Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra blog

I hadn’t known until I was driving home from work on Tuesday night, but March 9 was the 100th birthday of one of my favorite composers, Samuel Barber. And I only learned this because NPR aired a very nice tribute that evening during All Things Considered. I adore Barber’s work because it organically brought the European Romanticism of the 19th century into modern American composition. Reinvigorating the musical language with his own harmonic and rhythmic sensibilities, Barber unapologetically produced music along a very human emotional spectrum. Unfortunately, it was exactly for these reasons that his music wasn’t considered “serious” in some quarters during his lifetime. Fortunately for us, however, performers and audiences were and are unabashed about taking pleasure in playing and listening to it.

The LACO office is a varied group – from singers and flautists to composers and violists, we have most families of the orchestra covered. And we all seem to have divergent tastes in what our “favorite” music is, and what we choose to listen to in our spare time.

Daniel Hope is an inspiration himself. Not only a virtuoso violinist, Hope is also an author, a blogger, a musical activist, a humanitarian and a producer. He has performed with renowned Orchestras all over the world and artists from a multitude of genres. He has demonstrated a steadfast determination to commemorate the music banned by the Nazi regime and organized a commemorative concert on the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht at Berlin’s Tempelhof airport.

Head over to our podcast page to listen to two new podcasts from our Westside Connections series!

Today’s required reading: an essay by Roger Scruton, writing for the blog of the American Enterprise Institute. It’s a fascinating (and occasionally dumbfounding and infuriating), if long-ish read that argues for moral absolutism in music. Fear not, this isn’t a Classical Music GOOD/Pop Music BAD screed at all. Rather, Scruton puts a new – and specifically musicological – spin on the classic fear that today’s music is at the root of our moral and societal decay.

In our newest podcast, posted today, LACO music director Jeffrey Kahane discusses our upcoming Hope concert on March 20 and 21 with KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen. The concert commemorates composers whose music was suppressed by the Nazi regime. Listen to the podcast here or to view or subscribe to all of our podcasts, click here.

In a review of the February 20 Baroque + concert at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, Bill Peters writes, “Conductor Jeffrey Kahane stepped aside in order to allow the depth of talent in the principal chairs from the string and woodwind sections to take the spotlight.

Before last weekend’s Baroque+ concert LACO executive director Andrea Laguni sat down with violinists Tereza Stanislav, Josefina Vergara and Sarah Thornblade to discuss the evening’s program. If you unfortunately had to miss the talk, or want to learn more about the music of Bach, Vivaldi, Purcell and Mendelssohn (who puts the plus in Baroque+), you can listen to the podcast of their conversation here.

Each season, the LACO commissions and premieres a new piece of music composed especially for its virtuosic musicians. LACO patrons can take part in this creative process by donating toward the composer’s fee and costs of the premiere concerts. These Sound Investment members get to meet the composer in intimate previews of the new works.

As of last weekend’s Baroque+ concerts, our Orchestras Feeding America food drive for 2010 is well under way! We received enough monetary donations to purchase 240 meals for families in need, and a few people showed up with full grocery bags to donate and claim their free tickets to the concert.

Before I get into the specifics of this evening’s LACO concert, I’m going to discuss expectations. Everyone has expectations when it comes to attending an event. For example: “This party should be fun.” “I heard this movie was really funny.” “I’m gonna get the dumplings because this place has great dumplings.” “I’m dreading this concert of baroque music because I didn’t like the last baroque concert at all.” Now guess which one of those I was thinking to myself all day today? The answer is actually both the 3rd and 4th ones… I do love a good dumpling. But that’s besides the point. Last season, LACO performed the Brandenburg Concertos, and it was my least favorite concert of the season. In my blog about it, I talked about all manner of things besides the music because I didn’t want to go on and on about my boredom. So I expected, going into this evenings Baroque + concert, that I would come out grumpy and displeased. But I didn’t! What a surprise! Could it be that I like Baroque music after all? Since this was the Baroque + (plus) concert, I’ve decided that the difference must all be in the plus. Now, if only I knew what that was.

On February 20 and 21, LACO assistant concertmaster Tereza Stanislav is one of the featured musicians at Baroque +. In this unique concert, five LACO principals, including Tereza, step into the spotlight to showcase their brilliance in masterworks by Purcell, Vivaldi, Bach and Mendelssohn.

From now until the end of March, LACO is collecting food for the Orchestras Feeding America national food drive. We’ve partnered with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank to take part in making a difference in our community.

Last week, Nick Norton joined the LACO staff as the administrative associate, just in time for LACO’s Made in California Gala. Here is his introduction in his very own words. Welcome, Nick!

On Saturday, February 6, LACO wowed attendees with its Made in California gala at the California Market Center in the fashion district of downtown LA. The evening included a fantastic concert featuring Jeffrey Kahane, his son Gabriel and the incredible Punch Brothers performing with LACO strings; a silent and a live auction filled with art, collectibles and once-in-a-lifetime experiences; and dinner and dancing under a twirling disco ball in the fun retro-inspired Club 213.