Sound Investment

Nina Shekhar is a composer and multimedia artist who explores the intersection of identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter to create bold and intensely personal works.

Described as “tart and compelling” (New York Times), “vivid” (Washington Post), and an “orchestral supernova” (LA Times), her music has been commissioned and performed by leading artists including the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Albany Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Eighth Blackbird, International Contemporary Ensemble, JACK Quartet, New York Youth Symphony, Alarm Will Sound, The Crossing, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, ETHEL, violinist Jennifer Koh, saxophonist Timothy McAllister, Ensemble Échappé, Music from Copland House, soprano Tony Arnold, Third Angle New Music, The New York Virtuoso Singers, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Lyris Quartet, Ray-Kallay Duo, and New Music Detroit. Her work has been featured by Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Kennedy Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, National Sawdust, I Care If You Listen, ScoreFollower, and WNYC/New Sounds (New York), WFMT (Chicago), and KUSC and KPFK (Los Angeles) radio.

Recent and upcoming events include performances by the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic (joined by soloists Nathalie Joachim and Pamela Z), Seattle Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, and her Hollywood Bowl debut with the LA Phil. Current projects include commissions for the New York Philharmonic, Grand Rapids Symphony, and Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) (sponsored by LA Phil and New Music USA). Shekhar is the recipient of the 2021 Rudolf Nissim Prize, two ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards (2015 and 2019), 2022 BMI Student Composer Award, and the 2018 ASCAP Foundation Leonard Bernstein Award, funded by the Bernstein family.

Aside from composing, Shekhar is a versatile performing artist as a flutist, pianist, and saxophonist. She has been featured by the National Flute Association, and she has performed in the Detroit International Jazz Festival and as a soloist with the USC Thornton Symphony and the Lublin Philharmonic at the Poland International Piano Festival.

Shekhar is currently a PhD candidate in Music Composition at Princeton University. She previously completed composition graduate studies at University of Southern California and undergraduate studies at University of Michigan, earning dual degrees in music composition and chemical engineering. She was recently appointed as the 2021-2023 Composer-in-Residence for Young Concert Artists. She is a 2022-2023 Civitella Ranieri Foundation Music Fellow. An active educator, Shekhar is a faculty mentor for Luna Composition Lab and Brightwork newmusic‘s Project Beacon initiative and previously served as a Composer Teaching Artist Fellow for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. She has also held guest composer residencies at New York University, University of Colorado-Boulder, Western Michigan University, and Portland State University. She is a first-generation Indian American and a native of Detroit, Michigan.

YOUR $500 SOUND INVESTMENT MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES

Invitation for three salon events plus a special orchestral reading with Nina Shekhar
Tickets for two to the world premiere
An autographed copy of the commemorative score

Sound Investment salon dates:

#1 – Thursday, November 2 at 7:00 P.M.
#2 – Thursday, February 8 at 7:00 P.M.
#3 – Thursday, March 28 at 7:00 P.M.
#4 – Thursday, May 23 at 7:00 P.M.

CONTACT INFO

Contact Julia Paras, Director of Development, at (213) 622-7001, EXT. 211 or juliaparas@laco.org for more information about joining Sound Investment.

2022/23 SOUND INVESTMENT COMPOSER MARC LOWENSTEIN

Marc Lowenstein is a composer, conductor, and educator. He composes music infused with a searching sense of narrative and mysticism. Focusing on larger scale works, he was one of the principal composers of Hopscotch, writing scenes for limousine interiors, an outdoor park, and an abandoned theater. He has written long form pieces based on concepts of Jewish and Buddhist meditations including this for Jodie Landau and wildUp, T’shuvah for improvising Bassoon and string quartet, Every Day for mixed chorus, and a ’Cello concerto, T’filat ha-Derech. He has written an opera based on the movie The Fisher King, and a family opera called Little Bear.

Marc is the founding Music Director of The Industry, Los Angeles’ groundbreaking and widely acclaimed experimental opera company. With the Industry, he helped lead Sweet Land, Hopscotch, Invisible Cities, and Crescent Cities. With the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Industry conducted and recorded Lou Harrison’s Young Caesar and was music advisor for Cage’s EUROPERAS. Outside of the Industry, Marc has been Music Director for several opera premieres including John King’s Dice Thrown, and the American premieres of George Aperghis’ L’Origine des Espèces, Veronika Krausas’ The Immortal Thoughts of Lady MacBeth, Stephen Oliver’s Peach Blossom Fan, and Murray Schaeffer’s Loving.

He has also worked with the LAPhil as a cover conductor, leading the premiere of Hermann’s The Call, and assisting on Hearne’s PLACE and Norman’s Trip to the Moon. With Beth Morrison Productions he co-conducted the premiere of Danielle Birrittella’s Magdalene and he also conducted on New York City Opera’s Vox opera workshop program for four years. He has been called “a terrific singer” (LA Times), an “assured conductor” (New York Times) and “raptly lyrical” (New Yorker).

Marc has taught at CalArts since 1996, and teaches courses centered around a humanistic approach to Music Theory and composition. He has been named a Coursera ‘Top Instructor’ for his CalArts Coursera Class called ‘Approaching Music Theory’ and loves talking about Music Theory and the fact that it doesn’t really exist.

YOUR $500 SOUND INVESTMENT MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES

Exclusive Access for two to a special reading of the new work
Invitation for two to three salon events with Marc Lowenstein
Tickets for two to the world premiere
Your name listed on the score’s dedication page
An autographed copy of the commemorative score

LACO also offers an Introductory Membership Level at $250 for first- and second-year Sound Investment supporters, as well as an All-Access Pass for students. To take advantage of this special rate or  for more information about joining Sound Investment, contact  Julia Paras, Director of Development, at (213) 622-7001, EXT. 211 or juliaparas@laco.org.

Enroll Now

Sound Investment salon dates:

#1 – Wednesday, January 18 at 7:00 P.M.
#2 – Wednesday, March 15 at 7:00 P.M.
#3 – Friday, May 19 at 7:00 P.M.

contact info

Contact Julia Paras, Director of Development, at (213) 622-7001, EXT. 211 or juliaparas@laco.org for more information about joining Sound Investment.