from the executive director Spring brings another season of In Focus, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra at its most visceral via the chamber music medium. Curated by Margaret Batjer, In Focus features small ensembles of LACO musicians dipping into a stylistically diverse musical palette – Mozart and Brahms last season, Tchaikovsky and the Impressionists this season, and an early start to Beethoven’s 250th celebration next season. Whether at Rothenberg Hall at the Huntington in Pasadena-San Marino or the Moss Theatre at the New Roads School in Santa Monica, In Focus is the perfect complement to the Orchestral Series and a great way to discover firsthand the personalities and versatility of our musicians. Los Angeles has arguably become the chamber music capital West photo Ryan of the world thanks to the unparalleled depth of world-class musicians based here. Seizing this opportunity, LACO has joined with seven other top music organizations to shine a spotlight on this confluence of musical energy and bring further visibility to the breadth of musical offerings available to Angelenos with the launch of ChamberMusic.LA, the new go-to performance calendar and resource for Southern California music lovers. Spring also welcomes seven internationally-renowned musicians leading programs as varied as our audiences. Returning to our stages are beloved conductor laureate Jeffrey Kahane for a Mozart play- conduct, an embarrassingly rich trio of Baroque specialists: Monica Huggett, Matthew Halls and Bernard Labadie, the trend-setting composer-conductor and 2019 artist-in-residence Matthias Pintscher, the adventurous iconoclast Christopher Rountree and, fresh off leading the London Philharmonic on an nine- week European tour, music director designate Jaime Martín. Jaime will conduct two epic evenings of works for orchestra and voice: the soul-shaking Mozart Requiem paired with the West Coast premiere of Bryce Dessner’s hauntingly beautiful Voy a Dormir, a co-commission with Carnegie Hall and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and, a week later, he’ll guide LACO into new terrain at the 2019 Gala with a setting of Manuel De Falla’s Flamenco-inspired El Amor Brujo for chamber ensemble and singer. These two programs are a taste of what Jaime brings us in his inaugural 2019-20 season. From the puckish delight of our production of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to the rich harmonies of Dvorˇák’s Sixth Symphony to five world or West Coast premieres by Andrew Norman, Missy Mazzoli, Derrick Spiva, Juan Pablo Contreras and Albert Schnelzer, the coming season will be full of unbridled energy and undeniable emotion. If you haven’t renewed your subscription, or if you’ve never subscribed before, now is the time to secure your seats for this historic season so you can be part of launching the Jaime Martín era. Now more than ever, we need to make the commitment to ourselves to immerse ourselves in the music and be a part of the community found in meaningful artistic spaces. Best, Scott Harrison Executive Director los angeles chamber orchestra / 3 programs at a glance © Jamie Pham mozart’s requiem (p.51) orchestral series sat apr 27 @ 8 pm • Alex Theater sun @ 7 pm • Royce Hall michelle deyoung—song of the earth (p.31) apr 28 sat mar 2 @ 8 pm • Alex Theatre Jaime Martín conductor sun mar 3 @ 7 pm • Royce Hall Kelley O’Connor mezzo-soprano Sarah Shafer soprano Matthias Pintscher conductor Thomas Cooley tenor Henrik Heide flute Dashon Burton bass-baritone Michelle DeYoung mezzo-soprano USC Thornton Chamber Singers Sean Panikkar tenor Jo-Michael Scheibe, director Matthias Pintscher Transir for Flute & Orchestra Bryce Dessner Voy a Domir: Four Poems by Alfonsina Storni Mahler Das Lied von der Erde, orch. Glen Cortese (LACO co-commission, West Coast premiere) Mozart Requiem kahane on mozart (p.37) sat mar 23 @ 8 pm • Alex Theatre season finale: bach, handel, mozart & haydn (p.59) sun mar 24 @ 7 pm • Royce Hall sat may 18 @ 8 pm • Alex Theatre Jeffrey Kahane conductor & piano sun may 19 @ 7 pm • Royce Hall Andrew Shulman cello Bernard Labadie conductor Wade Culbreath marimba Lydia Teuscher soprano Mozart Piano Concerto No. 14 Bach Orchestral Suite No. 3 James Newton Howard Concerto for Cello & Orchestra Handel Three Arias (LACO commission, world premiere) Mozart Three Arias Gabriella Smith Riprap for Marimba and Strings Haydn Symphony No. 94, “Surprise” Mozart Symphony No. 36, “Linz” 4 / los angeles chamber orchestra programs at a glance baroque conversations matthew halls conducts bach (p.53) thu may 9 @ 7:30 pm • Zipper Hall Matthew Halls conductor Lully Suite from the Play, Le bourgeois gentilhomme Muffat Sonata No. 5, from Armonico Tributo Bach Orchestral Suite No. 1 in focus homages & souvenirs (p.25) thu feb 14 @ 7:30 pm • Moss Theater fri feb 15 @ 7:30 pm • The Huntington Dohnanyi Serenade for String Trio Juan Pablo Contreras Musas Mexicanas (LACO commission, world premiere) Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence folk & lyricism (p.41) thu mar 28 @ 7:30 pm • Moss Theater fri mar 29 @ 7:30 pm • The Huntington Prokofiev Sonata for Two Violins Barber String Quartet in B minor Peter Knell Intimate Voices Bartok Contrasts the spirit of impressionism (p.47) fri apr 12 @ 7:30 pm • The Huntington thu apr 18 @ 7:30 pm • Moss Theater Ravel Sonata for Violin & Cello Kodaly Duo for Violin & Cello Debussy String Quartet in G minor additional events SESSION pintscher thu feb 28 @ 8 pm • Mack Sennett Studios, Silver Lake Matthias Pintscher curator Michelle DeYoung mezzo-soprano Four Larks direction & design Japan à la carte sun mar 10 @ 11 am • Shoseian “Whispering Pine” Japanese Tea House, Glendale SESSION rountree thu apr 4 @ TBA Chris Rountree curator wild Up guest ensemble Four Larks direction & design LACO ensemble LACO gala thu may 2 @ 6 pm • InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown los angeles chamber orchestra / 5 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.