Brian Lauritzen
Brian Lauritzen is an award-winning arts journalist for Classical KUSC. He is the producer and host of nationwide concert broadcasts of the Los Angeles Philharmonic as well as KUSC’s weekly arts magazine Arts Alive and the early music program Baroque & Beyond.
Additionally, Brian writes and produces features for KUSC’s more than 50 concert broadcasts each year including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and Piano Spheres. His work as part of these series has been broadcast internationally by NPR, American Public Media, and the WFMT Radio Network.
During his tenure at Classical KUSC, Brian has interviewed dozens of top classical musicians and artists. Among them, Gustavo Dudamel, Itzhak Perlman, Dawn Upshaw, Valery Gergiev, Placido Domingo, John Adams, and many others.
Brian is also the host of several critically acclaimed podcasts: Behind the Curtain at LA Opera, the LA Chamber Orchestra podcasts, and Concrete Voices—real stories from the streets of Hollywood.
Brian believes that classical music is deeply serious, riotously humorous, and everything in between. He exhibits a healthy respect for this great art, and the great artists who create it, and balances that regard with a tasteful irreverence in his presentations on Classical KUSC. Ultimately, Brian believes there are few absolutes when it comes to music–only personal taste. If you don’t like something, you’re not wrong. Brian has occasionally been criticized for using words like, “awesome,” “facepalm,” and “dude” on the air…and he’s fine with that. Classical music purists may not fully understand Brian’s love for hip-hop and bluegrass music, but then when he begins to geek out over the intricacies of a Mahler symphony everything begins to make sense again.
Additionally, Brian writes and produces features for KUSC’s more than 50 concert broadcasts each year including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and Piano Spheres. His work as part of these series has been broadcast internationally by NPR, American Public Media, and the WFMT Radio Network.
During his tenure at Classical KUSC, Brian has interviewed dozens of top classical musicians and artists. Among them, Gustavo Dudamel, Itzhak Perlman, Dawn Upshaw, Valery Gergiev, Placido Domingo, John Adams, and many others.
Brian is also the host of several critically acclaimed podcasts: Behind the Curtain at LA Opera, the LA Chamber Orchestra podcasts, and Concrete Voices—real stories from the streets of Hollywood.
Brian believes that classical music is deeply serious, riotously humorous, and everything in between. He exhibits a healthy respect for this great art, and the great artists who create it, and balances that regard with a tasteful irreverence in his presentations on Classical KUSC. Ultimately, Brian believes there are few absolutes when it comes to music–only personal taste. If you don’t like something, you’re not wrong. Brian has occasionally been criticized for using words like, “awesome,” “facepalm,” and “dude” on the air…and he’s fine with that. Classical music purists may not fully understand Brian’s love for hip-hop and bluegrass music, but then when he begins to geek out over the intricacies of a Mahler symphony everything begins to make sense again.
