LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA TABLE OF CONTENTS Programs at a Glance ....................................................6 Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Biography ..................................................8 Orchestra Roster ............................................................10 Board of Directors .........................................................12 Administration ................................................................. 13 Letter from Jaime ..........................................................15 Ravel, Strauss + Contreras .......................................17 Romantic Chopin ...........................................................23 Sheku + Beethoven’s “Eroica” ................................. 31 About the Artists .......................................................... 38 Donor Recognition .......................................................43 Gifts in Tribute ................................................................ 47 Institutional Donors and LACO Legacy Society .............................................48 Special Thanks ...............................................................49 Endowment Funds and Matching Gifts .............................................................52 SPRING PROGRAM ADVERTISING This program is published in association with Onstage Publications, Onstage Publications 1612 Prosser Avenue, Kettering, OH 45409. This program may not 937-424-0529 | 866-503-1966 be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from e-mail: [email protected] the publisher. JBI Publishing is a division of Onstage Publications, Inc. Contents © 2020. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. www.onstagepublications.com 5 PROGRAMS AT A GLANCE ORCHESTRAL SERIES RAVEL, STRAUSS + CONTRERAS (pg. 17) SATURDAY, MARCH 28 AT 8 P.M., Alex Theatre SUNDAY, MARCH 29 AT 7 P.M., Royce Hall JAIME MARTÍN CONDUCTOR DENIS KOZHUKHIN PIANO JUAN PABLO CONTRERAS Lucha Libre! (Sound Investment commission, world premiere) Jaime Martín © Jamie Pham RAVEL Piano Concerto in G major R. STRAUSS Le Bourgeois gentilhomme ROMANTIC CHOPIN (pg. 23) SATURDAY, APRIL 18 AT 8 P.M., ALEX THEATRE SUNDAY, APRIL 19 AT 7 P.M., ROYCE HALL RUTH REINHARDT CONDUCTOR DAVID FRAY PIANO LUTOSŁAWSKI Little Suite (Mała Suita) CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2 BACEWICZ Concerto for String Orchestra HAYDN Symphony No. 84 Denis Kozhukhin Borggreve © Marco Ruth Reinhardt © Jessica Schaefer 6 SHEKU + BEETHOVEN’S “EROICA” (pg. 31) FRIDAY, MAY 15 AT 8 P.M., Segerstrom Center for the Arts SATURDAY, MAY 16 AT 8 P.M., Alex Theatre SUNDAY, MAY 17 AT 7 P.M., Royce Hall MONDAY, MAY 18 AT 8 P.M., The Granada Theatre JAIME MARTÍN CONDUCTOR SHEKU KANNEH-MASON CELLO DERRICK SPIVA JR. Prisms, Cycles, Leaps Part III: “To Be A Horizon” (LACO commission, world premiere) SAINT-SAËNS Cello Concerto No. 1 David Fray © JB Mondino BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, “Eroica” Sheku Kanneh-Mason Turney © Jake 7 LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), ranked among the world’s top musical ensembles, marks an exciting new era in Southern California as it welcomes Jaime Martín in his debut year as Music Director. Martín builds upon LACO’s rich legacy as a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks and, with eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, a champion of contemporary composers. Headquartered in the heart of the country’s cultural capital, LACO is “more important with each passing year” (Los Angeles Times), “America’s finest chamber orchestra” (Public Radio International), and “one of the world’s great chamber orchestras” (KUSC Classical FM). Martín’s appearance as LACO’s Music Director Designate in early 2019 was described by the Los Angeles Times, as “a thrilling performance, and the orchestra played like it was having the time of its life,” adding, “he will make fans very quickly.” Overseas, he has been praised as “a visionary conductor, discerning and meticulous” (Platea Magazine), and London’s The Telegraph said, “his infectious enjoyment of the music communicated to the orchestra and audience alike.” Highlights of LACO’s 2019/20 Season include world premieres by Andrew Norman, Juan Pablo Contreras and Derrick Spiva Jr., all LACO commissions; a West Coast premiere by Missy Mazzoli; and a co-commission from Albert Schnelzer and a commission from Sarah Gibson, both inspired by the legacy of Clara Schumann. Martín’s debut season showcases several exceptional guest artists with whom he has enjoyed particularly meaningful professional relationships — mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, violinist Christian Tetzlaff, and pianist Denis Kozhukhin — as well as British cello virtuoso Sheku Kanneh-Mason, pianists Jeremy Denk and David Fray, and guest conductors Nicholas McGegan and Ruth Reinhardt. As Beethoven’s 250th anniversary approaches, Martín leads three of the composer’s most revolutionary works. The Orchestra also performs works by Schubert, R. Strauss, Berlioz, Prokofiev, Ravel, Stravinsky and Dvořák. Critically acclaimed composer and 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Reid begins her three-year tenure as LACO’s Creative Advisor and Composer-in-Residence, creating new works for the Orchestra on and off the concert hall stage and working closely with Martín to play an important role in LACO’s artistic trajectory. 8 LACO performances create a rich dialogue between audiences and performers. The Orchestra presents seven Orchestral Series concerts at Glendale’s Alex Theatre and UCLA’s Royce Hall, with select performances at Northridge’s The Soraya, Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Santa Barbara’s Granada Theatre; three Baroque Conversations and three In Focus chamber music concerts at First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica and The Huntington in San Marino; and two SESSION experiences that explore classical music’s cutting-edge sounds and challenge traditional concert-going expectations. Deeply committed to the power of collaboration, LACO partners with the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (ICYOLA), the country’s largest African American-majority youth orchestra, and USC Thornton School of Music, one of the country’s top music programs, to run The L.A. Orchestra Fellowship. Launched in August 2018, the groundbreaking two-year training program is designed to increase diversity in American orchestras by providing top-tier post-graduate string musicians from underrepresented communities a 360-degree view of a career as an orchestral musician. LACO’s long history of educational outreach encompasses programs that reach thousands of young people and inspire a love of the invigorating power of classical music. 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 became the Orchestra’s first president. Sir Neville Marriner, Gerard Schwarz, Iona Brown, Christof Perick and Jeffrey Kahane, LACO’s illustrious Music Directors, all built upon a foundation of joyous music-making performed by exceptional artists as adept in the Baroque as in the music of today, and Jaime Martín continues that tradition. The Orchestra has made 32 recordings, including, most recently, a 2019 BIS Records release of works for violin and chamber orchestra that features Concertmaster Margaret Batjer and the world premiere recording of Pierre Jalbert’s Violin Concerto (a LACO co-commission). LACO, with offices located in downtown Los Angeles, has toured Europe, South America and Japan, and performed across North America. 9 ROSTER 2019/20 SEASON Jaime Martín VIOLIN II Music Director Josefina Vergara Jeffrey Kahane Principal Conductor Laureate Sarah Thornblade Ellen Reid Associate Principal Creative Advisor + Cheryl Norman-Brick Composer-in-Residence Jason Issokson Derrick Spiva Jr. Artist-Educator Carrie Kennedy Margaret Batjer Joel Pargman Director of Chamber Music VIOLA Erik Rynearson VIOLIN I Principal Margaret Batjer Victoria Miskolczy Concertmaster Associate Principal Tereza Stanislav Robert Brophy* Assistant Concertmaster Carole Castillo Jacqueline Brand Jennifer Munday CELLO Julie Gigante* Andrew Shulman Maia Jasper White Principal Tamara Hatwan Armen Ksajikian Associate Principal Susan Rishik Trevor Handy Giovanna Clayton 10 BASS HORN THE L.A. ORCHESTRA David Grossman Michael Thornton FELLOWS Principal Principal Ayrton Pisco Kristy McArthur Morrell Violin FLUTE Juan-Salvador Carrasco Joachim Becerra TRUMPET Cello Thomsen David Washburn Principal Principal COMPOSER TEACHING Sandy Hughes Erick Jovel ARTIST FELLOWS Nicholas Bentz OBOE HARP Gabrielle Owens Claire Brazeau JoAnn Turovsky Principal Principal Gillian Perry Allan Vogel chair, *On leave 2019/20 endowed by the KEYBOARD Henry Family Patricia Mabee Our thanks to Dana + Adrienne Malley Principal Ned Newman for their CLARINET generous gift to the TIMPANI/ endowment in support of Joshua Ranz PERCUSSION the Dana + Ned Newman Principal Wade Culbreath Musician’s Lounge. Chris Stoutenborough Principal BASSOON LIBRARIAN Kenneth Munday Serge Liberovsky Principal Damian Montano PERSONNEL MANAGER Ryan Sweeney 11 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2019/20 Officers Emeritus Honorary Council Leslie Lassiter Board of Directors Alan Chapman Chair James