Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) today announced the season's second "Baroque Conversations" concert, which "explores the art of Baroque dance, its links to the court of Louis XIV and its intriguing social and political implications, on Thursday, February 16, 7 pm, at Zipper Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles."
ACO Principal Keyboard Patricia Mabee, who celebrates 35 years with LACO this season, hosts the evening, featuring renowned baroque guitar John Schneiderman and Baroque dancers/historians Linda Tomko and Jill Chardoff. Also featured are LACO principals Tereza Stanislav, assistant concertmaster; Sarah Thornblade, associate principal violin II; Roland Kato, principAl Viola; Victoria Miskolczy, associate principAl Viola; and Armen Ksajikian, associate principal cello. In signature LACO style, the artists share their insights into the music and dances from the stage and invite questions from the audience about the program, which includes Vivaldi's Trio Sonata in D minor, RV 63, Op. 1, No. 12, "La folia" ("Madness"); Sanz's Pavanas and Canarios from Instrucción de Musica Sobre la Guitarra Española; Ganspeck's Overture in A major for Viola d'Amore and Violin; Soler's Fandango in D minor, S. 146; and selections from Campra's Les fêtes vénitiennes ("The Venetian Festivals") and L'Europe galante ("Galant Europe"), as well as from Lully's Atys and Rameau's Dardanus. A pre-concert reception, beginning at 6 pm, is free to all ticket holders.
LACO's "Baroque Conversations" series explores the genesis of orchestral repertoire from early Baroque schools through the pre-classical period.Tickets ($50) are on sale now and may be purchased online at laco.org, by calling LACO at 213 622 7001, or at the venue box office on the night of the concert, if tickets remain. Student rush tickets ($10), based on availability, may be purchased at the box office the day of the concert.As a gifted solo recitalist, ensemble performer and educator, PATRICIA MABEE is acclaimed by audiences and critics for her virtuosity, flawless technique and outstanding interpretive skills. She has been featured as a soloist with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, where she has been principal keyboard since 1976, and has appeared in more than 20 works from the concerto repertoire under the batons of Sir Neville Marriner, Christopher Hogwood, Helmuth Rilling, Nicholas McGegan and Iona Brown. She is also principal keyboard with the New West Symphony Orchestra. Since her debut at Carnegie Hall in 1982, she has given recitals on four continents. Her career as an ensemble player is equally distinguished. She has made regular appearances at the Oregon Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling, as well as at the Casals, Chamber Music Northwest, Ojai and Los Angeles Bach festivals. Specializing in Early Music, Mabee received a Master's degree in keyboard performance from California Institute of the Arts. She is currently on both the CalArts and Colburn School Conservatory of Music faculties. Mabee performs with the Bach's Circle, which focuses on the music of JS Bach, his sons and contemporaries. She is the music director of Ritornello, a period instrument ensemble that presents educational programs for schools, museums and community groups. The pianist for world premieres by John Adams, Bruce Broughton, Donald Crockett and Libby Larsen, she also performs new works for harpsichord and synthesizer. Mabee can be heard on numerous film soundtracks including Marie Antoinette and Master and Commander.
John SchneiderMAN, critically acclaimed virtuoso of plucked instruments since age nine, specializes in the repertoire of 18th-century lutes and 19th-century guitars and is in demand as a soloist and chamber musician collaborating on recordings and performances throughout North America. Beginning his performance career as a banjo, guitar, bass and fiddle player, the young Schneiderman was a familiar face on the stages of bluegrass and folk festivals throughout California. He continues his interest in early American music performing traditional Appalachian fiddle tunes in a clawhammer style on the five-string banjo. Schneiderman studied with British guitar pedagogue and author Frederick Noad, and continued his studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland, with the great modern pioneer of the baroque lute, Eugen Dombois, whose precise and detailed approach to the repertoire continues notably to influence Schneiderman's interpretations today. Schneiderman is a member of the chamber ensembles Galanterie, and The Czar's Guitars, and has performed with the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, Seattle Baroque, Chanticleer, Musica Pacifica and the American Bach Soloists. His extensive discography includes many rarely or never before recorded lute and guitar pieces. He is on the faculties of the University of California at Irvine, Irvine Valley College and Orange Coast College and has been on the faculties of the California State University at Long Beach and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
LINDA J. TOMKO is a historian and Baroque dancer. She holds a PhD in History from UCLA, explores issues of gender and dance in the early 20th-century United States. Indiana University Press published her book in this area in 1999 – Dancing Class: Gender, Ethnicity, and Social Divides in American Dance, 1890-1920. She also focuses on the embodiment and theorization of early 18th-century French and English court and theatre dances. Tomko leads the Baroque dance troupe Les Menus Plaisirs, which has appeared at Indiana University's Early Music Institute, the University of Western Ontario in Canada and the Berkeley Festival in San Francisco. Her credits include choreographing period dances for the Stanford University production of Dido and Aeneas. She has also performed as a dancer in the Boston Early Music Festival's premiere of Johann Mattheson's early 18th-century opera Boris Goudenow, and co-directed with Wendy Hilton the annual Stanford University Summer Workshop in Baroque Dance and its Music. Active in scholarly dance organizations, Tomko was president of the Society of Dance History Scholars from 1998 to 2001, and is former reviews editor of Dance Research Journal, the publication of the Congress on Research in Dance. She is the editor for the Dance & Music series published by Pendragon Press.
JILL CHADROFF received her BA in Dance from the University of California, Riverside and her MA in Dance History from York University in Toronto, Canada. She has been practicing and performing Baroque dance reconstruction for 15 years. Aside from her extensive teaching experience in the field of dance, she holds a secondary teaching credential and currently teaches English at a middle school in Calabasas, California. She is a member of the Baroque dance troupe Les Menus Plaisirs, founded by Linda Tomko in 1989. The troupe's members have performed early 18th-century dances and new choreographies in period style, in the United States, Canada and Japan.LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (LACO), proclaimed "America's finest chamber orchestra" by Public Radio International, has established itself among the world's top musical ensembles. Since 1997, LACO has performed under the baton of acclaimed conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane, hailed by critics as "visionary" and "a conductor of uncommon intellect, insight and musical integrity" with "undeniable charisma." Under Kahane's leadership, the Orchestra maintains its status as a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks and a champion of contemporary composers. During its 43-year history, the Orchestra has made 30 recordings, toured Europe, South America and Japan, performed across North America, earning adulation from audiences and critics alike, and garnered seven ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming. Headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, LACO presents seven Orchestral Series concerts at both Glendale's Alex Theatre and UCLA's Royce Hall, five Baroque Conversations concerts at downtown Los Angeles' Zipper Concert Hall, three Westside Connections chamber music concerts at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, three Family Concerts at the Alex Theatre and an annual Discover concert at Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium. In addition, LACO presents a Concert Gala, an annual Silent Film screening at Royce Hall and several fundraising salons each year. LACO was founded in 1968.
