Award-Winning Architect Frederick Fisher Performs with LA Chamber Orchestra Tonight

Award-winning architect Frederick Fisher, who has earned international recognition for his work with spaces such as Bergamot Station & Galleries, Santa Monica's Annenberg Beach House and Descanso Gardens' Sturt Haaga Gallery of Art, joins the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) for its acclaimed Westside Connections series, which this season pairs LACO's virtuosic musicians with leading artists to explore connections between music and architecture, tonight, March 19, 2015, 7:30 pm, at the Moss Theater, located at The Herb Alpert Educational Village at New Roads School.

During the program, Fisher reflects upon his collaborative approach to architecture, in conversation with special guest, Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne. A performance of Brahms' breathtaking String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111, showcases the close collaboration among LACO Concertmaster Margaret Batjer, who curates and hosts the series, LACO Principals Sarah Thornblade, violin, Roland Kato, viola, Victoria Miskolczy, viola, and Andrew Shulman, cello. Batjer is also featured in Kevin Puts' Arches for solo violin, and Thornblade and Kato join forces for Donald Crockett's To Be Sung on the Water. The series, which began in February with a guest appearance by Frank Gehry, continues in April with Hawthorne. Fisher has been described as a "maverick architect...with a broad aesthetic" (KCET). His innovative style, and his residential, museum galleries and other buildings reflect his keen interpretation of space, light and material.

The three-part Westside Connections series, now in its seventh season, includes conversations with special guests as well as musical offerings connecting form, structure and line. It concludes April 30, 2015, with Los Angeles Times Architecture Critic Christopher Hawthorne as special guest and the West Coast premiere of Gabriel Kahane's Bradbury Studies, inspired by downtown LA's historic Bradbury Building.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is considered one of the world's premier chamber orchestras as well as a leader in presenting wide-ranging repertoire and adventurous commissions. Its 2014-15 season, the Orchestra's 46th, features a compelling mix of beloved masterpieces and genre-defying premieres from firmly established as well as notable up-and-coming composers programmed by Jeffrey Kahane, one of the world's foremost conductors and pianists, who marks his 18th season as LACO's music director.

Tickets (beginning at $60) are available online at laco.org, by calling LACO at 213 622 7001, or at the venue box office on the night of the concert, if tickets remain. Student rush tickets ($12), based on availability, may be purchased at the box office one hour before the concert. The Moss Theater at New Roads School is located at 3131 Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA, 90404.

MARGARET BATJER, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orches¬tra since 1998, made her first solo appearance at age 15 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has since soloed with leading orchestras from around the world including the Philadelphia, St. Louis and Dallas symphonies; the Prague, Halle and Berlin sympho¬ny orchestras; and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. An esteemed chamber musician, she appears regularly at the Marlboro Music Festival, as well as many other festivals in the US and Europe. Batjer has recorded extensively for Philips, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon and BMG. In 2008, Batjer developed LACO's Westside Connections chamber music series. She serves on the faculty of the USC Thorn¬ton School of Music and the Colburn Music Academy.

FREDERICK FISHER is principal of Frederick Fisher and Partners Architects (FFP). Driven to create fulfilling environments, he approaches architecture as a collaborative process. Fisher gained stature in the art and academic worlds by designing exceptional spaces for the practice and exhibition of art, as well as for intense, interdisciplinary study. Recognition of his legacy of design excellence is reflected in his selection as the 2013 Gold Medal recipient by the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the highest honor awarded by each chapter. He is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, where he combined his passions for art and architecture in the exploration of museum meaning and design. A registered architect since 1978, Fisher received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oberlin College in Art and Art History and a Master's of Architecture from UCLA. He was Chairman of the Environmental Design Department at Otis College of Art & Design for seven years and is currently Chairman of the Board of Governors. Fisher is also a Board Member of both the Board of Councilors at USC School of Architecture and the Board of Visitors at the UCLA School of the Arts. As founder of FFP, he directs a practice that prides itself on architecture that is responsive, realistic, responsible, and revelatory. "If you make something that brings people pleasure and fulfillment," he says, "then you've done your job as an architect." For more information on Frederick Fisher and Partners Architects visit www.fisherpartners.net.

CHRISTOPHER HAWTHORNE has been the architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times since 2004. Previously, he was archi¬tecture critic for Slate and a frequent contributor to The New York Times. He is the author, with Alanna Stang, of The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture. Hawthorne grew up in Berke¬ley and has a bachelor's from Yale, where he readied himself for a career in criticism by obsessing over the design flaws in his dormi¬tory, designed by Eero Saarinen.

ROLAND KATO joined LACO in 1978 and was appointed principal viola in 1987. He has also held principal positions with LA Opera and the Pasadena Symphony. He performs with the Santa Clarita Chamber Players and has performed with Pacific Serenades and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and joined Yo-Yo Ma in a chamber music concert benefiting cancer research. Kato has performed in Paris and Berlin to benefit orphans of the war in Bosnia. He produced the first-ever recording of Telemann's Quatrième livre de quatuors, which was nominated for a Grammy and recently re-released.

Australian-born VICTORIA MISKOLCZY has been associate principal viola with LACO since 1989. Her many other concert appearances include performances with the Oregon Bach, Ojai and Mostly Mozart festivals; the Sydney, Hollywood, Pacific and Pasadena symphonies and the Long Beach Orchestra. Her local chamber music credits include performances with the Capitol Ensemble, the South Bay Chamber Music Society, Pacific Serenades, Camerata Pacifica, Jacaranda Series, and with LACO at musicales and on its Baroque Conversations and Westside Connections series.

ANDREW SHULMAN was appointed principal cello of LACO in 2008 and has recently become a professor of violoncello at the University of Southern California. Shulman was the first British winner of the Piatigorsky Artist Award and was bestowed with an Honorary RCM by The Queen Mother in 1986. He was solo cello of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, first chair with London's Philharmonia Orchestra and principal cello of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has given recitals in the Royal Palace in Stockholm; in London at Wigmore Hall, Buckingham Palace and Royal Festival Hall; and locally at the Hollywood Bowl.

SARAH THORNBLADE joined LACO in 1999 and is now the Orchestra's associate principal second violin. She is a member of the Eclipse Quartet, an ensemble dedicated to playing 20th-century and con¬temporary music, a recent recipient of an Aaron Copland Fund recording grant. A former member of the Denali and Arianna string quartets, Thornblade has performed with Camerata Pacifica, Jaca¬randa Music and the Auros Group for New Music (Boston), and at major festivals around the world. She has collaborated with artists such as Gilbert Kalish, Jeffrey Kahane, Andres Cardenes, Randall Hodgkinson and Warren Jones. Thornblade is on the faculty of Pomona College and an active recording musician.

LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (LACO), proclaimed "America's finest chamber orchestra" by Public Radio International and "resplendent" by the Los Angeles Times, has established itself among the world's top musical ensembles. Since 1997, LACO has performed under the baton of acclaimed conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane, hailed by critics as "visionary" and "a conductor of uncommon intellect, insight and musical integrity" with "undeniable charisma," "effortless musicality and extraordinary communicative gifts." Under Kahane's leadership, the Orchestra maintains its status as a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks and a champion of contemporary composers. During its 46-year history, the Orchestra has made 31 recordings, toured Europe, South America and Japan, performed across North America and garnered eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming. Headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, LACO presents its Orchestral Series on Saturdays at Glendale's Alex Theatre and on Sundays at UCLA's Royce Hall; Baroque Conversations at downtown Los Angeles' Zipper Concert Hall; Westside Connections chamber music series, designed to illustrate the relationship between music and other artistic disciplines, at the Moss Theater in Santa Monica; and an annual Discover concert, which features an in-depth examination that sheds new light on a single piece of music, at Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium. LACO also presents a Concert Gala, an annual film event, featuring the Orchestra performing the score live, and several fundraising salons each year. Additionally, LACO outreach programs, Meet the Music, Community Partners, Campus to Concert Hall and the LACO/USC Thornton Strings Mentorship Program, reach thousands of young people annually, nurturing future musicians and composers as well as inspiring a love of classical music.

To post a comment, you must register and login.