In photo: Composer Pierre Jalbert and Margaret Batjer, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, with Jeffrey Kahane (right), the orchestra’s conductor laureate, in 2018. Photo by Michael Mancillas
In a Voice of America video segment on April 24, Margaret Batjer, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), discusses how she is adapting to the lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic. “Normally, I am in downtown Los Angeles almost all week and most weekends, rehearsing for concerts, playing concerts and teaching…. But I am home these weeks…. I’m going to be recording some solo Bach tonight.… My daughter is … doing the video and my husband will record the audio.… This week, I’m working to record a program for In Focus, which is our chamber music series…. We’re trying to keep in touch with our LACO audiences [by offering] some relief from the fear and the boredom and the unknown…. For the student and the teacher it’s difficult when the sound is coming through an electronic computer or iPad…. But the students are hungry and they’re feeling isolated. So, their hour or two hours a week with me hopefully keeps them challenged and keeps them inspired…. I can only think about what it’s going to be like the first time I get to walk back on the stage in our new normal and be able to make music again.”
