The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra has named DERRICK SPIVA JR. to the newly created position of artist educator. Spiva was the orchestra’s composer in residence for 2015-16. He will help to reshape LACO’s Meet the Music concerts for schoolchildren, and will develop LACO’s in-school work, guiding students to compose their own scores. He will also assist with the Los Angeles Orchestra Fellowship, a newly announced partnership by LACO, the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, and USC Thornton School of Music that provides mentorship and training for early-career musicians from underrepresented communities. At LACO, Spiva will compose new works and will curate a program that explores classical music’s cutting edge. He was awarded a composer residency with LACO for its 2015-16 season through Music Alive, a partnership program of the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA. The resulting work, the first part of a trilogy for chamber orchestra, was influenced by traditional West African drumming and Hindustani rhythmic cycles; LACO premiered the trilogy’s second part in May 2018. Spiva has a BA from UCLA and an MFA from CalArts.
Posted October 4, 2018
