This month, Ludovic Morlot crosses the Atlantic to conduct the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in two concerts that combine music from the East and West.

Ludovic will open the programme with Huang Ruo’s Folksongs for Orchestra, a work which features melodies passed down through generations of Chinese village life. Then, pipa legend Wu Man takes center stage for the world premiere of Mason Bates’ Concerto for Pipa. The concerto, composed specifically for Wu Man, blends American jazz, blues, and minimalism with pipa traditions.

Next, Ludovic will lead the orchestra and Principal Flute Benjamin Smolen in the world premiere of Eímear Noone’s Five Episodes in LA. The work is a vivid, personal portrait of chasing a dream in Hollywood. Schoenberg’s Second Chamber Symphony then closes the evening. Begun in Vienna and completed in Los Angeles, it brings us to a composer whose ideas helped shape the sound of the movies.

Concerts take place on 19 November at Zipper Hall, and 22 November at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.