New Text by Trans Actor/Poet Zackary Drucker Featured in LACO's Free On-Demand Performance of Appalachian Spring Led by Jaime Martín with Jeffrey Kahane on Piano

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), continues its all-digital 2020-21 season, entitled LACO: Close Quarters, with Copland's masterpiece Appalachian Spring conducted by Music Director Jaime Martín with LACO Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane on piano in their first joint appearance. Available on demand beginning on Friday, December 4, 2020, 6:30 pm (PT), the digital program features compelling visual elements directed by groundbreaking director/designer/artist James Darrah, LACO 2020-21 Creative Director of Digital Content, and new poetic text written on election night by prominent Los Angeles-based trans actor/filmmaker/poet Zackary Drucker, a producer and integral voice on the acclaimed Amazon TV series Transparent. Drucker wrote about her experience and mindset while listening to Appalachian Spring for the first time as the polls closed in Florida. Thanks to the generosity of individual donors, the program is available to the public at no cost and can be streamed at LACO.org/laco-at-home, and on LACO's YouTube channel and Facebook live.

"The chamber version of Appalachian Spring, originally commissioned by choreographer Martha Graham as a ballet, provides a superb showcase for LACO's artistry," says Martín. "For this performance, I am delighted to share the stage for the first time with my predecessor, Jeffrey Kahane, a brilliant pianist who was the longest serving music director in LACO's history."

"Zackary Drucker's powerfully poetic, thoughtful series of text, filtered through LACO's sublime performance of Copland's historically significantAppalachian Spring, creates a hypnotic portrait of Los Angeles on election night," says Darrah. "It is not heavy handed political text, but rather a thematic document that elevates this incredible and familiar piece of music."

LACO: Close Quarters "digitally native" programs, created specifically for streaming, are each between 30 and 40 minutes in length and are filmed at The Colburn School's Olive Rehearsal Hall. Additionally, Darrah has established a creative hub for developing artistic media content with L.A.-based artists and filmmakers at a first-of-its-kind LACO digital studio at Wilhardt & Naud, a film studio and multidisciplinary arts campus located in Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles. The artists, inspired by the Orchestra's musical programming, will create works in a variety of mediums that will factor into the broadcasts and endure long after the season concludes. LACO Close Quarters builds upon the highly successful LACO SummerFest series, the Orchestra's first foray into streaming that concluded in September and featured five digital chamber music concerts that have attracted nearly 140,000 views to date.

Subsequent LACO Close Quarters episodes premiere on Fridays, December 18, 2020, January 1, 15 and 29, February 12 and 26, March 12 and 26, April 9 and 23, May 7 and 21, and June 4, 2021, at 6:30 pm (PT).

LACO recognizes the generous support of the Colburn Foundation and 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. James Darrah at LACO is generously underwritten by Ruth Eliel and Bill CooneyAppalachian Spring is sponsored by Diane Henderson. LACO: Close Quarters series sponsors include: Hilda Herrera Adler, Evelyn & Stephen Block, Anna Rosicka & Al Evans, Anne & Jeffrey Grausam, Gary Larsen, Ned & Dana Newman, Dr. Hervey & Doris Segall, and Anne-Marie & Alex Spataru. To support LACO, its stellar artists and digital programming, please visit LACO.org/donate or call (213) 622-7001, EXT. 4.

The broadcasts will be available on demand at laco.org/laco-at-home, LACO's YouTube channel and Facebook live.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), led by Music Director Jaime Martín, ranks among the world's top musical ensembles. Beloved by audiences and praised by critics, LACO 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). Martín, who builds upon LACO's rich legacy, made his first appearance as LACO's Music Director Designate in early 2019 in a concert 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." 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. 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.

Photo: LACO Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane photo courtesy of CMArtists