Los Angeles Baroque (LAB) is directed by violinist Lindsey Strand-Polyak. Started in 2016, by Lindsey and co-founding artistic director Alexa Haynes-Pilon (cello), LAB allows dedicated professional, student and community musicians from across greater Los Angeles to explore repertoire, learn baroque playing style and perform. It aims to encourage, support and expand the early music community in LA and to be inclusive in reach, to give the maximum number of highly motivated players the chance to participate. Our players come together from all walks of life and from all over LA to give a season of three weekend afternoon concerts at the group's rehearsal and performance home, St James’ Episcopal Church in South Pasadena. LAB’s opening season 2016-17 featured two concerts, collaborations with the vocal ensemble Jouyssance and with St James’ choir, and our first weekend workshop. In 2017-18 we expanded our season to three concerts, again collaborated with Jouyssance, held a consort music workshop, and made debuts at Laemmle Live Santa Monica and in Bach in the Subways at Union Station. June 2018 saw LAB take a road trip to Berkeley to make its debut in the Berkeley Early Music Festival Fringe. In our third season we explored the repertoire of the 17th Century in greater depth and marked our first concert performance of an opera: John Blow’s Venus and Adonis. We hosted our first LAB:Fest mini festival weekend May 31-June 2, 2019, with guests Ensemble Bizarria and Kensington Baroque Orchestra, San Diego. Season four continued our three-concert model in South Pasadena, regrettably cut short by the Pandemic. In 2020-21 small groups met for outdoor Covid-safe therapeutic coaching sessions with director Lindsey Strand-Polyak alongside occasional online lectures. 2021-22 kicked off the fifth season with a pop-up concert in Fall 2021, and continued in 2022 with further concerts as we worked back up to post-Pandemic comfort levels. 2022-23 saw LAB's main stage season triumphantly resume at full strength in the Sanctuary at St James' and the fun continues with three concerts in November, March and May respectively, for the 8th season in 2023-24.

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