Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Presents Four Baroque Conversations Programs

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, one of the nation's premier music ensembles and a leader in presenting wide-ranging repertoire, offers four Baroque Conversations programs curated and led by internationally acclaimed artists during the 2018-19 season at venues ranging from downtown LA's Zipper Hall and Santa Monica's St. Monica Church to the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica. Israeli mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital is featured on Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, among classical music's most widely performed and recorded works; early music expert/violinist Monica Huggett leads a Bohemian Trumpets program, featuring LACO Principal Trumpet David Washburn; British conductor/harpsichordist Matthew Halls conducts works by Bach, Lully and Purcell; and LACO Principal Oboe Claire Brazeau leads a program of sonatas for oboe by such composers as Telemann, Couperin and Graun.

The enlightening Baroque Conversations series provides insight into the genesis of orchestral repertoire from early Baroque schools through the pre-Classical period and is generously sponsored by Carol & Warner Henry, a Friend of LACO and the Ronus Foundation. Avital's program is also featured in a special engagement at Santa Barbara's historic Granada Theatre.

Baroque Conversations opens with Claire Brazeau leading a program of oboe sonatas that showcase the instrument's versatility and rich tone on Thursday, November 8, 2018, 7:30 pm, at Zipper Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, and Friday, November 9, 2018, 7:30 pm, at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, one of LACO's newest venues. Brazeau, who also hosts the evening, is featured on Sammartini's Sonata in G Major, Graun's Trio for Violin and Horn, Telemann's Trio No. 3 and Paris Quartet No.6, Couperin's Treizième Concert, Thomas Adès' Sonata da Caccia and Pla's Sonata for oboe. A finalist in the 2017 International Gillet-Fox Oboe Competition, she has performed on Baroque and Classical period oboes with such acclaimed period instrument ensembles as Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra in Los Angeles and Grand Harmonie in Boston and New York and has also appeared with the San Francisco Music Players, among other ensembles.

World renowned mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital, featured in an all-Vivaldi program, reimages the composer's seminal work The Four Seasons on mandolin with back-to-back performances on Thursday, December 13, 7:30 pm, at Zipper Hall, in downtown Los Angeles, and Friday, December 14, 2018, 7:30 pm, at St. Monica Catholic Church, in Santa Monica. In addition to these Los Angeles-area engagements, the Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara (CAMA), as part of its centennial celebration, is presenting the program in a free community concert on Tuesday, December 11, 2019, at the historic Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara. Although The Four Seasons was originally composed as a collection of four violin concertos, Avital, who recorded it on mandolin with the Venice Baroque Orchestra in 2015, has garnered international acclaim for bring a new level of vibrancy to the essence of the Baroque composer's remarkable and beloved work. The program also features four members of LACO's exceptional violin section - Concertmaster Margaret Batjer, Assistant Concertmaster Tereza Stanislav, Principal Violin II Josefina Vergara and Associate Principal Violin II Sarah Thornblade and includes Vivaldi's Concertos for Two Violins. Avital is considered one of the foremost ambassadors for his instrument and the first mandolin soloist ever nominated for a classical Grammy Award. According to the Chicago Tribune, the "brilliant...Israeli-born mandolin superstar" generates "maximum wattage" with his "fleet fingers...vitality and spontaneity."

Acclaimed Baroque conductor and violinist Monica Huggett leads a "Bohemian Trumpets" program, featuring LACO Principal Trumpet David Washburn, on Thursday, February 7, 2019, 7:30 pm, at Zipper Concert Hall, and Friday, February 8, 2019, 7:30 pm, at First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica. Focusing on composers from Bohemia, the largest historical region of the present-day Czech Republic and surrounding areas, the program includes Vejvanovsky's Serenade for two trumpets, Schmelzer's Die Fechtschule, Melani's Sonata a 5, Muffat's Concerto Grosso, "Bona Nova," Rittler's Ciaccona and Biber's Battalia a 10. Huggett, steeped in period performance and hailed for her unparalleled artistry, is the artistic director of the Portland Baroque Orchestra and is the first artistic director of The Juilliard School's prestigious Historical Performance program. Washburn, who also serves as associate principal trumpet of LA Opera Orchestra and was formerly principal trumpet and soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, has been part of John Williams' trumpet section for over 20 years, recording scores for numerous Star Wars films.

LACO's Baroque Conversations series concludes with celebrated conductor Matthew Halls, in his fourth LACO appearance, leading Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 1 for one night only on Thursday, May 9, 2019, 7:30 p.m., at Zipper Concert Hall. He also conducts Purcell's Suite from the Opera, King Arthur, and Lully's Suite from Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. Halls, heralded for his "ironclad command of the smallest details in the score" (Toronto Star), first came to prominence as a keyboard player and early music conductor but has become equally known for his dynamic and intelligent work with major symphony orchestras and opera companies and for his vibrant interpretations of music of all periods. His recordings include a set of four Bach Harpsichord Con­certos (Linn Records) and Bach's Easter and Ascension oratorios.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) ranks among the world's top musical ensembles. Beloved by audiences and praised by critics, the Orchestra is known as a champion of contemporary composers, with eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, as well as a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks. 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 presents orchestral, Baroque and chamber concerts, as well as salon evenings in private spaces and unique experiences that explore classical music's cutting-edge sounds. LACO's long history of educational outreach encompasses programs integral to its mission of nurturing future musicians and composers as well as inspiring a love of classical music. Jaime Martín, praised as "a visionary conductor, discerning and meticulous" (Platea Magazine), is LACO's Music Director Designate and takes the podium as Music Director in the 2019-20 season.

Steinway is the official piano of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Tickets start at $52 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 groups of 12 or more. Students with valid student ID may purchase discounted tickets ($8), based on availability.

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