Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Will Broadcast Four Upcoming Concerts

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra will return to the air waves and online at Classical California with four special broadcasts featuring milestone concerts under the baton of Music Director Jaime Martín, currently in his sixth season helming LACO. The LACO broadcasts will air on Classical California’s long-running program “SoCal Sunday Night,” which presents concert broadcasts recorded live from venues across Southern California on-air with Host Brisa Siegel. The LACO broadcast dates are March 9, 16, 23, and 30, 2025, at 7 pm.  

The featured concerts, which span eight years, include the first LACO concert Martín conducted prior to being appointed the orchestra’s music director (October 1, 2017); Martín’s first concert as LACO’s Music Director (September 29, 2019); LACO’s Summerfest concert presented at Walt Disney Concert Hall during the Covid-19 pandemic, once it was safe to gather (June 26, 2021); and a selection of gemstones from the chamber orchestra repertoire that Martín conducted last season, five years into his tenure (March 31, 2024).

In Southern California, tune in to 91.5 FM (Los Angeles + Orange County); 88.5 FM (Palm Springs); 91.1 FM (Thousand Oaks); 93.7 FM (Santa Barbara); and 99.7 FM (San Luis Obispo). In Northern California, tune in to 90.3 FM (San Francisco and Oakland); 104.9 FM (San Jose); 89.9 FM (Napa/Sonoma Wine Country); 92.5 FM (Ukiah); and 103.9 FM (Monterey). 

The broadcasts can also be heard on-air and online in real time at www.kusc.com and at www.kdfc.com.

Broadcast Details

Sunday, March 9, 2025, 7 PM, features a recording of conductor Jaime Martín’s first-ever concert with LACO, which launched the orchestra’s milestone 50th anniversary and put Martín on LACO’s radar. The program includes the overture from Mozart’s opera The Abduction from the Seraglio; Bernstein’s Serenade (after Plato’s “Symposium”), inspired by Plato’s text on love, featuring celebrated GRAMMY-winning violinist Joshua Bell; and Brahms’ Serenade No. 1 in D major, Op. 11, noted for its prominent horn section. The news of Martín’s appointment as LACO Music Director was announced just four and a half months after this first guest appearance with the orchestra. (Recorded October 1, 2017.)

Sunday March 16, 2025, 7 PM, includes a recording of Jaime Martín’s debut performance as LACO’s Music Director. The sweeping program opens with the world premiere of Begin, a LACO commission by former Composer-in-Residence Andrew Norman. It also features Berlioz’ Les nuits d’été, one of the composer's most popular works, featuring acclaimed mezzo soprano Anne Sofie Von Otter, and Beethoven’s celebratory Symphony No. 7. Two encores add a special flourish, including Once upon a Summertime, by French songwriters Michel Legrand, Eddie Barclay, and Eddy Marnay, and Elle tourney la Terre by Léo Ferré. (Recorded September 29, 2019.)

Sunday, March 23, 2025, 7 PM, spotlights a recording of Jaime Martín conducting LACO’s first live performance after the Covid-19 pandemic pause. The historic concert, part of LACO’s SummerFest programming, was also the first to be held at Walt Disney Concert Hall after the landmark venue was unexpectedly shuttered for more than a year due to the pandemic. LACO stirs Disney Hall from its slumber with Alberto Ginastera’s Variaciones concertantes, infused with the folkloric-influenced melodies and rhythms of Argentina. Martín also leads Juan Pablo Contreras’ Mariachitlán, the title track on the composer’s Latin Grammy-nominated album, an orchestral homage to his birthplace, the Mexican state of Jalisco, where mariachi music originated. The musical journey concludes with Mendelssohn’s evocative Symphony No. 4 in A major, “Italian” and an encore featuring Gimenez’ popular Spanish work Intermedio de la boda de Luis Alonso, a medley of traditional dances. SummerFest at Walt Disney Concert Hall was made possible by a leadership gift from Terri + Jerry Kohl. (Recorded June 26, 2021.)

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