LA Chamber Orchestra to Present OLD KEYS, 3/24 & 25

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) Music Director Jeffrey Kahane will premiere Old Keys, a new concerto by young composer and piano virtuoso Timothy Andres, winner of the prestigious 2011 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer award, on Saturday, March 24, 8 pm, at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, and Sunday, March 25, 2012, 7 pm, at UCLA's Royce Hall.  Old Keys, an abstract piano concerto about form and gesture, was composed as part of LACO's innovative "Sound Investment" commissioning program, now in its second decade.  

Andres is also the featured pianist for the concert's West Coast premiere of one of his other pieces, the Mozart/Andres Mozart "Coronation" Concerto re-composition, an intriguing classical "mash-up" in which Andres has replaced entirely Mozart's incomplete sketches for the left hand, thereby adding his own decidedly 21st-century stamp to Mozart's work.  Of Andres' considerable talent, The Boston Globe proclaims, "New music cannot be intimidating when played with this degree of skill."  Kahane wraps up the concert with Mozart's beloved Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550.  The concert is sponsored by the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation with the appearance of Timothy Andres sponsored by Ernst & Young, LLC.

Old Keys' title comes from a work Andres set to Hart Crane's My Grandmother's Love Letters for solo bass and voice.  He says, "The themes, rooted in my obsession with Ligeti's music, are quite simple in themselves but are constantly overlaid with copies of themselves, often at different tempi and in different keys, gradually accruing tension and momentum."

Concert goers are invited to celebrate the new work with LACO musicians in the lobby after the concert. Complimentary refreshments are provided for all ticket holders.

Tickets ($24 – $105) are on sale now and may be purchased online at laco.org, by calling LACO at 213 622 7001, or at the venue box office on the night of the concert, if tickets remain.  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 rush tickets one hour before curtain.

Equally at home at the keyboard or on the podium, JEFFREY KAHANE has established an international reputation as a truly versatile artist, recognized around the world for his mastery of diverse repertoire ranging from Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to Gershwin, Golijov and John Adams. In 2011-12, Kahane celebrates his 15th season as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.  He previously served as music director of the Colorado and Santa Rosa symphonies.  He has garnered tremendous critical acclaim for his innovative programming and commitment to education and community involvement and received multiple ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming for his work in both Los Angeles and Denver.  In addition to his projects with LACO, he has recently appeared at the Aspen, Mostly Mozart, Blossom, Music@Menlo and Oregon Bach festivals; performed concertos with the Toronto and Houston symphonies; guest conducted the San Francisco, National and Indianapolis symphonies; and play/conducted programs in Europe with the Camerata Salzburg and Hamburg Symphony.  Upcoming highlights for Kahane include concerto performances with the Indianapolis, Oregon and Colorado symphonies and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; play/conduct programs with the New York Philharmonic and with the Vancouver, Seattle, New Jersey, Omaha and Santa Rosa symphonies; his debut conducting the Juilliard Orchestra at Lincoln Center; play/conducting a Beyond the Score program with the Philadelphia Orchestra; and a solo/chamber music program at Walt Disney Concert Hall presented by the LA Phil in honor of his 15th anniversary as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

TIMOTHY ANDRES (b. 1985, Palo Alto, CA) is a Brooklyn-based composer and pianist.  His compositions meld a classical-music upbringing with diverse interests in the natural world, graphic arts, technology, cooking and photography.  He has been praised for his "acute ear" by The New York Times's Anthony Tommasini and "stubborn nose" by The New Yorker's Alex Ross.  An avid pianist, Andres (often referred to as Timo) performs widely, focusing on music by his contemporaries.  Andres recently played solo concerts at Strathmore Performing Arts Center and on the Wordless Music Series at Miller Theater.  He also performed his solo piano piece How can I live in your world of ideas? on the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella series, which was pronounced "irresistible" by the LA Times's Mark Swed.  Andres' début album, Shy and Mighty, was released by Nonesuch in May 2010. An immediate critical success, Alex Ross wrote that Shy and Mighty "achieves an unhurried grandeur that has rarely been felt in American music since John Adams came on the scene…"  Andres joined pianist Brad Mehldau to perform sections of Shy and Mighty at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall in March 2011.  Recent commissions include works for the Metropolis Ensemble, ACME Quartet, New World Symphony, Albany Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The 2010-11 season brought new pieces for Carnegie Hall's Ensemble ACJW and singer-composer Gabriel Kahane, among others.  Andres earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees from Yale.  He has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, BMI, and ASCAP, as well as grants from Meet the Composer and the American Music Center.

LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (LACO), proclaimed "America's finest chamber orchestra" by Public Radio International, has established itself among the world's top musical ensembles.  Since 1997, LACO has performed under the baton of acclaimed conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane, hailed by critics as "visionary" and "a conductor of uncommon intellect, insight and musical integrity" with "undeniable charisma."  Under Kahane's leadership, the Orchestra maintains its status as a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks and a champion of contemporary composers.  During its 43-year history, the Orchestra has made 30 recordings, toured Europe, South America and Japan, performed across North America, earning adulation from audiences and critics alike, and garnered seven ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming. Headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, LACO presents seven Orchestral Series concerts at both Glendale's Alex Theatre and UCLA's Royce Hall, five Baroque Conversations concerts at downtown Los Angeles' Zipper Concert Hall, three Westside Connections chamber music concerts at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, three Family Concerts at the Alex Theatre and an annual Discover concert at Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium.  In addition, LACO presents a Concert Gala, an annual Silent Film screening at Royce Hall and several fundraising salons each year.  LACO was founded in 1968.

TICKET PRICES:
$24, 52, 88, 105
(Discounts for groups of 12 or more, seniors 65+ and college students, if available)

TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets available online at laco.org, by phone 213 622 7001 or by fax 213 626 2157
Tickets also on sale at the theatre box office the night of the concert, if available

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