Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

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The mission of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is to preserve and advance a living tradition of orchestral music through artistically excellent performances that energize and enrich the lives of players and listeners alike. We celebrate the personal connection among our musicians, audiences and community, as shaped by the intimacy of our unique chamber orchestra experience. The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1968 as an artistic outlet for the film and record studios’ most gifted musicians. The Orchestra’s artistic founder, cellist James Arkatov, envisioned an ensemble that would allow these conservatory-trained players to balance studio work and teaching with pure artistic collaboration at the highest level. With the financial backing of philanthropist Richard Colburn and managerial expertise from attorney Joseph Troy, who also became the Orchestra’s first president, LACO presented its first performances in the fall of 1969. Since then, the 40-member Orchestra has earned a reputation as one of the foremost ensembles of its kind in the world and has been hailed as “America’s finest chamber orchestra” by respected music critic Jim Svejda of PRI’s The Record Shelf. Renowned pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane has led the group since 1997 and has continued the standard of excellence set by the Orchestra’s first four music directors, Sir Neville Marriner, Gerard Schwarz, Iona Brown and Christof Perick. Praised by the Los Angeles Times as “…a shining feature in L.A.’s cultural landscape…,” the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is lauded for its virtuosic music making, dynamic programming and signature personal style. The Orchestra performs repertoire ranging from Baroque masterpieces to newly commissioned works and is recognized for championing young musicians on the brink of major careers, as well as working with some of today’s leading artists. The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra maintains its local presence with an annual home season of 14 Orchestral Series concerts at two historic theatres, the Alex Theatre in Glendale and UCLA’s Royce Hall; its acclaimed Baroque Conversations series at Zipper Concert Hall; a series of three Family Concerts at the Alex Theatre; and Westside Connections, a series of three chamber music concerts with an interdisciplinary twist, at The Broad Stage of the Santa Monica Performing Arts Center. Highlights of the 2010-11 season include • a one-night-only “Discover” concert exploring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 at Ambassador Auditorium with Jeffrey Kahane as musical tour guide • the celebration of the 10th anniversary of LACO’s Sound Investment commissioning program with a world premiere by composer-in-residence Derek Bermel • the appearance of international star Leila Josefowicz at LACO’s season-opening concerts in September 2010 and the Los Angeles debut of rising mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke to mark Bach’s birthday in March 2011 • the expansion of LACO’s popular Baroque Conversations series to five concerts • an exploration of how and why music triggers such strong emotional responses – themed Music and the Mind – in the third season of Westside Connections • a gala fundraiser on February 12, 2011 with Grammy

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