Delirium Musicum: Los Angeles

Touring chamber orchestra Delirium Musicum (DM) rehearsed and performed for two concerts in its home base of Los Angeles, where it was founded in 2018. A 13-16 person ensemble of bowed strings and a keyboard synthesizer, its musicians are mostly local, with some who travel for individual projects. Each concert is curated by DM’s leader, violinist Etienne Gara.

Over the course of a week, the players rehearsed at Theatre Raymond Kabbaz of Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles, then at Global Arts in Pico Union. On Saturday evening, they performed at Benjamin Millepied’s L.A. Dance Project, then repeated the program for the Sunday Morning Music series at Santa Monica College’s BroadStage. 

Violist Chris Broyles and violinist Evan Hjort rehearse Bach's Brandenburg concerto No. 3.

DM Founder Etienne Gara addresses young students of Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles from the stage.

(L-R) Violinists Juchao Zhao and Misha Vayman rehearse at Theatre Raymond Kabbaz. Zhao plays a violin gifted from his parents after he graduated with a Master's Degree from The Juilliard School. Vayman is a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and in band Astral Mixtape, which blends instrumentals with electronics.

Evan Hjort gives feedback during rehearsal at Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz.

(L-R) Cellists Joo Lee, Javier Iglesias Martin and principal Stella Cho rehearse at Theatre Raymond Kabbaz. "There's always a twist or two," Lee said of interpreting music with Delirium Musicum.

SuKyung Chun's double bass during rehearsal at Theatre Raymond Kabbaz.

Etienne Gara feeds son Elian during a rehearsal break. Elian was born in January, going on tour five weeks later with violinist parents Etienne Gara and YuEun Kim.

Little Elian Gara, son of violinists Etienne Gara and YuEun Kim, during Delirium Musicum's rehearsal at Global Arts in Los Angeles, attended by philosophy professor Jay Conway (R), Friday, March 27, 2026.

Cellist Stella Cho dress rehearses with Delirium Musicum at BroadStage for the Sunday Morning Music series on March 29, 2026.

Bassist SooKyung Chun during rehearsal at Global Arts. Chun originally moved from Korea to California to study with Los Angeles Philharmonic bassist David Allen Moore. She had taken a lesson with him when he came to Korea, translated by her father.

Seattle-based Evan Hjort moments before going on stage with Delirium Musicum. Around the time he began playing with them (January 2022), he had suffered a nerve injury and was feeling isolated in Boston, unsure if he would step away from music. Hjort spent 23 days recording on DM’s first album over a period of a month in Los Angeles. Before the concert in 2026, Hjort said, “I think to make it through that and feel good at the end of that passage, it’s just such a sense of family - and I was just in the dressing room thinking, it’s a cool life."