Los Angeles Children’s Chorus Announces 2016-17 Season Entitled Aspire

Photo by JP Candelier

Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC), led by Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson, announces its 2016-17 season, entitled “Aspire,” which spotlights works by composers who developed transformative approaches to musical education, Bartók, Kodály and Britten, among them.

Admired for its broad reach and long-standing community partnerships, the chorus is featured this season with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Opera, Pasadena Symphony and POPS, and Lineage Dance Company. It also presents an array of concerts, recitals and special events with leading artists from the choral world.

“It is an honor and a privilege to work with the talented young singers of Los Angeles Children’s Chorus,” says Tomlinson, currently in her 21st and final season with the organization. “LACC’s wide-ranging appearances and musical collaborations showcase the singers’ remarkable artistry while enhancing LACC’s comprehensive music education program by expanding the scope of the repertoire they learn and encouraging a deeper appreciation of the choral art. We are proud to be part of such meaningful and compelling partnerships with these … cultural institutions.”

Among numerous highlights, LACC performs John Adams’ El Niño with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Grant Gershon, at Walt Disney Concert Hall (December 16 and 18, 2016); and makes two Pasadena-area appearances with the Pasadena Symphony and POPS as a featured guest artist for both its “Holiday Candlelight Concert,” led by Grant Cooper, at All Saints Episcopal Church (December 17, 2016), and Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 9 conducted by David Lockington at Ambassador Auditorium (April 29, 2017). LACC joins LA Opera for six performances of its production of Puccini’s Tosca, conducted by James Conlon at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (April 22, 27 and 30, and May 2, 7 and 13, 2017).

LACC hosts the Los Angeles debut of Berlin’s esteemed Children’s Choir of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, which is led by Music Director Vinzenz Weissenburger and regularly performs with the Berlin Opera and Berlin Philharmonic, in a free performance at Pasadena Presbyterian Church (November 15, 2016); and has been selected to perform at the Chorus America Convention in Los Angeles (June 2017).

Additionally, LACC presents at Pasadena Presbyterian Church its signature Winter Concert, featuring works by Bach and Holst as well as an eclectic array of art songs and folksongs (December 4 and 11, 2016), and Spring Concert, including a world premiere by LA-based composer Dale Trumbore commissioned by the chorus (May 7 and 14, 2017). This spring, the chorus also holds its annual Gala Bel Canto fundraiser. Enriching the community in myriad ways, LACC collaborates with Lineage Dance Company to present a free performance at Lineage Performing Arts Center in conjunction with Pasadena ArtNight (October 21, 2016) and sings in the benefit performance “Bach to Broadway,” conducted by former Los Angeles Master Chorale Associate Conductor Lesley Leighton, to raise funds for the restoration of Pasadena’s historic St. Andrew Church, founded in 1886 and among the oldest churches in Los Angeles (September 30, 2016). LACC wraps the 31st season with a North American tour.

Founded in 1986 and led by Tomlinson since 1995, LACC serves more than 400 children ages 6 to 18 through six choirs – Preparatory, Apprentice, Intermediate, Concert, Chamber Singers and Young Men’s Ensemble for boys with changing voices – and also offers a First Experiences in Singing program and First Experiences in Choral Singing Ensemble for 6-8-year-olds. LACC, recipient of Chorus America’s 2014 Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, the nation’s highest choral honor, has toured North and South America, Africa, China, Japan, Australia and Europe. The subject of a trilogy of documentaries by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Mock, LACC is featured in the Academy Award-nominated Sing!, about a year in the life of the choir; Sing Opera!, documenting the production of the LACC-commissioned family opera Keepers of the Night; and Sing China!, chronicling its tour to China just prior to the Beijing Olympics. LACC has performed with John Mayer on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” and has also been featured on PBS’s “Great Performances,” BBC Radio, and Public Radio International’s nationally syndicated show “From the Top,” among other credits.

For additional information on LACC, its auditions or programs, call (626) 793-4231 or visit Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.