Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Announces Creative Partner

Pianist and media personality Lara Downes will be the first to serve in this new position 

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) has announced the appointment of pianist, recording artist, and media personality Lara Downes as its first-ever creative partner. 

Downes’ three-year appointment will involve spanning LACO’s artistic planning, performance, community engagement, advocacy, and education platforms, plus serving in a creative advisory capacity to LACO’s music director Jaime Martín.

Additionally, she will perform on and/or curate selected programs, help to identify and mentor LACO’s annual Sound Investment composer, support the advancement of the LACO Fellowship, as well as represent LACO in national arts and culture. 

Downes will be continue her other independent performance, broadcasting, and recording activities—her upcoming album THIS LAND on the Pentatone label will comprise music ranging from traditional folk tunes to newly commissioned works.

A familiar voice on the radio in Southern California as the host of Evening Music on KUSC, Downes is the creator and host of NPR’s video series Amplify with Lara Downes, plus the nationally syndicated program Classical Americana, produced by Classical California/KUSC.

She also founded Rising Sun Music, a recording series that highlights the music and histories of Black composers over the past 200 years. Her work has been supported by the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Sphinx Venture Fund, and the Center for Cultural Innovation.

During the 2024/25 season, Downes will make her LACO mainstage debut performing Florence Price’s Piano Concerto with Martín conducting.

“On behalf of everyone at LACO, I am thrilled to welcome Lara Downes as the Orchestra’s first Creative Partner,” Martín said in the press release. “An iconoclastic artist and beloved radio host with millions of followers on air, online, and in the concert hall, she is deeply passionate about classical music and ensuring its access to all communities. Her unique perspective and out-of-the-box thinking dovetails with LACO’s own mission to advance the chamber music art form, building upon its remarkable foundation. I look forward to collaborating with her both on stage and behind the scenes on LACO’s artistic, education and community-building endeavors.” 

“I’m so delighted and excited to join LACO as the Orchestra’s Creative Partner, a unique role that harnesses all my interests and energies across a broad landscape of performance, curation, community engagement, education, and advocacy,” Downes added. “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. I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and work with Jaime Martín and LACO’s brilliant musicians, staff, and friends as we continue together to create innovative, intimate, and inspiring musical experiences that welcome the communities of Los Angeles and the world beyond.”