Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Presents CURRENT: EQUILIBRIUM at Boomtown Brewery In April

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) adds a decidedly contemporary twist to its programming with "CURRENT: Equilibrium," a visually and aurally immersive program of electro-acoustic classical music, including three world premieres, curated by composer/Artistic Advisor Derrick Skye and led by guest conductor Vincent Womack, on Sunday, April 10, 2022, 5 pm, at Boomtown Brewery in downtown Los Angeles.

Featuring Experience Design by Boss Witch Productions and Projection Design by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh, the concert, for adults 21 and older, explores the concept of tension with the world premieres of Skye's Pulse Equilibria, James Waterman's Lift to Return, and a revised version of Conor Brown's Community Resolve. Additionally, Womack conducts Dai Wei's Partial Men, with the composer featured on vocals, dedicated to deceased organ donors who extend others' lives; Nathalie Joachim's Life Lines, a propulsive, nimble counterpoint of flutes and electronics; Ann Southam's rhythmic Re-Tuning; and Skye's Harp Hymnal.

LACO recognizes the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Steinway is the official piano of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. The Orchestra also receives public funding via grants from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.

General admission tickets are $35 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.

DERRICK SKYE is a Los Angeles-based composer and musician who often integrates music practices from different cultural traditions around the world into his work with classical music communities. Los Angeles Times has described his music as "something to savor" and "enormous fun to listen to." During his studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and the California Institute of the Arts, music across many cultures became an integral part of his musical vocabulary. Skye studied classical music with Ian Krouse, Alex Shapiro, Paul Chihara, Randy Gloss, and David Rosenboom while also studying West African music and dance with Kobla Ladzekpo; Persian music theory with Pirayeh Pourafar and Houman Pourmehdi; Balkan music theory with Tzvetanka Varimezova; and tala (rhythmic cycles) in Hindustani classical music with Swapan Chaudhuri and Aashish Khan. Skye is an American who has Ghanaian, Nigerian, British, Irish, and Native American ancestry. His ancestry and identity have led him to claim and develop an "American" aesthetic that incorporates many cultural influences into his work, reflecting the diverse communities he is part of. Skye passionately believes in music as a doorway into understanding other cultures and different ways of living. Through learning the music of other cultures, the opportunity for dialogue rather than conflict between strangers is opened, and our society can become one with less conflict due to cultural misunderstanding. He is deeply invested in fostering creative and effective collaboration between artists of different disciplines and traditions.

VINCE WOMACK has conducted ensembles in Los Angeles' leading venues, from Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Dolby Theater to the Hollywood Bowl and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels. He is music director at James A. Foshay Learning Center, a K-12 public school in south Los Angeles. This position followed a seven-year tenure at Canoga Park High School, where he was director of instrumental and choral music. Womack recently initiated and oversaw the completion of a $10 million theater renovation project at Foshay, an impressive performing arts facility that brings state-of-the-art quality opportunities to the school and community. Due to his efforts to overcome odds and bring high-quality, creative music education to inner-city public schools, Womack has received the Fulfillment Fund Outstanding Teacher Award, the Bogart/USC Family of Five Teacher Award, the Los Angeles Music Center's Bravo Award, the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation Award and ETM-LA's Shining Star Award. Womack also teaches in the Music Teaching and Learning Department at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and was previously Assistant Director of the USC Trojan Marching Band. He holds a bachelor's degree in music education from the University of Michigan and a master's in music education from the University of Southern California. PBS featured Womack in an inspiring mini-documentary called The Jazz Ticket, which follows the journey of a promising Foshay music student preparing to audition for the Berklee College of Music. Womack and his students have made multiple national television appearances and were featured in the premiere episode of the Queen Latifah Show, performing with Grammy Award-winner Alicia Keys. Under Womack's direction, the Foshay Jazz Ensemble has performed in Paris, France.

LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (LACO) ranks among the world's top musical ensembles. Beloved by audiences and praised by critics, the Orchestra is 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 has been proclaimed "America's finest chamber orchestra" (Public Radio International), "LA's most unintimidating chamber music experience" (Los Angeles magazine), "resplendent" (Los Angeles Times), and "one of the world's great chamber orchestras"(KUSC Classical FM). Performing throughout greater Los Angeles, 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). In 2020, due to the global pandemic, LACO pivoted from presenting live performances to producing the groundbreaking CLOSE QUARTERS interdisciplinary digital series melding musical and visual arts, which has garnered more than 1.8 million views across social media platforms since its debut in November 2020. The "digitally native" programs, created specifically for streaming and applauded as "musically and artistically compelling" (Los Angeles Times) have "redefined how classical music can be presented in the 21st century (Cultural Attaché). LACO, with offices located in downtown Los Angeles, has toured Europe, South America and Japan, and performed across North America. www.laco.org.