Arnold Steinhardt, acclaimed first violin of the illustrious Guarneri Quartet, joins the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) for its WESTSIDE CONNECTIONS chamber music series launch on Thursday, February 13, 2014, 7:30 pm, at the Moss Theater in Santa Monica. The three-part series, with "LA Influential" as this year's thematic twist, examines the impact our diverse city has had on arts and culture through the eyes of distinguished guest artists and speakers. LACO Concertmaster and series curator Margaret Batjer has programmed evenings that showcase the virtuosic artistry of LACO musicians in chamber masterpieces, reflecting the compelling LA connections and inspirations that have deeply influenced the special guests, who in addition to Steinhart, include Culture Clash satirist/comedian Richard Montoya and actor/director/composer John Rubinstein.
Steinhardt performs Korngold's "Marietta's Lied zur Laute" from Die tote Stadt with LACO's Music Director Jeffrey Kahane (piano); and Batjer and principals Roland Kato (viola) and Andrew Shulman (cello) join Steinhardt and Kahane for Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat major. In addition, Assistant Concertmaster Tereza Stanislav, Cello Trevor Handy and Clarinet Joshua Ranz are featured on Dahl's Concerto a tre for Violin, Cello and Clarinet.
Steinhardt, born in Los Angeles in the 1930s, served as first violin of the acclaimed Guarneri Quartet for its entire 45-year run. The quartet, founded in 1964, was hailed for its "uncanny unanimity of expression" (The New York Times) and described as "a 1964 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III...an ensemble with an ultra-plush, million-dollar tone...in perfect condition and utterly reliable even after 45 years on the road" (Los Angeles Times). As a youth, Steinhardt studied violin in Los Angeles with Toscha Seidel and Peter Meremblum, who were part of the émigré community that included musical giants Stravinsky, Korngold, Dahl, Rubinstein and Piatigorsky. He made his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at age 14.
Westside Connections continues with Montoya, who explores the controversial history of
Chavez Ravine, and Rubinstein, the prolific film, stage and television artist who is the son of legendary pianist
Arthur Rubinstein. Now in its sixth season, Westside Connections moves to a new location in Santa Monica, the Ann and Jerry Moss Theater at New Roads School.
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 2013-14 season, the Orchestra's 45th, features a compelling mix of beloved masterpieces and genre-defying premieres from firmly established and notable up-and-coming composers programmed by Jeffrey Kahane, one of the world's foremost conductors and pianists, who marks his 17th season as LACO's music director.
Subscriptions to all three "Westside Connections" concerts ($135) are available by calling LACO at
213 622 7001. Tickets for individual concerts (beginning at $50) 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 ($10), based on availability, may be purchased at the box office one hour before the concert. Also available for college students is the $25 "Campus to Concert Hall All Access Pass" - good for LACO's three Westside Connections concerts at the Moss Theater, seven Orchestral Series concerts at either the Alex Theatre or UCLA's Royce Hall and Discover Beethoven's Eroica at Ambassador Auditorium. Discounted tickets are also available by phone for groups of 12 or more. The Moss Theater at New Roads School is located at 3131 Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA, 90404.
ARNOLD STEINHARDT was first violinist and a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Guarneri String Quartet with which he has made innumerable tours around the globe and recorded dozens of albums for RCA Victor, Philips, Arabesque and Surrounded By Entertainment. The quartet retired in 2009. Steinhardt has also received an award for distinguished cultural service from New York City presented by Mayor Koch and was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2010. He is professor of violin and chamber music at Colburn Music School, the University of Maryland, Bard College and the Curtis Institute of Music.
MARGARET BATJER has served as concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 1998. She made her first solo appearance at the age of 15 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has since returned to the CSO and soloed with a succession of major orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the St. Louis, Seattle and Dallas symphony orchestras. Batjer has performed with such European ensembles as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Prague Chamber Orchestra and Berlin Symphony Orchestra. She appears regularly at the Marlboro Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Salzburg Festival, and Italy's Naples and Cremona festivals. In 2008, she developed LACO's acclaimed chamber music series, Westside Connections.
Cello TREVOR HANDY has been a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 2002, and is also principal cello of the Santa Barbara Symphony. He performs frequently with LA Opera, in various chamber music series, at festivals and as a studio musician in Hollywood. While freelancing in New York, Handy was a member of the Griffon String Quartet, which won the grand prize at the 1991 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. He has spent summers at Aspen and Tanglewood, as well as in Switzerland at Yehudi Menuhin's Summer Academy and at Lausanne's Academy of Music in master classes given by Maurice Gendron.
Equally at home at the keyboard or on the podium, JEFFREY KAHANE has established an international reputation as a truly versatile artist, recognized around the world for his mastery of diverse repertoire ranging from Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to Gershwin, Golijov and
John Adams. The 2013-14 season marks Kahane's 17th season as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's music director. He previously served as music director of the Colorado and Santa Rosa symphonies. He has garnered tremendous critical acclaim for his innovative programming and commitment to education and community involvement and received multiple ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming for his work in both Los Angeles and Denver. In addition to his programs and projects with LACO, recent and upcoming engagements include appearances at the Aspen, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Blossom, Music@Menlo, Chamber Music Northwest and Oregon Bach festivals; recitals in Salt Lake City, Scottsdale, Carmel and at the Laguna Beach Festival; concerto performances with the Toronto, Indianapolis, Houston, Oregon and Colorado symphonies and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; play/conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, the
New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco, National, Vancouver, Seattle and New Jersey symphonies; and conducting the New England Conservatory Symphony Orchestra in Boston and the Juilliard Orchestra at Lincoln Center. Kahane's recent and upcoming European engagements include play/conduct programs with the Camerata Salzburg, Hamburg Symphony and the Real Filharmonía de Galicia in Spain as well as appearances at the Meck-Pomm Chamber Music Festival in Germany.
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.
JOSHUA RANZ joined LACO in 1999 as second clarinet and became principal clarinet in 2008. He has appeared regularly with the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, serving as principal clarinet in the summer of 2011. He has also performed as principal at the Oregon Bach Festival. A member of the Pacific Symphony as well, Ranz played principal clarinet on the orchestra's 2006 European tour. He has also performed with the LA Philharmonic and the San Diego and Colorado symphonies, and fulfilled principal duties with the LA Opera and Hollywood Bowl orchestras, as well as with the New West, Santa Barbara and Santa Monica symphony orchestras.
ANDREW SHULMAN was appointed principal cello of LACO in 2008 and recently became a professor of violoncello at the University of Southern California. He was the first British winner of the Piatigorsky Artist Award and was bestowed with an Honorary RCM by The
Queen Mother in 1986. Shulman was solo cello of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and 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.
LACO Assistant Concertmaster TEREZA STANISLAV has appeared in venues such as the Library of Congress, Wigmore Hall and
Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, and with artists such as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jon-Kimura Parker and Hung-Kuan Chen. An advocate for new music, she has worked with many composers and performed several world premieres including
Gunther Schuller's Horn Quintet with Julie Landsman, Louis Andriessen's The City of Dis and James Matheson's Violin Sonata. Stanislav has joined the Miró Quartet for several tours and served as concertmaster of the
Los Angeles Opera's 2010 production of The Marriage of Figaro, conducted by Plácido Domingo.
LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (LACO), proclaimed "America's finest chamber orchestra" by Public Radio International, 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." Under Kahane's leadership, the Orchestra maintains its status as a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks and a champion of contemporary composers. During its 45-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 either at Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium or 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 Silent Film screening 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.
PHOTO CREDIT: Dorothea von Haeften
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