LACO Presents World Premiere by Nina C. Young Featuring Violin Virtuoso Jennifer Koh + Works by Mendelssohn and C.P.E. Bach at Alex Theatre

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane, “a precise and demanding presence on the podium” (Orange County Register), returns to the Orchestra to conduct the world premiere of Nina C. Young’s Violin Concerto: Traces, written for violinist Jennifer Koh, who is featured on the premiere, on Saturday, November 11, 2023, 8 pm, at Glendale’s Alex Theatre, and Sunday, November 12, 2023, 7 pm, at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Young, whose work was co-commissioned by LACO and the Philadelphia Orchestra, is known for creating electroacoustic music imbued with vibrant, arresting immediacy.

The concert, embracing themes of remembering and reimagining, also includes Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 in A minor, “Scottish,” influenced by the German composer’s travels through Scotland as a young man as part of a multi-year Grand Tour of Europe, and C.P.E. Bach’s minimalistic Sinfonia in D major.

The program is part of the state-wide California Festival: A Celebration of New Music, a two-week event November 3-19, 2023, showcasing the most compelling and forward-looking voices from around the world in performances of new works written within the past five years. The initiative is a collaboration among more than 50 music institutions from across California with outreach support from the Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO).   

Koh, recognized for intense, commanding performances, delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance, is a forward-thinking artist dedicated to exploring a broad and eclectic repertoire, while promoting diversity and inclusivity in classical music. She has expanded the contemporary violin repertoire through a wide range of commissioning projects and has premiered more than 70 works written especially for her. Her quest for the new and unusual, sense of endless curiosity, and ability to lead and inspire a host of multidisciplinary collaborators, truly set her apart. Born in Chicago to Korean parents, Jennifer began playing the violin by chance, choosing the instrument in a Suzuki-method program only because spaces for cello and piano had been filled. She made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 11. She has been honored as Musical America’s 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year, top prize winner at Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition, winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

The Alex Theatre is located at 216 North Brand Boulevard, Glendale, CA 91203. Royce Hall is located at 340 Royce Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90095. For tickets ($32 - $142) and information, please visit www.laco.org or call 213 221 3920.