LACO's Virtual Salon Features Ellen Reid, Sarah Gibson, Juan Pablo Contreras and Peter Shin

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's (LACO) groundbreaking Sound Investment commissioning program, established to engage audiences in developing a new piece of music composed especially to suit its unparalleled musical talents, offers supporters an exclusive virtual salon featuring a conversation and Q&A with Pulitzer Prize-winner Ellen Reid, LACO's Creative Advisor and Composer-in-Residence, Sarah Gibson, Juan Pablo Contreras and Peter Shin on Thursday, May 7, 7 pm Pacific time. Reid, Gibson and Contreras, the three previous Sound Investment composers, join Shin, LACO's 2020-21 Season Sound Investment composer.

His music navigates issues of national belonging, the co-opting and intermingling of disparate musical vernaculars and the liminality between the two halves of his second-generation Korean-American identity. The four artists will share their backgrounds as composers in today's classical music climate and their Sound Investment experiences, as well as offer a look forward to Shin's upcoming Sound Investment work with LACO and a Q&A. This interactive event on Zoom is open to Sound Investment supporters from the last three years and new members who sign up by May 6.

To join Sound Investment, visit laco.org/soundinvest. The salon will also be available for free live streaming on Facebook Live; visit https://www.facebook.com/pg/LAChamberOrchestra/.

Sound Investment's intimate salons throughout the season feature behind-the-scenes discussions with the composer about the creative process and unique reading sessions of the work-in-progress, among other benefits. $500 Membership includes an Invitation to salon events with Shin, exclusive access for two to a special reading of the new work, two tickets to Shin's 2021 world premiere, member names listed on the score's dedication page and a commemorative page from the score. A first-time Membership Level of $250 is also available for first and second year Sound Investment supporters, as is an All-Access Pass for students.

Shin succeeds Contreras, Gibson and Reid as the latest in a line of sought-after, contemporary Sound Investment composers, among them Matthew Aucoin, Ted Hearne, Hannah Lash, Andrew Norman, Timo Andres and Derek Bermel, as well as others dating back to the first Sound Investment commission. When Sound Investment began in 2001, well before the 'crowdsource' concept existed, it offered the innovative idea that LACO patrons could become insiders to the creative process by getting to know a composer and seeing how a new work comes together.

Peter S. Shin has been described by the New York Times as "a composer to watch" and his music "entirely fresh and personal" following his premiere at Carnegie Hall. Additional highlights include performances at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with Kaleidoscope for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's "Noon to Midnight" series, MASS MoCA for Roomful of Teeth's 10th anniversary and the Cabrillo Festival commissioned by John Adams. In addition to being the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's Sound Investment composer for the 2020/21 season, Peter has received fellowships, commissions, and awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Harvard University's Fromm Music Foundation, the Fulbright Program, ASCAP, American Composers Forum, Chamber Music America, Minnesota Orchestra, Berkeley Symphony, the Tanglewood and Aspen music festivals, Chicago Civic Orchestra, and LA's Hear Now Music Festival, among others. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Peter is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California and is currently pursuing an M.M.A. at the Yale School of Music. He will begin his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley this fall.

LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (LACO), ranked among the world's top musical ensembles, marks an exciting new era in Southern California as it welcomes Jaime Martín in his debut year as Music Director. Martín builds upon LACO's rich legacy as a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks and, with eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, a champion of contemporary composers. Headquartered in the heart of the country's cultural capital, LACO is "more important with each passing year," (Los Angeles Times), "America's finest chamber orchestra" (Public Radio International) and "one of the world's great chamber orchestras" (KUSC Classical FM). Martín's appearance as LACO's Music Director Designate in early 2019 was described by the Los Angeles Times, as "a thrilling performance, and the orchestra played like it was having the time of its life," adding, "he will make fans very quickly." Overseas, he has been praised as "a visionary conductor, discerning and meticulous" (Platea Magazine), and London's The Telegraph said, "his infectious enjoyment of the music communicated to the orchestra and audience alike." The Orchestra has made 32 recordings, including, most recently, a 2019 BIS Records release of works for violin and chamber orchestra that features Concertmaster Margaret Batjer and the world premiere recording of Pierre Jalbert's Violin Concerto (a LACO co-commission). LACO, with offices located in downtown Los Angeles, has toured Europe, South America and Japan, and performed across North America.