Tonight, March 12, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s lauded groundbreaking digital CLOSE QUARTERS interdisciplinary digital series that melds musical and visual arts continues with a new production of Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat (The Soldier’s Tale), conducted by Music Director Jaime Martín, featuring the Robey Theatre Company’s Ben Guillory (Narrator), William Warren (Devil) and Julio Hanson (Soldier) and filtered through the dream-like nostalgia of 1940s’ cinema with stunning cinematography from Michael Elias Thomas directed by James Darrah. See it at CLOSE QUARTERS. Facebook, and YouTube. (Episodes are available to the public at no cost and can be streamed on demand following its premiere.)
It also features the unveiling of a new sculpture inspired by the music by Chinese artist HuiMeng Wang, entitled To Have Still the Things You Had Before (After Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale), which is as creative and provocative as Stravinsky’s work. Wang brought a baby grand piano to the desert, with a firearm specialist, shot 400 bullets into the instrument, then “fully dismantled, flocked, reassembled, and reinforced the piano.” The reconstructed instrument is coated with a delicate red velvety flocking that contrasts with the violence of the bullet holes.
Then on Friday, March 26, 2021, at 6:30 pm (PT), Gil Shaham makes a special guest appearance with LACO, performing Boulogne’s virtuosic Violin Concerto No. 9 in G major. The program also includes Fratres, composed in 1977 by Arvo Pärt with his distinctive triad-based technique. The orchestra itself is the visual focus of this compelling episode.
Violinist Gil Shaham. Photo by Wyatt Johnson.
“Gil Shaham’s virtuosic artistry, musical creativity and the unabashed joy he projects in his performances and recordings inspire audiences around the globe,” says LACO Executive Director Ben Cadwallader. “We are particularly pleased to present his LACO debut in the intimate setting of LACO CLOSE QUARTERS captured through the remarkable camera lens of cinematographer Michael Elias Thomas utilizing cutting edge filming techniques”
Subsequent CLOSE QUARTERS episodes premiere on Fridays, April 9 and 23, May 7 and 21, and June 4, 2021, at 6:30 pm (PT).
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
CLOSE QUARTERS Episode 8
STRAVINSKY L’Histoire du soldat (The Soldier’s Tale)
Friday, March 12, 2021, 6:30 pm (PT) – subsequently available on demand
pre-Concert Conversation, 5:30 pm (PT)
ARTISTS:
Jaime Martín, conductor
Robey Theatre Company
Ben Guillory (Narrator)
William Warren (Devil)
Julio Hanson (Soldier)
Margaret Batjer, violin
David Grossman, bass
Joshua Ranz, clarinet
Kenneth Munday, bassoon
David Washburn, trumpet
Steve Suminski, trombone
Wade Culbreath, percussion
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
CLOSE QUARTERS Episode 9
Friday, March 26, 2021, 6:30 pm (PT) – subsequently available on demand
pre-Concert Conversation, 5:30 pm (PT)
ARVO PÄRT Fratres
BOULOGNE Violin Concerto No. 9 in G major, Op.8
ARTISTS:
Gil Shaham, guest artist/violin
Margaret Batjer, violin
Tereza Stanislav, violin
Jacqueline Brand, violin
Maia Jasper White, violin
Josefina Vergara, violin
Sarah Thornblade, violin
Cheryl Norman-Brick, violin
Joel Pargman, violin
Erik Rynearson, viola
Jonathan Moerschel, viola
Andrew Duckles, viola
David Grossman, bass
Wade Culbreath, percussion
There is no cost to stream the programs; donations requested: laco.org/donate
