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2013-2014 New Century Season Highlighted by Record Release
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The New Century Chamber Orchestra, founded in 1992, looks for fresh, exciting ways to present classical music in the San Francisco Bay Area by combining performances of extraordinary quality with innovative programming. One of only a handful of conductorless ensembles in the world, New Century is comprised of local musicians and those who travel from across the U.S. and Europe to perform in the Bay Area together. Musical decisions are made collaboratively by the 19-member string ensemble, resulting in an enhanced level of commitment on the part of the musicians to concerts of remarkable precision, passion and power. World-renowned violin soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg was appointed Music Director and Concertmaster in January 2008, bringing with her “a new sense of vitality and determination, as well as an audacious swagger that is an unmistakable fingerprint of its leader.” (Gramophone Magazine).
In 2011, Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg and New Century embarked on their first national tours together. The performances in the Midwest, East Coast, and Southern California garnered record-breaking audiences and national critical acclaim. In January and February 2013, New Century will undertake the ensemble’s most extensive national tour to date, with performances in Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, and Michigan. In addition to performing classic pieces of chamber orchestra repertoire, New Century breathes life into rarely heard jewels of the past, performs world premieres, and brings pieces from other genres such as jazz and rock into the chamber orchestra setting. The New Century Chamber Orchestra Featured Composer program commissions composers to write new works, with the goals of expanding chamber orchestra repertoire and providing audiences with a deeper understanding of today’s living composers. The orchestra provides insight into the breadth of the Featured Composer’s work by performing a variety of pieces by the composer throughout the season. Past composers include Clarice Assad, William Bolcom, Mark O’Connor and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. (learn more) |