for his probing musicality, collaborative spirit and engaging personality.
The 2018-19 season, Peter’s second as Artistic Advisor for the Colorado Music Festival, includes debuts with the Indianapolis and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras and return engagements with the St. Louis, Baltimore, Atlanta, Utah, Colorado and New World Symphonies as well as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. courtesy Peter Oundjian Peter courtesy
Tereza Stanislav violin Hailed for the “expressive beauty and wonderful intensity” (Robert Mann) of her playing, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s assistant concertmaster Tereza Stanislav is an active and versatile performer. A highly sought after chamber musician, she has appeared in venues such as the Library of Congress, Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and with artists such as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, the Miró Quartet and Jon Kimura Parker. An advocate for new music, Stanislav has worked with many composers and performed several world premieres including Gunther Schuller’s Horn Quintet and Louis Andriessen’s The City of Dis. courtesy Tereza Stanislav Tereza courtesy
70 / los angeles chamber orchestra about the artists
Sarah Thornblade violin Sarah Thornblade joined LACO in 1999 and is now the Orchestra’s associate principal second violin. She is a member of the Eclipse Quartet and is a recent recipient of an Aaron Copland Fund recording grant. She has recorded music by composers such as Morton Feldman, Frederic Rzewski, James Tenney and Zeena Parkins for the Tzadik, New World and Bridge labels. Thornblade has performed with the Denali and Arianna string quartets, Camerata Pacifica, Jacaranda Music and the Auros Group for New Music. A Pomona College faculty member, she is a grand prize winner at the Fishoff, Coleman and Carmel chamber music competitions. courtesy Sarah Thornblade Sarah courtesy Josefina Vergara violin Josefina Vergara joined LACO in 1999 as principal second violin. Ms. Vergara’s chamber and recital appearances have included the La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Ojai Music Festival, Aspen, Camerata Pacifica and the St. Bart’s Music Festival. Josefina Vergara was a founding member of the Pacifica Quartet. She has taught at the Music Academy of the West and the Brevard Music Festival.
Ms. Vergara has appeared as Principal Second with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony and New Century Chamber Orchestra. credit Michael Burke Michael credit David Washburn trumpet David Washburn is the principal trumpet of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, as well as associate principal trumpet of the LA Opera Orchestra. Active in the recording studios, David has numerous motion picture soundtracks to his credit. Currently, David is a member of the faculty at Biola University, University of California Irvine and Azusa Pacific University. David has been a featured soloist with many different orchestras including the St. Louis and Glendale symphony orchestras; the Los Angeles and Hong Kong philharmonics; the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society in New York and the Southern California Brass Consortium. When David is not performing, his favorite pastime is boating with his children, Timothy, Samantha, Nicholas and Julia. Burke Michael credit PROTECTING THE WILDEST JUNGLES ON THE PLANET.
MAIN STREET. PRESCHOOL. THE PLAYGROUND. The environment isn’t just some far off place. It’s the lawn beneath our feet, the food on our plate, and the air we breathe. And it’s why the Natural Resources Defense Council is working to protect the most important places on Earth. Whether it’s the rainforest, the arctic, or your living room. To learn more, go to NRDC.org. And help protect the jungle creatures in your backyard.
Because the environment is everywhere.
72 / los angeles chamber orchestra donor recognition
Generosity comes in many forms! This list reflects comprehensive giving for annual fund, special events and special projects between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018.
For information about giving to LACO, visit laco.org/support.
$100,000+ Kay & David Ingalls $5,000–9,999 Carol Colburn Grigor & Howard & Judith Jelinek Friend of LACO Murray Grigor Thierry & Katharina Leduc Ahsan Aijaz Warner & Carol Henry Lois Evans Guest Artist Fund Clare Baren & David Dwiggins Terri & Jerry Kohl Raulee Marcus J. Robert & Barbara Bragonier June & Simon Li Cheryl K. Petersen & Mr. & Mrs. Abbott L. Brown Dennis & Patricia Burke Ann Mulally Roger H. Lustberg Jane & Louis Castruccio Ned & Dana Newman Gregory J. Soukup & Mr. Nicholas & Dr. Janet Ciriello Gene Shutler Mary Jo Carr NancyBell Coe & William Burke Brigitta B. Troy & Lee G. & Ann Cooper $50,000–99,999 Alden Lawrence Jennifer Diener Ruth Eliel & Bill Cooney H. Allen Evans & Anna Rosicka Sanford M. & Pat Gage $10,000–14,999 Debra A. Gastler & Leslie Lassiter James & Salome Arkatov Andrew Malloy James Mulally Julie Andersen & Jeffrey & Martha Kahane Catherine & Eugene Ohr William Pfeiffer Dr. Ellen J. Lehman & Marilyn Ziering Ken & Christine Bender Dr. Charles Kennel David Colburn Ernest Meadows $25,000–49,999 John & Ginny Cushman Paul & Arlene Meadows Linda & Stuart Nelson Friend of LACO Carol Eliel & Tom Muller Ray & Ann Lowe Mahnaz & David Newman Peggy & Jack Falcon Phyllis Parvin & Sheldon Slaten Shaheen & Anil Nanji Joyce & Mal Fienberg Ann Petersen & Leslie Pam Robert & Ann Ronus David & Kiki Gindler Robert & Kerry Shuman Elizabeth & Justus Schlichting Gumpertz Charitable Gift Fund Howard & Raye Stapleton Anne-Marie & Alex Spataru Scott Harrison & Angela Detlor Stender E. & Polly E. Sweeney Ann Horton Eric & Karen Warren $15,000–24,999 James Newton Howard Les & Karen Weinstein Hilda Herrera Adler Ellen & Harvey Knell John & Samantha Williams Lynn K. Altman Allan & Muriel Kotin Barry & Diane Woods Jeff & Joan Beal George Kunkel Susan Zolla Evelyn & Stephen Block Gary & Sandi Larsen Ray Duncan & Lauren Crosby Pauline Mayer Anne & Jeffrey Grausam Edward & Sara Nowak Dr. Diane Henderson David & Bridget Prince Kay & Bob Rehme Rudy & Peekie Schaefer
los angeles chamber orchestra / 73 thank you for your support
$2,500–4,999 $1,000–2,499 Judith Rosen Robert C. Anderson Friend of LACO Mr. & Mrs. Alan I. Rothenberg Mr. Lawrence Rubenstein & Roberto & Claudia Apelfeld Barbara Aran & Lawrence Hawley Bob Attiyeh & Mike Rosell Ms. Susan Leung David & Marcia Battin Jacqueline Blew Deborah Rutter Barbara Byrne Devra Breslow Mr. & Mrs. Barry A. Sanders Lee Chu & Jongmin Lee Lynne Brickner & Jerry Gallard Robert R. Schatz John & Phyllis Conkle Richard Camp Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Shapiro Thomas & Barbara Chargaff Dr. & Mrs. Heinrich Shelbert Rob Cutietta Laurel Clark Peter & Kay Skinner Sharon K. DeMuth & Hugh Watts Robert & Audrey Cowan Doris Sosin Philip & Claudia Dichter Stefan De Boel & Colleen Hagel Mr. Joseph & Mrs. Ronna Stabler BJ Dockweiler & Frank Stiefel Siavash Dejgosha Christopher Stager Mark H. & Patricia S. Stern Dr. & Mrs. William M. Duxler Jennifer DeVore & Marc Feinstein Jackie & Donald Feinstein Lois Tandy Ann Graham Ehringer Michele Felix Laney & Tom Techentin Lucas & Patricia Etchegaray Ms. Gina Furth J. Thomas & Edith Van Huss Russell & Carol Faucett Fariba Ghaffari Richard & Marcia Volpert Dr. & Mrs. Caleb Finch Mr. & Mrs. Terry Goldberg Brenn von Bibra Drs. Stephen & Lyn Greenberg Ralph Walter Debra Frank Jane G. Greenfield Max & Diane Weissberg Marc I. & Stephanie M. Hayutin Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson James R. Whitman, III Kathy Henkel Lacey Huszcza & Dan Stott Dr. Lauren Wing & Mr. Luke Brown Agnew Lew J.H.B. Kean & Toby E. Mayman Bonnie Youngdahl Albert & Marilouise Zager Saul Levine Thomas & Margaret Keene Charles & Alexandra Kivowitz Zamora & Hoffmeier, APC Renee & Meyer Luskin Linda Kleiger Dwight & Rhoda Makoff Albin C. & Harriet Koch $500–999 Leslie Mitchner Ted & Lynn Kotzin Friend of LACO Diane Naegele Bill Krenz Barbara Abell Fred & Susan Kunik Mary Anderson Randall & Gretchen Newman Mike & Aliza Lesser Carole & Jesus Arellano David Orenstein & Dixon Lu Thomas M. Lucero Bonnie Arnold Martin & Dorothy Recchuite Lynne Ludeke & Brian MacGregor Robert S. & Linda Attiyeh Phil Alden Robinson & Tom & Faith Lyons Mr. Steve Beimler Dr. Malcolm Bersohn Paulette Bartlett John & Mary Lee Malcolm Mr. John & Mrs. Susan Mamer Rita Bower Dr. & Mrs. Hervey D. Segall Joan Marcy Karin V. Burns Ms. Abby Sher Lynn & Stanley Morris Polina Chapiro Eric W. Sigg & Michael Mackness Gretl & Arnold Mulder Gary Cohn Joyce & Al Sommer Gail Natzler Jan Turner Colburn Joshua & Jacqueline Pack Caryl Crahan Audri & Stan Tendler Nate & Susan Patena Donald H. Crockett Darani Tsao Dr. Hanna and Emil Reisler Neal Dougherty
74 / los angeles chamber orchestra donor recognition
Patrick & Judith Falzone $250–499 Steven D. McGinty Dr. & Mrs. Sandy Gaynor Richard H. Allen Monica Miklas & David McKeever Gordon Gerson Nancy Babka & Carla Garrett Sylvia L. & Lanny Miller Whitney Green Elizabeth J. Brooks Larry Moline Gail Gunther Cliff & Judith Brunk Henry Moon Ann Haberfelde Hal Bryman & Karin Cordry Kerstin Morgan Sylvia Halasz Philippa Calnan Ray & Cristine Morris Sandra Hitt Dr. Elizabeth A. Carlin & Maury Carlin Dr. Allan & Mrs. Adriane Morrison Marcus Horwitz & Martin & Nancy Chalifour Michael M. Mullins & Helene Desruisseaux Gaby & Gregory Chazanas James A. Newman Gretchen Jacobson Mr. & Mrs. Hugo D. de Castro Lauren Murray Sharon Kerson Janice & Larry Fogg Marilyn K. Oltmans Mr. & Mrs. Charles Knobler Kirby W. Fong Judith Palmer Rhonda Lawrence George B. & Marilyn R. Forbes Megan Powers & Christopher Rivas Ilse Loy Noriko Fujinami Kai-Li & Hal Quigley Evelyn & Martin Lutin J.M. & Elizabeth Fuster Arthur Rieman & Ruth Gilliland Dr. Susan Lovell McLaughlin & David L. Gersh Curt & Marilyn Robertson Mr. John D. McLaughlin Diana Gingell Ms. Kathryn Rogers & Charles Medlin Jeffrey Mark Greenberg Daniel R. Gilbert, Jr. Karen McCurdy & Paul Miller Dianna S. Greenfield Patricia Rosenburg Molly Morgan Jochen Haber & Carrie Chassin Marilyn Zweifach & Don Rossmoore Sue & Mike Pelman Mr. & Mrs. Peter & Gretchen Haight Angela & Jon Schriver Thomas Peterson Dr. & Mrs. Jerome A. Hamburger Marti & Marvin R. Schultz Ms. Lee Ramer Stephen Hanna Richard & Stephonie Seibel Carol Risher Scott & Nova Heiss Carol Shelton Andre Des Rochers Jim & Ginny Heringer Andrew & Janet Shulman René Rowland Dorothea Herreiner, PhD Ruth Slater Joe Sliskovich James & Marilynn Hildebrandt Laura & Hugh Stegman Nancy & Dick Spelke Peter & Jihee Huh Sumy Takesue Harris & Linda Sperling Alan D. Jacobson Mr. & Mrs. Greg Taylor Carol Z. & Joseph P. Sullivan Charmaine Jefferson & Richard & Ann Tell Elizabeth Van Denburgh Garrett McKinley Johnson Irene Tong Gregory O. & Sara Walsh David Johnson & Eve Haberfield Jorge A. Uribe Pat L. Walter Ann Jopling Allan & Janice Vogel Herbert Weinberg & Kate Kammeyer John & Gudrun Wasson Pauline Marks-Weinberg Laurence S. Kaufman Ms. Anna Wu Work & Suzanne Weitz & Kenneth Shoor Katherine Keck Ms. Elizabeth Work Gloria Werner John Kobara Julie A. West John Kronstadt & Helen Bendix Mr. & Mrs. Mark Wiedenbeck Brian Lauritzen & Brianne Slusarenko Sharon Wiviott Elizabeth Lesan & Kats Nishimoto Bev & Larry Wood Philip & Shirley Levine Simon Woods Victor & Alexandra Levine Andrew & Blenda Wright Gayle & Steve Lund Ronald & Jill Lundgren Fred Manaster Mary Ann & Bernie Marshall
los angeles chamber orchestra / 75 76 / los angeles chamber orchestra gifts in tribute
LACO thanks those supporters who have honored their friends or loved ones or members of the LACO community with a gift to the Orchestra. To make a gift in memory or honor, please visit laco.org/donate or call 213 622 7001 x 4. gifts in memory of: Cooney’s Birthday Sarah Gibson Shirley Becker by Margaret Batjer & Joel McNeely by Caryl Crahan by Eileen Salmas by Uri & Jan Caine by NancyBell Coe & William Burke Lacey Huszcza & Scott Harrison Sandra Cangiano by Barbara Cohen by Laura & Hugh Stegman by Mark Cangiano by David P. Dapper & M'Liss A. Dario by Philip & Claudia Dichter Lacey Huszcza Sylvia Edelstein by Rodney R. Dickson & by Les & Karen Weinstein by Sheila Cooper Jeffry G. Georgianni by Marilyn Friedberg by Gail Eden Eichenthal Warner & Carol Henry by Marika Negrea by Ruth Eliel & Bill Cooney by Robert & Ann Ronus by Patricia Nishikawa by Kenneth Frazelle & by Susan Crosby Stone & Rick Mashburn Jeffrey Kahane Neil Stone by Kristy Hanson & Mike Chiaburu by Hear Now Music Festival by Marilyn Wilker by Antoinette Harrell by Richard Horevitz by Danielle Harrell by Mollie Kommel Lois Evans by Lacey Huszcza & Dan Stott by John & Mary Lee Malcolm by Maya Kalinowski Jeffrey Kahane & Ruth L. Eliel by Roland Kato by Martin & Nancy Chalifour Norman & Lila Henkel by Andrea Laguni by Kathy Henkel by Raulee Marcus Jeffrey Kahane and by Marcella Morrow Pat & Sandy Gage Roger L Mayer by John Orders & Onil Chibás by Patricia Rosenburg by Pauline Mayer by Amy Rabwin by Ronald Schwarz & Mina Levin Jerry Kohl Marjorie Melczer Ray by Chris Silverstein by Gary Cohn by Albert & Marilouise Zager by Mark Silverstein by Laurie Sowd LACO's Founding Families Hyman Resnick by Jeffrey Tsai by Gary & Sandi Larsen by Jeffrey Mark Greenberg by Ben Tysch & Rachel Andres by J. Thomas & Edith Van Huss Leslie Lassiter Maureen Muller by Michelle Weger by Lynne Brickner & Jerry Gallard by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP by Jennifer & Tom White Ned & Dana Newman Marla Seff Margaret Batjer by Rhonda Lawrence by Richard & Ann Tell by Mahnaz & David Newman Julia Paras Joe Troy Isabel de Boel by Doris Sosin by Les & Karen Weinstein by Stefan De Boel & Colleen Hagel Ellen Reid WJT Pat & Sandy Gage by Mike & Aliza Lesser by Irene Tong by Elaine Caplow by Ms. Diane Gendel Licht Helen & Justus Schlichting gifts in honor of: by Fred & Susan Kunik by Jay & Leonie Kramer James Arkatov by Herbert Weinberg & by Arthur Kraus Pauline Marks-Weinberg Andrew Shulman by Dr. Allan & Mrs. Adriane Morrison by Mahnaz & David Newman James & Salome Arkatov by Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Shapiro by Mr. Leslie M. & Judith A. Eber by Mr. Joseph & Mrs. Ronna Stabler Gene Shutler by Renee & Meyer Luskin by Les & Karen Weinstein by John Kronstadt & Helen Bendix by John & Mary Lee Malcolm The Golden Gala by Les & Karen Weinstein by Mike & Aliza Lesser by Joyce & Al Sommer los angeles chamber orchestra / 77 corporations, foundations and government agencies
LACO programs would not be possible without support from many institutional donors. We are exceedingly grateful to the following:
The Ahmanson Foundation East West Bank Pasadena Showcase House American Business Bank Faucett Catalyst Fund for the Arts Autry Foundation Genesis Motor America The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation BCM Foundation Gumpertz Charitable Gift Fund John & Beverly Stauffer Foundation The David Bohnett Foundation Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss Teradata Corp. Capital Group Companies Los Angeles County Arts Commission Thomas Company Charitable Foundation Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP Walter J. & Holly O. Center for Cultural Innovation Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Thomson Foundation City of Los Angeles Department of E. Nakamichi Foundation Rosemary F. Watson Cultural Affairs National Endowment for the Arts Charitable Foundation Colburn Foundation The Ronald Newburg Foundation Western Asset Management Company Dain, Torpy, Le Ray, Wiest Kenneth T. & Eileen L. Charitable Foundation & Garner, P.C. Norris Foundation Zamora & Hoffmeier, APC
LACO legacy society
We are very grateful to the following patrons who have included LACO in their estate plans.
Financial commitments have been made through will bequests, charitable gift annuities or other deferred gifts. If your name is not listed below but you have made a planned gift to LACO, please contact us so that your generosity can be recognized.
Friend of LACO Susan Greenberg & Michael Norman Dr. Susan Lovell McLaughlin & James & Salome Arkatov Dr. & Mrs. George Gross Mr. John D. McLaughlin Iona Benson, in memoriam Danielle Harrell Sunny Moss Jacqueline Blew Michael Harris, in memoriam Ann Mulally Jane Buel Bradley, in memoriam Warner & Carol Henry Mahnaz & David Newman T. Robert Chapman, in memoriam David K. & Kay Duke Ingalls Bruce & Carol Ross Jennifer & Royce Diener David & Elizabeth Kalifon Eileen Decker Salmas Ruth Eliel & Bill Cooney Stephen A. Kanter, MD, Gene Shutler H. Allen Evans & Anna Rosicka in memoriam Gregory J. Soukup & Mary Jo Carr Lois Evans, in memoriam Hanna M. Kennedy Milton R. Stark, in memoriam Anne Grausam Allan & Muriel Kotin Les & Karen Weinstein Leslie Lassiter Nahum Zimmer, in memoriam Ernest Lieblich, in memoriam
78 / los angeles chamber orchestra special thanks
With gratitude to the volunteers The Honorable Carlos Garcia de Alba Max Naseck who lend a helping hand and those & Ms. Fiona Roche The Honorable Hans Jörg Neumann who donate goods and services. Kiki Gindler Ned & Dana Newman Jeff Glover Cody Noreiga Jesse Goldman The Honorable Can Oğuz ACSO Anne Grausam Eugene M. Ohr Isis Aguirre Carol Colburn Grigor & Murray Grigor David Orenstein Ahsan Aijaz Abdulla Hall Meredith Overcash Angel City Brewery Hauser & Wirth Pacific Asia Museum APAIT Peng Brian He PATH North Hollywood Roberto & Claudia Apelfeld Diane Henderson Ann Petersen & Leslie Pam Jackie Applebaum & Warner & Carol Henry PhotoStamps/Stamps.com Stephen Sheanin The Henry Wine Group Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman Dalida Arakelian Marissa Honda Bridget Prince Ikem Asimonye Jamison Services, Inc. Scott Reed Ginny Atherton JP Morgan Chase Residency Art Academy Clare Baren Kate Kammeyer River Oaks Chamber Orchestra Margaret Batjer Steve A Kanter, MD, René Rowland Curtis Berak in memoriam Russell Salmon Susan Bjerre Jerry & Terri Kohl Matthew Turner Shelton Mary Blodgett Allan Kotin Andrew Shulman David Brown Kristin Skoda Gene Shutler Brown Paper LA Armen Ksajikian Erica Angeline Solana Cal State Northridge Hannah Kulis Geetha Somayajula California Institution for Women LA Percussion Rental Gregory Soukup Amy Cervantes Gary Larsen Anne-Marie Spataru Giovanna Clayton Leslie Lassiter The Spot Gourmet Cobblestone Vineyards League of American Orchestras Tereza Lucia Stanislav The Colburn School Thierry & Katharina Leduc Sheryl E. Stein Constitutional Rights Foundation Agnes Lew Steinway & Sons Bill Cooney & Ruth L. Eliel The LA LGBT Center Dan Stott Dannie Cruz June Li Street Symphony Wade Culbreath Austin Yu A. Liu Tanino Ristorante Cindy de Mesa LA Louver Malik Taylor Ray Duncan Ray Lowe Barbara Tell Sue Edwards Sarah & Peter Mandell Michael Thornton Gail Eichenthal Raulee Marcus Town & Country Event Rentals H. Allen Evans & Anna Rosicka Natasha Marin Mauara Tuffy FIG Restaurant Teresa Markowitz University of Southern California Aaron Francis Chelsey Martin Vespaio Freeway Communications, LLC Michael Miller Photography Allan Vogel Jenna Friedman Kristy McArthur Morrell Cameron Weir Brooks Zhongzheng Fu Ann Mulally Wells Fargo Sanford M. & Pat Gage Kenneth Munday Lauren Wing Anil & Shaheen Nanji Simon Woods
los angeles chamber orchestra / 79 endowment funds
Gifts to LACO’s endowment provide for the Orchestra’s long-term financial stability. All endowment-designated gifts are listed for 12 months and endowment-designated gifts of $5,000 or more will be listed for 15 years.
Friend of LACO Donors to the Lois Evans Shaheen & Anil Nanji Bob Attiyeh & Mike Rosell Guest Artist Fund Ned & Dana Newman Robert S. & Linda Attiyeh Anne Grausam Catherine & Eugene Ohr Colburn Foundation Scott Harrison & Angela Detlor Gene Shutler Carol Colburn Grigor & Murray Grigor William Randolph Hearst Foundation Brigitta B. Troy & Alden Lawrence Ruth Eliel & Bill Cooney Warner & Carol Henry Donors to the Joe Troy Lois Evans, in memoriam Leslie Lassiter Endowment Fund John & Mary Lee Malcolm Nahum Zimmer, in memoriam Ann Mulally matching gifts
LACO also thanks the following institutions for matching contributions made by their employees and retirees. Benevity Mass Mutual Teradata Capital Group
80 / los angeles chamber orchestra