Jeremy Denk Joins Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Led by Jeffrey Kahane for "Piano Fest"

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO)’s 45th season concludes with a
veritable piano "festival" as Jeremy Denk, “a pianist you want to
hear no matter what he performs” (The New
York Times), returns for a command performance on Saturday, May 17, 2014, 8
pm, at Glendale’s Alex Theatre, and Sunday, May 18, 2014, 7 pm, at UCLA’s Royce
Hall.  Denk, artistic director of the
2014 Ojai Music Festival, is featured on selections from Ligeti’s Etudes for
Piano, Book I & II, as well as Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C
major.  From the keyboard, LACO Music
Director Jeffrey Kahane, an acclaimed pianist, conducts Bach’s Concerto No. 2
in C major for Two Keyboards, and Mozart’s Concerto No. 10 in E-flat major for
Two Pianos.  He is joined by 12-year-old
prodigy Ray Ushikubo for the Bach and LA Phil Keyboardist Joanne Pearce Martin
for the Mozart.

Denk has built a reputation as an unusual and compelling artist, with a
broad and thought-provoking repertoire. 
He is also known for his witty and personal music writing, which has
appeared in the New Yorker, New York Times Book Review, Newsweek and on the website of NPR
Music.  He was awarded the
2014 Avery Fisher Prize, Musical America’s
2014 Instrumentalist of the Year award and the 2013 MacArthur “Genius Grant.”

Martin,
who made her LACO debut in 2006, performs around the globe as a soloist,
chamber musician and recording artist. 
The Los Angeles Times hails
her for her “propulsive, interactive pianism” and describes her playing as
having “unusual fervor and fluency.”

An
exuberant artist exhibiting an innate musicality well beyond his years,
Japanese-American pre-teen pianist and violinist Ray Ushikubo has performed at
Carnegie Hall and on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  He has also appeared with world-renowned
pianist Lang Lang at Segerstrom Concert Hall and as a piano soloist and chamber
performer during performances at two LACO galas.

Concert Preludes, pre-concert
talks held one hour before curtain and free for ticket holders, provide
insights into the music and artists.  Ticket
holders are invited to celebrate the final concert of the 2013-14 season with
musicians at an after-party in the lobby with complimentary appetizers and drinks.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is considered one of the world’s premier
chamber orchestras as well as a leader in presenting wide-ranging repertoire
and adventurous commissions.  Its 2013-14
season, the Orchestra's 45th, features a compelling mix of beloved masterpieces
and genre-defying premieres from firmly established as well as notable
up-and-coming composers programmed by Jeffrey Kahane, one of the world’s
foremost conductors and pianists, who concludes his 17th season as LACO’s music
director. 

Tickets, starting at
$25, are on sale now and may be purchased online at laco.org, by calling LACO at 213 622 7001.  Discounted tickets are also
available by phone for seniors 65 years of age and older and groups of 12 or
more.  College students may purchase
student rush tickets ($10), based on availability, at the box office the day of
the concert.  Also
available for college students is the $25 “Campus to Concert Hall All Access
Pass” – good for all seven of LACO’s Orchestral series concerts, Discover
Beethoven’s Eroica and three Westside
Connections concerts.