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Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Announces 2009-10 Season

May 07, 2009

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• NEW! 09-10 Sound Investment Composer George Tsontakis

• NEW! Composer-in-Residence Derek Bermel

• Commissioned Works and Premieres
• World Premiere from George Tsontakis
• West Coast Premiere of Derek Bermel’s A shout, a whisper, and a trace
• California Premiere of Chris Thile’s Mandolin Concerto

• NEW! “Discover” Concert Featuring
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 at Ambassador Auditorium

• Violinist Daniel Hope and Jeffrey Kahane perform
Hope’s arrangement of Schulhoff concerto

LOS ANGELES (April 23, 2009) – The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) has announced programming for the 2009-10 season, the Orchestra’s 41st subscription year, and its 13th under music director Jeffrey Kahane. Running October 17, 2009 through May 16, 2010, the 2009–10 season includes 14 Orchestral Series concerts: seven held at The Alex Theatre in Glendale, and seven held at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus, plus a special one-night-only concert, the first in LACO’s multi-year “Discover” series at the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena. Other series include Westside Connections, Baroque Conversations and Family Concerts. The Orchestra also presents two special musical events to raise funds for the organization: the annual Concert Gala and the Silent Film Gala.

Highlights of the Orchestral Series include the commissioning of two new works, with premieres by LACO’s 2009-10 Sound Investment composer, George Tsontakis, and American mandolinist Chris Thile. The season also features the west coast premiere of a work by LACO’s new composer-in-residence, Derek Bermel. Guest artists of the season include up-and-coming pianist Jeremy Denk and American soprano Laura Claycomb in their LACO debuts, and the welcome return of violinist Daniel Hope. Individual Orchestra members are featured throughout the season, with an evening of Vivaldi’s popular The Four Seasons led by concertmaster Margaret Batjer, and an evening of Baroque concertos with violinists Tereza Stanislav, Josefina Vergara and Sarah Thornblade; oboist Allan Vogel; and cellist Andrew Shulman.

In discussing highlights of the season, Kahane notes, “This season, the Orchestra continues its rich history of commissioning new works from leading composers, introducing new talent on the rise and highlighting outstanding talent within the Orchestra. We also launch a multi-year ‘Discover’ series, the first of which focuses on Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, a piece the Orchestra is performing for the first time. Though arguably the most famous and popular symphony ever written, many music lovers have never had the opportunity to discover how this miraculous masterpiece works it magic on us. Our goal is to unlock and illuminate the inner workings of this musical treasure.”

Kahane continues, “American music figures prominently in the season as well—first in an evening of music featuring works by Aaron Copland and two young American composers on the brink of major careers, Chris Thile and Nico Muhly, and secondly in our ‘working relationships’ with new composer-in-residence Derek Bermel and our 2009-10 Sound Investment composer, George Tsontakis.

We also introduce our audience to the pianist Jeremy Denk, showcase the talent of the extraordinary American soprano Laura Claycomb, and feature violinist Daniel Hope, who made an incredible impression on all of us when he debuted in 2006. Daniel Hope is an extraordinary musical mind, and I look forward to his interpretation of Mendelssohn’s original Violin Concerto and to joining him for his arrangement of a stunningly beautiful, powerful and virtually unknown concerto by Ervìn Schulhoff, one of the composers silenced by the Nazi regime during World War II.”

COMPOSERS AND COMMISSIONS
SOUND INVESTMENT PROGRAM: The 2009-10 season marks the ninth year of Sound Investment, a program that allows patrons to take an active role in commissioning a new work. The Orchestra is proud to announce George Tsontakis as its Sound Investment composer for 2009-10. Recipient of the Charles Ives Living Award, given to only three composers previously, Tsontakis is a “…hugely respected composer with a stellar ear for color and a powerful gift for drama and orchestration…,” says Kahane. Tsontakis has been nominated two times for a Grammy in the Contemporary Classical Composition category, most recently in 2008 for his Violin Concerto No. 2 on Koch Records, and previously in 1998 for Ghost Variations on Hyperion Records. Kahane and the Orchestra perform Tsontakis’ commissioned piece during the season finale on May 15 and 16, 2010.

By encouraging patrons to actively participate in the commissioning process, the Sound Investment program gives investing members the rare opportunity to create a legacy in music and to observe firsthand the development of a new work from the composer’s earliest ideas to the finished composition. Interested parties pay a minimum of $250 for a year-long membership and are invited to three salons throughout the season that feature in-depth discussion with the composer about his creative process and previews of the final work.

COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE: Young American composer Derek Bermel joins LACO as the organization’s new composer-in-residence, beginning this season. Described by the Toronto Star as an “…eclectic with wide open ears…” and by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as “…one of America’s finest young composers…,” Bermel – also a clarinetist – has been widely hailed for his creativity, theatricality and virtuosity. Bermel’s works draw from a rich variety of musical genres, including classical, jazz, pop, rock, blues, folk and gospel. Hands-on experience with music of cultures around the world has become part of the fabric and force of his compositional language. During the 2009-10 season, Bermel participates in education and outreach activities through LACO’s Meet the Music program. On December 12 and 13, 2009, Kahane conducts the Orchestra in the west coast premiere of Bermel’s A shout, a whisper, and a trace.

PREMIERES: Under the leadership of Jeffrey Kahane, LACO is a three-time winner of the ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming and has built a formidable reputation as one of the leading organizations of its kind for commissioning and performing new music. Premieres for the 2009-10 season include a world premiere by Tsontakis and a west coast premiere by Bermel.

The Orchestra also performs the California premiere of mandolinist Chris Thile’s Mandolin Concerto, a co-commission with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Heralded as a bluegrass master, Thile made his name in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and his current band Punch Brothers. He has also performed with artists as diverse as Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Glen Phillips. The Mandolin Concerto is Thile’s first full-scale orchestral piece as a composer and is performed on the Orchestra’s all-American music program January 23 and 24, 2010.

The all-American music program also features By All Means by Nico Muhly, the youngest composer ever to be commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and composer of 2008’s Oscar-nominated The Reader. “Together, Thile and Muhly are among the biggest and brightest young stars in American music right now,” comments Jeffrey Kahane. “We are delighted to introduce their music to our audiences.”

World Premiere Date:
May 15 and 16, 2010 – George Tsontakis, Sound Investment commission

West Coast and California Premiere Dates:
• December 12 and 13, 2009 – Derek Bermel, A shout, a whisper, and a trace (west coast premiere)
• January 23 and 24, 2010– Chris Thile, Mandolin Concerto (California premiere)

“DISCOVER” CONCERT
Both a beloved concert hall and a beloved symphony offer an evening of exciting exploration when LACO returns to the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena on Saturday, November 7. The Orchestra performs, for the first time in its history, Beethoven Symphony No. 5 as part of its new “Discover” series, an annual one-night-only offering.

In describing the impetus for the “Discover” series, Kahane says, “We wanted to explore the inner workings of great symphonic treasures with our audiences, in order to deepen our understanding of how these musical miracles work their magic. Each ‘Discover’ concert delves into a well-known work through a discussion and reading from the artist’s writings, integrated with performance excerpts from seminal works of the composer. The second half of the evening consists of a full performance of the piece, followed by an opportunity to have a dialogue with the artists.

This year, we’ll look at Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, arguably the most famous and popular
symphony ever written. In this concert we’ll explore the concept of tonality, beginning with fundamental yet perpetually fascinating questions like, ‘Why is the Fifth Symphony in the key of C minor and not some other key, and what does it really mean for a work to be in a key?’ The discussion will be integrated with performances of excerpts from many of Beethoven’s important works, including the Fifth and other symphonies; important piano works and chamber music, such as movements from the ‘Moonlight’ and ‘Pathetique’ sonatas.”

GUEST ARTISTS
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra welcomes the following guest artists during the 2009-10 season:

• Margaret Batjer, leader and violin (October 17 and 18, 2009)
In the season opening performances, LACO concertmaster and violin virtuoso Margaret Batjer leads the Orchestra from the first chair in Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, “Italian” and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, a perennial Orchestra favorite.

• Laura Claycomb, soprano (December 12 and 13, 2009)
Acclaimed bel canto soprano Laura Claycomb makes her Orchestra debut in an evening highlighted by the original 1912 version of Zerbinetta’s aria from Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, the first time in her career that she sings this version. The program also includes Copland’s Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson and selections from Mozart.

• Chris Thile, mandolin and composer (January 23 and 24, 2010)
Composer, mandolinist and bluegrass master Chris Thile makes his LACO debut in a program of American music highlighted by the California premiere of his Mandolin Concerto, a co-commission with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. The concert also includes Nico Muhly’s By All Means, and both Copland’s Music for the Theatre and original 1944 Appalachian Spring Suite.

• Tereza Stanislav, violin (February 20 and 21, 2010)
• Josefina Vergara, violin
• Sarah Thornblade, violin
• Andrew Shulman, cello
• Allan Vogel, oboe d’amore
Accentuating the breadth and depth of talent in the Orchestra, five LACO principals are featured as leaders and soloists in an evening of Baroque concertos. Violinists Stanislav, Vergara and Thornblade take the spotlight in Bach’s Concerto in D major for Three Violins and Orchestra; oboist Allan Vogel performs Bach’s Oboe d’amore Concerto in A major, BWV 1055; and Andrew Shulman takes the stage for Vivaldi’s Cello Concerto in C minor.

• Daniel Hope, violin (March 20 and 21, 2010)
Known for his versatility and creativity, violinist Daniel Hope returns to the Orchestra for an evening of works by composers of Jewish descent, including Mendelssohn and Ervìn Schulhoff. The concert concludes with Kahane conducting Symphony No. 2 by Kurt Weill, another prominent Jewish composer whose work, like Schulhoff’s, was the target of the Nazi authorities. Hope performs the original 1844 version of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, which Hope recorded for Deutsche Grammophon in 2007. Hope says “The tempo marking for the first movement, which we’ve always known as ‘Allegro molto appassionato’ (lively and with great passion), was in Mendelssohn’s original version actually ‘Allegro con fuoco’ – lively, but with fire! To my mind, that single word changes the feeling of an entire movement, and with it, the whole work itself. But it is pure Mendelssohn, and all the magical elements that make the Violin Concerto what it is, and so well loved, are completely intact.” Jeffrey Kahane joins Hope for Schulhoff’s Double Concerto for Violin and Piano, conducting from the keyboard in Hope’s arrangement of the original for flute and piano.

This concert precedes a symposium co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies and The Orel Foundation, April 7 – 8, 2010. The event features papers and panels on topics relating to music suppressed by the Nazis, as well as a chamber music program curated by Jeffrey Kahane.

• Jeremy Denk, piano (April 17 and 18, 2010)
Described by The New York Times as “…a pianist with a searching mind,” young artist Jeremy Denk performs Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments and Mozart’s Rondo in D major for Piano and Orchestra, K. 382.

OTHER SERIES
WESTSIDE CONNECTIONS: Consisting of three chamber music concerts performed at The Broad Stage, the series is curated by concertmaster Margaret Batjer and explores the connections between music and other artistic expressions.

In its inaugural season, the series has enjoyed near capacity audiences and a positive audience response to the innovative concept. Says Margaret Batjer, “I have been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response for the inaugural season of Westside Connections. Our esteemed guest poets have beautifully woven together the obvious and not-so-obvious connections between poetry and music, matching the extraordinary musical performances from our LACO musicians. In our second season, we’ll take a look at how music inspires creativity in different disciplines. For each of our three concerts, we’ll invite a distinguished representative from another field to share with us the special role that music holds in his professional life. Each will be asked to select a chamber work that has been a source of inspiration and to enlighten us with personal insights into creativity.”

Westside Connections series performance dates:
• Thursday, February 11, 2010
• Thursday, March 25, 2010
• Thursday, April 29, 2010

BAROQUE CONVERSATIONS SERIES: In its fourth season, LACO’s Baroque Conversations series continues its focus on the genesis of orchestral repertoire from the Italian, French and German Baroque schools through the Pre-Classical period and includes repertoire by composers from Corelli, Handel and Bach to CPE Bach and early Haydn. Hosted by the conductor or a member of the Orchestra, each concert is enhanced by the intimate and superior acoustical setting of Zipper Concert Hall at The Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles. The division between performers and the audience is erased as the artists introduce the music directly from the stage and serve as panel members for a discussion with the audience following the concert.

Baroque Conversations series dates:
• Thursday, January 21, 2010 – led by conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane
• Thursday, March 4, 2010 – led by principal oboe Allan Vogel
• Thursday, April 1, 2010 – led by violinist Monica Huggett
• Thursday, May 6, 2010 – led by concertmaster Margaret Batjer

FAMILY CONCERTS: In its 12th season, LACO’s Family Concerts series features short music programs designed to capture the imagination and includes opportunities for young ones to ask questions. The concerts are preceded by creative activities that amuse, enrich and involve the youthful patrons. Children are given the chance to try out real instruments at LACO’s Instrument Petting Zoo and enjoy crafts and interactive workshops geared toward learning and fun with a variety of partner organizations. The series is suggested for children ages five and up and takes place at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Kidspace Children’s Museum continues its partnership with the Orchestra. Camille Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals is featured in one concert of the 2010 series. Complete program, themes and additional concert partnerships to be announced at a later date.

Family Concerts dates:
• Sunday, February 7, 2010
• Sunday, March 28, 2010
• Sunday, May 2, 2010

SPECIAL CONCERTS
The Orchestra hosts its annual Concert Gala on Saturday, February 6, 2010. The evening includes a special concert followed by dinner, dancing, and silent and live auctions.

The annual Silent Film Gala returns in spring 2010. The popular event includes the screening of a beloved silent film accompanied by the Orchestra performing the score live. After the performance, gala guests are invited to enjoy a supper reception.

KUSC BROADCASTS
Southern California’s Classical KUSC 91.5 FM broadcasts the concerts from the Orchestra’s 40th anniversary season, including Orchestral, Baroque Conversations and Westside Connections concerts. The broadcasts are supported in part by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. More program information and broadcast dates to be announced at a later date.

COMMUNITY AND EDUCATION INITIATIVES
The Orchestra continues its highly successful Meet the Music program during the 2009-10 season. Offered in cooperation with the Los Angeles Unified School District, Meet the Music fosters listening skills, encourages individual and group involvement in music-making and provides personal contact with musicians and composers. Through these interactive experiences, the Orchestra demonstrates to young audiences that classical music can be fun, interesting and rewarding – not intimidating or boring. In the fall, students learn about Beethoven from music director Jeffrey Kahane and in the spring, concerts involve composer/mandolinist Chris Thile.

Reaching approximately 2,500 fourth- through sixth-graders from across the LAUSD annually, Meet the Music events are held in Zipper Concert Hall at The Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles. Participating schools receive written curricula, CD samplers and classroom visits from docents in advance of each concert.

Meet the Music dates:
• Friday, November 6, 2009
• Friday, January 22, 2010
• Friday, March 19, 2010

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra recognizes Maguire as its official sponsor. Other sponsors include Carol and Warner Henry in support of Baroque Conversations, Titus and Wendy Brenninkmeijer in support of the composer-in-residence program, Joyce and Mal Fienberg in support of the March concert weekend with Daniel Hope, Bill Cooney in support of Daniel Hope’s performance at the Alex Theatre, The James Irvine Foundation in support of Westside Connections and the “Discover” series and the Funari Family Foundation in support of Meet the Music.

2009-10 GUEST ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES:
Margaret Batjer, who curates LACO’s Westside Connections series, joined the Orchestra as concertmaster in 1998. She made her first solo appearance at the age of 15 with the Chicago Symphony in Gian Carlo Menotti’s Violin Concerto. Since then, she has been re-engaged by the Chicago Symphony, as well as a succession of other major orchestras. Batjer has also appeared as a soloist throughout Europe with orchestras including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Equally respected as a chamber musician, Batjer has performed regularly at the Marlboro Music Festival, the Minnesota Orchestra Sommerfest, the La Jolla Summerfest, the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, and the Naples and Cremona festivals in Italy. She has recorded the Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D minor for Philips with Salvatore Accardo and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and more recently for Deutsche Grammophon with Hilary Hahn and LACO. Batjer has won numerous prizes, including the G.B. Dealey Award in Dallas. She joined the faculty of the Thornton School of Music at USC in 2005.

Described by the Toronto Star as “an eclectic with wide open ears,” composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel has been hailed for his creativity, theatricality and virtuosity. His works draw from a rich variety of musical genres and cultures, and he frequently collaborates with artists across the spectrum, from theatre to film to poetry to architecture. Currently serving as 2006-09 Music Alive composer-in-residence with the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Bermel has received commissions from the Pittsburgh, National and Saint Louis symphonies; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; violinist Midori; and pianists Christopher Taylor and Andy Russo, among others. His many awards and honors include the Alpert Award in the Arts, the Rome Prize, Guggenheim and Fulbright fellowships, the Trailblazer Award from the American Music Center and the Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Recently, Bermel performed as soloist alongside Wynton Marsalis in his Migration Series, a work commissioned by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and American Composers Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Orchestra produced an all-Bermel concert as part of its Music of Today series at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. His composition teachers include William Albright, Louis Andriessen, William Bolcom, Henri Dutilleux, André Hajdu and Michael Tenzer

Native Texan Laura Claycomb excels in adventurous repertoire, ranging from Baroque music to bel canto masterpieces to 20th-century and contemporary compositions. Her delicacy, refinement and theatricality in high-flying repertoire make her one of the foremost lyric coloraturas of her generation, and she performs at major opera houses around the world. She made her debut at La Scala in 1998 singing the title role in Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix and at the Salzburg Festival in 1997 as Amanda in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre with Esa-Pekka Salonen and Peter Sellars. Other signature roles include Giulietta in I Capuleti e I Montecchi, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Gilda in Rigoletto, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Ophelie in Hamlet and the title roles in Lucia di Lammermoor and La fille du regiment. Her recordings include Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Arcadian duets, La partenza and the operas Le Grand Macabre and Sir John in Love. Recent engagements included the Beethoven Missa Solemnis with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Ode to St. Cecilia with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Houston and with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, and Krenek’s Die Nachtigall with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas. She also toured Europe with Les Ballets C de la B in performances of Pitié, an opera-dance-theater hybrid based on Bach’s St. Matthew Passion by director and choreographer Alain Platel.

American pianist Jeremy Denk has steadily built a name as one of today’s most compelling young artists. The New York Times describes him as “…a pianist with a searching mind.” In 1997, he won the Young Concert Artists Auditions and the Avery Fisher Career Grant, and since then has appeared with the Dallas, Atlanta, San Francisco and St. Louis symphonies; the Philadephia and the Orpheus Chamber orchestras; and the London Philharmonia. His repertoire ranges from Bach to Ligeti, with all stops in between; he is currently set to release a debut solo CD of Bach partitas. Denk maintains working relationships with a number of living composers and has premiered works by Leon Kirchner, Jake Heggie, Ned Rorem, Kevin Puts and Libby Larsen. An avid chamber music practitioner, he has collaborated with many quartets, including the Borromeo, Brentano, St. Lawrence, Shanghai and Vermeer quartets, and with many other leading musicians. At the Spoleto Festival in 2004, he met and first performed with violinist Joshua Bell, whose subsequent invitation to do a recital tour resulted in a continuing musical partnership. A double-degree graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory in the unlikely combination of chemistry and piano performance, Denk also has graduate degrees in music from Indiana University and The Juilliard School. He writes about the connections between literature and music in his blog – “Think Denk” – and was cited by Alex Ross, music critic of The New Yorker, who described Denk as a “superb musician who writes with arresting sensitivity and wit.”

The New York Times writes about Daniel Hope, “You never know what the brilliant young British violinist…will do next.” An advocate of interdisciplinary exploration, Hope devotes a portion of his time to conceptual, collaborative projects that combine words and music. These include Forbidden Music with chamber music and poetry from the Theresienstadt Ghetto, and War and Pieces and Mozart Unplugged in association with Klaus Maria Brandauer. In 2008, Hope organized a concert to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, featuring works by artists whose musical voices were silenced in Nazi-invaded Europe. He also frequently works with eminent composers and actively commissions and premieres new music. Many of these projects first premiered at the Savannah Music Festival in Georgia, where Hope has been associate director since 2004. He has performed with major orchestras the world over and directs many chamber orchestras from the violin, including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He became the youngest ever member of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio in 2002. London’s Evening Standard named Hope its Classical Performer 2001, and in 2008, he won the ECHO Prize for the fourth year in succession. A prolific recording artist and three-time Grammy® nominee, he made a total of eight award-winning recordings for Warner Classics between 2004 and 2006 alone. Hope signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon in January 2007.

Renowned as a pianist and conductor, Jeffrey Kahane is recognized by audiences around the world for his mastery of diverse repertoire from Bach to Gershwin. He has established a reputation as a truly versatile artist equally sought after as soloist, conductor and chamber musician. This year, Kahane enters his 13th season as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and continues his successful tenure as music director of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Under his leadership, both ensembles have received ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming—the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s fourth win in 2008.

Andrew Shulman’s career as cellist and conductor has taken him all over the world. As soloist, Shulman has directed and performed all the major cello concertos with orchestras in Europe, the United States and the Far East, including the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Los Angeles and Royal Liverpool philharmonics, and the City of Birmingham, Utah and Singapore symphonies. As a conductor, Andrew has performed extensively in the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland and Scandinavia and has conducted world premieres of several orchestral works, including a previously unpublished work by Benjamin Britten with the Britten-Pears Orchestra. Shulman studied cello, composition and conducting at London’s Royal Academy and Royal College of Music. He became a professor at the historic Royal College of Music in London in 1986, and has since given master classes all over the world. He was bestowed with an Honorary RCM by The Queen Mother and is the first British winner of the prestigious Piatigorsky Artist Award. Since coming to Los Angeles, Shulman has taught at USC and UCLA. Formerly the principal cello of the LA Philharmonic, he joined the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra as principal cello in 2008. Shulman is one the most sought-after solo cellists working in the recording industry.

Tereza Stanislav was appointed LACO assistant concertmaster in 2003. An active chamber musician, Stanislav has performed in venues including the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center and at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. As a founding member of the Enso String Quartet, Stanislav was awarded the Second Prize of the 2004 Banff International String Quartet Competition, and led the quartet to win the Special Prize awarded for best performance of the “Pièce de concert” commissioned for the competition. An advocate for new music, Stanislav traveled to Israel to represent the United States as the violinist in the New Juilliard Ensemble at the 1998 World Composers’ Symposium. She is featured on a new recording of a Wolfgang work on Albany Records and a Reich piece on Nonesuch Records. With Enso, Stanislav is featured on the Naxos recording of the complete Ignaz Pleyel String Quartets, Op. 2. In 2004, Stanislav released a CD in collaboration with pianist Hung-Kuan Chen. Stanislav holds a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University where she studied with Miriam Fried, and a Master of Music from The Juilliard School and has collaborated with educator Robert Kapilow of NPR’s program What Makes It Great? and musicologist Robert Winter of UCLA.

Widely regarded as one of the most interesting and inventive musicians of his generation, Chris Thile has changed the mandolin forever, elevating it from its origins as a relatively simple folk and bluegrass instrument to the sophistication and brilliance of the finest jazz improvisation and classical performance. For more than 15 years, Thile played in the wildly popular band Nickel Creek, with whom he released three albums for a combined two million records sold, was awarded a Grammy® in 2002, and traveled the world on sold-out concert tours. As a soloist he has released four albums, on which he conquered a dizzying range of instruments, songwriting challenges and musical styles. Thile has also performed and recorded extensively as a duo with double bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer (with whom he released an album and toured the world in the fall of 2008) and with fellow eminent mandolinist Mike Marshall. In 2007, Meyer and pianist Emanuel Ax commissioned Thile to write a piece for double bass and piano, which they performed on a tour including the Kennedy Center, Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center and Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Additionally, Thile has collaborated with a pantheon of bluegrass innovators including Béla Fleck, Dolly Parton, the Dixie Chicks, Jerry Douglas and Sam Bush.

Sarah Thornblade is currently the associate principal second violin of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. She is an avid chamber musician and a member of the Eclipse Quartet, a new music string quartet, and the Denali String Quartet. She has also performed with X-tet, Camerata Pacifica and the Auros Group for New Music in Boston. Her playing has been described by the Los Angeles Times as “rapturously winning,” and she has been called a “marvelously versatile violinist” by the Santa Barbara News. As a founding member of the Arianna String Quartet, quartet-in-residence at Eastern Michigan University, she won first prize at the Fischoff, Coleman and Carmel chamber music competitions. Thornblade has performed throughout the country and abroad at festivals including the Tanglewood, Spoleto, Colorado Music, Oregon Bach, Norfolk festivals and the Banff and Portland chamber music festivals. She has collaborated with artists such as Gilbert Kalish, Jeffrey Kahane, Andres Cardenes, Randall Hodgkinson and Warren Jones. Thornblade studied with Miriam Fried and Shmuel Ashkenasi.

Composer George Tsontakis has won two of the richest prizes in all of classical music: the international Grawemeyer Award in 2005 for his Second Violin Concerto and the 2007 Charles Ives Living Award, bestowed every three years by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Born in Astoria, New York into a strongly Cretan heritage, George Tsontakis has, in recent years, become an important figure in the music of Greece. His music is performed across the US, and each season the demand for his work increases in the distinguished concert halls of Europe. Most of his compositions, including 11 major orchestral works and four concertos, have been recorded by Hyperion and Koch. He earned two Grammy® nominations for Best Classical Composition, one in 2009 and one in 1999. Esteemed composer David Del Tredici describes Tsontakis’ work as music that is “full of heart, a quality that erases boundaries as it satisfies and enriches the soul,” and The Village Voice hails his “heroic, nostalgia-free romanticism.” A member of the faculty of the Aspen Music School, Tsontakis is also a composer-in-residence at Bard College and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, which commissioned and premiered a new work from him for the re-opening of the famed Alice Tully Hall in February 2009. He spent three years as composer-in-residence with England’s Oxford Philomusica and is continuing a six-year Music Alive residency with the Albany Symphony. He studied with Roger Sessions at Juilliard and with Franco Donatoni in Rome.

Josefina Vergara joined LACO in 1999 as its principal second violinist. A native of Chile, she has received recognition for her performances throughout the United States and abroad. As an active chamber musician, Vergara has appeared in recitals in Europe and the Far East and has participated in numerous festivals including the Aspen, La Jolla and Santa Fe chamber music festivals. She has performed with fellow chamber musicians Lynn Harrell, Timothy Eddy, Claude Frank and David Golub, among many others. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree at Indiana University, studying with Miriam Fried. While at Indiana, she served as concertmaster of the Indiana Chamber Orchestra and as first violin of the scholarship quartet. She has been a prize winner at musical events including the Osaka International Chamber Music, Fischoff, Coleman and Pasadena Instrumental competitions. Vergara has appeared as a soloist with the Peninsula, Pacific Palisades and UCLA symphonies, as well as the Indiana Chamber Orchestra. She has performed in various summer festivals including Tanglewood, Aspen, the Music Academy of the West, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Villa Musica in Mainz, Germany. Josefina Vergara serves on the chamber music faculty at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. She regularly performs with Camerata Pacifica and is a member of the Grammy®-nominated New Century Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco.

Hailed as “an aristocrat of his instrument” (Los Angeles Times) and “undoubtedly one of a few world masters” (San Diego Union), Allan Vogel is one of America’s leading wind soloists and chamber musicians. Principal oboe of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, he has appeared as soloist with orchestras throughout the country and has been featured at the Marlboro, Santa Fe, Aspen, Mostly Mozart, Summerfest, Sarasota, Oregon Bach, Music@Menlo and Chamber Music Northwest festivals. Vogel has been guest principal oboe with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for concerts in the major European capitals, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and Boston Symphony Hall. He has also performed with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Berlin and Los Angeles philharmonic orchestras.

LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
2009-10 CHRONOLOGICAL LISTING OF EVENTS

OCTOBER 2009

ORCHESTRAL SERIES
four seasons
The Alex Theatre Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 8 PM
Royce Hall
Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 7 PM
Margaret Batjer, leader & violin

VIVALDI The Four Seasons
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, (“Italian”)

NOVEMBER 2009

MEET THE MUSIC
Zipper Concert Hall
Friday, November 6, 2009 at 10 & 11:30 AM

“DISCOVER” CONCERT
discover beethoven 5
Ambassador Auditorium
Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 8 PM

Jeffrey Kahane, conductor, piano & musical tour
guide

Introduction
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67

DECEMBER 2009

ORCHESTRAL SERIES
bel canto
The Alex Theatre Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 8 PM
Royce Hall
Sunday, December 13, 2009 at 7 PM

Jeffrey Kahane, conductor & piano
Laura Claycomb, soprano

DEREK BERMEL A shout, a whisper, and a trace (west coast premiere)
MOZART “Ch’io mi scordi di te…non temer, amato bene” (“To forget you…Do not fear, beloved”) – Recitative and aria for soprano, piano and orchestra, K. 505
MOZART “Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio!” (“Dear God, would that I could explain”), K. 418
COPLAND Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson
R STRAUSS Sextet from Capriccio, Op. 85
R STRAUSS “Grossmächtige Prinzessin” (Zerbinetta’s aria)
from Ariadne auf Naxos (1912 version)

JANUARY 2010

BAROQUE CONVERSATIONS
Zipper Concert Hall
Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 7 PM
Jeffrey Kahane, conductor & keyboard

MEET THE MUSIC
Zipper Concert Hall
Friday, January 22, 2010 at 10 & 11:30 AM

ORCHESTRAL SERIES
mandolin
The Alex Theatre Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 8 PM
Royce Hall
Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 7 PM

Jeffrey Kahane, conductor
Chris Thile, mandolin

NICO MUHLY By All Means
COPLAND Music for the Theatre
COPLAND Appalachian Spring Suite (original 1944 version)
CHRIS THILE Mandolin Concerto (LACO co-commission – California premiere)

FEBRUARY 2010

FAMILY CONCERT SERIES
The Alex Theatre Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 2 PM

WESTSIDE CONNECTIONS
The Broad Stage
Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 7 PM
Curated by Margaret Batjer

ORCHESTRAL SERIES
baroque +
The Alex Theatre Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 8 PM
Royce Hall
Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 7 PM

Andrew Shulman, cello
Tereza Stanislav, Josefina Vergara,
Sarah Thornblade, violins
Allan Vogel, oboe d’amore

PURCELL Chacony in G minor
VIVALDI Cello Concerto in C minor, RV 401
BACH Concerto in D major for Three Violins and Orchestra (transcription of BWV 1064)
BACH Oboe d’amore Concerto in A major, BWV 1055
MENDELSSOHN Sinfonia No. 5 in B-flat major

MARCH 2010

BAROQUE CONVERSATIONS
Zipper Concert Hall
Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 7 PM
Allan Vogel, host & oboe

MEET THE MUSIC
Zipper Concert Hall
Friday, March 19, 2010 at 10 & 11:30 AM

ORCHESTRAL SERIES
hope
The Alex Theatre Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 8 PM
Royce Hall
Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 7 PM
Jeffrey Kahane, conductor & piano
Daniel Hope, violin

SCHULHOFF Double Concerto for Violin and Piano – arranged from the original for flute and piano by Daniel Hope
MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (original 1844 version)
WEILL Symphony No. 2

WESTSIDE CONNECTIONS
The Broad Stage
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 7 PM
Curated by Margaret Batjer

FAMILY CONCERT SERIES
The Alex Theatre Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 2 PM

APRIL 2010

BAROQUE CONVERSATIONS
Zipper Concert Hall
Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 7 PM
Monica Huggett, leader & violin

ORCHESTRAL SERIES
jupiter
The Alex Theatre Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 8 PM
Royce Hall
Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 7 PM

Jeffrey Kahane, conductor
Jeremy Denk, piano

STRAVINSKY Concerto in D major for String Orchestra
STRAVINSKY Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments
MOZART Rondo in D major for Piano and Orchestra, K. 382
MOZART Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, (“Jupiter”)

WESTSIDE CONNECTIONS
The Broad Stage
Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 7 PM
Curated by Margaret Batjer

MAY 2010

FAMILY CONCERT SERIES
The Alex Theatre Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 2 PM

BAROQUE CONVERSATIONS
Zipper Concert Hall
Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 7 PM
Margaret Batjer, leader & violin

ORCHESTRAL SERIES
great romantics
The Alex Theatre Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 8 PM
Royce Hall
Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 7 PM

Jeffrey Kahane, conductor & piano

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
GEORGE TSONTAKIS Sound Investment commission (world premiere)
BIZET Symphony in C major

Press Contact:
Elizabeth Hinckley at Rogers & Cowan
310 854 8199 or ehinckley@rogersandcowan.com
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