Music Director Jeffrey Kahane has named Claire Brazeau principal oboe of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), one of the nation's leading orchestras renowned for its wide-ranging repertoire and adventurous commissioning initiatives. Brazeau succeeds Allan Vogel, her mentor and professor at the Colburn School, who retired as LACO principal oboe in May after 44 years with the Orchestra. The Glendale resident joined LACO in 2014 as second oboe.
"Claire first came to Los Angeles to study with our great former principal oboe Allan Vogel, and it is especially touching that after having won the position of second oboe and spending several seasons playing next to her beloved mentor, she won an extraordinarily arduous and highly competitive final round," says LACO Music Director Jeffrey Kahane. "Claire is both a superb artist and a treasured colleague, and LACO audiences can look forward to many seasons of her artistry in the years to come. All of us at LACO are thrilled to welcome her as our new principal oboe."
"I'm so grateful to my LACO colleagues, who consistently bring me into higher and higher levels of musical maturity and artistry," says Brazeau. "LACO's future is bright, and I am so honored and thrilled to be a part of it!"
Brazeau, praised as a "superb" oboist (Financial Times), makes her concerto debuts this season with the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, Culver City Symphony and the West Coast premiere of Ken Ueno's "Sawdust," a pocket concerto for oboe and ensemble, with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, led by Steve Schick. An advocate of both new and old music, Brazeau also enjoys performing on baroque and classical period oboes and has played with such period instrument ensembles as Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra and Ensemble Musica Humana. As a member of new music ensemble, Le Train Bleu, Brazeau has been a featured soloist in concerts at Bravo! Vail Music Festival in Colorado and in New York City. In 2015, she joined the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra. Brazeau is a co-founding member of cLAw, a new music woodwind quintet, as well as the newly-formed conductorless Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra. An active freelancer, she substitutes with the Pacific Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Pasadena Symphony and Los Angeles Bach Festival. On the East Coast, Brazeau has performed with the American Symphony Orchestra, Da Capo Chamber Players and the Berkshire Bach Society. Her festival appearances include the Lucerne Festival Academy, Yale School of Music Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Aspen, the New York String Orchestra Seminar and the Pierre Monteux School. She previously served as a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome, where she furthered her passion for chamber music and imaginative programming. In Rome, Brazeau's engagements included a self-curated concert sponsored by the US Embassy and Roma Tre University, a solo concert for the Pontifical Academy of Science's Stem Cell Research Conference at the historic Villa Aurora, the collaboration and premiere of Rome Prize-winning composer
Sean Friar's Etudes for English Horn and Piano, as well as baroque chamber music concerts and educational programs for children. In addition to receiving an Artist Diploma from The Colburn School, she was a triple major at Bard College and Conservatory, earning a Bachelor of Arts in East-Asian studies and piano performance, and a Bachelor of Music in oboe performance.
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), proclaimed "America's finest chamber orchestra" by Public Radio International, "one of the world's great chamber orchestras" by KUSC Classical FM 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 with "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 almost 50-year history, the Orchestra has made 31 recordings, toured Europe, South America and Japan, performed across North America, earning adulation from audiences and critics alike, and garnered eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming.
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