LA Chamber Orchestra continues Close Quarters Digital Series with Beethoven’s “Serioso” at Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra CLOSE QUARTERS interdisciplinary digital series melding musical and visual arts continues with Concertmaster Margaret Batjer leading a performance of Beethovens Serioso String Quartet in F minor, arranged for string ensemble by Mahler. CLOSE QUARTERS cinematographer Michael Elias Thomas films the orchestra with direction by LACO Creative Director of Digital Content James Darrah and audio production by Robert Wolff. Thanks to the generosity of individual donors, the new episode is available to the public at no cost and can be streamed on demand following its premiere on Friday, April 9, 2021, at 6:30 pm (PT), at https://www.laco.org/close-quarters/, LACOs YouTube and Facebook live channels. A digital pre-concert conversation begins at 5:30 pm (PT). Batjer, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 1998, has soloed with such major orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra and the St. Louis, Seattle and Dallas symphony orchestras, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Prague Chamber Orchestra and Berlin Symphony Orchestra. She appears regularly at the Marlboro Music Festival, La Jolla Summer-fest, Salzburg Festival, and Italys Naples and Cremona festivals.CLOSE QUARTERS digitally native programs, created specifically for streaming and hailed as musically and artistically compelling (Los Angeles Times), have drawn more than one million views to date since debuting in November 2020. Between 30 and 40 minutes in length, they are safely filmed at The Colburn Schools Olive Rehearsal Hall. Additionally, Darrah has established a creative hub for developing artistic media content with L.A.-based artists and filmmakers at a first-of-its-kind LACO digital studio at Wilhardt & Naud: a film studio and multidisciplinary arts campus located in Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles. The artists, inspired by the Orchestras musical programming, will create new visual works in a variety of mediums that will factor into the broadcasts and endure long after the season concludes. CLOSE QUARTERS builds upon the highly successful LACO SummerFest series, the Orchestras first foray into streaming that concluded in September and featured five digital chamber music concerts that have attracted nearly 250,000 views to date.Subsequent CLOSE QUARTERS episodes premiere on Fridays, April 23, May 7 and 21, and June 4, 2021, at 6:30 pm (PT).