Los Alamos Concert Association: 73rd Season!

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on July 29, 2018
- 5:54 pm

Brentano String Quartet opens LACA’s 73rd season Sept. 28 at Smith Auditorium. Photo by Juergen Frank

Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo performs with Brentano String Quartet during LACA’s 73rd season opener Sept. 28 at Smith Auditorium. Photo by Ralph Lauer

LACA News:

After a year of venue changes due to construction delays and a last-minute performance cancellation, the Los Alamos Concert Association is pleased to announce its new season featuring exciting artists and dramatically upgraded public amenities in its venue, the Duane Smith Audtorium.

Audiences can expect a spacious new lobby and reception area plus a much-needed expansion of the public restrooms.

“The women in our audience will no longer have to commandeer the men’s room during intermissions,” LACA Artistic Director Ann McLaughlin said.

The much-admired Brentano String Quartet and Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo will open the season, LACA’s 73rd, Sept. 28. Sunwoo performed with the Brentano for the first time in the chamber music round of the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In Los Alamos they will reprise that performance, a brilliant account of Dvořák’s op. 81 piano quintet and a key factor in Sunwoo’s victory in the competition.

A perennial audience favorite, the Canadian Brass, will return Nov. 4 to Los Alamos. Their special brand of virtuosity and audience engagement has earned them a loyal following in concert halls around the globe.

Also returning to Los Alamos is Cantus, the men’s a capella octet. Hailed for their warm and engaging performances, Cantus embraces wide-ranging choral repertoire from the Renaissance to new commissions. Their Jan. 27 performance will be followed by LACA’s annual “Dinner with the Artists” fundraiser at the Blue Window Bistro. The gentlemen of Cantus will be honored guests.

February will bring the Danish String Quartet, an ensemble that stands out for its deep reading of the standard repertoire plus a special interest in Scandinavian folk music. The ensemble’s Los Alamos program will include an excursion into that Nordic tradition plus two Beethoven quartets, his 4th and 7th.

The season will close in May with a performance by Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero whose artistry and unique improvisational gifts have won her a devoted world-wide following. Audience members are encouraged to arrive with a familiar tune in mind that she can use as a basis for one of her signature, on-the-spot improvisations.

Substantial pre-season ticket discounts are available until Sept. 1. Go to LACA’s web site to download a mail-in order form. www.losalamosconcert.org.

Following a long tradition, young people ages 6 through 18 are admitted free to all LACA concerts. Youth tickets will be available after Sept. 1 at Los Alamos outlets and at the door.

Concert Schedule: