Twenty years is a long time to hold any job, especially in the 21st Century, and particularly when that job is Music Director of a professional orchestra. Which makes it all the more remarkable that Jeffrey Kahane is only now stepping down as the artistic leader of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, a full generation … Continue reading
Nineteen years down, one more to go. With tonight’s concert at UCLA’s Royce Hall, Jeffrey Kahane will complete his penultimate season at Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. It’s a tenure that is remarkable not only for its length (which is considerable) or even the quality of the music that has resulted from … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and their Music Director, Jeffrey Kahane, recently launched their penultimate season together in familiar fashion: offering works by living composers on the same program as old masters. It’s a very welcome habit that once again proved to be quite fruitful. The first half of this inaugural program of their 2015-16 season especially … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and their Music Director, Jeffrey Kahane, can almost always be counted on to present compelling programming, interesting soloists, and thoughtful interpretations. For their 2014-15 season opener, Mr. Kahane and the orchestra rolled out more of the same, care of a new work by Cameron Patrick, an infrequently-heard bit of piano concerto sass … Continue reading
Yesterday’s news that Jeffrey Kahane was stepping down in 2017 as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra not only began a long goodbye three years in the making, it caused a little bit of consternation among fans of the pianist/conductor regarding what he’d do after his tenure was done. According to the Los Angeles Times, … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra officially announced that Jeffrey Kahane will step down as Music Director in 2017, at which time he will become Music Director Laureate. In addition, LACO announced details of their 2014-15 season; the complete press release is below. I’m especially excited about the coming “Westside Connections” series, with the coming year’s … Continue reading
(UPDATE: The official LACO press release about this announcement and details about their 2014-15 season is HERE) (UPDATE #2, April 26: Jeffrey Kahane’s full statement about his post-LACO plans is HERE) Pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane has announced that the 2016-2017 season will be his last as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. … Continue reading
Saturday night’s Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concert featured a first half with a rustic sensibility and a second half with an urban vibe. Both halves were anchored by an American classic in a less-often heard rendition: The country mouse portion featured Dvořák’s Serenade for Winds paired Appalachian Spring Suite in Copland’s original 1944 version. After intermission, … Continue reading
Saturday’s Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concert in Glendale featured music about places (New England, Brooklyn, and London) as set in two older pieces and one West Coast premiere. The theme worked very well, each piece on the program setting up the next one nicely. Jeffrey Kahane led everything joyously. If you were paying attention, … Continue reading
When last I had the chance to talk to Jaime Martin, he was about to begin the 2019/2020 season, his first as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. That year started well, but then this thing called COVID-19 shook the world. Three years have passed since that last conversation. A few days ago, Mr. Martin … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Master Chorale has announced its 2021-2022 season, featuring 10 different programs played over 14 nights. It will mark the group’s post-shutdown return to Walt Disney Concert Hall. Large works conducted by Artistic Director Grant Gershon will include Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil (Nov 20 & 21, 2021), Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Pärt’s Te Deum (March 20, … Continue reading
Let the parade begin of Southern California musical organization’s 2019-2020 season announcements. First up: the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. I’ll write up a detailed evaluation of Jaime Martín‘s first season as LACO’s Music Director in the near future. For now, let’s just say I like it. I like it a whole lot. The most tantalizing … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra begins its 2018-19 season in earnest with performances this weekend (at the Alex Theatre on Saturday and UCLA’s Royce Hall on Sunday) featuring violinist Hillary Hahn. While guest conductor Gemma New will be on the podium this weekend, these concerts represent the first full season of a new era. LACO … Continue reading
While everyone in the classical music space has been holding its collective breath waiting for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, that benevolent 800-lb. gorilla of the Southern California artistic landscape, to release details of the rest of its 2018/19 season, we should pause and examine next year’s season recently announced by the smaller yet artistically worthy … Continue reading
Yesterday, I shared part 1 of my conversation with Scott Harrison, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In part 2 below, we discuss how he built a relationship with the LACO musicians, what makes them unique in the orchestra world, and they are all looking for as the search for their next Music … Continue reading
All is Yar 