Meet the Music

Presented free-of-charge to public elementary students in grades four through six across Los Angeles county, Meet the Music fosters listening skills, encourages collaborative involvement and sparks creative innovation through a docent-led classroom visit followed by an interactive, discussion-based concert featuring our own musicians and artists.

Derrick Spiva Jr
Composer and LACO Artist-Educator Derrick Spiva Jr

Launching with the 2019-20 season, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is excited to announce a new era for Meet the Music in collaboration with our artist-educator and fellow Angeleno, Derrick Spiva Jr.

This year’s agenda will feature a specially curated program of classical and new music, supplemented by a comprehensive curriculum specifically made to prepare and excite students for the concert experience. We are also jump-starting a uniquely immersive and creative initiative, the “Classroom Composers Project,” as an optional addition to the regular curriculum.

Through this redesigned educational outlook, we aim to further specialize MTM in order to better meet the ever-evolving needs of our students. We are excited to have you and your students join us for this reinvigorated season of artistic education!

1920 MTM Classroom Composers Project Letter

1920 MTM Application Form or 1920 MTM Online Application

Dates and performances

Frequently Asked Questions

Thank you for your interest in our program; we are excited to have you join us! You may apply either by downloading the application off our website and submitting to our office, or by filling out our online Google Form. Please note that schools will be admitted on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Absolutely! We will provide a supplementary lesson plan and in-classroom visit that can help prepare your students for the concert.

Although Meet the Music is primarily open to schools in LAUSD, we also welcome applications from Pasadena Unified School District and Burbank Unified School District. Please contact Taylor Lockwood directly to discuss other options and alternatives.

Meet the Music 2019-20 concerts will take place at three different locations across the county:

          Moss Theatre 3131 Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90404

          Royce Rehearsal Room (UCLA) 10745 Dickson Court, Los Angeles, CA 90095

          Zipper Hall (The Colburn School) 200 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012

School are responsible for arranging their own transportation. On a need-basis, LACO can help subsidize transportation needs. Please contact Taylor Lockwood directly if you have transportation concerns.

Certainly, if space permits! Please note that this season’s MTM will feature ONE concert program across all three concerts; therefore, all performances will be identical. You may also choose to sign up different groups of students from the same school to attend multiple performances as well.

MTM’s curriculum is designed to be supplementary to your existing classroom work. Prior to your concert field trip, LACO will send a trained volunteer docent to visit your students in-classroom to prepare them with the educational tools necessary to fully engage them in the concert experience. We will also provide optional sample lesson plans and other educational guidelines that you may choose to use. Remember that we are here to help you! Feel free to contact Taylor Lockwood directly if you have any questions regarding the curriculum preparation.

The “Classroom Composers Project” is a new initiative we are adding to our curriculum starting this season. This project will involve an additional classroom visit from one of our Teaching Artist Fellows who will engage your students in an immersive and creative process that will culminate in them creating their own mini-composition, to be featured at the MTM concert they attend. Participation in this part of the program is optional. Please refer to the1920 MTM Classroom Composers Project Letter on our website for more details.

In accordance with state standards, MTM aims to cover the areas of developing music literacy outlined in the California Arts Standards for Music adopted in January 2019:

          Discovering the expressive elements of music

          Understanding the basic concepts of music

          Knowing the terminology that is used to comprehend music

          Developing the skills necessary to produce music

          Being able to reflect, critique, and connect personal experience to music

Please visit our Opportunities page or email Taylor Lockwood for more information about Meet the Music docents.

Please contact Taylor Lockwood with all questions regarding Meet the Music.

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