Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) named pianist and classical media personality Lara Downes as its first-ever creative partner beginning July 1. The three-year appointment involves Downes in LACO’s artistic planning, performance, community engagement, advocacy, and education programs.
Downes adds LACO to an already busy slate of activities: she hosts Evening Music and Classical Americana on classical radio station KUSC and produces the NPR video series Amplify with Lara Downes. She also maintains an active performing and recording calendar, including a new album, “This Land,” to be released Aug. 23 featuring American folk music and new commissions. She will solo with LACO and Music Director Jaime Martín in an April 2025 performance featuring Florence Price’s Piano Concerto.
In a prepared statement, Downes expressed excitement for the creative possibilities of the partnership with LACO: “LACO’s visionary programming travels the long road of our art form — wide-open territory for my own artistic explorations of the musical crossroads where past meets present, where traditions merge, journeys converge, and new ideas take root.”
