Cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and Singer Laurie Rubin Perform with LA Chamber Orchestra This Weekend

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, led by Music Director Jeffrey Kahane, presents the highly anticipated U.S. premiere of the orchestral version of Bruce Adolphe's Do You Dream in Color?, a powerful work set to a poem about living without sight written by rising mezzo-soprano Laurie Rubin. Born blind, Rubin, a 1997 Music Center Spotlight Awards winner, joins LACO for the premiere, marking her LACO debut, tonight, October 19, 8 pm, at Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium, and Sunday, October 20, 7 pm, at UCLA's Royce Hall.

French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, who wowed audiences and critics alike at USC's 2012 Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, makes his LACO debut in Haydn's exceptionally demanding Cello Concerto in C major, believed lost until discovered in Prague in 1961. Kahane also conducts Mozart's light-hearted Serenata Notturna, K. 239, and opens the program with Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, the work that catapulted Britten into the international limelight. The concert is part of the noted citywide "Britten 100/LA: A Celebration" curated by LA Opera.

Adolphe, a great admirer of Rubin's voice who approached her about a possible collaboration, explains the genesis of Do You Dream in Color?: "I asked Laurie to express in words what it feels like to live without sight so I could set it in music." Rubin wove her singular experiences into the poem, ranging from how she applies make-up and makes jewelry to her joy at a young fan's request that she sign a program. Rubin recorded Adolphe's song with solo piano for Bridge Records.

Concert Preludes, pre-concert talks held one hour before curtain and free for ticket holders, provide insights into the music and artists. In conjunction with the Britten centenary celebrations, Kahane discusses Benjamin Britten and his musical legacy. Additionally, composer Bruce Adolphe speaks about his composition for Rubin and a representative from Braille Institute, one of LACO's community partners, talks about Braille music notation. Braille Institute is also providing a special display of collograms, a type of textural printmaking, inspired by Rubin's poem and Adolphe's work. The Royce Hall concert is sponsored, in part, by the Sidley Austin Foundation.

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.

Mezzo-soprano LAURIE RUBIN has been hailed by The New York Times for her "compelling artistry," "communicative power" and a voice that displays "earthy, rich, and poignant qualities." The Los Angeles Times praises Rubin for giving a "charismatic, multi-textured performance." She recently gave her United Kingdom solo recital debut performance at Wigmore Hall in London as well as her solo recital debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. She has performed with the Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, and the Oakland East Bay Symphony as well as under the baton of John Williams. She has also performed a benefit concert of duets with opera star Frederica von Stade, a benefit performance with Marvin Hamlisch, concerts in both the Terrace Theater and the Millennium Stage at the John F. Kennedy Center and The White House in Washington, DC. Rubin has performed a number of roles including the title role in Rossini's La cenerentola, the lead role of Karen in Gordon Beeferman's The Rat Land with the New York City Opera, and Penelope in Monteverdi's The Return of Ulysses in the Greenwich Music Festival. She has also performed concerts of new music with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has collaborated with and premiered works by composers John Harbison, Gabriela Lena Frank, Bruce Adolphe, Keeril Makan, Noam Sivan and Gordon Beeferman. Rubin is a co-founder and co-artistic director of New York City's Musiqe à la Mode Chamber Music Ensemble, is one of the founding members of Callisto Ascending Baroque Ensemble and is also co-founder and associate artistic director of Ohana Arts, a performing arts festival and school in Honolulu, Hawaii. Rubin has recorded a CD of art songs by Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Beethoven, Brahms, Hahn, Bizet, Copland, Rorem, Harbison and some beloved Yiddish songs with renowned pianist Graham Johnson and David Wilkinson on the Opera Omnia label. Her second recording, Do You Dream In Color? was released on the Bridge Records label in 2011. She is also a featured artist on a recording of works by composer Keeril Makan released on the Starkland label. Rubin is a graduate of Oberlin College and earned a Master of Music degree at Yale. Rubin won the prestigious Music Center Spotlight Awards in 1997. Blind since birth she authored Do You Dream in Color? Insights from a Girl Without Sight (Seven Stories Press).

JEAN-GUIHEN QUEYRAS, a musician of exceptional versatility and integrity, has performed with many of the world's great orchestras, including The Philharmonia, Orchestre de Paris, NHK and Tokyo symphonies; Philadelphia, Tonhalle Zurich, Leipzig Gewandhaus and Budapest Festival orchestras; and Orchestre de la Suisse-Romande and Netherlands Philharmonique; and he is a regular soloist with such early music ensembles as Freiburg Baroque and Akadamie fur Alte Musik Berlin. He has worked under the baton of such conductors as Franz Bruggen, Gunther Herbig, Ivan Fisher, Philippe Herreweghe, Ji?i B?lohlavek, Olivier Knussen and Sir Roger Norrington. Queyras, who made his Carnegie Hall debut in New York with Concerto Köln in 2004, has given several world premieres, including Ivan Fedele's Cello Concerto with the Orchestre National de France conducted by Leonard Slatkin and Gilbert Amy's Concerto with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. He has also hosted artistic residencies in the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Utrecht, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and De Bijloke in Gent; served as artist-in-residence with the Hamburg-based chamber orchestra, Ensemble Resonanz; Köln Philharmonie; Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord Paris; the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam; and served as soloist-in-residence of the Netherlands Philharmonic. Queyras recorded Bach's complete solo Suites in 2008 for Harmonia Mundi as well as a Debussy-Poulenc CD with pianist Alexandre Tharaud (awarded the Diapason d'Or de l'Année in 2008), and Cello Concertos of the 21st Century, released in 2012. His earlier CDs include Schubert's Arpeggione, Dvo?ák's Cello Concerto with the Prague Philharmonia, and Haydn and Monn's Cello Concertos, performed on a period instrument with the Freiburger Barockorchester and praised by both The Independent on Sunday and the Saturday Telegraph as the definitive Baroque version. In addition, Queyras was the solo cello of Ensemble Intercontemporain, with whom he recorded the Ligeti Cello Concerto under the baton of Pierre Boulez and Boulez's Messagesquisse, both on Deutsche Grammophon and both of which earned the Gramophone Contemporary Music Award. He also recorded Dutilleux's Tout un Monde Lointain for Arte Nova/BMG. Queyras received the City of Toronto Glenn Gould International Protege Prize in Music and was recently named Instrumental Soloist of the Year at the French Classical Music Awards and Artist of the Year by the readers of Diapason magazine. Queyras is professor at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg, Germany and one of the artistic directors of the annual Rencontres Musicales de Haute-Provence, held in Forcalquier, France.

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. The 2013-14 season marks Kahane's 17th season as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's music director. 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 programs and projects with LACO, recent and upcoming engagements include appearances at the Aspen, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Blossom, Music@Menlo, Chamber Music Northwest and Oregon Bach festivals; recitals in Salt Lake City, Scottsdale, Carmel and at the Laguna Beach Festival; concerto performances with the Toronto, Indianapolis, Houston, Oregon and Colorado symphonies and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; play/conduct engagements the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco, National, Vancouver, Seattle and New Jersey symphonies; and conducting the New England Conservatory Symphony Orchestra in Boston and the Juilliard Orchestra at Lincoln Center. Kahane's recent and upcoming European engagements include play/conduct programs with the Camerata Salzburg, Hamburg Symphony and the Real Filharmonía de Galicia in Spain as well as appearances at the Meck-Pomm Chamber Music Festival in Germany.

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 45-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 on Saturdays either at Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium or Glendale's Alex Theatre and on Sundays at 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.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
"Britten, Haydn, Mozart & Bruce Adolphe"

Jeffrey Kahane, conductor
Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello
Laurie Rubin, mezzo-soprano

PROGRAM:
BRITTEN: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge
HAYDN: Cello Concerto in C major
MOZART: Serenata notturna
Bruce Adolphe: Do You Dream in Color? (U.S. premiere)

The concerts will take place:

Saturday, October 19, 8 pm
Ambassador Auditorium
131 S. Saint John Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91123

Sunday, October 20, 7 pm
Royce Hall, UCLA
340 Royce Drive, Los Angeles, CA 91203

Tickets start at $25. To order tickets, call 213 622 7001, or visit www.laco.org. (Discounts for groups of 12 or more, seniors 65+ and college students, if available; also available for college students is the $25 "Campus to Concert Hall All Access Pass" - good for all seven of LACO's Orchestral Series concert, Discover Beethoven's Eroica and for all three Westside Connections concerts)

CONCERT PRELUDES:
7 pm (Ambassador Auditorium)
6 pm (Royce Hall)
One hour before curtain, pre-concert talks provide insights into the music and artists. Free for ticket holders.
Jeffrey Kahane talks about Benjamin Britten, composer Bruce Adolphe discusses his composition and a representative from Braille Institute speaks about Braille music notation.

Pictured: Laurie Rubin. Photo by Jonathan Barkat.

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