World Premiere Opens LA Chamber Orchestra's 2014-15 Season

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), led by Music Director Jeffrey Kahane, launches its 2014-15 season with the world premiere of a work for strings and percussion by young Australian-born composer Cameron Patrick.

Also on the bill is Beethoven’s iconic Symphony No. 5, and Saint-Saëns’ seldom-performed Piano Concerto No. 5, “Egyptian.”

The concert is set for 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, at Glendale’s Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd. and 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21 at UCLA’s Royce Hall, 340 Royce Drive.

Saint-Saëns’ concerto features the LACO debut of Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen -- proclaimed an “exciting new talent” by The New York Times -- hailed for his “dazzling keyboard technique and broad and varied textural palette” by the San Francisco Chronicle.

According to Patrick, his piece, Lines of the Southern Cross, explores the mystery, wonder, joy and, even pain that the Australian landscape holds.

The work draws upon a musical tradition called the songline, an oral map that describes geographical features and also celebrates the inseparable connection between the continent’s indigenous people and the land itself.

After graduating from the University of Queensland, Patrick played violin professionally in Brisbane before moving to the US to further his studies at USC and has since carved out a career in Los Angeles as a composer, violinist and violist.

His classical works range from Impressions of Erin, a concert commission from the Camerata of St. John’s Chamber Orchestra, to a solo viola work premiered in Los Angeles in 2008.

His notable credits as a motion picture orchestrator and arranger include Super 8, Star Trek Into Darkness, Cars 2, Up and Hunchback Of Notre Dame.

Concert Preludes, pre-concert talks held one hour before curtain and free for ticket holders, provide insights into the program’s music and artists. Music Director Jeffery Kahane discusses Lines of the Southern Cross with composer Cameron Patrick.

After the performance, ticket holders are invited to celebrate the season’s opening concert with musicians at an after-party in the lobby with complimentary appetizers and drinks.

Tickets, starting at $26, are on sale now and may be purchased online at laco.org or 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 ($12) -- based on availability -- at the box office the day of the concert.

Also available for college students is the $30 “Campus to Concert Hall All Access Pass” – good for all seven of LACO’s Orchestral series concerts as well as Discover Mozart’s Requiem and three Westside Connections concerts.