Margaret Batjer, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra & Jeffrey Kahane
Biography Margaret Batjer, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra & Jeffrey Kahane
Margaret Batjer
made her first solo appearance at the age of 15 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has since appeared with a succession of leading American orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Louis, Seattle and Dallas symphony orchestras. She has performed with such European ensembles as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Prague Chamber Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra (of Ireland), Berlin Symphony Orchestra and Hallé Orchestra.
An esteemed chamber musician, Margaret was a longtime participant at the Marlboro Music Festival and often performed on tour with Music From Marlboro. She has appeared at the Minnesota Orchestra and La Jolla summerfests; the Sarasota and Vancouver Chamber music festivals; and the Naples and Cremona festivals in Italy. As a member of the Quartetto Accardo from 1984–2000, Margaret performed with Maurizio Pollini at the Salzburg Festival, and at La Scala, Carnegie Hall and London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Margaret Batjer is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Ivan Galamian and David Cerone. She joined the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music in 2005 and also serves on the faculty at the Colburn Music Academy. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband, composer Joel McNeely, their two children, Joshua and Claire, and their dog, Bailey.
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
Beloved by audiences and praised by critics, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, known to Angelenos as LACO, is a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks as well as a champion of contemporary composers. Headquartered in the heart of the country’s cultural capital, LACO has been proclaimed “America’s finest chamber orchestra” (Public Radio International), “LA’s most unintimidating chamber music experience” (Los Angeles Magazine), “resplendent” (Los Angeles Times), and “one of the world’s great chamber orchestras”(KUSC Classical FM).
Iona Brown and OrchestraLos Angeles Chamber Orchestra with music director Iona Brown.
LACO was founded in 1968 as an artistic outlet for the recording industry’s most gifted musicians. Founder, cellist James Arkatov, envisioned an ensemble that would allow these conservatory-trained players to balance studio work and teaching with pure artistic collaboration at the highest level. The Orchestra presented its first performances with the financial backing of philanthropist Richard Colburn and managerial expertise from attorney Joseph Troy, who also became the Orchestra’s first president. Sir Neville Marriner, Gerard Schwarz, Iona Brown, Christof Perick and Jeffrey Kahane, LACO’s illustrious music directors, each built upon a tradition of joyous music-making performed by exceptional artists. Jaime Martín, praised as “a visionary conductor, discerning and meticulous” (Platea Magazine), is LACO’s Music Director Designate and takes the podium as Music Director in the 2019-20 season.
LACO has made 31 recordings, toured Europe, South America and Japan, performed across North America, and garnered eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming. The Orchestra’s offices are located in downtown Los Angeles.
Jeffrey Kahane
Equally at home at the keyboard or on the podium, conductor laureate Jeffrey Kahane has established an international reputation as a truly versatile artist, recognized by audiences around the world for his mastery of a diverse repertoire ranging from Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to Gershwin, Golijov and John Adams.
Jeffrey appears as soloist with major orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Chicago and San Francisco symphonies among many others. He is also a popular artist at all of the major US summer festivals, including Aspen, Blossom, Caramoor, Mostly Mozart and Ravinia.
In May 2017,Jeffrey completed his 20th and final season as music director. During his highly successful tenure with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, he spearheaded the creation of many new initiatives, including Westside Connections, a chamber music series that brings together LACO musicians and guest artists with speakers from a wide range of disciplines; Baroque Conversations, which presents chamber and orchestral music of the 17th and 18th centuries with spoken program notes and audience Q and A; “Discover” concerts, evenings devoted to the exploration of a single work involving an hour long lecture with the orchestra on stage, followed by a complete performance; and Sound Investment, a commissioning club whereby for a modest investment, LACO patrons can participate in the commissioning of a major new work and interact with the composer from the very first stages of its conception to the performance. Between this program and the regular commissioning of new pieces, over 50 works have been given their premieres by LACO during his tenure.
Jeffrey Kahane has recorded for the SONY, EMI, Telarc, RCA, Nonesuch, Deutsche Grammophon, Virgin Records, Decca/Argo and Haenssler labels in collaboration with the New World, Cincinnati, Bournemouth and Oregon Bach Festival symphonies. He has also recorded works by Gershwin and Bernstein with Yo-Yo- Ma, the complete works for violin and piano by Schubert with Joseph Swensen, and Bach concertos with LACO and Hilary Hahn.
Jeffrey resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Martha, a clinical psychologist in private practice. They have two children – Gabriel, a composer, pianist and singer/songwriter and Annie, a dancer and poet.
