Lara Downes Debuts as LACO Creative Partner with CURRENT: Routes,
Off-the-Beaten Path Program Exploring Black Cowboy Culture + Migrations in American Music,
Featuring Grammy-Winning Folk Musician Dom Flemons and LACO Artists.

Saturday, November 23, 2024, 7:30 pm

Autry Museum of the American West

(Los Angeles, CA – October 30, 2024) Iconoclastic American pianist Lara Downes makes her highly-anticipated debut as the inaugural Creative Partner of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks, with CURRENT: Routes, a program that navigates the highways and byways of American music, tracing the journeys and migrations that have shaped the country’s musical landscape. Downes appears with celebrated Grammy-winning folk musician Dom Flemons, known as The American Songster^®, on Saturday, November 23, 2024, at the Autry Museum of the American West.

CURRENT: Routes explores the complex intersections of folk and classical traditions, showcasing how these influences have evolved over time and uncovering untold narratives of American life, including the stories of Black cowboys and their enduring contributions to Western culture.

Downes and Flemons delve into the folk melodies that inspired Aaron Copland’s compositions, centering on his score for the ballet “Billy The Kid,” which unexpectedly reveals the musical legacy of Black cowboys in the Wild West. The program also traces the migration route from Jim Crow Mississippi to mid-century Los Angeles of William Grant Still, known as the “Dean of African American Composers,” and follows other American road trips via Carlos Simon’s Warmth from Other Suns and John Adams’ Road Movies.

To read the full press release, download it here: LACO 24-25 Current-Routes press release