Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra wraps its 2023/24 orchestral season with a nod to the past and an eye toward the future on Friday, May 24, 2024, 8 pm, at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, and Saturday, May 25, 2024, 8 pm, at Glendale’s Alex Theatre. The program opens with Music Director Jaime Martín conducting the world premiere of Glitter Monster, a LACO Sound Investment commission by Nina Shekhar. The composer and multimedia artist, a first-generation Indian American and Detroit native, explores the intersection of identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter to create bold and intensely personal work that “surprises and delights aplenty” (Los Angeles Times). Sound Investment is a groundbreaking program LACO established in 2001 that engages audience members in developing new classical works.
Additionally, renowned GRAMMY-nominated Venezuelan-born pianist Gabriela Montero – noted for her visionary interpretations, exceptional musicality, and mesmerizing stage presence – makes her highly anticipated LACO debut, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor. The New York Times states, “Montero’s playing [has] everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…[and] unsentimental expressivity.
Schubert’s last symphonic work, the majestic Symphony No. 9 (“The Great C major”), caps the season finale. Written just a year after Beethoven’s ninth symphony was premiered, Schubert, who was facing his own mortality at the time, included in his final symphony a quote from the epic “Ode to Joy” theme from Beethoven’s masterwork.
Tickets ($28-$268, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Hall; $32 - $142, Alex Theatre) may be purchased online at laco.org or by calling LACO at 213 622 7001 x1. Discounted tickets are also available by phone for seniors 65 years of age and older and for students.