LAVS
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About

LAVS Foundation is a Los Angeles nonprofit. We present concerts in the city, and we connect young musicians here with orchestras abroad.

Lift  ·  Amplify  ·  Voice  ·  Sustain

Our purpose

To promote music and cultural arts education in the Los Angeles community — supporting talented young musicians from challenging financial backgrounds through instrument lending, scholarships, and educational grants, and presenting concerts, performances, and cultural events that advance public appreciation of music and the arts.

The Foundation was incorporated in California in 2020 and recognised by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) public charity in 2021. It began active programming in 2026.

What we do

Concert Series

Chamber concerts presented in Los Angeles, beginning with the Colburn Chamber Program in December 2026.

Los Angeles–Seoul Exchange — in development

Placing young musicians from Los Angeles conservatories as soloists with the Seocho Philharmonia in Seoul, with reciprocal opportunities for Seoul-based artists here.

Events

An annual gala and occasions that bring the city’s string community together.

Instruments & Grants — planned

Instrument loans and grants for lessons, auditions, travel and repairs.

Board of Directors

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Jong Hoon Bae

President

Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Seocho Philharmonia in Seoul. In 2026 he completed a seven-year traversal of all 107 Haydn symphonies. An American conductor trained at UCLA, where he later taught conducting, he founded the Republic of Korea Armed Forces Symphony Orchestra and has led commemorative concerts for Korean War veterans in twenty-two United Nations participating nations. His Naxos recording of Ian Krouse’s Symphony No. 5 was praised by Gramophone.

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Adrienne Andisheh

Vice President

Founder and CEO of Sounding Point, a Los Angeles communications practice serving performing arts organisations. A marketing and communications leader with more than twenty years’ experience in brand building, strategic planning and audience development, she has worked with the Colburn School, Pacific Opera Project, Salastina and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. She is also a violinist.

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Owen Hojoon Lee

Secretary

Founder of Los Angeles Violin Shop, established in 2002, and of LA Fine Violins in Downtown Los Angeles. With more than two decades in the violin trade, he is recognised for his expertise in appraising fine string instruments and bows, and has built relationships with professional musicians, collectors and institutions across the United States.

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Bongshin Ko

Treasurer

Professor of Cello and Vice Director of the School of Music at California State University, Fullerton. A cellist who has appeared with orchestras including the KBS Symphony and the Zagreb Philharmonic, and who has collaborated with Mstislav Rostropovich, Bernard Greenhouse and Valery Gergiev. She has recorded for Sony Classical and given master classes at The Juilliard School, the Korea National University of Arts and the Beijing Central Conservatory. In 2008 she founded the Greenhouse Foundation & Festival with the late Bernard Greenhouse.

[ Photo ]

Felix Hernandez-Jones

Director

A Los Angeles violinist, violist and music educator. He studied music education and performance at the University of the Pacific, and spent five years teaching group classes, conducting the orchestra and tutoring violin at St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Belize City. Since returning to California in 2012 he has taught with the Harmony Project and Heart of Los Angeles, both of which provide music education at no cost to underserved communities across Los Angeles County.

Governance
and filings

Legal name
LAVS Foundation
Entity type
California nonprofit public benefit corporation
Incorporated
24 April 2020  ·  Entity No. C4587450
Federal tax exemption
501(c)(3), granted 2 November 2021  ·  EIN 85-0813360
Public charity status
IRC §170(b)(1)(A)(vi)
California tax exemption
Franchise Tax Board — exempt, active
Charity registration
California Registry of Charities — CT0297389

Contributions to LAVS Foundation are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. A copy of the Foundation’s IRS determination letter and its annual filings are available on request.

IRS determination letter Annual filings