Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s 2025-26 season: world premieres, Baroque evenings, cross-genre explorations, & major new Colburn School partnership

(August 2025) — Under the auspices of Music Director Jaime Martín and Executive Director Ben Cadwallader, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) is poised to commence its 2025-26 season. This thoughtful and varied lineup centers around a full orchestral series, comprising three world premieres, two West Coast premieres, two all-Baroque programs, and a host of Classical and Romantic favorites. Continuing LACO’s multi-year focus on Schumann and Brahms, examples of their music will feature in three orchestral programs, as well as gracing both events in the season’s chamber series. Nicolas Altstaedt, Isabelle Faust, Anthony Marwood, Fazıl Say, and Dinis Souzaare among those making LACO debuts; and other special guests include Amanda Forsythe, Richard Goode, Marc-André Hamelin, and LACO Creative Partner Lara Downes, who helps explore the intersection between classical music and jazz in the Current series. The 2025-26 season also ushers in a major new partnership between LACO and Los Angeles’s Colburn School. Building on the two organizations’ shared history and decades-long relationship, LACO will perform regularly at Terri and Jerry Kohl Hall in the new Frank Gehry-designed Colburn Center, due to open in fall 2027. While Kohl Hall is under construction, the school’s Zipper Hall will serve as the Downtown LA home for LACO’s orchestral and chamber programs.

New Colburn School partnership

LACO’s 2025/26 season ushers in a new partnership with the Colburn School, one of the world’s preeminent institutions for music and dance. Beginning in September 2025, Colburn’s Zipper Hall will become the new Downtown LA home for LACO’s Orchestral and Chamber programs – a collaboration that will extend to the Frank Gehry-designed Colburn Center when it opens in 2027, with LACO performing regularly at Terri and Jerry Kohl Hall. A much-needed mid-sized venue with 1,000 seats, Kohl Hall offers an ideal setting and an intimate atmosphere to showcase LACO’s performances.

Building on their decades-long relationship and shared history, LACO already collaborates with the Colburn School on joint programs, including masterclasses, mock auditions, and mentorship. LACO concertmaster Margaret Batjer was appointed Director of Colburn School’s Music Academy in July 2024. The organizations also share a major financier in Richard D. Colburn, a visionary patron of the arts, who was instrumental in bringing the Colburn School to fruition. His philanthropy was likewise vital to LACO’s success, supporting the ensemble’s growth since its founding in 1968. As Colburn’s expansion continues a period of growth on LA’s Grand Avenue, it is fitting that LACO and Colburn’s paths should once again converge.

Orchestral series: new commissions, Baroque evenings, & more

“Charismatic conductor Jaime Martín … is a real musician’s musician,” notes The Guardian, and LACO launches the 2025-26 orchestral season with two programs led by its celebrated Music Director. Their season-opening program features Gramophone Chamber Award-winning German-French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, who makes his LACO debut in Schumann’s sole Cello Concerto, flanked by a pair of Classical symphonies: Haydn’s 83rd, “La poule,” and Beethoven’s iconic Fifth (Sep 13 & 14). Next follows a Romantic coupling of Louise Farrenc’s Second Symphony with Brahms’s First Piano Concerto, featuring the return of Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin, a “performer of near-superhuman technical prowess” (The New York Times) (Oct 25 & 26). The performance forms part of LACO’s ongoing survey of the music of Farrenc, one of the greatest symphonists of 19th-century France; the ensemble is currently recording her complete symphonies for future release on the BIS label.

In the new year, Martín conducts the orchestra’s world premiere performances of three LACO commissions: the first new composition conceived through the orchestra’s Joan and Jeff Beal Fund for Living Composers, by Pulitzer Prize laureate Michael Abels (Feb 14 & 15); a Double Concerto for Violin and Cello by Rome Prize-winner Christopher Cerrone, featuring British violinist Anthony Marwood – “a magic name in the business” (The Independent, UK) – in his LACO debut, with the “flawless technique and keen musicality” (The New Yorker) of cellist Coleman Itzkoff, a founding member of AMOC*, the American Modern Opera Company (May 16 & 17); and a new work from Juhi Bansal, the 2025-26 incumbent of LACO’s Sound Investment public commissioning program, now celebrating its 25th anniversary season. Bansal’s work shares a program with The PacificHas No Memory by Grammy winner Eric Whitacre (April 11 & 12), marking the second of two West Coast premieres of works that, like Bansal’s, address wildfires and climate change. Led by guest conductor Dinis Souza, the first is The Tipping Point, a symphony co-commissioned by the orchestra from LACO Composer-in-Residence Huang Ruo, “one of the world’s leading young composers” (The New Yorker) (March 14 & 15).

A pair of all-Baroque programs complete the orchestral season. Marking his LACO debut, French harpsichordist and conductor Pierre Hantaï – “a thinking virtuoso” (Classics Today) – anchors an evening of J.S. Bach, Leclair, Rameau, and C.P.E. Bach (Jan 17 & 18). The season concludes with a program of J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Biber, and Telemann, led from the violin by LACO concertmaster Margaret Batjer and featuring both Amanda Forsythe, “one of the best Baroque sopranos on the scene today” (Boston Classical Review), and Principal Bassoon Andrew Brady, LACO’s newest ensemble member (May 30 & 31).

Chamber series, Current series, and “Music + the Body”

As well as bringing “spirit and mastery … to her role as concertmaster” (International Review of Music), Batjer also serves as LACO’s Director of Chamber Music. Under her guidance, LACO presents two intimate programs in the 2025-26 chamber series. Designed to expand the sextet repertoire, the first pairs Brahms’s two String Sextets with the world premiere of a new one commissioned by the Sarah Gibson Foundation from former LACO Composer Teaching Artists Fellow Julia Moss (Nov 22 & 23). The second offers an evening of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schumann featuring Richard Goode, whose “mellow insights, deep emotional involvement and self-effacing pianism” almost seem to channel “composers’ thought processes directly” (Chicago Tribune) (Dec 14 & 16).

LACO’s “Current” series explores the intersection between classical and contemporary genres. Both programs are curated by LACO Creative Partner Lara Downes, the iconoclastic pianist hailed as “a musical ray of hope” (NBC News). This fall, she joins John Holiday – “one of the finest countertenors of his generation” (Los Angeles Times) – and a mixed ensemble for selections from the American Songbook and favorites by big-band icon Duke Ellington and Hollywood legends Rózsa and Korngold (Oct 4). Next spring, Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Christian Sands offers jazz re-interpretations of J.S. Bach’s Sinfonias and Inventions, interspersed with Downes’s accounts of Bach’s originals and a LACO string trio’s renditions of the same material in arrangements by Dmitry Sitkovetsky (March 28). Both events take place in the Cicada Restaurant and Lounge, an art-deco supper club in Downtown LA.

LACO complements these offerings with “Music + the Body.” Presented on Labor Day in partnership with the National MS Society, this free, season-opening community event culminates with a program of musical storytelling from Emmy-winning composer, pianist, and MS advocate Jeff Beal. Led by six-time Grammy winner Leonard Slatkin, Beal is the soloist in the first performance of a new arrangement of New York Études, a work about his own life with multiple sclerosis. Slatkin also conducts the world premiere of Four Score, which Beal composed for the conductor’s 80th birthday exactly one year earlier to the day, and Kelly Hall-Tompkins – “the versatile violinist who makes the music come alive” (The New York Times) – joins LACO for Beal’s Body in Motion (Sep 1). The same forces will also record the program for release by Pentatone Records in 2027.

About Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO)

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra ranks among the world’s great musical ensembles. Beloved by audiences and praised by critics, the orchestra is a renowned interpreter of historical masterworks and, with eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, a champion of contemporary composers. Headquartered in the heart of Los Angeles, LACO has been proclaimed “America’s finest chamber orchestra” (Public RadioInternational), “LA’s most unintimidating chamber music experience” (Los Angelesmagazine), “resplendent” (Los Angeles Times), and “one of the world’s great chamberorchestras” (Classical California KUSC FM). As well as performing throughout greater Los Angeles and across North America, LACO has toured Europe, South America, and Japan. The most recent of the orchestra’s 32 recordings is a 2019 BIS Records release, featuring concertmaster Margaret Batjer in the world premiere recording of Pierre Jalbert’s Violin Concerto, an LACO co-commission. As detailed above, additional releases are scheduled for release on both the BIS and Pentatone labels.

Spanish conductor Jaime Martín has been Music Director of LACO since 2019. Also currently serving as Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martín previously held positions as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Sweden’s Gävle Symphony, Principal Guest Conductor of the Spanish National Orchestra, and Chief Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.

Founded in 2017, the multi-year LACO Fellowship program provides work and professional development opportunities for classical musicians from historically underrepresented communities. Applications for the fourth cohort of the LACO Fellowship open in October 2025.

Subscription renewals and new subscriptions are available now at laco.org or by telephone, at (213) 221-3920.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra: 2025-26 season

(See venue addresses below)

Sep 1, 2025
The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage
“Music + the Body”: free community event in partnership with National MS Society
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Jeff Beal, piano
Kelly Hall-Tompkins, violin
Jeff BEAL: New York Études, arranged for String and Piano (world premiere)
Jeff BEAL: Body in Motion for Violin and Orchestra
Jeff BEAL: Four Score (world premiere)

Sep 13 & 14, 2025
Sep 13: Zipper Hall
Sep 14: The Wallis
Jaime Martín, Music Director
Nicolas Altstaedt, cello (debut)
Orchestra 1: “A Musical Genesis”
HAYDN: Symphony No. 83, “La poule”
SCHUMANN: Cello Concerto
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5

Oct 4, 2025
Cicada Restaurant and Lounge
John Holiday, countertenor
Lara Downes, piano
Mixed ensemble
Current: “Reflections in Song”
ELLINGTON: “It Don’t Mean a Thing”
ELLINGTON: “Take The ‘A’ Train”
ELLINGTON: “(In My) Solitude”
STRAYHORN: “Lotus Blossom”
STRAYHORN: “Lush Life”
STRAYHORN (arr. Chris WALDEN): A Lonesome Flower
ELLINGTON: “Come Sunday”
ARLEN: “Stormy Weather”
GERSHWIN: “Summertime”
GERSHWIN: “Embraceable You”
RÓZSA: “Love Theme” from Spellbound
KORNGOLD: Romance Impromptu
CHAPLIN: “Smile”
GARNER: “Misty”
ARLEN: “Get Happy”

Oct 25 & 26, 2025
Oct 25: Zipper Hall
Oct 26: The Wallis
Jaime Martín, Music Director
Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Orchestra 2: “Romantic Resonance”
FARRENC: Symphony No. 2
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1

Nov 22 & 23, 2025
Nov 22: Zipper Hall
Nov 23, 2025: The Wallis
Chamber: “A Brahmsian Affair”
BRAHMS: String Sextets No. 1 & 2
Julia MOSS: new work (world premiere)

Dec 14 & 16, 2025
Dec 14: Zipper Hall
Dec 16: The Wallis
Richard Goode, piano
Chamber: “Harmonic Conversations”
SCHUMANN: Violin Sonata No. 1
MOZART: Piano Quartet No. 1
BEETHOVEN: Septet

Jan 17 & 18, 2026
Jan 17: The Huntington
Jan 18: The Wallis
Pierre Hantaï, leader (debut)
Baroque: “A Grand Baroque Salon”
C.P.E. BACH: Symphony No. 3 in F
J.S. BACH: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
LECLAIR: Violin Concerto in D
RAMEAU: Suite from Les Paladins

Feb 14 & 15, 2026
Feb 14: Zipper Hall
Feb 15: The Wallis
Jaime Martín, Music Director
Fazıl Say, piano (debut)
Orchestra 3: “Passion and Mystery”
Michael ABELS: new work (world premiere)
FAURÉ: Pelléas et Melisande
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3

March 14 & 15, 2026
March 14: Zipper Hall
March 15: venue TBA
Dinis Souza, guest conductor (debut)
Isabelle Faust, violin (debut)
Orchestra 4: “Turning Points”
HUANG Ruo (composer-in-residence): The Tipping Point (West Coast premiere)
SCHUMANN: Violin Concerto
MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4, “Italian”

March 28, 2026
Cicada Restaurant and Lounge
Christian Sands, piano
Lara Downes, piano
String trio
Current: “Inventions Reimagined”
J.S. BACH: Sinfonias and Inventions, BWV 772–801

April 11 & 12, 2026
April 11: Zipper Hall
April 12: The Wallis
Jaime Martín, Music Director
Anne-Akiko Meyers, violin
Orchestra 5: “Temporal Echoes”
Juhi BANSAL: sound investment commission (world premiere)
Eric WHITACRE: The Pacific Has No Memory (West Coast premiere)
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Lark Ascending
SHOSTAKOVICH: Chamber Symphony
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 1, “Classical”

May 9, 2026
Skirball Cultural Center
Gala
Program TBA

May 16 & 17, 2026
May 16: Zipper Hall
May 17: The Wallis
Jaime Martín, Music Director
Anthony Marwood, violin (debut)
Coleman Itzkoff, cello
Orchestra 6: “Radiance and Reverie”
MOZART: Symphony No. 35, “Haffner”
Christopher CERRONE: Double Concerto for Violin and Cello (world premiere)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Orchestra Suite No. 4, “Mozartiana”

May 30 & 31, 2026
May 30: The Huntington
May 31: The Wallis
Margaret Batjer, leader
Amanda Forsythe, soprano
Andrew Brady, bassoon
“Baroque in Bloom”
J.S. BACH: Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten (“Wedding Cantata”)
VIVALDI: La Notte
VIVALDI: Bassoon Concerto in A minor
HANDEL: “Se Pietà di me non senti” from Israel in Egypt
HANDEL: “Da tempeste” from Julius Caesar
BIBER: Battalia a 10
TELEMANN: Don Quixote

Venue addresses:
Zipper Hall: The Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts: 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
The Huntington: Rothenberg Hall, 1151 Oxford Rd, San Marino, CA 91108
Cicada Restaurant and Lounge: 617 South Olive St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
Skirball Cultural Center: 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049

All details subject to change