Matthew Halls Guest Conducts Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

Los Angeles Chamber

Orchestra (LACO), continuing a long-established relationship with the Oregon

Bach Festival, welcomes the Festival’s new Artistic Director Matthew Halls as

guest conductor in his California debut, leading a program that spans the

centuries and spotlights LACO Concertmaster Margaret Batjer, Principal Cello

Andrew Shulman, Principal Oboe Allan Vogel and Principal Bassoon Kenneth

Munday, on Saturday, January

25, 8 pm, at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, and Sunday, January 26, 2014, 7 pm,

at UCLA’s Royce Hall.  Halls,

“a fresh and forceful talent” whose “music-making is strongly and clearly

sculpted” (The Times, London), leads

Mozart’s Ballet Music from Idomeneo,

K. 367, Haydn’s Sinfonia concertante in B-flat major, and Beethoven’s playful

Symphony No. 1 in C major, which was instantly hailed as a masterpiece.  Providing a dramatic counterpoint to the

program is Aaron Jay Kernis’ solemn Musica

Celestis, a string-orchestra transcription of one of his string quartets

that has been likened to Barber’s famous Adagio. 

Halls, known for his dynamic work with both major

symphony orchestras and opera companies and for his probing and vibrant

interpretations of music of all periods, has been lauded by the Irish Times for his “discerning energy.” 

Based on the tremendous

impact of his performances when he appeared for the first time at the Oregon

Bach Festival in 2011, he was asked to succeed Helmuth Rilling as artistic

director.  He has since returned annually

and assumed the post in July at the conclusion of the 2013 festival.

Concert Preludes, pre-concert

talks held one hour before curtain and free for ticket holders, provide

insights into the music and artists. 

LACO General Manager Andrea Laguni interviews Halls. 

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is considered one of the world’s premier

chamber orchestras as well as a leader in presenting wide-ranging repertoire

and adventurous commissions.  Its 2013-14

season, the Orchestra's 45th, features a compelling mix of beloved masterpieces

and genre-defying premieres from firmly established as well as notable

up-and-coming composers programmed by Jeffrey Kahane, one of the world’s

foremost conductors and pianists, who marks his 17th season as LACO’s music

director. 

Tickets, starting at

$25, are on sale now and may be purchased online at laco.org, by calling LACO at 213 622 7001.  Discounted tickets are also

available by phone for seniors 65 years of age and older and groups of 12 or

more.  College students may purchase

student rush tickets ($10), based on availability, at the box office the day of

the concert.  Also

available for college students is the $25 “Campus to Concert Hall All Access

Pass” – good for all seven of LACO’s Orchestral series concerts, Discover

Beethoven’s Eroica and three Westside

Connections concerts.