The Orchestra’s guest artist residency program puts Angelenos front and center for intimate and accessible musical experiences with world class musicians. This season, the residency program welcomes violinist Jennifer Koh in October for community events in advance of her Orchestral Series performance with LACO.
Koh is noted for intense performances delivered with technical assurance. An adventurous musician, she collaborates with artists of multiple disciplines and curates projects that find connections between music of all eras, from traditional to contemporary.
“I cannot wait to return to LACO,” reports Jennifer Koh. “I love Los Angeles and I can’t wait to play Lutosławski’s Chain 2 with maestro Peter Oundjian.”
ad libitum
This weekends Orchestral series performance will feature Koh on Witold Lutosławski’s Chain 2. The contemporary, thorny and rhythmic work spells out certain pitches for the soloist, but much of the work is created “Ad libitum.”
Ad libitum is Latin for “at one’s pleasure,” and is often shortened to “ad lib.”
“I think I’m the kind of person who doesn’t believe in the ultimate correct way of performing anything. I want every performance to be different,” says Koh in a 2013 youtube video titled, Witold Lutosławski: Chain 2 Listening Guide with Jennifer Koh. “And to have a composition in which literally the way you layer with the orchestra is going to be different is an expansion of that.”
Koh joins forces with LACO and guest conductor Peter Oundjian on Saturday, October 14th and Sunday, October 15th, for an Orchestral Series concert titled mozart: symphony no. 40. Oundjian, in his second LACO appearance, will lead the Orchestra in Suite from Stravinsky’s ballet Pulcinella, Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G Minor as well the aforementioned Chain 2.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased at laco.org. These concerts are sponsored by Genesis. Jennifer Koh is sponsored by Stephen & Evelyn Block and Leslie Lassiter.
shared madness
As part of her artistic residency, Koh will be performing selections from a collection of solo violin compositions that were commissioned as part of her Shared Madness project.
While Paganini wrote a landmark set of 24 caprices that explored the relationship of virtuosity on the violin at the beginning of the 19th century, Koh’s collection explores the meaning of virtuosity in the 21st century. Each composer offered to write a solo violin work exploring the relationship between the violinist and the instrument. This new body of work premiered under the auspices of the New York Philharmonic’s 2nd Biennial in June 2016.
“The reason I came up with the title Shared Madness,” recalled Koh in the youtube video Biennial Beat: Jennifer Koh’s ‘Shared Madness,’ “is because it is about the shared creative space the shared experience and essentially this shared community we live in … on a musical level.”
angel city brewery
Angel City Brewery is an LA-based craft brewery located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. In late 2010, Angel City relocated the brewery to the historic John A. Roebling Building in LA’s Downtown Arts District. The public house opens their inviting beer hall to patrons for an evening of solo violin and some of LA’s best craft brews.
wed oct 11 @ 7 pm Angel City Brewery
Jennifer Koh violin
M. Aucoin resolve 3’
C. Cerrone Shall I Project A World? 6′
Z. Di Castri Patina 3’20”
L. Bielawa Vireo Caprice 6’
D. Bjarnason First Escape 3’30”
This event is free, however reservations are recommended due to limited space.
Are minors under the age of 21 allowed in the brewery?
Before 8 pm, minors under the age of 14 are allowed in when accompanied by a parent or guardian.
hauser & wirth
The second of Koh’s two free residency concerts will be held at Hauser & Wirth, an Arts District-based gallery. Hauser & Wirth was founded in 1992 in Zurich by Iwan Wirth, Manuela Wirth and Ursula Hauser, who were joined in 2000 by Partner and Vice President Marc Payot. A family business with a global outlook, Hauser & Wirth has expanded over the past 25 years to include the outpost in Los Angeles.
Koh performs works from her Shared Madness project in a free public concert in the Arts District’s hottest gallery complex. Patrons can explore the museum-quality modern art galleries before and after the concert.
sat oct 15 @ 1 pm Hauser & Wirth
Jennifer Koh violin
K. Saariaho Sense 3’
M. Mazzoli Kinski Paganini 2’20”
P. Glass Sarabande in Common Time 3’15″
V. Iyer Zany, Cute, Interesting 5′
A. Norman Still Life 2’15″
J. Wolfe Spinning Jenny 5′