LACO AT HOME Features Sheku Kanneh-Mason Interview and Performance & More

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra will present a new LACO AT HOME digital program featuring an exclusive interview with British cello virtuoso Sheku Kanneh-Mason, one of the brightest young stars on the classical music scene, in conversation with LACO Music Director Jaime Martín. The program also offers a special performance by Kanneh-Mason and his sister, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, who play the final two movements from Rachmaninoff's Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19; an excerpt from a LACO-commissioned world premiere of Prisms, Cycles, Leaps Part III: "To Be a Horizon" by composer and musician Derrick Spiva Jr., who serves as LACO's first Artist-Educator; and a presentation of LACO's 2016 performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, "Eroica" under the direction of Guest Conductor Thomas Dausgaard. The program will be livestreamed with the premiere broadcast on Saturday, May 16, 8 pm, and an encore on Sunday, May 17, 2020, 7 pm (Pacific time) and available subsequently on demand. LACO AT HOME was introduced in late March of this year to offer special and expanded web content. The livestreamed event is offered free of charge through the generous financial support of LACO donors. All broadcasts can be live-streamed at laco.org/broadcasts and streamed on-demand at laco.org/on-demand.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason's 2018 U.S. orchestral debut with LACO was postponed due to his "command performance" at the Royal Wedding, after which he became a household name when his work, viewed by more than two billion people worldwide, was greeted with universal excitement. He was to have again debuted with LACO this month at the 2020/21 season's final Orchestral Series concerts until the performances were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The first black musician to win a BBC Young Musician of the Year award, Kanneh-Mason performed under Martín's direction with orchestras across Europe earlier this year. Their conversation covers a range of topics, from the Royal Wedding to life in the pandemic.

Spiva Jr.'s Prisms, Cycles, Leaps Part III, "To Be A Horizon," the result of many years of experimentation, training, and research, is the third in a series of works of a similar theme: building bridges between different communities through sound. As in the previous two parts, the work continues to integrate musical practices from numerous cultures into a Western classical setting. The piece includes rhythmic elements from Ghanaian drumming; Persian classical music; and Indian classical tala as well as melodic elements found in West and North Africa, Bulgarian folk music and blues, gospel, and bluegrass music of the United States.

Dausgaard is currently Music Director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Conductor Laureate of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Honorary Conductor of Orchestra della Toscana/ORT and Honorary Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra/DR.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is led by Jaime Martín, currently in his debut season as Music Director. Martín builds upon LACO's rich legacy as a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks and, with eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, a champion of contemporary composers. Headquartered in the heart of the country's cultural capital, LACO is "more important with each passing year," (Los Angeles Times), "America's finest chamber orchestra" (Public Radio International) and "one of the world's great chamber orchestras" (KUSC Classical FM). Martín's appearance as LACO's Music Director Designate in early 2019 was described by the Los Angeles Times, as "a thrilling performance, and the orchestra played like it was having the time of its life," adding, "he will make fans very quickly." Overseas, he has been praised as "a visionary conductor, discerning and meticulous" (Platea Magazine), and London's The Telegraph said, "his infectious enjoyment of the music communicated to the orchestra and audience alike." The Orchestra has made 32 recordings, including, most recently, a 2019 BIS Records release of works for violin and chamber orchestra that features Concertmaster Margaret Batjer and the world premiere recording of Pierre Jalbert's Violin Concerto (a LACO co-commission). LACO, with offices located in downtown Los Angeles, has toured Europe, South America and Japan, and performed across North America.

This special broadcast is intended to support Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's stellar musicians, and we ask that viewers consider making a donation to LACO in support of the artists on screen. To make a donation, visit LACO.org/donate or call (213) 622-7001, EXT. 4. To enjoy LACO AT HOME's programs and features, visit www.LACO.org/laco-at-home.

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