Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

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The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) is a 40-member American chamber orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, praised by the music critic Jim Svejda as "America's finest chamber orchestra."[1]. The LACO was founded in 1968 as an artistic outlet for the local film and record studios' most gifted musicians to perform the classical music repertoire for a chamber orchestra of about 40-45 in number. Many of the orchestra's musicians are also employed by local recording and film studios. The LACO website describes the orchestra's mission as follows:

"To preserve and advance a living tradition of orchestral music through artistically excellent performances that energize and enrich the lives of players and listeners alike. We celebrate the personal connection among our musicians, audiences and community, as shaped by the intimacy of our unique chamber orchestra experience."

The LACO's first music director was Neville Marriner, and Marriner and the LACO used the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields as a guiding model for the ensemble.^[1] Gerard Schwarz was the LACO's second music director, and expanded the orchestra's repertoire to include more American works. Iona Brown was named the LACO's music advisor for the 1986-1987 season, and became music director the next season, serving through 1992. Christof Perick was the next LACO Music Director, from 1992 to 1995. The orchestra's current music director is the conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane, who has led the group since 1997. Its current Composer-in-Residence is Uri Caine.

At the beginning of LACO's history, the orchestra did not have a residency at a single concert hall. The orchestra performed in such venues as the Mark Taper Forum, Occidental College (Thorne Hall), the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, and the California Institute of Technology (Beckman Auditorium).^[1] Currently, the LACO presents 15 concerts annually at two theaters: the Alex Theatre in Glendale and UCLA's Royce Hall. Its repertoire ranges from the Baroque to newly commissioned works (the latter of which it presents through its patron commissioning club, Sound Investment). In celebration of the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birth (27 January 2006), the orchestra performed all 23 of Mozart's piano concertos over the period of 15 months, something no other U.S. orchestra has ever attempted. Kahane conducted all 23 from the keyboard, as was the practice during Mozart's time.

In April 2002, the orchestra made its Carnegie Hall debut, and in June 2005 the orchestra received the First Place Award for Programming of Contemporary Music, offered by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and the American Symphony Orchestra League.

The orchestra also performs for local elementary school students through its Meet the Music and Neighborhood Concerts programs.