LACO Presents Strings For The Ages Next Month

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's Westside Chamber Series opens with "Strings for the Ages," a genre-spanning program highlighting quintessential works from each classical music period, from the Baroque era to the 20th Century, on Saturday, January 8, 2022, 8 pm, at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica.

Led by Director of Chamber Music and Concertmaster Margaret Batjer, the program features five works, including Britten's Simple Symphony Op.4, which premiered in 1934 and is based on material the composer wrote between the ages of nine and twelve; and Corelli's joyful Concerto Grosso in D Major Op. 6, No. 4, composed circa 1712 and considered a key work in the baroque instrumental music canon.

LACO also performs Arvo Pärt's Summa for String Orchestra, originally written in 1978 as an a cappella vocal work inspired by Medieval chant and Renaissance polyphony in a style the Estonian composer calls "tintinnabulation." The program concludes with Geminiani's Concerto Grosso in D Major Op.5, No 1 (after Corelli's Sonata Op.5, No.1), a work inspired by Corelli, Geminiani's teacher; and Grieg's beloved Holberg Suite for String Orchestra, a five-movement French baroque dance suite composed for piano in 1884 and re-orchestrated for string orchestra in 1885 that blends traditional baroque structure with the lush romantic sound of the era.

Batjer, lauded for her "gleaming warmth" (Los Angeles Times), "high-flying" performances and ability to make "her instrument purr and soar...with an engrossing combination of intensity and technical fluency" (San Francisco Classical Voice), is "downright exciting to watch and hear" (Violinist.com). She has served as concertmaster of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 1998, which has featured her on numerous world premieres and CDs, including a Deutsche Grammophon recording of Bach's Concerto for Two Violins with violinist Hilary Hahn.

Tickets are $58 and may be purchased online at laco.org or by calling LACO at 213 622 7001 x1. Discounted tickets are also available by phone for seniors 65 years of age and older and for students.