Oboist Claire Brazeau Appointed to Los Angelas Chamber Orchestra

Music Director Jeffrey Kahane has named Claire Brazeau to second oboe of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO). The 2014-15 season will mark her first full LACO season with LACO, one of the nation's leading orchestras renowned for its wide-ranging repertoire and adventurous commissioning initiatives, which begins its 46th season in September 2014.

"All of us at LACO are absolutely delighted to welcome Claire to the orchestra," says Kahane. "She is a superb musician, has a wonderful command of her instrument, and is a strong presence in the woodwind section."

Among numerous credits, Brazeau, an oboist and English horn player, participated in the Lucerne Festival Academy in Switzerland, an intensive three-week long orchestral and chamber music festival devoted to the performance of contemporary music led by Pierre Boulez and Ensemble Intercontemporain. In the 2012-13 season, she served as principal oboe in Victor Ullmann's opera Der Kaiser Von Atlantis in New York City with new music chamber group Le Train Bleu, in collaboration with Opera Moderne. During the 2011-12 season, Brazeau served as a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome. During her residency in Rome, her engagements included a self-curated concert sponsored by the US Embassy and Roma Tre University, a solo concert for the Pontifical Academy of Science's Stem Cell Research Conference at the historic Villa Aurora and the collaboration and premiere of Rome Prize-winning composer Sean Friar's Etudes for English Horn and Piano. Brazeau has performed with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra; Santa Barbara, Pasadena and Los Angeles Jewish symphonies; Long Beach Opera; Los Angeles Bach Festival; American Youth Orchestra; and was the principal oboe of the Young Musicians Federation Debut Symphony in 2010-11. She has been a guest artist with orchestras and ensembles including the American Symphony Orchestra, Da Capo Chamber Players, Berkshire Bach Society and Commonwealth Opera Company. Brazeau graduated from Bard College and Conservatory in New York where she earned BAs in East-Asian Studies and Piano Performance and a BM in Oboe Performance. She received an Artist Diploma from The Colburn School in May 2014.

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 46-year history, the Orchestra has made 31 recordings, toured Europe, South America and Japan, performed across North America and garnered eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming. Headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, LACO presents its Orchestral Series at Glendale's Alex Theatre and UCLA's Royce Hall; Baroque Conversations at downtown Los Angeles' Zipper Concert Hall; Westside Connections chamber music series, designed to illustrate the relationship between music and other artistic disciplines, at the Moss Theater in Santa Monica; and an annual Discover concert, which features an in-depth examination that sheds new light on a single piece of music, at Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium. LACO also presents a Concert Gala, an annual Silent Film screening and several fundraising salons each year. Additionally, LACO outreach programs Meet the Music, Community Partners, Campus to Concert Hall and the LACO/USC Thornton Strings Mentorship Program reach thousands of young people annually, nurturing future musicians and composers as well as inspiring a love of classical music.