McLaughlin has served as Artistic Director for 12 years and explained that she is astonished every time she manages to book a big-name artist like Joshua Bell or Emanuel Ax.
“But I really shouldn’t be because the groundwork for each success was laid down over decades by dedicated volunteers including our previous Artistic Director, Rosalie Heller,” she said. “Thanks to the work of all those people, LACA has a fine reputation with every one of the top classical music booking agencies in the country. Being a part of this great Los Alamos organization has been one of the true pleasures of my life.”
The update for Season 2023/24 is that LACA will present four new World. Class. Artists., plus one returning favorite. Concerts featuring pianist, composer, and author Sir Stephen Hough (knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2022), the young, innovative string orchestra, Delirium Musicum, cellist Nicholas Canellakis and pianist Michael Brown, and Frisson Winds with pianist Marika Bournaki (the season opener on Sept. 23) are premiering here. An audience favorite, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will return to town.
Also new this season, four of the five concerts will be at 3 p.m. on a Saturday or Sunday. This will enable patrons the time to enjoy a meal post-concert and those from outside Los Alamos to have time to make the trek “up the Hill” and down.
Bournaki, Brown and Hough will perform on the “vintage” but fully revitalized Steinway. A dry climate over years of play demanded an evaluation and update of the instrument, which Emanual Ax last year called “a fine old piano.” Los Alamos trivia: it was originally purchased in the 1950s by the Atomic Energy Commission for the community. It is now owned by Los Alamos Public Schools and overseen by LACA, which finances its “care and feeding”.
For more about LACA and the season, visit their newly revamped website, still at losalamosconcert.org. It features a modern layout with simplified language, easy navigation, improved aesthetics, and adaptive formatting for browsing on different platforms.
It’s a great way to purchase tickets, offered at the best price per concert. Regular cost per concert during the season is $35 (an amazing bargain for the caliber of artists you will see) but buying a season package now lowers the cost to $28 per ticket. Note that free youth tickets are offered for every concert, thanks to LACA’s generous donors.
This is in keeping with the newly revised LACA mission statement:
To bring the excitement of live classical music by world class artists to people of all ages in northern New Mexico.
LACA also provides free season tickets to all music educators who register via the website contact page.
Making all this happen is an enthusiastic, all-volunteer board. They do everything from ensuring the artists have the snacks they need in the Green Room, to getting the word out about the concerts through social media, advertisements, and the website, to writing the program notes, to ordering fresh flowers for the Duane Smith Auditorium performance stage. To find out more information about volunteering, contact LACA at losalamosconcert.org.
Other new events will also enhance this season. Check back for announcements through the Los Alamos Daily Post and the LACA website. LACA thanks its donors and supporters, its volunteers, and especially its patrons who gather to enjoy World. Class. Artists. … right here in Los Alamos!
To learn more, visit losalamosconcert.org.