Matthias Pintscher to Conduct LA Chamber Orchestra in Beethoven, Ravel & More, 2/20-21

Matthias Pintscher, music director of the acclaimed French contemporary music group Ensemble Intercontemporain, makes his highly anticipated Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) conducting debut, leading works by Beethoven, Schoenberg, Ravel and Fauré on Saturday, February 20, 2016, 8 pm, at the Alex Theatre, Glendale, and Sunday, February 21, 2016, 7 pm, at UCLA's Royce Hall. Pintscher, noted for conducting with "finesse and focus" (The Guardian), leads Beethoven's less often-performed Symphony No. 8 in F major, a compact and upbeat work notable as the composer's shortest symphony; Schoenberg's lush Chamber Symphony No. 2, written over a 33-year period from 1906 to 1939; Fauré's elegant and graceful Pavane; and Ravel's complete Ma mère l'oye ("Mother Goose"), originally written for piano four-hands and later expanded for orchestra.

Equally accomplished as conductor and composer, Pintscher has been hailed "for making the creative process behind music come to life" (Ottawa Citizen). He continues his partnership with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra as its artist-in-association, and in 2014, began a three-year appointment as artist-in-residence with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Last season, he made several important debuts, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra and Bayerische Rundfunk. This season he returns to the Atlanta and Danish National symphony orchestras, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, Hamburg and Helsinki philharmonics, as well as the symphony orchestras of Melbourne and Sydney. Past conducting engagements have included the Staatskapelle Berlin, NDR Hamburg, Paris Opera and Mariinsky orchestras; Orchestre Philharmonique de France; BBC, Berlin Radio and Vienna Radio symphony orchestras; and the Utah and New World symphonies, among others. A prolific composer, Pintscher, who makes his home in New York and Paris, joined the composition faculty at The Juilliard School in 2014. He was the 2012 recipient of the prestigious Roche Commission. The Cleveland Orchestra premiered his composition idyll in 2014. His Chute d'Étoiles: Hommage à Anselm Kiefer was premiered at the Lucerne Festival in 2012 also by the Cleveland Orchestra, with subsequent performances in Cleveland and at Carnegie Hall.

Concert Preludes, pre-concert talks held one hour before curtain and free for ticket holders, provide insights into the program's music and artists.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is considered one of the world's premier chamber orchestras as well as a pacesetter in presenting wide-ranging repertoire and adventurous commissions. Its 2015-16 season, 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 19th season as LACO's music director.

Steinway is the official piano of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Tickets, starting at $27, 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, Discover Bach's Cantata "Sleepers Awake" and three Westside Connections concerts.