All-Shostakovich Program with Ignat Solzhenitsyn Featured at LACO's Westside Connections

A Russia-focused, all-Shostakovich program led by pianist/conductor Ignat Solzhenitsyn, son of the famous Russian novelist and dissident, is featured at Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's second of three 2017 Westside Connections concerts on Thursday, April 6, 2017, 7:30 pm, at Santa Monica's Moss Theater. Spotlighting Music: The Mirror of Time, the Westside Connections series, curated by Concertmaster Margaret Batjer, spotlights special guests, who lead explorations of musical masterworks that emerged from times of triumph and tragedy in England, Russia and Germany.

The works on this program include Shostakovich's popular String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, written in 1960 in just three days, and Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, composed in 1944 and considered a lamentation for victims of the Holocaust. Solzhenitsyn, described as "an uncommonly thoughtful, communicative musician" (The New York Times), is principal guest conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and conductor emeritus of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. Joining him are Batjer and other LACO artists Tereza Stanislav, violin; Sarah Thornblade, violin; Victoria Miskolczy, viola; Andrew Shulman, cello; and Armen Ksajikian, cello. NPR's Renée Montagne interviews the special guests and moderates a short Q&A at the conclusion of each program.

Solzhenitsyn is also conductor emeritus of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and is on the piano faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music. He has appeared with the orchestras of Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dallas, Elgin, Fort Worth, Herford, Toronto, Ljubljana, Moscow, Nashville, North Carolina, Phoenix, Prague, Salt Lake City, St. Petersburg, Toledo and Yekaterinburg, among others. Winner of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Solzhenitsyn has also given piano recitals in London, Milan, Zurich, Moscow, Tokyo and Sydney and performs with the orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Montreal, Toronto, London, Paris, Israel and Sydney. He has been featured on numerous radio and television specials, including CBS Sunday Morning and ABC's Nightline. Born in Moscow, Solzhenitsyn currently resides in New York City.

Each year, LACO's trademark three-part Westside Connections, now in its ninth season, steps outside the proverbial "music "box" to illustrate the myriad ways music is woven into society and our lives with fascinating intellectual discourse, superb artistry and audience Q&As. In previous seasons, Westside Connections has explored connections between music and such disparate topics as architecture, the culinary arts, poetry, the mind, stories and the influences of Los Angeles on creativity.

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 with "effortless musicality and extraordinary communicative gifts." Under Kahane's leadership, the Orchestra maintains its status as a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks and a champion of contemporary composers.

Steinway is the official piano of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Tickets (beginning at $56) are available 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. Student rush tickets ($8), based on availability, may be purchased at the box office one hour before the concert. Also available for college students is the $30 "Campus to Concert Hall All Access Pass" - good for LACO's three Westside Connections concerts at the Moss Theater, eight Orchestral Series concerts at either the Alex Theatre or UCLA's Royce Hall and five Baroque Conversations concerts at downtown's Zipper Hall. The Moss Theater at New Roads School is located at 3131 Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA, 90404.